***************************************************** 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 29, 2005 Princeton Debuts University Channel Broadening the Scope of Free Courseware Cisco and Security Researcher Agree to Disagree Congress Gets Serious about Data Privacy PRINCETON DEBUTS UNIVERSITY CHANNEL Princeton University has launched the University Channel, an online repository of video footage of academic lectures. The service serves as a central location for finding lectures and presentations from colleges and universities that submit materials. Donna Liu, executive director of the project, noted that although some institutions provide Webcasts of important lectures, frequently tapings of lectures are purely for archival purposes and cannot be easily located or viewed later. The focus of the channel initially will be lectures on public policy and international affairs, and several institutions have already submitted content for the site. Topics might be expanded in the future. The University Channel is also working with cable companies to broadcast some of the lectures over cable networks. The new channel is similar in concept to a project at the University of Washington called the Research Channel, which focuses on scientific and medical research. Chronicle of Higher Education, 28 July 2005 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/prm/daily/2005/07/2005072801t.htm BROADENING THE SCOPE OF FREE COURSEWARE Rice University's Connexions project is an effort to take the idea of free educational materials to a new level. Started in 1999 by Richard Baraniuk, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Rice, Connexions is not unlike MIT's OpenCourseWare project, which puts course materials from all MIT classes online for free. In contrast, Connexions takes the approach of aggregating course materials from professors at any school. Connexions also offers feedback tools that allow users to rate content, similar to rating systems on sites such as Amazon.com. In Connexions, ratings happen after publication, rather than before publication as in traditional peer review, but Baraniuk believes the rating system can provide an alternative to traditional peer review, a system Baraniuk believes is broken. Baraniuk also sees enormous potential in Connexions to help community colleges, which rely heavily on adjunct professors who often have little time for course development. With relatively limited resources, faculty at community colleges could use Connexions to create courses tailored for their institution and students, rather than the common practice of simply having to rely on a single textbook for material. Inside Higher Ed, 29 July 2005 http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2005/07/29/open CISCO AND SECURITY RESEARCHER AGREE TO DISAGREE Security researcher Michael Lynn and Cisco Systems have reached an agreement that should put an end to Cisco's legal action against Lynn for speaking publicly about a flaw in the company's router software. Lynn, who until Wednesday was employed by Internet Security Systems (ISS), gave a presentation at the Black Hat Conference discussing the vulnerability. Cisco and ISS had discouraged Lynn from giving the presentation, saying that a patch had been issued for the flaw. Lynn believed Cisco had not been open with consumers about the severity of the problem, and he resigned from ISS to protest the company's position that he should not give the presentation. After he left ISS, however, Lynn faced legal action from Cisco, which argued that he had no right to make the presentation since he was no longer employed by ISS. Under the agreement, Lynn will stop disclosing information about the flaw, and the legal action will be canceled. Computer security expert Bruce Schneier applauded Lynn for his conviction in exposing what he thought was a serious flaw despite the risks of going public. Matt Bishop, professor of computer science at the University of California-Davis, said he sees the practice of exposing flaws publicly as a dangerous practice and that working with the affected vendor is preferable. San Jose Mercury News, 29 July 2005 http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/12255870.htm CONGRESS GETS SERIOUS ABOUT DATA PRIVACY Ahead of its August recess, Congress moved data-security measures to the top of its agenda, with various House and Senate committees considering three different bills dealing with the protection of sensitive information. The broadest legislation being considered is the Personal Data Privacy and Security Act, which would place new restrictions on how personal information may be used and imposes criminal penalties for those found to have violated it. The bill would limit the sale and publication of Social Security numbers, require notification of consumers in the event their personal data is compromised, and restrict the authority of the states in writing their own regulations for data protection. Other bills working their way through the Senate include similar requirements that consumers be notified of data breaches, but they only include civil penalties. The other measures, including one passed by the Senate Commerce Committee, place oversight and enforcement authority with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Critics of the proposed legislation argue that it is being rushed through without proper discussion. CNET, 28 July 2005 http://news.com.com/2100-7348_3-5808894.html ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your settings, or access the Edupage archive, visit http://www.educause.edu/Edupage/639 Or, you can subscribe or unsubscribe by sending e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To SUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SUBSCRIBE Edupage YourFirstName YourLastName To UNSUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SIGNOFF Edupage If you have subscription problems, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE RESOURCES The EDUCAUSE Resource Center is a repository for information concerning use and management of IT in higher education. To access resources including articles, books, conference sessions, contracts, effective practices, plans, policies, position descriptions, and blog content, go to http://www.educause.edu/resources ***************************************************** CONFERENCES For information on all EDUCAUSE learning and networking opportunities, see http://www.educause.edu/31 ***************************************************** COPYRIGHT Edupage copyright (c) 2005, EDUCAUSE
