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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, JUNE 07, 2002 Consumers Group Sues over TV Rights UK Negotiates Software Costs, Considers Open Source Clarke Warns of Computer Security Risks on Campus H-P Changes Strategy for E-Business Software AND Berkeley Course Validates Blogging Apple to Sell eMacs to Consumers ABA Considers Distance Course Accreditation CONSUMERS GROUP SUES OVER TV RIGHTS The Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed a lawsuit in federal court to try to establish the legality of devices that let consumers watch television programming without commercials and send copies of programs over the Internet. The suit names as defendants many of the media companies that recently sued SonicBlue, the maker of one such device. Media companies, which are concerned about their revenue from advertising, argue that watching programs without commercials is tantamount to theft and that transmitting an entire program over the Internet, as happens now with music files, is a violation of intellectual property rights. An attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation said there's a difference between being in a movie theater and in one's living room, and that the entertainment industry is trying to control consumers' personal habits. Wall Street Journal, 6 June 2002 (sub. req'd) http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1023398010499260640,00.html UK NEGOTIATES SOFTWARE COSTS, CONSIDERS OPEN SOURCE The Office of Government Commerce (OGC), an agency of the U.K. Treasury, in March signed a contract with Microsoft that will reportedly save taxpayers $147 million on software over the next three years. The move came after the agency realized that separate departments had formerly negotiated Microsoft contracts with large differences in cost. The united front for negotiations not only will save money but also opened the door for discussions about products from other vendors, including open-source software products. A spokesman from the OGC said he expects something concrete to emerge soon from the discussions about open source. Critics said the government is merely talking about changes and should do more to promote platforms such as Linux. The government's focus, they say, is money rather than security. InfoWorld, 5 June 2002 http://www.idg.net/ic_873584_1794_9-10000.html CLARKE WARNS OF COMPUTER SECURITY RISKS ON CAMPUS This week Richard Clarke, head of the Bush administration's cybersecurity efforts, told attendees at the National Colloquium for Computer Security Education that the federal government is not going to be able to tell business when a cyberattack is going to happen. He said that organizations, most notably many colleges and universities, that have weak security or unprotected networks present easy targets for digital attacks. Clarke also said the $15 billion lost each year to hackers will "seem like nothing" when the impending information war comes. Some who attended the conference were skeptical of the direness of Clarke's message, but many agreed that security education programs today don't address the need for critical thinking and business sense about network security. ComputerWorld, 5 June 2002 http://www.idg.net/ic_873565_1794_9-10000.html H-P CHANGES STRATEGY FOR E-BUSINESS SOFTWARE An official at Hewlett-Packard this week said the company would stop making e-business software and instead partner with other companies to provide customers with tools they need to be on the Web. H-P has not won much of the e-business market. According to Peter Blackmore, an executive vice president at H-P, the company will eliminate its middleware products and establish a partnership model to make the unit profitable. Later in the week, however, a representative from H-P said Blackmore's comments were premature and that the company was still considering several options for its software unit, including completely leaving the e-business software market. A formal strategy announcement is expected at the end of June. CNET, 6 June 2002 http://news.com.com/2100-1001-933624.html AND ***************************************************** BERKELEY COURSE VALIDATES BLOGGING The practice of blogging will hit the mainstream this fall with a new course at the University of California at Berkeley. Other schools, including the University of Southern California, will also cover blogging in their journalism classes this fall. Students in the Berkeley class will study blogging as a form of journalism and will create their own blog on the topic of copyright. Paul Grabowicz, the school's new media program director and one of the instructors of the course, said the blog will not simply be a list of links or collection of students' personal feelings, neither of which, he said, is professional journalism. Reaction from long-time bloggers was largely negative, with many characterizing the move as the establishment trying to co-opt the blogging movement. Wired Magazine, 6 June 2002 http://www.wired.com/news/school/0,1383,52992,00.html APPLE TO SELL EMACS TO CONSUMERS When Apple introduced the eMac recently, it was the least expensive machine the company offered with the G4 processor. But it was only available to schools and teachers. Apple has since decided to offer the eMac to all consumers, and that decision may hurt sales of the very popular iMac. The biggest difference between the two machines is the flat-panel monitor of the iMac, but the CRT of the eMac is larger and has better resolution. For the consumer market, Apple configures eMacs with the same software as that of the iMac. Some observers think that given all of the functional similiarites between the two machines, the lower price of the eMac, $1099 versus $1399, will pull many buyers away from the iMac. NewsFactor Network, 5 June 2002 http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/18094.html ABA CONSIDERS DISTANCE COURSE ACCREDITATION The American Bar Association is considering a proposal to allow accredited law schools to offer distance courses. The proposal would limit the number of hours that a student could take through distance education to 12 of the 80 required to graduate, and first-year students would not be allowed to take any. The rules would apply to law students in residence at accredited law schools. Current rules do not allow any distance education courses to be counted toward a law degree. Officials at several prestigious law schools support the proposal and the educational experimentation that would result. The dean of the Concord University School of Law, which only offers distance education, thinks the proposal does not go far enough to embrace nontraditional education. The school is not currently accredited and would not be under the proposal. Chronicle of Higher Education, 6 June 2002 http://chronicle.com/free/2002/06/2002060601u.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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