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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2002 Deposits from Wireless Auction to Be Returned Dot-Kids Measure Passes Congress Encryption Technique Said to Be Unbreakable AND Report Says Linux Has More Security Flaws than Windows Congress Approves Royalty Deal with Webcasters IBM Aims for Wireless Web Services DEPOSITS FROM WIRELESS AUCTION TO BE RETURNED Companies including Verizon Wireless, Cingular Wireless, VoiceStream Wireless, and AT&T Wireless Services will receive refunds of approximately $490 million held as deposits on portions of spectrum bought at an auction held by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Verizon Wireless had sued the FCC, complaining about delays in transferring the spectrum. The FCC has already returned nearly $3 billion in down payments on the bids, which totaled $16 billion. The agency's new decision gives companies 45 days to cancel their bids and receive refunds. New York Times, 14 November 2002 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/15/technology/15PHON.html DOT-KIDS MEASURE PASSES CONGRESS The Senate and the House of Representatives have passed the Dot-Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act, sending the bill to the White House. The bill would create a second-level domain within the existing top-level .us domain. A top-level .kids domain had been proposed, but criticism from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers and the U.S. Commerce Department led to the kids.us compromise. The bill requires NeuStar, the current operator of the .us domain, to ensure that Web sites in the kids.us area meet the requirements of that domain. Those requirements include not allowing hyperlinks to other than kids.us sites and placing strict limits on chat and instant messaging. Washington Post, 15 November 2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58610-2002Nov15.html ENCRYPTION TECHNIQUE SAID TO BE UNBREAKABLE Researchers at Northwestern University have developed a new form of quantum cryptography that sends encrypted data at speeds of 250 megabits per second and is, according to the reasearchers, unbreakable. Whereas other methods of quantum cryptography work by sending individual photons, the new technique sends large bundles of photons. According to Paul Kwiat, a professor of physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a leading authority on quantum cryptography, the technique is extremely secure because "an eavesdropper can't tap into it without disturbing the photons." If the photons are disturbed, he said, they're gone. Quantum technologies remain a long way from commercial use, but some observers say cryptography could be the first of the quantum technologies to enter real-world applications. ZDNet, 15 November 2002 http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-965957.html AND ***************************************************** REPORT SAYS LINUX HAS MORE SECURITY FLAWS THAN WINDOWS A new report from the Aberdeen Group says that open-source software now presents more security vulnerabilities than software from Microsoft. According to the report, 16 of the 29 advisories released by CERT (the Computer Emergency Response Team) in the first 10 months of this year dealt with security flaws in Linux, whereas Microsoft products accounted for 7 advisories. Security problems must be severe to warrant an advisory from CERT. Eric Hemmendinger, coauthor of the report, said the problems with Linux are in part a result of there being "no single entity responsible for quality assurance or for addressing security issues." Hemmendinger also said Microsoft's attention to coding practices and security concerns may have led to the company's improved record for security flaws. NewsFactor Network, 15 November 2002 http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/19996.html CONGRESS APPROVES ROYALTY DEAL WITH WEBCASTERS Both houses of Congress have passed a bill outlining the terms of an agreement reached between the recording industry and Webcasters. The agreement allows copyright owners to charge royalty rates different from those established by the U.S. Copyright Office in June. Many small Webcasters has complained that paying those rates would have put them out of business. SoundExchange, the company that collects royalty payments, is free under the terms of the bill to establish lower royalty rates for small Webcasters. The bill also gives noncommercial Webcasters a six-month extension for paying retroactive royalties. Associated Press, 15 November 2002 (registration req'd) http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/621270p-4775485c.html IBM AIMS FOR WIRELESS WEB SERVICES IBM has released the Web Services Toolkit for Mobile Devices, giving developers tools to build applications for Palm handhelds, Pocket PCs running Windows CE, or devices running BlackBerry. Bob Sutor, director of Web Services Strategy at IBM, said the toolkit anticipates increasing use of mobile devices from a range of vendors. Analyst Stephen O'Grady said there is a "ready-made market for mobile services" but that concerns over security and management of transactions are larger obstacles to adoption of Web services than support of different sorts of devices. The toolkit is available as a free download and will be incorporated into IBM's WebSphere Studio Device Developer. CNET, 15 November 2002 http://news.com.com/2100-1001-965984.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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