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This page documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses |
CUNY is in the process of outsourcing student email from an on-campus system to one hosted off-campus by Microsoft. The DSC strongly objects to this outsourcing.
After talking with students, faculty, administration and staff, the DSC believes CUNY is headed down a dangerous path by entering into yet another long-term agreement with Microsoft which will only place further limits on student choice. It is a student's right to use the technology which best suits their individual needs and information technology services offered by CUNY, such as email, must be able to accommodate these divergent choices. In selecting Microsoft, a corporation with a long history of creating products and services incompatible with non-Microsoft products and services, CUNY is making a decision that is bad for education, bad for innovation and bad for students.
As of now, the migration of all student email to Windows Live Hotmail accounts will mean: unequal access for users, no email forwarding, the division of students into a separate email system from faculty and staff, a 6 month expiration on accounts and online advertisements.
This is a step in the WRONG direction and we encourage all GC students, faculty and staff to voice their concerns.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
The DSC's position on the outsourcing of student email accounts to Microsoft Corp is based on a number of problems with the Windows Live Hotmail Service. We have outlined these problems below so that students, faculty, administration and staff can gain a better understanding of our concerns and of the Windows Live Hotmail service.
If you have any information or insight that you feel should be incorporated please let us know. Additionally, if you believe any of the information below to be incorrect or misrepresentative of the Windows Live Hotmail service please let us know that too. This is intended to be a dynamic resource and it will only grow stronger with feedback.
Unequal Access
The handing over of student email accounts to Microsoft Corp will punish students who do not to use the most recent version of the Windows operating system and the Internet Explorer Browser by withholding features and services. Microsoft's web site notes that "a lighter version of Windows Live Hotmail" will be available for non-Windows users. However, "lighter" is a disingenuous description. Microsoft is notorious for developing platform and version specific products and services. This was the subject of a Justice Department's anti-trust lawsuit which Microsoft lost and, more recently, a lawsuit brought by the European Union which Microsoft AGAIN lost.IN SHORT: Students who are not using the most recent version of Microsoft's Windows platform and Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser can expect to be denied many Windows Live Hotmail features. This is not just an issue for non-Windows users, but also for individuals who do not use specific versions of Windows and Internet Explorer.
No Email Forwarding
Although email forwarding was promised to students last spring, our understanding is that Central Office is choosing to deny students this service. Microsoft has agreed to create a forwarding feature for CUNY, but only a local administrator can initiate this forwarding feature. The switch to the Windows Live Hotmail service will centralize control of student email within CUNY Central Office, and Central Office 'discourages' email forwarding. Additionally, email forwarding acts against Microsoft's economic interest (see the "Online Advertisements" section below).IN SHORT: Don't expect email forwarding anytime soon since its not in Microsoft's best interest and since Central Office opposes it.
Separate Email Systems
The moving of student email accounts to Windows Live Hotmail will place students in a system separate from the one used by faculty, administration and staff. This move will worsen the communicative divide that currently exists between these groups. CUNY is required to archive employee email for 7 years, but not student email. Microsoft will not archive email for the 7 years required and thus their email service will only be used for student email accounts. This move is particularly unfortunate for graduate students, many of whom are also employees of the university. If employed by the university, students will need to have an additional email account (one which archives email for the required 7 years).IN SHORT: Students employed by CUNY will need two email accounts - one Windows Live Hotmail account, one non-Windows Live Hotmail account and neither will have forwarding.
Account Expiration
According to Microsoft's web site, if students do not login to their account at least once every 180 days the contents of their inbox will be deleted and they will be forced to re-create their account. This suggests that students must actually log in online, from the Windows Live Hotmail web site once every 6 months even if they setup an external mail client to access their email (such as Apple Mail, Eudora, iPhone, Blackberry, etc...) or if students had their email forwarded to another email address (if forwarding were to be turned on).IN SHORT: If students fail to login through the Windows Live Hotmail account over a 6 month period then all of their emails will be deleted by Microsoft and their account will be temporarily disabled.
Online Advertisements
While Microsoft has assured that there will be no third-party advertisements imbedded in the Windows Live Hotmail interface, Microsoft will advertise their products and services to students. This is an invasion of privacy and an inappropriate use of student email (the contents of students' personal email will be used as data for target marketing). In addition, this also creates an economic incentive for Microsoft to discourage email forwarding and to discourage email access via external mail clients (such as Apple Mail, Eudora, iPhone, Blackberry, etc...). This also sheds light on the reasoning behind Microsoft's absurd account expiration policy (see "Account Expiration" section above).IN SHORT: Since Microsoft benefits financially by having students login to their email online, students can expect lots of advertisements, target marketing and difficultly with email forwarding and external email access.
Why Microsoft's Windows Live Hotmail?
If the outsourcing of student email accounts to Windows Live Hotmail means unequal access for users, no email forwarding, the division of students into a separate email system from faculty and staff, a 6 month expiration on accounts and online advertisements then why has Windows Live Hotmail been chosen? If the rational is to provide a better email service, then transferring student email from the current Microsoft system (Microsoft Exchange) to another Microsoft system (Microsoft's Windows Live Hotmail) is not an acceptable solution.The outsourcing of student email accounts to Microsoft is a step in the WRONG direction.