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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 06, 2002 Verizon Refuses to Disclose User's Identity Migrating to a New PC Should Be Simple Microsoft Breaks Ranks, Develops Single-Server Plan AND Duke University Receives Grant to Limit Copyright Expansion University of Hawaii Offers Online Course in Hawaiian Language Canadian Survey Shows Education and Experience Are Needed VERIZON REFUSES TO DISCLOSE USER'S IDENTITY Arguing that its customers have a constitutional right to privacy, Verizon Communications is refusing to reveal the identity of one of its users to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The RIAA sent a subpoena to Verizon, saying that it had discovered the Internet address of a user who was trading in pirated music and wanted Verizon to reveal that user's identity. The company refused on the grounds that the request for information was overly broad, based on nothing more than an allegation of wrongdoing. A spokesperson for Verizon said the company does not condone piracy, but that as a provider of Internet connections, Verizon is not responsible for the actions of its users. The RIAA complains that Verizon refuses to police its users while also refusing to disclose information that would allow the RIAA or others to do so. Washington Post, 5 September 2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38034-2002Sep4.html MIGRATING TO A NEW PC SHOULD BE SIMPLE Ten companies, including IBM, Microsoft, Intel, and Symantec, announced they have created a new work group focused on reducing the cost and complexity of migrating to a new PC. Gartner research from 2000 indicated that a streamlined migration plan could save an organization as much as $124, or 55 percent, per computer. The PC Migration Work Group will strive to raise awareness of existing products that help users transfer files and data to new machines, and to develop standards that will facilitate easier migration. According to the chair of the work group, migration companies now have a hard time picking apart applications and data to be transferred. Standards that software vendors could apply to their code could make the migration process significantly simpler, with fewer chances for problems. NewsFactor Network, 5 September 2002 http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/19320.html MICROSOFT BREAKS RANKS, DEVELOPS SINGLE-SERVER PLAN Unlike the approach of such companies as BEA Systems and IBM, Microsoft said it will not develop a separate application server, instead rolling that functionality into its upcoming .Net Server 2003 operating system. The new operating system, available early next year, will support Web services and Internet applications. According to an official at Microsoft, the system represents a new paradigm for application servers, treating "XML natively in the operating system as we would treat any other protocol." The result, he said, is a fast, efficient operating system because the application server functionality is built in rather than added on top of the operating system. InfoWorld, 6 September 2002 http://www.idg.net/ic_945504_1794_9-10000.html AND ***************************************************** DUKE UNIVERSITY RECEIVES GRANT TO LIMIT COPYRIGHT EXPANSION An anonymous donor has given $1 million to the Duke University Law School to fund efforts to find "the correct balance" of copyrighted material and that which is available in the public domain. The money will fund a new center that will consider laws such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and their impact on access to creative work. An official at Duke said the balance between the rights of intellectual property owners and the public domain has in recent years shifted in favor of copyright owners, to the detriment of having "a rich culture and an innovative society." CNET, 4 September 2002 http://news.com.com/2100-1023-956637.html UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII OFFERS ONLINE COURSE IN HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE A new online course from the University of Hawaii at Hilo offers what officials from the university believe is the first indigenous language taught entirely over the Internet. Based in part on the work of Keola Donaghy, the course provides online instruction in what all agree is, whether written or spoken, an extremely difficult language. For nearly 10 years, Donaghy has been working on various applications that allow computers to properly pronounce Hawaiian words. Students can practice and get feedback on pronunciation--a vital part of the language--over the Internet using Donaghy's technology. Donaghy has also developed fonts, modified keyboards, and translated various applications into Hawaiian, and he was able to get Apple Computer to include support for Hawaiian in its OS X 10.2 operating system. The new course is in introductory Hawaiian, but the university plans to offer advanced classes in later semesters. Wired News, 6 September 2002 http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,54938,00.html CANADIAN SURVEY SHOWS EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE ARE NEEDED A survey conducted by Statistics Canada reinforced the opinion of Paul Swinwood, president of the Software Human Resource Council, one of the survey's sponsors, that people need both formal education and work experience to find an IT job. The survey covered IT employees in three industries: insurance; architecture, engineering, and related services; and computer systems design. Swinwood advised that students hoping to enter the IT workforce should have a grounding in the "why" of technology, not just the "what," such as a programming language, because the "what" changes every 18 months. He also suggested that students should consider what industry interests them, because IT work is so different from one industry to another, and get some real-world experience in that industry. ITWorld, 5 September 2002 http://www.idg.net/ic_945107_1794_9-10000.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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