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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, MAY 03, 2002 Congressmen Introduce Bill Requiring Biometric Markers AMD Licenses Embedded Chip Architecture Notebook Sales Continue to Grow IBM Servers Need No Human Input AND University Systems a Haven for Hackers Companies Join to Fight Virus Attacks DrinkOrDie Figure Sentenced CONGRESSMEN INTRODUCE BILL REQUIRING BIOMETRIC MARKERS Congressmen Jim Moran (D-Va.) and Tom Davis (R-Va.) have proposed a $315 million program mandating biometric markers on all driver's licenses within five years. The representatives want licenses to carry the driver's retinal scan, fingerprint, or some other kind of biometric marker in an encrypted chip. The legislation would also require states to use tougher criteria in verifying identity when people apply for a driver's license, as well as strengthen federal identity theft laws by making it a federal crime to alter a license. Moran spokesman Dan Drummond said the card would help protect privacy by reducing the use of Social Security numbers for identification. The card would not be linked to a federal database, said Drummond, although the states would share data under the proposal. ComputerWorld, 2 May 2002 http://www.idg.net/ic_855521_1794_9-10000.html AMD LICENSES EMBEDDED CHIP ARCHITECTURE Advanced Micro Devices has licensed a 64-bit embedded chip architecture to power personal digital assistants and other devices based on the Windows CE .NET operating system. AMD said chips based on the MIPS Technologies architecture will be used in an array of multimedia devices, including Internet-enabled ones. The move positions AMD to compete in the growing personal device market, which includes game and music players, going up against established competitors like Intel and Hitachi. NewsFactor Network, 3 May 2002 http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/17588.html NOTEBOOK SALES CONTINUE TO GROW Market research from IDC indicates that, for the third year running, notebook PCs increased their share of the PC market compared to desktop systems. In the first quarter of 2002 notebooks were 23.8 percent of worldwide PC shipments, up from 21.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2001 and 22.3 percent in the first quarter of 2001. Companies that sell both notebooks and desktops typically profit more from notebooks because they can charge a premium for portability, according to IDC. Still, it will take time for notebooks to reach 50 percent of all PC shipments. IDC predicts that, with the return of corporate buyers to the market, the percentage of notebooks sold will rise to about 25 percent by 2005 and as much as 30 percent by 2006. CNET, 3 May 2002 http://news.com.com/2100-1040-898370.html IBM SERVERS NEED NO HUMAN INPUT IBM has begun the second phase in its eLiza plan to build computers that can anticipate and recover from problems without human intervention. The company's Enterprise Workload Manager software governs not just single servers but groups, monitoring the machines and shifting work among them. Selected IBM customers will be able to try the workload management software later this year. The software will be available on mainframes and Unix, Windows, and Linux servers in 2003. IBM will also announce several eLiza components for individual servers, available earlier than the Enterprise Workload Manager. IBM competitor Sun Microsystems announced "N1" earlier this year, which treats groups of computers like a single pool of processing and storage power. In addition, Hewlett-Packard plans a "utility data center" to simplify management of data centers. CNET, 1 May 2002 http://news.com.com/2100-1001-897080.html AND ****************************************************** UNIVERSITY SYSTEMS A HAVEN FOR HACKERS Campus politics and a failure to pay enough attention to computer security can expose college networks to hacking and online piracy. So said David Dittrich, senior security engineer with the University of Washington, speaking at the CanSecWest security conference in Vancouver. While some campuses install appropriate security, Dittrich said, most academic networks offer tempting targets for on- and off-campus hackers because of their lack of security, abundant bandwidth, and overworked administrators. CNET, 2 May 2002 http://news.com.com/2100-1001-898084.html COMPANIES JOIN TO FIGHT VIRUS ATTACKS Internet Security Systems and Network Associates have agreed to a three-year partnership in which they will integrate some of their products and their research teams and create new products to better address blended computer attacks like the Nimda and Code Red worms. The companies plan to combine Network Associates' Sniffer network detection and analysis software, McAfee antivirus software, and ePolicy Orchestrator management system with ISS' RealSecure Intrusion Detection System and SiteProtector management console. In addition, NAI's AVERT Labs and ISS's X-Force research groups will work together to respond to emerging threats. PCWorld, 2 May 2002 http://www.idg.net/ic_855509_1794_9-10000.html DRINKORDIE FIGURE SENTENCED A judge in the U.S. District Court of Alexandria, Virginia, sentenced DrinkOrDie supplier Barry Erickson to 33 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release. Under a plea agreement, Erickson, at one time a systems engineer with Internet security firm Symantec Corp., pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement. Erickson provided Symantec software to the software piracy group DrinkOrDie for illegal sale on the Internet. Erickson is the eighth DrinkOrDie member to plead guilty in Virginia to charges related to the illegal online distribution of copyrighted software, games, and movies. On February 22, DrinkOrDie leader John Sankus Jr. pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement. Sankus is scheduled to be sentenced May 17. Newsbytes, 3 May 2002 http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176358.html ***************************************************** 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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