[EAS]What makes a Web Page publi

[pjk]

Subject:   What makes a Web Page public?

(from Edupage, October 28, 2002)

LAWSUIT ALLEGES SNOOPING ON PUBLIC WEB PAGES
A small technology company in Sweden has filed a lawsuit alleging
that Reuters violated the law when it obtained and published
information from an earnings report on the Web. The data were on a
Web page accessible by anyone who entered the correct URL. The Web
page, though, was not linked from elsewhere on the company's site,
according to the company. A spokesman from the company said the
lawsuit could have important implications about what is considered
public versus private information. If the court rules that the
information Reuters obtained was public, he said, then potentially
everything on a company's Web server could be considered public.
Associated Press, 28 October 2002
http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/595343p-4624080c.html

(from Edupage, November 06, 2002)

SECURITY GROUP ACCESSES CLASSIFIED NAVY DATABASES
A French security group called Kitetoa was able to access several
confidential U.S. Navy databases, prompting the Navy to take down
one of its Web sites until the problems are fixed. Members of the
group gained access to information about tests and problems with
weapons systems, and to a system used to order software and other
applications. A spokesman from the Navy said that although the
information is not public, none of the exposed data constituted a
threat to national security. Antoine Champagne, founder of Kitetoa,
noted that a French court recently ruled that users are not in
violation of existing laws if they access information that is on the
Web but is not protected, even if that information is not intended
for public access.
Wired News, 6 November 2002
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,56219,00.html