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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, AUGUST 07, 2006 Bowdoin Backs Away from City Wi-Fi, Cites CALEA Open Source Popular at U.K. Universities Google Debuts Web Site Warnings RIAA Sues LimeWire BOWDOIN BACKS AWAY FROM CITY WI-FI, CITES CALEA A planned rollout of wireless Internet service by Bowdoin College to the residents of in Brunswick, Maine, has been halted, at least temporarily, due to concerns over the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). The FCC has said that the law, which mandates law enforcement access to communications systems, should apply to network operators, including colleges and universities. Higher education has opposed that decision, saying it would be extremely costly for them to comply and that there are other ways for institutions to cooperate with law enforcement. Following legal action and lobbying, a court allowed an exception for "private" networks. Bowdoin, which is in Brunswick, had been working to implement a wireless network in the city for students and town residents. Saying that it isn't clear whether allowing town residents to access the network would compromise its being a "private" network, officials from the college have decided that the network will only be available to students. Mitch Davis, CIO at Bowdoin, noted that the plan to open the network to everyone in town is currently suspended, not dead. Inside Higher Ed, 7 August 2006 http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/08/07/wireless OPEN SOURCE POPULAR AT U.K. UNIVERSITIES According to a survey by Open Source Software Advisory Service (OSS Watch), open source software on campuses in the United Kingdom has moved out of the shadows and into legitimate contention with proprietary software solutions. Results of the survey indicated that although only one-quarter of institutions include open source in their IT policies, 77 percent at least consider open source during procurement. Randy Metcalfe of OSS Watch said, "It's not about explaining what open source is any more, but how to compare open source and proprietary software." The increase in use of Moodle, an open source learning management system, has been especially significant, according to Metcalfe. "To reach 56 percent in two and a half years is amazing," he said. In addition, Firefox, an open source browsers, is reportedly available on 68 percent of university computers (all have Internet Explorer). Of concern to some observers, however, is the fact that very few universities share changes they make to open source software. Many universities have policies dictating that developments are the property of the institution, preventing their being submitted to the open source community for broader use. The Register, 4 August 2006 http://www.theregister.com/2006/08/04/uk_unis_loving_linux/ GOOGLE DEBUTS WEB SITE WARNINGS Google has debuted a new service that warns users who click links to visit sites that have been identified by the Stop Badware coalition, itself a project of Google, Lenovo, and Sun Microsystems. The coalition was founded to help address the problems of spyware and other malicious software by helping users know which sites have distributed such software. Users of Google's search engine who try to access a site on Stop Badware's list are shown a warning that the site they want to visit has been flagged as potentially dangerous, though users are not prevented from going to that site. The warning messages are expected to become more detailed over time, including specific information about exactly how the site tries to install malicious software. A product called Scandoo, from company ScanSafe, performs a similar function for users of Google or MSN. BBC, 7 August 2006 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5251742.stm RIAA SUES LIMEWIRE The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has filed a lawsuit against Lime Group, the company responsible for the LimeWire P2P service, alleging that it is responsible for the copyright infringements of its users. Last year, the RIAA won a Supreme Court ruling that said operators of P2P services can be held liable for such infringements if they do not take adequate steps to keep their services from being used for copyright violations. The RIAA's suit, which is the first of its kind since the Supreme Court ruling, says that the operators of LimeWire are "actively facilitating, encouraging, and enticing" copyright violations and that the company benefits from those actions. The RIAA contends that after other leading P2P companies have either closed down or been converted to legal subscription services, more users now turn to LimeWire for piracy than any other service. A spokesperson from LimeWire declined to comment on the legal action. New York Times, 5 August 2006 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/05/technology/05patent.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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