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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, DECEMBER 02, 2002 Slow Tech Spending Predicted for Homeland Security Department INS Databases Lose 1,800 Aliens Massachusetts Will Appeal Microsoft Settlement AND New Pressure from Recording Industry on Universities Grid Computing: The Next Big Thing? Software Industry Group Criticizes Open-Source Bias SLOW TECH SPENDING PREDICTED FOR HOMELAND SECURITY DEPARTMENT Despite the considerable task facing the government in creating the Department of Homeland Security--combining 22 existing agencies, including all of their networks and e-mail systems--several experts predict that the department's spending on technology will come at a very slow pace. Jim Kane, president of Federal Sources Inc., said technology companies should not expect a windfall of new spending. Chris Penny of Friedman, Billings, Ramsey and Co. said new spending will likely not materialize until "well into next year." Mark Forman of the Office of Management and Budget cautioned that today's technology, including e-business and Web-based applications, allow agencies to accomplish significant changes with relatively low expense. Several experts, however, forecast annual IT spending of as much as $2.6 billion for the new department. Washington Post, 2 December 2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58459-2002Nov30.html INS DATABASES LOSE 1,800 ALIENS According to the General Accounting Office (GAO), the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has inaccurate or outdated information on record for more than 1,800 of 4,112 aliens the FBI wants to question for information about terrorist threats. The GAO blames the INS's use of more than 16 databases for the agency's inability to locate so many individuals. A response from the Department of Justice, which oversees the INS, said the agency is taking steps to address the problem and will create a single repository for address information for aliens. IDG, 27 November 2002 http://www.idg.net/ic_967597_1794_9-10000.html MASSACHUSETTS WILL APPEAL MICROSOFT SETTLEMENT The state of Massachusetts has decided that it will appeal the settlement of the antitrust case against Microsoft, though legal experts said winning such an appeal will be difficult. Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly said the settlement, approved by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, is full of loopholes and does little to address Microsoft's abuse of its monopoly power. Andrew I. Gavil of the Howard University law school, however, said the appeals court would have to find that Kollar-Kotelly misinterpreted the law, not simply that she ruled improperly on the facts of the case. Other attorneys general involved in the antitrust case doubted that the state would prevail. Connecticut's attorney general said, "Now is the time to end this chapter of the case and focus on enforcement." New York Times, 30 November 2002 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/30/technology/30SOFT.html AND ***************************************************** NEW PRESSURE FROM RECORDING INDUSTRY ON UNIVERSITIES An e-mail sent to Graham B. Spanier, the president of Pennsylvania State University at University Park, from Cary Sherman, president and general counsel of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), says that the recording industry intends to increase its efforts to end piracy. Sherman said in the note that colleges and universities should expect greater numbers of infringement notices from the RIAA: Until now the RIAA has been "somewhat circumspect" in notices sent relative to observed copyright violations. The increase in piracy and continued decrease of CD sales, however, prompted the note from Sherman and the RIAA's increased anti-piracy actions, according to the note. Chronicle of Higher Education, 2 December 2002 http://chronicle.com/free/2002/12/2002120202t.htm GRID COMPUTING: THE NEXT BIG THING? Many experts say that the next wave in computing, particularly for university and research purposes, will be grid computing. Grids are networks of computers, databases, and applications that combine to offer users huge gains in computational speed and the amount of resources available. Some experts suggest that grid computing will fundamentally alter the way we use computers. Rick Herrmann of Intel Corporation said that several countries, including China, are working to develop the best possible infrastructure to support grid computing. The best infrastructure, Herrmann said, will attract the brightest talent. Ian Foster of the University of Chicago, however, warns that it will take many years before the dream of grid computing is fully realized. Chronicle of Higher Education, 27 November 2002 http://chronicle.com/free/2002/11/2002112701t.htm SOFTWARE INDUSTRY GROUP CRITICIZES OPEN-SOURCE BIAS A report from the Initiative for Software Choice (ISC) argues that the government should not have a bias for open-source software because of what it calls "a preconception that open-source software is somehow inherently more secure." The ISC, which includes Microsoft, Intel, and Cisco, was created in May to "educate policymakers" and discourage governments from choosing software based on "categorical preferences." The ISC also challenged a recent report by government contractor MITRE. The MITRE report said that open-source applications already play a much larger role in government computer operations than was previously acknowledged and that such open-source applications constitute a viable alternative to proprietary software. The ISC argues that neither proprietary nor open-source methods for software development results in inherently more secure applications. NewsFactor Network, 2 December 2002 http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/20117.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 "EQ" and "EDUCAUSE Review," books, and other materials dealing with the impacts and implications of information technology in higher education. 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