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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, JUNE 05, 2002 H-P Cuts Jobs as Part of Restructuring Digital TV Struggles with Copyright Issues Motorola Restructures Internet Unit AND CollegisEduprise Goes Public Oracle Adds Clustering to Linux IBM Leaves Disk Drives Behind H-P CUTS JOBS AS PART OF RESTRUCTURING After the tumultuous acquisition of Compaq, Hewlett-Packard must now restructure itself and will lay off 15,000 employees as part of that program. H-P CEO Carly Fiorina said 10,000 will be laid off by November 1, with the remaining cuts to come in fiscal year 2003. According to Fiorina, the company can realize the cuts through voluntary programs, including offers for early retirement. The company also said it anticipates $3 billion in savings on changes to non-personnel items, including real estate and procurement. Fiorina and other officials from H-P offered optimistic projections for the company, saying that the transition is ahead of schedule and that the company anticipates revenue growth of seven to nine percent by 2004. CNET, 4 June 2002 http://news.com.com/2100-1001-931718.html DIGITAL TV STRUGGLES WITH COPYRIGHT ISSUES The Broadcast Protection Discussion Group on Monday released a report indicating the difficulties that owners of digital TV face in protecting copyrights. The group was formed last November to address the issue of consumers' sending and trading digital TV broadcasts in the same manner that music is traded online. The report does not prescribe any particular actions but attempts to present the challenges facing the industry, though there were significant areas of disagreement among members of the group. The group did agree to support the "broadcast flag," an indicator that consumer devices would use to regulate copying and sharing of broadcasts. Critics of the group said the report does not allow for fair use. Joe Kraus of DigitalConsumer.org said the report "assumes that everyone who tries to send content on the Internet is a criminal." Washington Post, 5 June 2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60770-2002Jun4.html MOTOROLA RESTRUCTURES INTERNET UNIT In a statement issued by the company, Motorla Inc. said it would split its Internet technology group into three separate business units, each focused on a different market. The Transmission Networks business will cover telecommunications products, including those for high-speed fiber-optic networks. The IP Systems branch will concern itself with broadband applications for data, voice, and video, and will have responsibility for Motorola's virtual private networks business. The IP Communications Gateways group will cover consumer products, including modems, wireless networks, and streaming audio. San Jose Mercury News, 5 June 2002 http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/3405148.htm AND ***************************************************** COLLEGISEDUPRISE GOES PUBLIC E-learning company CollegisEduprise, formed recently from the union of Collegis and Eduprise, announced that it will hold an initial public offering of stock. The new company hopes to raise $75 million in a climate of very few IPOs, fallout from the troubles in the technology sector. However, Sean Robert Gallagher, an analyst with Eduventures, said the IPO shows continued strength in the education market, though he questions whether the trend will continue. No details were announced regarding share price, number of shares, or what portion of the company will be offered. Chronicle of Higher Education, 4 June 2002 http://chronicle.com/free/2002/06/2002060401t.htm ORACLE ADDS CLUSTERING TO LINUX Database maker Oracle announced that a new release of its 9i database will run on a Linux cluster. Oracle worked with Dell Computer and Red Hat, distributor of Linux, to create the new software, and Dell said its PowerEdge servers will run the new application. Oracle is trying to regain ground it lost recently in the database market. IBM and Sun Microsystems control much of the market for large servers (those with more than four or eight processors), but Linux clustering is a good solution for smaller servers. Spreading a single database over several machines is where Oracle hopes to advance. Still, Oracle faces competition from IBM, which has for two years had a database that works on a Linux cluster. CNET, 5 June 2002 http://news.com.com/2100-1001-932546.html IBM LEAVES DISK DRIVES BEHIND Hitachi and IBM have finalized an agreement announced in April for Hitachi to buy most of IBM's hard disk drive business, including the associated patents. Under the terms of the deal, Hitachi will begin with 70 percent ownership and will own all of the hard disk business in three years. IBM will continue using hard disk technology as part of other, more complex storage systems. Despite the role that the technology has played in IBM's strong history in the computer market, the company has had difficulty in recent years in keeping the hard disk drive operations running profitably. New York Times, 4 June 2002 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/04/technology/04DISK.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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