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EDUCAUSE | 3 Jul 2003 00:17

Edupage, July 02, 2003

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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association
whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting
the intelligent use of information technology.
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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, JULY 02, 2003
  EFF Backs File Swappers, Attacks RIAA
  Planned Surveillance System Raises Eyebrows
  Study Links Internet Overuse with Depression
  Court Rules Against Intel in E-Mail Trespass Case
  Aimster Told to Stay Idle

EFF BACKS FILE SWAPPERS, ATTACKS RIAA
Responding to the recent announcement from the Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA) about plans for lawsuits against
individuals, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has launched a
campaign to mobilize the estimated 60 million Americans who use
file-sharing services. The goal of the "Let the Music Play" campaign is
to make changes in current copyright law to legalize file sharing while
guaranteeing that artists will be compensated for their work. According
to Shari Steele of the EFF, "copyright law is out of step with the
views of the American public and the reality of music distribution
online." The EFF has suggested instituting licensing fees, paid by
manufacturers of MP3s and CD-ROMs. The fees would be doled out to
artists based on usage. The RIAA dismissed the idea as one that would
favor retransmission services and stifle innovation.
Internet News, 1 July 2003
http://siliconvalley.internet.com/news/article.php/2230301
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EDUCAUSE | 8 Jul 2003 00:31

Edupage, July 07, 2003

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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association
whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting
the intelligent use of information technology.
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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, JULY 07, 2003
  Oracle Stretches Deadline to July 18
  RIAA Warning Boosts Swapping
  Kazaa's Antitrust Suit Thrown Out
  Feds Pursue Electronic Voting
  Microsoft Changes Licensing Terms

ORACLE STRETCHES DEADLINE TO JULY 18
Oracle has extended the deadline for its hostile takeover offer of
PeopleSoft from July 7 to July 18. According to Oracle, nearly 35
million shares of PeopleSoft stock, or roughly 11 percent of the
company's outstanding shares, have been sold to Oracle under the terms
of the offer. Analysts suggested that the extension of the deadline
increases the likelihood that the current offer of $19.50 per share
will be bumped up, perhaps by around one dollar per share. The
PeopleSoft board remains opposed to the takeover, having promised
customers significant rebates if the company is acquired and existing
products are not supported. The cost to Oracle should that happen could
be as high as $354 million. PeopleSoft is also pursuing an acquisition
of J.D. Edwards, a move announced prior to Oracle's offer but which
the PeopleSoft board believes would be a major impediment to Oracle's
acquisition of PeopleSoft.
San Jose Mercury News, 4 July 2003
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/6233945.htm
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EDUCAUSE | 10 Jul 2003 01:35

Edupage, July 09, 2003

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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association
whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting
the intelligent use of information technology.
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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, JULY 09, 2003
  New RAM Promises Faster Access
  University of Delaware Fights Piracy with Mascot
  Webcasters Threaten RIAA with Antitrust Suit
  New Web-Services Specification from IBM and Microsoft
  DARPA Funds High-Performance Computing

NEW RAM PROMISES FASTER ACCESS
Both Motorola and Altis Semiconductor (a venture of IBM and Infineon
Technologies) are working to develop magnetoresistive random access
memory (MRAM) chips to replace current RAM technology. Because RAM is
volatile, data must be transferred between it and the computer's hard
drive every time the machine is turned on or off. MRAM works by
polarizing magnetic layers, rather than with electrical charges, making
it a potentially effective non-volatile, high-speed memory. The result,
say researchers, could be computers that simply turn on or off rather
than go through lengthy boot-up or boot-down procedures. Motorola
expects to start shipping MRAM chips by the end of this year. The
company expects MRAM cell phones and PDAs to be available around the
middle of next year. Elke Eckstein, CEO of Altis Semiconductor, said
her company's goal is to "be the first company to bring MRAM to
market."
Wired News, 9 July 2003
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,59559,00.html
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EDUCAUSE | 11 Jul 2003 23:18

Edupage, July 11, 2003

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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association
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the intelligent use of information technology.
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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2003
  ISPs, Marketers Oppose Anti-Spam Legislation
  PCs Hijacked for Porn Sites
  Trade Group Says Music Piracy Funding Organized Crime
  Cybersecurity Laws on the Horizon
AND
  NSF Fears Diversion of IT Project Funding
  Acrobat 6.0 Allows Digital Signatures in PDFs
  AT&T, MCI VPN Customers Get Wireless Access

