***************************************************** Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. *****************************************************
TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2002 Homeland Security Bill Includes Internet Provisions Report Gives U.S. Agencies Failing Grade for Security Group Aims for Standards for Office Documents AND Study Estimates Plagiarism Rate in Australian Higher Education Online Advanced-Placement Courses for High School Students Comment Period Opens for DMCA HOMELAND SECURITY BILL INCLUDES INTERNET PROVISIONS The bill creating the Department of Homeland Security, which recently passed Congress, includes provisions affecting cybersecurity and tools for enforcing such. The bill expands sentencing for convicted cybercriminals, allowing for sentences of life in prison if an electronic attack causes or attempts to cause death. The bill also adds protections for Internet service providers that turn over subscribers' information to the government "in good faith," even when a warrant has not been issued for that information. Also included in the Homeland Security Bill is a provision that allows the government to trace e-mails and Internet traffic without any court approval if a cyberattack is happening. New York Times, 19 November 2002 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/pages/technology/text/index.html REPORT GIVES U.S. AGENCIES FAILING GRADE FOR SECURITY A new report from the House Government Reform subcommittee on government efficiency gives failing grades in electronic security to 14 of the 24 largest federal departments and agencies. Rep. Stephen Horn (R-Calif.), who chairs the panel, said that the overall grade is an "F," which it was last year, also. The worst grades were given for the departments of Justice, State, Defense and Transportation, while the Social Security Administration received a "B-," the highest grade of the 24. Robert F. Dacey of the General Accounting Office and author of the report said that the grades do not necessarily indicate that security is getting worse. Rather, the marks indicate that "information security weaknesses are becoming more fully understood," which he called "an important step toward addressing the overall problem." Washington Post, 20 November 2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12321-2002Nov19.html GROUP AIMS FOR STANDARDS FOR OFFICE DOCUMENTS A new technical committee of the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) aims to establish XML-based standards that would allow office documents, including spreadsheets and word processor files, to work with various vendors' applications. The Open Office XML Format Technical Committee will work to free documents from proprietary formats that stand in the way of interoperability of office products, such as Microsoft's Office, Corel's Word Perfect, and Sun Microsystems's StarOffice. According to one analyst, the technology exists to make this sort of compatibility possible, but it will require "a lot of cross-industry cooperation." Microsoft, which is a member of OASIS, will not initially take part in the new committee. The company said that Office 11, the next version of its office application, will support an XML-based technology called XSD 1.0, which is being developed by the World Wide Web Consortium. IDG, 20 November 2002 http://www.idg.net/ic_965737_1794_9-10000.html AND ***************************************************** STUDY ESTIMATES PLAGIARISM RATE IN AUSTRALIAN HIGHER EDUCATION A new study of six Australian universities indicates that as many as 14 percent of Australian college students might be plagiarizing material from the Internet. The study submitted nearly 2,000 student papers to Turnitin.com, which compares papers to information available on public Web sites and to other student papers submitted to the service. Turnitin.com reported that for this sample, 14 percent of the papers had at least 5 percent of their material copied from elsewhere; nearly 9 percent of the papers included more than 25 percent plagiarized material. The company that conducted the study is recommending that the schools use Turnitin.com to stem cheating and that they take steps to educate students about cheating and plagiarism. Chronicle of Higher Education, 20 November 2002 http://chronicle.com/free/2002/11/2002112001t.htm ONLINE ADVANCED-PLACEMENT COURSES FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS The University of Wisconsin at Madison announced it will create a series of online advanced-placement courses for high school students. The courses will be developed under the auspices of a new organization, the Wisconsin Advanced Placement Distance Learning Consortium, created at the university's School of Education. The university will train high-school teachers to administer the courses, which will be available next fall. According to an official involved, 25 percent of Wisconsin's high schools do not offer advanced-placement courses, while some schools only provide a few. The online nature of the courses is intended to make them available to the state's rural and inner-city students, many of whom do not have access to such courses otherwise. Organizers expect initially to offer courses in 12 subjects to between 500 and 700 students. Chronicle of Higher Education, 19 November 2002 http://chronicle.com/free/2002/11/2002111901t.htm COMMENT PERIOD OPENS FOR DMCA The latest federally mandated public comment period on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) opened this week and will end on December 18. Passage of the DMCA in 1998 included stipulations that the U.S. Copyright Office would conduct periodic reviews of the law. One of the most often discussed elements of the law is a prohibition on circumventing technological protections for copyrighted work. This anti-circumvention provision is expected to draw a significant number of comments in the review period. The Copyright Office is responsible for determining exceptions to the anti-circumvention provision. Groups opposed to the DMCA, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, hope that the review will lead to more consideration from the Copyright Office for research and other legitimate activities that are threatened by the DMCA. The group noted, however, that real change cannot happen until the law is amended, despite ongoing review cycles. PCWorld, 20 November 2002 http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,107129,00.asp ***************************************************** 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. For information on EDUCAUSE publications see http://www.educause.edu/pub/ ***************************************************** CONFERENCES For information about EDUCAUSE conferences and other professional development opportunities, visit http://www.educause.edu/conference/ ***************************************************** COPYRIGHT Edupage copyright (c) 2002, EDUCAUSE
