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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2003 Heightened Scrutiny for Voting Machines Microsoft Ordered to Pay in Patent Case AND Mississippi Schools Turn to Webcams Medical Education Goes Virtual HEIGHTENED SCRUTINY FOR VOTING MACHINES Citing a highly critical report by researchers at Johns Hopkins University and Rice University, Maryland Governor Robert L. Erhlich Jr. has called for an independent audit of touch-screen voting machines from Diebold Election Systems. The state has bought and used 5,000 of the machines already and plans to purchase another 11,000, to be used statewide next year. The Johns Hopkins researchers said they uncovered fundamental flaws in the security of the software for the voting machines. Avi Rubin, one of the authors of the report, described the source code as not deserving of a "C-minus grade in an undergraduate computer-programming course." Rubin said that where cryptography is used at all in the code, it is used improperly. Diebold refuted the findings of the report, saying the researchers only looked at part of the code and that it has already fixed the problems noted. Science Applications International Corp. will conduct the audit, and many observers expect the results of the audit to determine whether Maryland, as well as other states, will continue using the machines. Wired News, 12 August 2003 http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,59976,00.html MICROSOFT ORDERED TO PAY IN PATENT CASE Microsoft has been found guilty of patent infringement and ordered to pay the University of California and Eolas Technology more than $520 million in compensation. The technology in question allows plug-ins or applets to be included in Web pages. The suit alleged that Microsoft added the patented technology to its Internet Explorer browser, which was bundled with Windows operating systems. The jury in the case agreed and ordered Microsoft to pay $1.47 per copy of Windows sold between November 1998 and September 2001. Microsoft claimed that the patent is not valid and that even if it is, the company did not violate it. Microsoft has said it will appeal the ruling. Because the technology was developed by researchers while working at the University of California, the university will share in the award. Plaintiffs' attorneys said that Eolas would receive most of the money collected in the suit, though no details were released. MSNBC, 12 August 2003 http://www.msnbc.com/news/951119.asp?cp1=1 AND ***************************************************** MISSISSIPPI SCHOOLS TURN TO WEBCAMS The city of Biloxi, Mississippi, has completed a project to install Webcams in every classroom of the city's public schools. The cameras are mounted in the ceilings and record images but not sound. Access to tapes made by the cameras is limited to a school principal, vice principal, superintendent, school board member, or board attorney, according to Deputy Superintendent Robert Voles. Voles said the program to install the cameras has been received well by the community, without any complaints. Maryann Graczyk of the Mississippi American Federation of Teachers, however, expressed concern that the system will not serve as an effective deterrent to crime. Graczyk worries about the loss of privacy with the system and said she does not think any benefits from the system will justify the $2 million cost of installing the Webcams. New York Times, 12 August 2003 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Classroom-Cameras.html MEDICAL EDUCATION GOES VIRTUAL This fall the International Virtual Medical School will begin offering online courses toward the first two years of medical school. The program, which has garnered support from more than 30 institutions including Brown Medical School and Hull York Medical School in the United Kingdom, will focus on the "cognitive mode of learning a lot of material" that does not require much hands-on time, according to Stephen Smith of Brown Medical School. Ronald Harden of the International Virtual Medical School sees offering the first two years of medical school online as the first step toward offering a complete medical degree using distance learning, though even some supporters of the program caution that the idea of online medical school leaves many people unconvinced. Wired News, 12 August 2003 http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,59927,00.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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