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Educause Educause | 4 Aug 2005 00:28

Edupage, August 03, 2005

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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 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 03, 2005
  UT to Receive $1.8 from BlackBerry
  CU Suffers Another Hack
  Researcher Says DNS Servers Vulnerable
  Court Rejects Apple Deal with Georgia Schools
  DHS Urges Industry to Use Law to Improve Security

UT TO RECEIVE $1.8 FROM BLACKBERRY
The maker of BlackBerry devices will pay the University of Texas System
$1.8 million to settle a patent-infringement case over technology that
allows users to enter text into telephone-style keypads. Under the
terms of the settlement, Research in Motion, based in Canada, will also
be granted a license to continue using the technology. Part of the
settlement will fund research at the UT Ssystem's Arlington campus,
where the technology was developed by George Kondraske, a professor of
electrical and biomedical engineering, and Adnan Shennib, who was a
graduate student when the technology was invented in 1987. The UT
System is pursuing similar charges against more than 40 other companies
for illegally using the patented technology. The university, which
earns between $11 and $14 million annually from royalties on patents it
holds, has recently hired a vice chancellor for research and technology
transfer and will soon appoint an associate vice chancellor to help
protect its patents.
Chronicle of Higher Education, 3 August 2005 (sub. req'd)
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Educause Educause | 6 Aug 2005 00:38

Edupage, August 05, 2005

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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, AUGUST 05, 2005
  Court Upholds University Block on Spammer
  Lawsuit Questions Accessibility Standards
  IBM Chips Now Twice as Fast
  First Charges Filed Under Camcorder Law

COURT UPHOLDS UNIVERSITY BLOCK ON SPAMMER
A federal appeals court ruled in favor of the University of Texas (UT)
in its dispute with White Buffalo Ventures over thousands of spam
e-mails sent by the company to students of the institution. In 2003,
White Buffalo, which operates an online dating service geared toward UT
students, began sending thousands of messages to student e-mail
addresses it had obtained through public records. After receiving many
complaints from students, the university blocked White Buffalo's
e-mails, a move the company said infringed on its First Amendment
rights and its rights under the CAN-SPAM Act. A federal judge disagreed
with White Buffalo, and the current ruling supports that decision. The
three-judge panel of the appeals court found that the institution is
within its rights to place restrictions on commercial speech if such
restrictions can be shown to legitimately benefit constituents--in this
case, UT's students. Observers noted that the court's rejection of
White Buffalo's CAN-SPAM argument is important in that it presents a
significant roadblock to organizations that would try to use the law to
make it easier, rather than more difficult, to send unsolicited e-mail.
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Educause Educause | 8 Aug 2005 23:38

Edupage, August 08, 2005

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the intelligent use of information technology.
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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, AUGUST 08, 2005
  FCC Drops Telecom Rules on Network Access
  GSA Calls for Comments on Identity Management Plan
  FBI Issues RFP for Sentinel
ALSO****************************
  Kansas Supreme Court to Rule on Ownership of Faculty Work
  Survey Shows Mixed Impact of Internet on Students
  Chinese Search Engine IPO Takes Off

FCC DROPS TELECOM RULES ON NETWORK ACCESS
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has dropped regulations
that forced telephone companies to lease network access at
FCC-determined rates to rival providers of broadband services. Internet
service providers will have a year to transition from the current
system. Whether the change will affect prices and availability of DSL
is not known, since phone companies can profit by leasing their lines
to rivals and benefit from all increased DSL purchases by U.S.
customers. DSL service providers are more concerned by competition for
broadband customers from cable companies, which claim 56 percent of
broadband customers versus 36.5 percent for DSL, according to data from
the FCC.
San Jose Mercury News, 8 August 2005
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/technology/12331081.htm
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Educause Educause | 11 Aug 2005 00:27

Edupage, August 10, 2005

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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 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2005
  College Bookstores Test Access to Digital Textbooks
  Univ. Receives Federal Support for VoIP Tracking Technology
  U.K. Schools Test Value of Games
  Hackers Hit Another University
  Students Face Punishment for Computer Tampering
  Spammer Settles with Microsoft