ISPS, MARKETERS OPPOSE ANTI-SPAM LEGISLATION
Some Internet service providers (ISPs), including Microsoft and America
Online, have lobbied against passage of tough anti-spam laws, while
direct marketers have threatened court challenges of such legislation.
Despite the pressure, members of Congress say they are determined to
pass an anti-spam bill this year, although some bill sponsors admit
they wish their bills had stronger provisions. Of the dozen or so bills
under review by Congress, many include an opt-out provision for
consumers who do not want to receive messages from a particular sender.
Critics object to this approach, preferring an opt-in provision. ISPs
and direct marketers also oppose creation of a Do Not Spam list, which
would allow e-mail users to opt out of receiving any unsolicited
e-mail.
Washington Times, 11 July 2003
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EDUCAUSE | 14 Jul 2003 23:39

Edupage, July 14, 2003

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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association
whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting
the intelligent use of information technology.
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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, JULY 14, 2003
  Senate Allows No Funds for TIA
  Senate Puts the Brakes on CAPPS II
  Yahoo Buys Overture
AND
  RIAA Pursues More Students
  PeopleSoft Gets Green Light to Buy J.D. Edwards

SENATE ALLOWS NO FUNDS FOR TIA
The U.S. Senate may effectively kill the controversial Terrorism
Information Awareness (TIA) program (formerly the Total Information
Awareness program) through a budget that forbids funding the program.
Republican Senator Ted Stevens spearheaded the addition of language to
the Senate's defense appropriations bill that explicitly disallows any
money to be used for the program, which has been criticized from
privacy groups as well as legislators on both sides of the aisle. The
bill is likely to pass a Senate vote, at which time a committee will
attempt to reconcile the Senate's appropriations bill with that of the
House, whose version does not include the ban on spending for TIA.
Observers expect that opponents of TIA will succeed in killing the
program.
Wired News, 14 July 2003
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,59606,00.html
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EDUCAUSE | 16 Jul 2003 23:56

Edupage, July 16, 2003

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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association
whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting
the intelligent use of information technology.
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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2003
  Report Suggests RIAA Gaining Advantage
  MIT Developing Search Engine for Global Poor
  Blackboard Settlement Reveals No Real Threat
  House Bill Supports Rural Telemedicine
  EU Pushes for Opt-In E-Mail

REPORT SUGGESTS RIAA GAINING ADVANTAGE
Preliminary data from Nielsen/Netratings indicate a sharp drop in
activity on file-sharing networks in the weeks following an
announcement from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)
that it would prosecute individual file traders for copyright
violations. According to Nielson/Netratings, the numbers of visitors to
Morpheus and Kazaa each dropped 15 percent. [This finding conflicts
with reports from Morpheus and Grokster, reported in the July 7 issue
of Edupage, that file-trading activity increased after the
announcement. -Editor] Although some of the drop is likely a result of
decreased traffic during the summer months, officials at
Nielson/Netratings believe that the timing and the magnitude of the
decline indicate that the RIAA's warning is having the desired effect
of discouraging illegal file trading. Although companies that
distribute file-trading software dispute this conclusion, most are
developing features to try to hide the identities of individual users.
CNET, 14 July 2003
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EDUCAUSE | 19 Jul 2003 01:07

Edupage, July 18, 2003

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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association
whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting
the intelligent use of information technology.
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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, JULY 18, 2003
  Congressmen Try to Stiffen Penalties for File Traders
  Exporting the DMCA
  Netscape's Last Days at Hand
AND
  PeopleSoft Finalizes J.D. Edwards Acquisition
  Oracle Still Says It Will Stand by PeopleSoft Customers
  Group at Syracuse Trying to Save Research Tool

