CFP96 BOFS

Evening, March 29

CFP96 will provide meeting rooms to interested individuals for Birds of a Feather sessions the evening of March 29. BOFS provide an opportunity for special-interest discussions that were not included in the formal program.

Currently, the following BOFS are scheduled. At the opening of the conference an opportunity to schedule additional BOFS.


Electronic Purse Systems: Digital 'coins' for small purchases

Led by The 'Electronic Purse' (EP) is a new consumer payment technology based on smart cards, and designed to replace coins and small bills in (mainly) offline transactions with vending machines, parking meters, etc. Such systems are now in fie]d trials and early implementations around the world, raising important questions of privacy, security and future implications for online payments.

Because the latter cards are intentionally anonymous, EP critics fear that criminals may exploit the new smart-card systems to hide financial wrongdoing. Our speakers will assess this and other concerns, and explore their impact on EP design. This session extends the Friday afternoon Electronic Money Panel at CFP96, with further coverage of EP issues.


Virtual Private Networks: A New Model for Organizational Change in an Information-Based Future

Led by This BOF will discuss what is, perhaps, the greatest challenge for organizations in an information-based future -- their ability to develop and deploy new paradigms, technology, and organizational models. These new processes and systems must enable ubiquitous, seamless, effective, and timely information production, discovery, assimilation, and archival. A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is an innovative model which epitomizes an information infrastructure that addresses the information systems requirements of organizations in an information-based future. A VPN is best described as a secure system of systems containing a robust, and continually-evolving set of tools and capabilities in a private, highly interactive, collaborative environment.


Student Research Show and Tell

Led by This BOF is intended for undergraduate and graduate students working on research projects related to computers and society, and students and non-students interested in learning more about the type of work students are doing in this area.

Students will be given the opportunity to give short, informal presentations about their work and solicit feedback from other attendees. We will also discuss solutions to some of the difficulties students have faced pursuing interdisciplinary projects in this area (for example: obtaining funding, finding a faculty advisor, working with a thesis committee composed of members from several different departments).


The National ID Card in Your Future?

Led by This spring, both houses of Congress will consider the toughest restrictions on immigration in 70 years. The House and Senate bills each contain a new "employment verification system" that would institute centralized data bases and other mechanisms that would eventually lead to a national identity card. This session will examine how the verification systems might work and discuss the threats to the privacy and liberty of law-abiding persons these systems would establish.


Scholarship and Legal Publishing: Law Journals on the Net

Led by: At CFP '95, a group of editors of new law journals gathered to discuss the implications of publishing legal scholarship online. As the publishing of substantive legal materials on the Internet has increased, new questions are raised. What standards apply to this medium of publication? How is publishing online different than publishing in print? How should one cite to online law journals?

Led by two of the founding editors of the Richmond Journal of Law & Technology, this BOF aims to highlight some of these issues, address what can be done in the future, and how these goals can best be achieved. Also discussed will be the developments in the Coalition of Online Law Journals, abstract services and searching capabilities for law reviews on the net (provided by FindLaw, at and other progress being made by other online law journals. Editors of law journals (traditional or online), law students, and lawyers with an interest in future avenues for legal publication are highly encouraged to attend.


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Last updated March 18, 1996
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