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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, NOVEMBER 07, 2005 Carelessness Cited as Factor in Computer Problems Microsoft to Scan Books from the British Library Grokster Reaches the End of the Line BitTorrent User Sentenced for Trading Movies CARELESSNESS CITED AS FACTOR IN COMPUTER PROBLEMS An in-depth study of more than 300 computer and network problems at 36 colleges and universities identified carelessness of students and staff as one of the leading causes of such problems. Despite widespread perceptions that issues such as viruses and loss of confidential data are largely the result of malicious behavior, those involved in the study found that careless actions by students or staff were the primary cause for 40 percent of the incidents studied. Virginia E. Rezmierski, adjunct associate professor at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and leader of the research, said she was surprised to learn that external factors didn't play a larger role in computer problems. Primarily, she said, the problems resulted from inadequate training to help computer users avoid trouble and from insufficient policies to deal with problems that do arise. Rezmierski said the results support her contention that many colleges and universities moved too quickly to implement IT systems without necessary "rules and policies about how we want to operate in a shared-resource environment." Chronicle of Higher Education, 7 November 2005 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/11/2005110701t.htm MICROSOFT TO SCAN BOOKS FROM THE BRITISH LIBRARY As part of its recently announced involvement with the Open Content Alliance (OCA), Microsoft will scan 100,000 books from the British Library, adding about 25 million pages of text to an online archive. The OCA is a project led by Yahoo that takes an approach different from Google's in digitizing books and making them available online. Whereas books both with and without copyright protection are to be included in Google's scanning, officials with the OCA have said they will only scan books that are in the public domain or for which they have obtained permission from copyright holders. Microsoft has an established relationship with the British Library, providing tools and resources as part of the National Digital Library plan. Lynne Brindley, chief executive of the British Library, said Microsoft's latest announcement is "great news for research and scholarship and will give unparalleled access to our vast collections to people all over the world." BBC, 4 November 2005 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4402442.stm GROKSTER REACHES THE END OF THE LINE Following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling this summer against Grokster, the company has agreed to a settlement that requires it to shut down its operations. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that despite the possibility of noninfringing uses of Grokster's technology, the company could be held liable for violations that took place using its tools because it did not adequately discourage or deter users from such violations. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of American (MPAA), in the settlement Grokster agreed to end its operations and to permanently cease contributing to copyright infringement, either directly or indirectly. The Grokster site no longer includes links to download the company's software, instead featuring a message noting that copyright violations are illegal and will be prosecuted. The company said it plans to launch a legal service, called Grokster3G, in the near future. Macworld, 7 November 2005 http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/11/07/grokster/index.php BITTORRENT USER SENTENCED FOR TRADING MOVIES A court in Hong Kong has sentenced a citizen there to three months in prison for illegally distributing movies online. Chan Nai-ming was found guilty of making three movies available on his computer with BitTorrent tools and then, under the name Big Crook, of notifying Internet users that the movies were available for download. The case is the first in which a user of the BitTorrent technology has been found guilty of copyright infringement, and the case also represents Hong Kong's stepped up efforts to prosecute file-sharing crimes. The country is seen by many as a haven for intellectual-property crimes, a reputation the Hong Kong government hopes to shed. Government officials applauded the verdict and the sentence, saying they would deter others from committing similar crimes. Chan's lawyer said his client would appeal the verdict. Chan remains free on bail while the legal action continues. International Herald Tribune, 7 November 2005 http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/11/07/business/bit.php ***************************************************** 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. 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