COLLEGE BOOKSTORES TEST ACCESS TO DIGITAL TEXTBOOKS
Ten colleges and universities are participating in a pilot project of
selling electronic texts through the campuses' bookstores. Previously,
electronic textbooks typically have only been available from individual
publishers or online. Organizers of the project hope that by making the
texts available from the campus bookstores, they will be able to
accurately gauge student demand for the technology. Each participating
institution will offer 25 to 30 texts electronically, though the books
will also be available in paper form. Electronic texts will be priced
at one-third less than hard-copy textbooks. Students who choose the
electronic option will download a copy of the text to a computer, where
they can read it, print it, search it for keywords, or listen to an
audio version of it. The electronic text will have restrictions,
however. The text cannot be transferred to any other computer, it
cannot be printed in its entirety at one time, and it will only be
available for five months, after which point it cannot be sold back to
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Educause Educause | 12 Aug 2005 23:05

Edupage, August 12, 2005

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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, AUGUST 12, 2005
  Google Modifies Library Project
  Portable Device Helps Students Prepare for Tests
  Linux Goes to French Schools
  Research Center Coming to New York
  New York Adds Disclosure Law

GOOGLE MODIFIES LIBRARY PROJECT
Google has announced some changes to its Library Project following
vocal criticism from a number of publishers. Under the terms of the
project, Google made arrangements with five major libraries to scan
some or all of their books, posting at least a portion of each book in
an online repository for public access. Publishers complained that
making such electronic copies of copyrighted works--regardless of
whether they are put online--violates the rights of the copyright
holder. Google now says it will not scan any book that a publisher
specifically asks to be exempted, and it will not scan any copyrighted
books until November, giving publishers time to review titles they
might want excluded. Publishers appeared unmoved, however, with the
Association of American Publishers (AAP) saying that Google's new plan
"places the responsibility for preventing infringement on the copyright
owner rather than the user." Peter Givler of the Association of
American University Presses echoed the AAP's dissatisfaction with the
changes to the project. He was glad that Google is trying to address
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Educause Educause | 15 Aug 2005 23:16

Edupage, August 15, 2005

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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, AUGUST 15, 2005
  Berkeley Project Aims to Create Better Search Technologies
  E-Mail Marketer Convicted of Stealing 1.6 Billion Names
  IBM Donates Accessibility Code to Firefox

BERKELEY PROJECT AIMS TO CREATE BETTER SEARCH TECHNOLOGIES
Researchers at a new center being developed at the University of
California at Berkeley will study search technologies in an effort "to
solve the problems that have been engendered by the success of search,"
according to Robert Wilensky, the director of the center. Among the
topics of study will be privacy, fraud, multimedia search, and
personalization. Plans for the new center have not been finalized, but
organizers said it will be an interdisciplinary effort, including 20 or
so faculty from various departments. Wilensky said that having an
environment with so many researchers from differing fields of study
results in "something bigger than its parts." The new research center
will encourage commercial search companies to participate. Higher
education has played a prominent role in the development of search
technologies. Both Google and Yahoo were started at Stanford
University, while Lycos was born at Carnegie Mellon University. Other
institutions around the country are also working on projects to further
develop search technologies.
CNET, 15 August 2005
http://news.com.com/2100-1038_3-5831050.html
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Educause Educause | 17 Aug 2005 23:36

Edupage, August 17, 2005

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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 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2005
  NSF Grant Funds Study of Electronic Voting
  VeriSign Offers PKI Discount to Higher Education
  Computer Extras Blamed for Rising Textbook Prices
  NIST Compiles Cybersecurity Flaws Database
  Former AOL Employee Sentenced for Data Theft

