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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, MARCH 10, 2003 Employers Look to Limit Non-Work Web Use Computer Waste Bill Reintroduced City Supplements Alarm with PC Notices Afghanistan Gets Own Domain AND Diploma Mills Shut Down Dell Refund Offer Rouses Customer Ire EMPLOYERS LOOK TO LIMIT NON-WORK WEB USE As the Web and Web usage continue to grow, more employers seek to monitor employees' e-mail and Internet use to gauge worker productivity, limit network traffic, and prevent the spread of computer viruses. An FBI survey found that employees at 78 percent of companies had misused the Internet, and a study by IDC estimates that 30 to 40 percent of Internet surfing during work hours is not work related. An alternative to monitoring Web use and "spying" on employees is highly customized blocking software that can block specific sites entirely or enable site visits for discrete amounts of time or during certain hours of the day. Websense Inc. offers such employee Internet management software to 18,000 customers worldwide that allows clients to define access to 4.2 million Web sites, divided by categories. Privacy advocates applaud blocking software as preferable to monitoring, which one employee advocate labeled a "privacy nightmare." Washington Post, 8 March 2003 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59366-2003Mar7.html COMPUTER WASTE BILL REINTRODUCED Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) last week reintroduced the National Computer Recycling Act, which died in last year's Congress. The bill would add a $10 surcharge to the price of every computer and monitor sold in the United States, to be used to fund what Thompson called a national infrastructure for recycling computers and dealing with computer waste. Specifically, the Environmental Protection Agency would administer a grant program to fund state and local computer recycling programs. The bill is also intended to encourage electronics manufacturers to set up programs for consumers to return unwanted computers and monitors for recycling. Some computer makers, including Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and IBM, already offer return and recycling programs, but consumer participation has thus far been modest. ZDNet, 10 March 2003 http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-991638.html CITY SUPPLEMENTS ALARM WITH PC NOTICES The city of Lincoln, Nebraska, is about to introduce a new system that allows the public to download a new emergency alert application from the city's Web site. When government officials have urgent warnings for the community, such as notices about weather or about national or local security, computer users who have downloaded the application will hear an alarm and then will see the warning in a pop-up box. Information about the warning, as well as URLs for further information, will be included. The system will work in conjunction with existing alert systems for television and radio. The system also allows targeted alerts to particular groups of users, such as school administrators in the event of a school shooting. An official from the city said the system will later be available for PDAs, cell phones, and beepers. Federal Computer Week, 10 March 2003 http://www.fcw.com/geb/articles/2003/0310/web-lincoln-03-10-03.asp AFGHANISTAN GETS OWN DOMAIN The U.N. Development Program (UNDP) and the Afghan Ministry of Communications have worked together to establish the ".af" Internet domain, set to debut this week. The top-level domain, representing the country's "planting its flag in cyberspace," marks Afghanistan's first step toward carving out its own portion of cyber real estate. Under Taliban rule, using the Internet was forbidden, though an Afghan citizen initially registered the .af domain in 1997. Communications Minister Mohammad Moassom Stanakzai said, "For Afghanistan, this is like reclaiming part of our sovereignty." So far only two .af sites have been registered. One belongs to the Afghan Ministry of Communications and the other to the UNDP. Associated Press, 9 March 2003 (registration req'd) http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/799133p-5699596c.html AND ***************************************************** DIPLOMA MILLS SHUT DOWN A four-year effort by British and U.S. officials resulted in the closure of Web sites offering fake degrees from 14 nonexistent U.K. institutions in the areas of teaching, child care, and technology. The operation, run by an Israeli couple with offices in Israel, Romania, and the United States, employed 30 Romanian staff and targeted millions daily with e-mails. British authorities noted that shutting down the sites was difficult because those who purchased the degrees--mostly in North America--knew the degrees were fake. Buyers of the bogus credentials often used them to obtain positions for which they were not qualified. Investigator Tony Allen said, "Those people who bought the degrees knew exactly what they were doing. The complaints we received were actually from colleagues of those who got jobs by lying." Margaret Hodge, Britain's higher education minister, highlighted the importance of international cooperation in shutting down such operations. BBC, 7 March 2003 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/2829237.stm DELL REFUND OFFER ROUSES CUSTOMER IRE A targeted refund offer from Dell Computer spun out of control when news of it was posted on a message board, prompting many who were not eligible for the discounts to claim them. The promotion, which ended in December, offered refunds to students and faculty at certain universities and to employees of five particular companies. When information was posted on the message board, however, it reportedly lacked details identifying who was eligible for the refunds. Dell said it will not offer the refunds for ineligible consumers and is currently working to sort out which claims will be honored. A Dell spokesman said the number of denied claims would likely be around 2,500. Some consumers complained about Dell's handling of the situation, accusing the company of acting in bad faith. Wired News, 9 March 2003 http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,57980,00.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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