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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 2003 Another No from PeopleSoft Board Senate Committee Approves Can Spam Act AND Organization Pays Author Fees for Scientific Journals RIAA Notifies File-Traders Harvard and MIT to Form Genome Institute ANOTHER NO FROM PEOPLESOFT BOARD PeopleSoft's board of directors has rejected the second takeover bid from Oracle, saying the offer "undervalues the company and is not in the best interest of PeopleSoft stockholders." According to a statement from the board, Oracle's offer to buy PeopleSoft "is highly conditional, faces significant regulatory delays and uncertainty, and threatens serious damage to our business." Despite comments from Oracle to the contrary, PeopleSoft's board believes Oracle would discontinue PeopleSoft products if the takeover goes through, and this would "subject PeopleSoft's business to irreparable damage." PeopleSoft is continuing its efforts to acquire J.D. Edwards, a move that is seen as an impediment to Oracle's taking over PeopleSoft. Wall Street Journal, 20 June 2003 (sub. req'd) http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB105611293777065100,00.html SENATE COMMITTEE APPROVES CAN SPAM ACT The Senate Commerce Committee has approved the Can Spam Act of 2003, sponsored by Senators Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). The bill is supported by major e-mail providers, including Microsoft, AOL, Yahoo, and EarthLink, as well as online auction site Ebay. Some consumer and anti-spam groups see the proposed legislation as inadequate because it simply addresses fraudulent e-mail practices, such as faking return addresses and not complying with customer opt-out requests. Unsolicited e-mail that does not violate such rules would be allowed. Groups opposing the legislation call for an opt-in approach, which would disallow any commercial e-mail that consumers had not clearly stated they were willing to receive. Burns and Wyden said they will continue to try to strengthen the law as it moves through Congress. Washington Post, 20 June 2003 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14366-2003Jun19.html AND ***************************************************** ORGANIZATION PAYS AUTHOR FEES FOR SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS A British higher education organization will pay BioMed Central $138,000 over 15 months in an agreement that will allow members of BioMed Central to publish for free in the company's more than 90 online journals. BioMed Central--whose 331 members are largely British institutions but which include Harvard University, Princeton University, and Yale University--offers most of its content free but typically charges authors $500. The agreement with the Joint Information Systems Committee, the organization paying the fee, represents a new model for academic publishing. According to a spokesman from the committee, British libraries spend $128 million each year on journals. The new agreement, he said, will not replace the traditional system right away but could go a long way toward providing a new, less-expensive option for scholarly publishing. Chronicle of Higher Education, 20 June 2003 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/06/2003062001t.htm RIAA NOTIFIES FILE-TRADERS As part of its recent push to prosecute individuals whom it suspects of illegally sharing copyrighted music through peer-to-peer networks, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has sent cease-and-desist letters to five people. Efforts to sue companies such as Grokster and Morpheus that offer file-sharing services for copyright infringement have failed, leading the RIAA to sue individuals, including four students who settled with the RIAA in May. Verizon Communications, after a lengthy legal battle, was recently ordered to reveal the identities of four of the suspected file swappers who received letters, and Internet service provider EarthLink followed suit and disclosed the identify of the fifth recipient. The RIAA is not revealing the suspects' names, their responses, or further planned legal action. CNET, 19 June 2003 http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-1019184.html HARVARD AND MIT TO FORM GENOME INSTITUTE Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will join forces on a new research institute funded by a $100 million grant from Eli and Edythe Broad. Also involved in the project will be the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute will include researchers in the fields of biology, medicine, engineering, and chemistry and will study the application of genomic research to the causes and treatments of diseases. The institute's goal is to address the causes of diseases rather than simply treating symptoms. Harvard and MIT will try to raise another $200 million in private funding for the institute. New York Times, 20 June 2003 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/20/science/20GENO.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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