NSF GRANT FUNDS STUDY OF ELECTRONIC VOTING
A team of researchers will use a five-year, $7.5 million grant from the
National Science Foundation (NSF) to study electronic voting. The grant
will support a research center called ACCURATE, A Center for Correct,
Usable, Reliable, Auditable, and Transparent Elections. Based at Johns
Hopkins University, the center includes researchers from the University
of California, Berkeley; Stanford University; Rice University; the
University of Iowa; and California-based research firm SRI
International. According to Dan Wallach, associate professor of
computer science at Rice, "The basic question is, 'How can we employ
computer systems as trustworthy election systems when we know computers
are not totally reliable, totally secure, or bug-free?'" The ACCURATE
project is expected to produce technical standards for electronic
voting and to develop secure voting systems that are easy to use.
Washington Times, 17 August 2005
http://washingtontimes.com/upi/20050817-124413-4457r.htm
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Educause Educause | 19 Aug 2005 23:49

Edupage, August 19, 2005

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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, AUGUST 19, 2005
  TeraGrid to Receive $150 Million from NSF
  Purdue Announces New Cyber Center
  Campuses Still Working to Change Student Download Habits
  Arizona High School Drops Textbooks for iBooks
  Wi-Fi Initiative Supports Municipal Networks

TERAGRID TO RECEIVE $150 MILLION FROM NSF
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced that over the next
five years it will provide an additional $150 million to the TeraGrid,
beyond the $98 million it has already spent on the project. The
TeraGrid, which came online in late 2004, is a coordinated system of
computing devices, storage capacity, and databases at eight member
institutions linked by a high-speed network. John R. Boisseau, director
of the Texas Advanced Computing Center, one of the member institutions,
said the TeraGrid is "providing a whole fabric for computational
science." Scientists at member institutions have access to more than 40
teraflops of processing power and can move enormous amounts of data
across the network in relatively little time. Arden L. Bement Jr.,
director of the NSF, said the complex scientific problems that the
TeraGrid is helping to solve are a key factor in "the development of
the next generation of cyberinfrastructure."
Chronicle of Higher Education, 19 August 2005 (sub. req'd)
http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/08/2005081901t.htm
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Educause Educause | 22 Aug 2005 22:37

Edupage, August 22, 2005

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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, AUGUST 22, 2005
  Colleges Continue to Offer Legal Music Services
  Warner Music Group Creates E-Label
  Sun Pushes Open Source Digital Rights Management
  Vendors Support Community Wireless Projects
  Educational Software Market for Home PCs Plummets

COLLEGES CONTINUE TO OFFER LEGAL MUSIC SERVICES
Despite mixed or negative ratings from students, universities offering
legal music and movie download services plan to continue doing so for
two reasons: students have come to expect it, and legal file swapping
remains part of higher education's plan to reduce Internet piracy.
Colleges signing up for the services for the first time point to the
same reasons. The arrangements are also a visible response to lawsuits
filed by the Recording Industry Association of America against students
swapping files on campus and the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision
holding network administrators liable for individual acts of piracy if
they "induced" the infractions. Offering the legal download services
provides evidence of a good-faith effort to reduce illegal downloading
activity on campus.
Chronicle of Higher Education, 22 August 2005
http://chronicle.com/free/2005/08/2005082201t.htm

WARNER MUSIC GROUP CREATES E-LABEL
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Educause Educause | 24 Aug 2005 21:24

Edupage, August 24, 2005

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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, AUGUST 24, 2005
  Google Talk Provides Voice, IM Services
  Sony PlayStation Portable Gets Internet Browser
  FCC Proposes USF Tax on Net Phone Users
  Federal Spending on IT Surges in Third Quarter
  Hitachi Claims First Terabyte Hard Drive/DVD Recorder

GOOGLE TALK PROVIDES VOICE, IM SERVICES
Google has announced a free service called Google Talk that lets e-mail
account holders talk to each other using a PC, microphone, and speakers
and provides instant messaging capability. Google reportedly plans to
make the service compatible with other companies' services, basing it
on an open standard, which would allow users to talk to people on
competing systems. Users will not be able to make calls to landlines or
mobile phones, however. The new service does not carry advertising, but
Google hopes it will encourage people to sign up for the Gmail service,
which does.
BBC, 24 August 2005
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4179322.stm

SONY PLAYSTATION PORTABLE GETS INTERNET BROWSER
Sony Computer Entertainment America announced plans to add Internet
access to its PlayStation Portable gaming device in an attempt to boost
the PSP's use as a handheld entertainment center. A software upgrade
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