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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2005 UN Meeting to Address Control of Internet Google Floats Idea of Renting Books Snocap Adds Warner Music to Quiver UN MEETING TO ADDRESS CONTROL OF INTERNET The United Nations (UN) is hosting an international conference this week in Tunisia to address concerns about U.S. control of the Internet. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was set up in 1998 to oversee the Domain Name System, which reconciles Web addresses and directs Internet traffic to proper destinations. Despite an understanding that ICANN would become independent of any national ties, the Bush administration this year rejected such a move, and the organization still operates under the authority of the U.S. Department of Commerce. This situation has left many other countries complaining that the United States holds the power over a global resource, and nine different proposals for putting ICANN under the guidance of an international body will be addressed at the meeting in Tunisia, which will host as many as 15,000 delegates. Some individuals who were part of the work that led to the Internet have said that concerns over ICANN are misguided. Leonard Kleinrock, computer scientist at UCLA, said, "Everyone seems to think that the D.N.S. system is a big deal, but it's not the heartbeat of the Internet." Robert Kahn, one of the developers behind TCP/IP, said of ICANN, "There is nothing in there to control, and there are huge issues that the governments of the world really do need to work on." New York Times, 14 November 2005 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/14/business/14register.html GOOGLE FLOATS IDEA OF RENTING BOOKS Google has reportedly proposed a plan to rent books online. An unnamed publisher said that Google suggested the idea of letting consumers pay a fee, equal to 10 percent of the price of a printed copy of the book, to have online access to the text for one week. Rented books would not be downloadable or printable, according to the publisher, which said that although the fee Google suggested is too low, the notion of renting texts might represent a viable new model for content distribution. A spokesperson from Google said that although "Google Print is exploring new access models to help authors and publishers sell more books online," the company at this time has nothing to announce. Other publishers said they were curious about a rental program for books and are interested in hearing more details, as long as the program ensures that copyright holders are compensated. David Steinberger, chief executive of Perseus Books, also noted that for a rental program to be successful, it would have to augment physical book sales, not limit them. Wall Street Journal, 14 November 2005 (sub. req'd) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113192806168096032.html SNOCAP ADDS WARNER MUSIC TO QUIVER Online music service Snocap has reached an agreement with Warner Music Group, giving Snocap deals with all four major record labels as well as a number of smaller, independent labels. The company already had struck deals with Sony BMG, Universal Music, and EMI Group. Snocap was founded by Shawn Fanning, creator of the original Napster. The company uses "fingerprinting" technology to label electronic music, which gives consumers online access to music while giving record labels the ability to control how files are used. Copyright owners can register songs with Snocap and then use the company's management system to set properties for how each track can be used. According to the company, consumers who use Snocap can be assured of having only legal downloads of music, without the risk of litigation for illegal file trading and without the risk of downloading viruses or other malware that is sometimes included in music on P2P services. CNET, 13 November 2005 http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-5949869.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. 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