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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2002 Registrations Open for .us Domain Names ICANN Seeks New .org Operator Europe Targets Organized Crime and Computer Hackers Senate Bill Pushes for Tighter Control of Privacy AND Flash Becomes Accessible Congress Hears Concerns over Web Radio Royalites Global Cyberuniversity Could Open Next Year REGISTRATIONS OPEN FOR .US DOMAIN NAMES Last year NeuStar Inc. won the contract to administer Internet names in the .us domain. A sunrise period, during which U.S. trademark holders were allowed to preregister .us names, ended last month. Applications for names in the domain opened Wednesday to the general public. To be eligible for a .us name, applicants must have a physical presence in the United States. NeuStar will charge registrars, such as Register.com, $5.50 per .us name that they sell to their customers. Washington Post, 23 April 2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36534-2002Apr23.html ICANN SEEKS NEW .ORG OPERATOR ICANN has issued a request for proposals (available at http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-22apr02.htm) to identify a new administrator for the .org domain, traditionally the home to nonprofit and noncommercial organizations. Some observers, including Rob Courtney of the Center for Democracy and Technology, expressed concern over the $35,000 fee that must accompany any application to run the .org domain. Courtney said the fee could disadvantage nonprofits that might bid for the domain. Shari Steele of the Electronic Frontier Foundation said if the bidding process does not favor nonprofits, the domain will likely not be given to a nonprofit. ICANN defended the fee, saying that it is necessary to cover the administrative costs of reviewing the applications and that unused monies will be returned. Dan Halloran of ICANN said that the fee should not be a significant deterrant to the type of organization required to manage the domain. VeriSign, the current custodian of the domain, will provide $5 million in seed money if a nonprofit is selected to run the .org domain. Newsbytes, 23 April 2002 http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176082.html EUROPE TARGETS ORGANIZED CRIME AND COMPUTER HACKERS A proposal before the European Commission would attach prison terms of one to four years to cybercrimes including hacking computers and spreading computer viruses. The proposed regulation attempts to be an umbrella for existing legislation in the 15 nations of the European Union (EU) and would require approval from EU members to take effect. Security experts said that for the law to be effective, companies must be more forthcoming about cyber attacks they have suffered, and EU governments must greatly improve their communication and cooperation. Reuters, 23 April 2002 http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-889332.html SENATE BILL PUSHES FOR TIGHTER CONTROL OF PRIVACY A bill introduced last week by Sen. "Fritz" Hollings would create national standards for privacy in online transactions. The bill would require explicit "opt-in" permission from consumers to collect or share their personal data, and it prevents states from drafting their own privacy rules. Industry groups, however, oppose the bill's terms, which allow consumers to sue companies that violate the law, a provision permitting class-action lawsuits. Kirk Hearth, chief privacy officer at Nationwide Financial Services Inc., said that a small lapse in security could lead to a class-action suit that could "bring [a company] to its knees." An official at the Center for Democracy and Technology, however, said they support the bill: it "moves in exactly the right direction." ComputerWorld, 22 April 2002 http://www.idg.net/ic_851985_1794_9-10000.html AND ***************************************************** FLASH BECOMES ACCESSIBLE Macromedia's Flash application is often the tool of choice for developers who want catchy, animated Web pages, but until recently Flash was inaccessible to users with disabilities. Until Flash MX was released last month, screen readers, which make Web page content available to blind users, could not read Flash content. Even with the new release there was no easy way to add captions for the deaf. Jason Smith, technical director at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, wanted to use Flash to build an educational science site for children but wanted the content to be accessible for users with disabilities. He built a captioning tool that allows developers to create caption XML files, which run as part of the animation. Macromedia has purchased the tool from Smith and will make it available as a free download within a month. Wired News, 23 April 2002 http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,51638,00.html CONGRESS HEARS CONCERNS OVER WEB RADIO ROYALITES A recent recommendation by the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel would require Web radio stations to pay royalties for each song played. Many small radio stations, including many owned by colleges and universities, complained that the fees could put them out of business. This week, a group of Congressional representatives voiced opposition to the recommendation, which they said would significantly impede the industry. The representatives said that the royalty fees run counter to the intent of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The U.S. Copyright Office is expected to vote May 21 on the recommendation. CNET, 23 April 2002 http://news.com.com/2100-1023-890024.html GLOBAL CYBERUNIVERSITY COULD OPEN NEXT YEAR A group of 19 colleges in 15 countries has agreed to sponsor an "international cyberuniversity," which could be up and running by next year. Initial plans for the new university were held at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, which will be responsible for the technical operations. The group faces the issue of what language to use for instruction, as well as many technical challenges, including compatibility of hardware and bandwidths. Degress from the university would be jointly awarded by all of the institutions, which include one U.S. school, Pomona College in Claremont, California. Chronicle of Higher Education, 23 April 2002 http://chronicle.com/free/2002/04/2002042401u.htm ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your settings, visit http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html 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] For past issues of Edupage or information about translations of Edupage into other languages, visit http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE PUBLICATIONS EDUCAUSE publishes periodicals, including "EDUCAUSE Quarterly" and "EDUCAUSE Review," books, and other materials dealing with the impacts and implications of information technology in higher education. 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