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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2003 File-Sharing Company Files Its Own Suit Apple Drops Prices to Stay Competitive Yahoo to Offer Music Subscription Service AND RIAA Not Asking Campuses for Users' Identities, Yet Lawmakers Try to Limit Social Security Numbers as ID The Value of IT Certifications Schools Added to eArmyU Program Open University Partners with New School University FILE-SHARING COMPANY FILES ITS OWN SUIT Sharman Networks, owner of the Kazaa file-sharing service, has filed a counter suit in Los Angeles court, charging major record labels and movie studios with collusion in trying to force online competitors out of business. The entertainment industry has sued Sharman for its part in copyright infringement, saying the Kazaa network is as legally responsible as Napster for violations. Sharman claims that its service is qualitatively different and is not responsible for the actions of its users. The new suit asks the court to find that the entertainment industry has violated antitrust laws and to prohibit record labels and movie studios from enforcing any of their copyrights. CNET, 27 January 2003 http://news.com.com/2100-1023-982344.html APPLE DROPS PRICES TO STAY COMPETITIVE Apple Computer has revised some of its product line and lowered prices in an attempt to deal with sagging sales. The entry-level Power Mac now comes with a 1 GHz processor, rather than dual 867 MHz processors, and costs $1,499, down from $1,699. CD and DVD drives also burn discs as much as twice as fast as did older models. Apple also lowered prices on flat-panel monitors, potentially signaling a new round of price battles for the monitors. The most powerful Power Mac, which retails for $2,699, now comes with dual 1.42 GHz processors. Apple recently reported its second consecutive quarterly loss. Toni Dubois, analyst at consulting firm ARS, said, "[W]ith this new trio of Power Macs, I honestly do see Apple trying to offer a better value." San Jose Mercury News, 29 January 2003 http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/5053116.htm YAHOO TO OFFER MUSIC SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE Yahoo has announced it will launch a new music subscription service, called Launchcast Plus, that will cost $3.99 a month or $35.99 a year. Launchcast will be a commercial-free streaming service and will allow subscribers to customize music channels from a broad base of offerings. The service will be free to subscribers of SBC Yahoo DSL, Yahoo�s joint venture DSL with SBC Communications. Launchcast is another premium service Yahoo is promoting, like its beefed-up e-mail service Yahoo Mail Plus at $29.99 a year, intended to shift income from ads to subscriptions. The announcement comes on the heels of a settlement with Sony Music Entertainment of a lawsuit filed in mid-2001 by Sony over copyright issues for streaming media. The settlement included a one-time payment for past use of copyrighted material and a license agreement for future use on Launchcast. PCWorld, 29 January 2003 http://www.idg.net/ic_1055980_9677_1-5041.html AND ***************************************************** RIAA NOT ASKING CAMPUSES FOR USERS' IDENTITIES, YET A federal judge recently ruled in favor of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in a dispute over revealing identities of an Internet service provider's (ISP's) users suspected of violating copyrights. The judge said that under the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Verizon Communications was required to release the identity of a user requested by copyright owners. Cary Sherman, president and general counsel of the RIAA, said he considers universities to be ISPs under the terms of the law, but said his group has so far not sent subpoenas to any institutions demanding the identity of suspected copyright violators. He said he hopes the problem can be addressed by good faith efforts on both sides and that the RIAA "would hope not to have to be going down the road we had to go down with Verizon." Tracy B. Mitrano of Cornell University noted that any attempt to wrest personal student information from a university would run headlong into deep-rooted traditions of academic freedom and personal privacy. Chronicle of Higher Education, 29 January 2003 http://chronicle.com/free/2003/01/2003012901t.htm LAWMAKERS TRY TO LIMIT SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS AS ID Responding to the growing incidence and risk of identity theft, California Assemblyman Joseph Simitian has introduced a bill in the state legislature that would limit use of Social Security numbers as identification. The bill would prohibit employers from using Social Security numbers "for any purpose other than taxes" and would prohibit universities from putting the numbers on student IDs. Another bill in California would put strict limits on how and where government agencies could use and post Social Security numbers. Chris Hoofnagle of the Electronic Privacy Information Center said a number of incidents of identity theft have prompted several colleges, universities, and other state governments to question having Social Security numbers available in relatively prominent places where they can easily be obtained. Wired News, 29 January 2003 http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,57395,00.html THE VALUE OF IT CERTIFICATIONS Many companies offer IT certification programs for users working with that company's products. Cisco Systems, for example, offers several types and levels of certifications, ranging from a Cisco Certified Network Associate to a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert. Cisco training costs between $2,000 and $2,500, and other fees are charged for exams. Certification programs are also offered by companies including Microsoft and Red Hat, and by organizations such as the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium. Prerequisites, cost, length of program, and focus of certification vary substantially among all the programs offered, but evidence generally shows an appreciable payoff for such training. Starting salaries for those with certifications are often substantially higher, and many with IT certifications also see larger raises and better promotion opportunities. NewsFactor Network, 29 January 2003 http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/20600.html SCHOOLS ADDED TO EARMYU PROGRAM Founded in January 2001, eArmyU, the Army's distance-education program, is adding a dozen institutions to its current roster of 20 participating colleges and universities. Nearly 31,000 men and women at more than 20 Army bases in the United States and abroad are currently enrolled in the program. Due to increased demand and popularity, enrollment is expected to rise to 80,000 by 2005. Sixty-eight degree programs will be added to the existing 100 with the involvement of the new participating institutions, including Watertown, N.Y.-based Jefferson Community College, where about a third of current students are soldiers. Jill Kidwell, a partner at IBM Business Consulting Services, which is contracted by the Army to operate eArmyU, said the demand for the program is "astounding" and that the expansion of eArmyU will address "not only a growing enrollment, but also demands for different kinds of courses." Chronicle of Higher Education, 28 January 2003 http://chronicle.com/free/2003/01/2003012802t.htm OPEN UNIVERSITY PARTNERS WITH NEW SCHOOL UNIVERSITY British-based Open University and New School University in New York have announced a partnership designed to promote each institution's programs overseas. Both schools focus on adult education, and each is interested in expanding into new markets. Open University has made several unsuccessful attempts to enter the American market, including the U.S. Open University, which closed last summer. In the new partnership, the two institutions will market each other's distance-education courses, develop new courses, and offer a joint management certification program. An official from New School University called the partnership a "natural fit" and said it would "bring us to the European and Commonwealth market the way we were never able to reach before." Chronicle of Higher Education, 28 January 2003 http://chronicle.com/free/2003/01/2003012801t.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 "EQ" and "EDUCAUSE Review," books, and other materials dealing with the impacts and implications of information technology in higher education. 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