Juno Online Service's jump into the supercomputing business has
alarmed consumer and privacy advocates, who fear the move could open
subscribers' computers to vulnerabilities--including snooping by third
parties such as the government.
Juno quietly posted a new
agreement that will change the terms for subscribers of its free Internet service. Those customers must allow the downloading of software that would perform computational tasks unrelated to Internet connection. They must also agree to leave their computers on all the time if asked. The software would replace the screensaver, and people would not be able to uninstall or tamper with it. Furthermore, under the terms of the agreement, Juno would have the right to "initiate a telephone connection from your computer to Juno's central computers."
The market for free Internet service providers has been hit particularly
hard during the dot-com downturn, mainly because it relies heavily on
advertising dollars. To make more money, Juno, which gets about one-third
of its revenue from advertising, is hoping to sell unused processing power
on member computers to third parties, who can string them together in a
virtual daisy chain to form a supercomputer.
However, defenders of privacy and consumer rights worry the new
requirements amount to an unprecedented exchange of personal property and
data to get something for free. Worse, they say, Juno customers might not
understand what kind of relationship they're getting themselves into when
they click on the agreement. They're also criticizing the company for
slipping the wording into the agreement Jan. 18 and then not going public
with the plan until Feb. 1.
Ari Schwartz, a policy analyst with the Center for Democracy and
Technology, worries the new rules will make it easier for government
investigators to violate constitutional provisions against unreasonable
search and seizure. For example, he said, weak wiretapping laws could allow
federal investigators to go through Juno to gain access to customers'
computers without their knowledge via the software that's installed on
their machines.
"Individuals are in some ways signing over their Fourth Amendment rights by
opening up their computers," Schwartz said. "It's too bad that to protect
people's privacy, they have to pay extra."
Juno spokesman Gary Baker downplayed such concerns and said the new pact
wouldn't actually require subscribers to keep their computers on all the
time--only for a few prescribed hours. He also said paid subscribers, which
make up about 20 percent of Juno's 4 million customers, would be exempt
from the rules. In addition, he said the computers wouldn't be connected to
the Internet constantly because most of the computations would take place
offline, synching up to the system only when a customer connects to the
Internet.
However, people who sign onto the service must agree to a policy that "may
require you to leave your computer turned on at all times."
Baker said he's confident that most of the company's existing subscribers
will agree to the terms. After all, he said, Juno already requires members
to agree to, among other things, a permanent display screen that shows ads.
"They're already making some sacrifices in exchange for some free Internet
access," Baker said.
The company plans to announce more details of the plan, and who qualifies,
in the coming
months.
"This is a tremendous resource that is being wasted by people when they
leave their computers off," he said.
The idea of accessing consumer machines for distributed computing projects
isn't new. For example, 18 million people have donated their dormant
computing power to the SETI Institute, the Search for Extraterrestrial
Intelligence. Other community-based programs have let people give unused
computer time to scientist researching diseases such as AIDS. And United
Devices lets people give their processing power to commercial projects and
causes such as cancer research in exchange for cash and prizes.
Still, Richard Smith, chief technology officer of the Privacy Foundation,
is concerned that the software Juno installs on customers' computers might
make their machines less reliable, causing them to slow or crash. Juno said
it is designing the software so that it doesn't interfere with home machines.
What's more, Smith said, companies who potentially could sign up for the
extra processing power might not want their intellectual property floating
freely on random customers' computers. Juno said it was still researching
security issues. Whatever the case, Juno's plan is sure to
be a test of how much consumers are willing to give up in exchange for free
service.
Smith said that when he first came across the agreement it was troublesome. "I just read it
over and said, 'Oh my God. Who would agree to this?'"
Some people took to the message boards to dissect the new policy. One
person on DejaNews said: "It smacks of George Orwell's 1984. I'll give up
my Internet before I accept this sort of invasive intrusion into my privacy."
Others wondered whether it was hoax or asked if someone could explain what
the terms were really saying. And still others took Juno's side, pointing
out that people shouldn't expect something for nothing. "There's no such
thing as a free lunch," wrote one.