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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, JULY 14, 2003 Senate Allows No Funds for TIA Senate Puts the Brakes on CAPPS II Yahoo Buys Overture AND RIAA Pursues More Students PeopleSoft Gets Green Light to Buy J.D. Edwards SENATE ALLOWS NO FUNDS FOR TIA The U.S. Senate may effectively kill the controversial Terrorism Information Awareness (TIA) program (formerly the Total Information Awareness program) through a budget that forbids funding the program. Republican Senator Ted Stevens spearheaded the addition of language to the Senate's defense appropriations bill that explicitly disallows any money to be used for the program, which has been criticized from privacy groups as well as legislators on both sides of the aisle. The bill is likely to pass a Senate vote, at which time a committee will attempt to reconcile the Senate's appropriations bill with that of the House, whose version does not include the ban on spending for TIA. Observers expect that opponents of TIA will succeed in killing the program. Wired News, 14 July 2003 http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,59606,00.html SENATE PUTS THE BRAKES ON CAPPS II The Senate Appropriations Committee has voted to restrict all funding for the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS II) until the General Accounting Office provides evidence of the program's impact on privacy. The CAPPS II program was designed to perform background checks on all airline passengers, including looking at criminal records and credit reports, and to assign each passenger a threat level. Depending on the level assigned, some passengers would undergo increased screening at the airport, while others would not be allowed to fly. Opponents of the program argue that it opens to door to violations of individuals' civil liberties and their personal privacy. In March, Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced legislation requiring government officials to investigate those concerns. The Department of Homeland Security has reportedly stopped its testing of the CAPPS II program pending an internal review of privacy policy. Internet News, 14 July 2003 http://dc.internet.com/news/article.php/2234511 YAHOO BUYS OVERTURE After buying Inktomi earlier this year, Yahoo has announced plans to acquire Overture Services Inc., which provides pay-for-placement search results to companies including Yahoo and MSN. According to Terry Semel, CEO of Yahoo, the acquisition gives the company "all the crucial elements of an end-to-end search offering." In the realm of paid listings, advertisers bid on placement of search results, with the so-called "sponsored" results listed separately in a search engine. Overture will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Yahoo, and the addition represents the latest step in Yahoo's move away from being supported by advertisements. Instead, the company hopes to see increased revenues from its search-engine service and from several paid, premium services for users. New York Times, 14 July 2003 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Yahoo-Overture.html AND ***************************************************** RIAA PURSUES MORE STUDENTS The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has subpoenaed Loyola University Chicago and obtained the names of several students at Loyola, alleging that the students are involved in illegal file trading. Making good on its promise to pursue individuals for copyright infringement, the RIAA said it is using provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to discover identities of students at several colleges and universities. The RIAA has also sought names of individuals accused of violations from other Internet service providers. According to Tracy B. Mitrano of the Cornell University Computer Policy and Law Program, educational institutions cannot shield themselves from such inquiries based on academic freedom or the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and likely will have to disclose students' names. Mitrano said, "I don't see how we have much of a choice." Chronicle of Higher Education, 14 July 2003 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/07/2003071402t.htm PEOPLESOFT GETS GREEN LIGHT TO BUY J.D. EDWARDS The Justice Department has granted approval for PeopleSoft's proposed takeover of J.D. Edwards to proceed. The acquisition was subject to regulatory approval under antitrust laws, which require a waiting period for such acquisitions. In its efforts to thwart a hostile takeover from rival Oracle, PeopleSoft had asked the Justice Department to grant an exception to that waiting period, and the agency today agreed to the exception. PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards now expect to complete their merger on July 17, though a spokesman for PeopleSoft admitted the companies have not yet discussed the "road map" for how the two companies will merge operations. "We're moving ahead with closing the deal right now," he said. Meanwhile, Oracle extended--for the second time--the deadline for shareholders to accept its takeover bid, currently at $19.50 per share. The new deadline is August 15. Federal Computer Week, 14 July 2003 http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2003/0714/web-peoplesoft-07-14-03.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 "EQ" and "EDUCAUSE Review," books, and other materials dealing with the impacts and implications of information technology in higher education. 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