CONGRESSMEN TRY TO STIFFEN PENALTIES FOR FILE TRADERS
Congressmen John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and Howard Berman (D-Calif.)
have introduced the "Author, Consumer, and Computer Owner Protection
and Security Act of 2003" (ACCOPS Act), which would make a single
unauthorized upload of a copyrighted work a federal felony. In
addition, the ACCOPS Act would require that file-sharing Web sites
request certain information of their consumers and would allot $15
million to the U.S. Department of Justice to prosecute copyright
violations. Conyers argued that the ACCOPS Act would address the
absence of existing laws that adequately protect copyright holders.
While the bill has garnered some support, Philip Corwin of Sharman
Networks, the parent company of the Kazaa file-sharing service, sees
the bill as "totally way over the top," and said the "idea of sending a
kid who's downloaded a couple of songs to jail is just ridiculous."
IDG, 17 July 2003
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EDUCAUSE | 22 Jul 2003 00:00

Edupage, July 21, 2003

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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association
whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting
the intelligent use of information technology.
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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, JULY 21, 2003
  Microsoft Settlement Approved
  FTC Warns of Identity Theft Through Spoofing
  Amazon to Add Text-Searching Feature
AND
  Report Shows Steep Rise in Distance Education
  Recording Industry Ratchets Up Subpoenas

MICROSOFT SETTLEMENT APPROVED
A California judge has accepted the terms of a settlement with
Microsoft under which the software maker will offer vouchers to
individuals and businesses who bought certain Microsoft products
between early 1995 and the end of 2001. Microsoft had been accused of
overcharging for its products. The vouchers range in value from $5 to
$29 and will be good for hardware or software purchases from most
vendors. The maximum value of the settlement is $1.1 billion, though it
could be less depending on how many vouchers are claimed. Two-thirds of
unclaimed money will go to California schools; if all the vouchers are
claimed, however, the schools will get nothing. The claim period, which
will begin in two months, will last 60 days and will feature
advertisements and various other measures to notify potentially
eligible consumers.
CNET, 21 July 2003
http://news.com.com/2100-1012_3-1027598.html
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EDUCAUSE | 24 Jul 2003 00:05

Edupage, July 23, 2003

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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association
whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting
the intelligent use of information technology.
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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2003
  DARPA Funding PAL Development
  WTO to Investigate U.S. Antigambling Measures
  Identity Theft Skyrockets
AND
  Boston College, MIT Fight RIAA Subpoenas
  Can Movie Studios Curb Piracy with Courtesy?
  PC-Based BuyMusic Offers Low Rates

DARPA FUNDING PAL DEVELOPMENT
The Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is
awarding $29 million in research grants to develop an intelligent
electronic assistant. Of the total, $7 million will go to Carnegie
Mellon University to develop a so-called Perceptive Assistant that
Learns (PAL), with the balance going to several other groups to build a
wartime PAL. The device is intended to be "smart" enough to notify
attendees, for example, if a meeting is rescheduled or to change its
user's travel plans in the event of a schedule change. DARPA officials
argued that such a device could be very helpful to military commanders
who have large groups of support staff reporting substantial amounts of
information. Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists
expressed doubt that such a project legitimately falls under the
purview of DARPA. Of the notion that the PAL device would organize
users' e-mail and allocate office space, Aftergood said, "DARPA
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EDUCAUSE | 25 Jul 2003 22:35

Edupage, July 25, 2003

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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association
whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting
the intelligent use of information technology.
*****************************************************

TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, JULY 25, 2003
  DHS to Fund University Security Centers
  FCC Extends Net Filter Deadline for Libaries
  Anti-Porn Bill Requires Parental Consent for File Sharing
  RIAA Subpoenas Grandparents, Roommates
  RIAA, Higher Education Seek Piracy Solutions
  Microsoft Modifies Licensing, Satisfies Antitrust Terms

DHS TO FUND UNIVERSITY SECURITY CENTERS
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued new guidelines for
funding homeland security centers at universities. For the 2004 fiscal
year, the House of Representatives and the Senate proposed spending a
combined $90 million on the centers and related fellowships. The new
guidelines redress what many university officials perceived as a bias
favoring Texas A&M University at College Station. According to Jennifer
Poulakidas of the University of California system, "It's a pretty wide
open competition." The Oak Ridge Associated Universities, a consortium
of research universities, will conduct analyses and make
recommendations to the DHS. The first grant for a center to focus on
economic strategies to cope with terrorism will be awarded in November,
with plans to establish nine additional centers by the end of 2004.
Chronicle of Higher Education, 24 July 2003 (sub. req'd)
http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/07/2003072401n.htm
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