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Educause Educause | 1 Dec 2004 23:00

Edupage, December 01, 2004

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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, DECEMBER 01, 2004
  USF Takes Half-Step Toward VoIP
  Judge Rejects Copyright Challenge
  HP Computers to Include Antivirus Application
  British Program Teaches Schoolchildren about Copyright

USF TAKES HALF-STEP TOWARD VOIP
In upgrading its aging phone system, the University of San Francisco
(USF) has opted for a system that offers traditional telephony
technology as well as voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) service. The
decision allows the university to provide traditional phone service in
a predictable manner, moving to VoIP only as administrators are
comfortable with the technology. Tracy Schroeder, CIO at USF, said that
although her staff was excited about the possibility of moving to an
entirely VoIP system, the more cautious approach has given them time to
perform due diligence and business analysis, thereby avoiding the risk
of "a failed VOIP implementation." Schroeder said the university will
benefit from a having a much more reliable, modern system with needed
redundancy. Initially, two new buildings on campus will feature VoIP
phone service. In the future, however, as university officials gain
confidence in the system, USF can migrate to a converged data and voice
system "in areas where it makes sense and when it feels that the
technology is fully mature," according to Schroeder. "We want to be at
the middle of the pack," Schroeder said, "with mature, widely deployed
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Educause Educause | 4 Dec 2004 00:04

Edupage, December 03, 2004

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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, DECEMBER 03, 2004
  S. Korean Officials Investigate Cell-Phone Cheating
  Meeting the Need for Munchies on Campus
  IBM Considers Exiting the PC Business

S. KOREAN OFFICIALS INVESTIGATE CELL-PHONE CHEATING
Officials in South Korea are investigating a suspected widespread ring
of using cell phones to cheat on the country's university admissions
examinations. Cultural pressure to succeed academically is intense in
South Korea, so much so that some students commit suicide as a result
of poor academic showing. As noted by Jung Bong-mun, an Education
Ministry official who works on college admission policy, student
cheating "is mainly due to pressure to do well in a test that will
decide their lives forever." Combined with nearly ubiquitous cell
phones, which provide new avenues for cheating, this pressure has led
to an unprecedented level of cheating on this year's exam, which was
taken by approximately 600,000 students. According to officials,
several hundred may have been involved in the scheme to send answers by
cell-phone text messages to those taking the test. Students reportedly
paid around USD$1,000 each, which leads authorities to suspect that in
many cases parents may be involved.
Reuters, 3 December 2004
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=6986502
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Educause Educause | 6 Dec 2004 23:56

Edupage, December 06, 2004

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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, DECEMBER 06, 2004
  Study Shows Artists' Attitudes About File Sharing
  Phishing Scams Rise Exponentially
  Lycos Dumps Antispam Screensaver

STUDY SHOWS ARTISTS' ATTITUDES ABOUT FILE SHARING
A recent study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project surveyed
artists and musicians in an attempt to shed light on how they view file
sharing and its impact on the entertainment industry. According to the
study, there is no consensus among the presumed creators of much of the
content available on P2P networks, despite contentions on both sides of
the issue. Some notable musicians have been outspoken critics of file
sharing, supporting efforts to prosecute those accused of copyright
violations, while others have expressed support for the online model of
distributing their content. Jenny Toomey, executive director of the
Future of Music Campaign, said the study "should solve the problem once
and for all about whether anyone can say they speak for all artists."
According to Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Project, the survey showed
that the "musician-artistic community has a much wider range of views
and experiences than folks who watch the Washington debate about
copyright might imagine."
New York Times, 6 December 2004 (registration req'd)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/06/arts/06down.html
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Educause Educause | 8 Dec 2004 20:27

Edupage, December 08, 2004

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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, DECEMBER 08, 2004
  IBM Sells PC Unit to Chinese Company
  IT Leaders Urge Increased Cybersecurity
  IM, P2P Threat-Detection Network Launched
  Air Force Merges Three Tech Offices
  Intel Reveals Plans for 2005
  Online University Sued in Pennsylvania

