No spam from Novell

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: DAVE KEARNS ON NOVELL NETWARE TIPS
06/07/05
Today's focus: No spam from Novell

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* A hoo-ha at Novell product support forums
* Links related to Novell NetWare Tips
* Featured reader resource
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Hewlett Packard
Choosing the Best Architecture

Learn how controller-based architecture for tape libraries best
meets reliability and interoperability requirements in
enterprise storage area networks. Details include how the
introduction of the HP StorageWorks Extended Tape Library
Architecture defines the next generation of tape libraries in
enterprise SAN environments. Download the white paper now!
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=106208
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WORST-CASE SCENARIO

If your company commits a serious HIPAA or Sarbanes-Oxley
violation, who takes the fall? Could it be you? You've probably
heard loose talk about this risk at industry conferences and in
the press. But can an IT exec actually end up doing hard time?
See what experts predict:
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_______________________________________________________________

Today's focus: No spam from Novell

By Dave Kearns

There was a bit of a hoo-ha last week when a number of
participants in the Novell product support forums got e-mails
that looked like they might be spam inviting them to access a
survey. Seemingly, the e-mail originated from novell.com.

In fact, it was an e-mail that originated from Novell and it was
a legitimate invitation to participate in a legitimate survey.

As it was explained to me by Novell PR maven extraordinaire
Bruce Lowry, "Our knowledge management team is working with
[Brigham Young University] to do a study on online communities.
Since the support forums are online communities, we did tap
participants in the forums to outreach to with e-mails for the
survey."

That seems reasonable to me. But what about the privacy policy?
Bruce went on to say: "...we scrubbed the lists ahead of time to
make sure that folks who had asked in any capacity not to
receive communications from Novell weren't included. My
understanding is that an initial survey e-mail was sent out,
plus one follow up reminder, and that's it."

Still, some people feel that their e-mail inbox (unlike their
snailmail postal box) should be accessed only by invitation. So
what do you tell these people, Bruce? "I imagine there will be
people that take issue with this," Lowry replied, adding,
"Although I hope they understand the rationale in this
particular case given the focus of the study. Obviously,
participation in the survey is completely opt in."

He reminded me that, "Because of the open nature of the support
forums, we warn people in general that the information they
provide when they participate in the forum is not private (
<http://support.novell.com/forums/faq.html> ). In fact, we give
them advice on how to minimize the risk of their information
being misused."

Still, he did add: "Again, I can understand how some might take
issue with Novell using the forum information pro-actively in
the manner we did, but, I repeat, I hope they understand the
rationale in this particular case. We'll certainly keep this in
mind going forward."

No spam, no privacy invasion, no misuse of data. It's a
deserving project, and Novell is doing its best to both move the
project forward and keep its users' data private. Good job,
Novell.
_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Dave Kearns

Dave Kearns is a writer and consultant in Silicon Valley. He's
written a number of books including the (sadly) now out of print
"Peter Norton's Complete Guide to Networks." His musings can be
found at Virtual Quill <http://www.vquill.com/>.

Kearns is the author of three Network World Newsletters: Windows
Networking Tips, Novell NetWare Tips, and Identity Management.
Comments about these newsletters should be sent to him at these

respective addresses: <mailto:windows@vquill.com>,
<mailto:netware@vquill.com>, <mailto:identity@vquill.com>.

Kearns provides content services to network vendors: books,
manuals, white papers, lectures and seminars, marketing,
technical marketing and support documents. Virtual Quill
provides "words to sell by..." Find out more by e-mail at
<mailto:info@vquill.com>
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Hewlett Packard
Choosing the Best Architecture

Learn how controller-based architecture for tape libraries best
meets reliability and interoperability requirements in
enterprise storage area networks. Details include how the
introduction of the HP StorageWorks Extended Tape Library
Architecture defines the next generation of tape libraries in
enterprise SAN environments. Download the white paper now!
http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=106207
_______________________________________________________________
ARCHIVE LINKS

Archive of the Novell NetWare Tips newsletter:
http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/netware/index.html

Novell news page:
http://www.networkworld.com/news/financial/novell.html
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