IBM SELLS PC UNIT TO CHINESE COMPANY
Following news reports (see Edupage, December 3) on the possibility,
IBM has agreed to sell its personal computer unit to China's largest
PC maker, Lenovo, for $1.75 billion in cash, stock, and debt. IBM will
assume a 18.9 percent stake in Lenovo. The IBM PC business will
continue to be run by its current management team and be based in the
United States. Although based in Beijing, Lenovo plans to establish
headquarters in New York. IBM will continue to handle technical
support, financing, and warranty coverage for its former PC division.
New York Times, 8 December 2004 (registration req'd)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/08/technology/08computer.html

IT LEADERS URGE INCREASED CYBERSECURITY
The Cyber Security Industry Alliance urged the Bush administration to
increase efforts to protect U.S. computer and Internet infrastructure,
proposing that the national cybersecurity director position be elevated
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Educause Educause | 11 Dec 2004 00:06

Edupage, December 10, 2004

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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, DECEMBER 10, 2004
  Penn State Urges Moving from IE
  Supreme Court Agrees to Hear P2P Case
  iPod Requirement in Secondary School
  Ellison Promises Strong Support for PeopleSoft Customers

PENN STATE URGES MOVING FROM IE
Officials in the Information Technology Services department at
Pennsylvania State University have sent a notice to students suggesting
that they switch to a browser other than Internet Explorer (IE) to
increase the security of their computers. Recent reports in the media
about IE vulnerabilities, as well as warnings from the Computer
Emergency and Response Team at Carnegie Mellon University, prompted
Penn State's recommendation that students look at browsers including
Firefox, Safari, and Opera. A spokesperson for the university said,
"We're not telling people to wipe off IE, because you need IE to do
operating-system updates." As part of a two-month campaign to increase
computer security across campus, however, the university is urging
students to examine other browsers and to consider the benefits they
might provide for increased protection from malicious code. Also
included in the security campaign are reminders for students to install
firewalls and antivirus software, to keep those applications updated,
and to install operating-system updates regularly.
CNET, 9 December 2004
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Educause Educause | 14 Dec 2004 00:26

Edupage, December 13, 2004

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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, DECEMBER 13, 2004
  PeopleSoft Board Approves Sale to Oracle
  MIT Unveils Revamped Technology Review
  Feds Seek to Keep Tabs on Migrant Students
  British Council Calls for Stricter Movie Piracy Laws

PEOPLESOFT BOARD APPROVES SALE TO ORACLE
After 18 months of wrangling, legal actions, and regulatory review, the
PeopleSoft Board of Directors has approved a buyout offer from Oracle.
The deal is valued at about $10.3 billion, or $26.50 per share, despite
Oracle's insistence that $24 per share was its best offer. The higher
price came after Oracle executives gained access to PeopleSoft's
financial statements and determined the target company was more
profitable than Oracle's earlier estimates. Oracle has promised strong
support for current PeopleSoft customers, as well as those of J.D.
Edwards, which PeopleSoft acquired during the takeover efforts by
Oracle. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison said development teams from both
PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards would be retained and would operate
independently. Ellison said updates to applications from both companies
would be developed in the next year or two. Pending legal action over
the merger will be suspended until the transaction is completed, at
which point litigation will be dismissed. The deal is expected to close
at the end of January.
CNET, 13 December 2004
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Educause Educause | 16 Dec 2004 00:28

Edupage, December 15, 2004

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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 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2004
  Google Partners with Libraries to Digitize Content
  New Research Project Will Address Ubiquitous Computing
  Sprint and Nextel Announce Merger Plan
  Movie Studios Target BitTorrent for Legal Action

GOOGLE PARTNERS WITH LIBRARIES TO DIGITIZE CONTENT
Google has announced agreements with major libraries to digitize books
in their collections and make them available online. Google is funding
the project, which is said to have strong support from founders Larry
Page and Sergey Brin, who said that such dissemination of information
has always been one of their goals. Under the arrangements, Google
reportedly will scan all of the eight million books at Stanford
University's library and all of the University of Michigan's seven
million texts. For the others involved in the project--Harvard
University, Oxford University, and the New York Public Library--only
portions of the collections will be scanned. For books whose copyright
remains in effect, Google will scan the entire text but make available
only selected portions online. Books whose copyright has run out will
be available in their entirety. The announcement follows similar
programs from the Library of Congress as well as Amazon to digitize
content of books.
New York Times, 14 December 2004 (registration req'd)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/14/technology/14cnd-goog.html
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Educause Educause | 18 Dec 2004 00:43

Edupage, December 17, 2004

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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, DECEMBER 17, 2004
  Acacia Expands Patent Holdings
  Army Contracts for Electronic System to Eliminate Paper
  Symantec Acquires Veritas

ACACIA EXPANDS PATENT HOLDINGS
Acacia Research, which has made a name for itself pursuing patent
infringement lawsuits, has acquired Global Patent Holdings, an umbrella
company whose holdings represent numerous high-tech patents. One of
Global Patent's companies, TechSearch, has already entered into
licensing deals with companies including Sony and Samsung. Previously,
Acacia has threatened or taken legal action against a range of
companies, alleging patent infringement for technologies that stream
media over the Web. Targets of that legislation have included
pornography Web sites, the Walt Disney Company, and colleges and
universities that use streaming media in online education. Acacia said
the new acquisition will expand its patent holdings to cover dozens of
technologies, or parts of them, including those related to P2P
communication and spreadsheet software. Paul Ryan, CEO of Acacia, said,
"We will continue to acquire additional portfolios, as Acacia moves
towards its goal of becoming the leading technology licensing company."
Analysts said Acacia's business model of acquiring patents and earning
revenues through licenses represents a growing trend in the technology
industry.
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Educause Educause | 21 Dec 2004 00:19

Edupage, December 20, 2004

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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 MONDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2004
  Rice Researchers Discover Google Search Flaw
  Judge Hits Spammers with $1 Billion Fine
  Research Firm Sees Increased IT Spending

RICE RESEARCHERS DISCOVER GOOGLE SEARCH FLAW
Researchers at Rice University in November uncovered a security flaw in
Google's recently released desktop search tool. Google Desktop is a
downloadable program that creates an index of material on a user's
computer, including e-mail and individual documents. When that user
does a Google search of the Web, the application incorporates local
resources from the index in the results. In what began as a student
project to investigate how Google Desktop works, two students and a
computer science professor found that the application could be fooled
into sending results from a local index to Web sites, allowing a hacker
to see them. The problem would only reveal small portions of
information, and no attacks using the flaw have been reported. After
being notified by the researchers of the vulnerability in late
November, Google patched the flaw and began offering a new version of
the search tool in December. In addition, the application includes a
feature that allows Google to update the software without user input or
even knowledge about the upgrade.
New York Times, 20 December 2004 (registration req'd)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/20/technology/20flaw.html
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Educause Educause | 22 Dec 2004 18:26

Edupage, December 22, 2004

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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 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2004
  Washington Post Company Buys Slate Magazine
  Microsoft Must Accept EU Sanctions
  Santy Worm Uses Google Search
  Guilty Plea Rejected by Judge in Spam Charge
  Teens Used Botnet to Lift Game Scores

*** The next issue of Edupage will be January 3, 2005. ***

WASHINGTON POST COMPANY BUYS SLATE MAGAZINE
The Washington Post Company announced that it has completed its
purchase of Slate, Microsoft's online magazine. Although the magazine
only recently achieved break-even status on revenue of about $6 million
per year, Slate won a National Magazine Award for its editorial
content, and mainstream news organizations frequently cite it. The
publication is also given credit for shaping Web publishing and
introducing the use of hyperlinks and Web logs. Slate was founded in
1996 by Michael Kinsley with Microsoft's support.
New York Times, 22 December 2004 (registration req'd)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/22/business/media/22slate.html

MICROSOFT MUST ACCEPT EU SANCTIONS
The president of the European Union's Court of First Instance ruled
that Microsoft must abide by sanctions imposed by EU regulators pending
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