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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2003 RIAA Sees First Settlement Judge Fines Spammers $250,000 Three Australians Face Criminal Piracy Charge Higher Education Increases Spending on Hardware RIAA SEES FIRST SETTLEMENT The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has reached its first settlement from the 261 lawsuits filed this week against suspected copyright violators. The RIAA accused Brianna Lahara, a 12-year-old Manhattan girl, of illegally sharing more than 1,000 songs on Kazaa. Brianna and her mother, Sylvia Torres, settled the case for $2,000. In a statement, Torres said, "We understand now that file-sharing the music was illegal. You can be sure Brianna won't be doing it any more." Some have accused the RIAA of heavy-handed tactics in its fight against music piracy, and many of the accused said they did not know that what they or their children were doing was illegal. The RIAA, which said it will file more lawsuits, said users who simply downloaded copyrighted files have not been targeted. Rather, the group has focused on users who allowed others access to their hard drives, sharing an average of more than 1,000 songs. Reuters, 10 September 2003 http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=3416756 JUDGE FINES SPAMMERS $250,000 A Washington state judge has awarded anti-spam activist Nigel Featherston damages of $250,000 under that state's anti-spam legislation against two notorious spammers in Ohio. Under Washington law, spammers can be fined $500 per message, and Featherston proved that he had received 58,000 e-mails from the defendants, Charles Childs and Linda Lightfoot. Featherston's suit, however, only sought damages of $250,000 rather than the $29 million he could have demanded. Childs and Lightfoot have been the targets of prosecution by the Federal Trade Commission, which accused the pair last year of operating an e-mail pyramid scheme. Internet News, 10 September 2003 http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article.php/3075271 THREE AUSTRALIANS FACE CRIMINAL PIRACY CHARGE In what prosecutors describe as the first criminal prosecution worldwide for online music piracy, three men from Sydney, Australia, have pleaded guilty to copyright infringement against major recording labels. All previous prosecutions for copyright violations have been based on civil law, according to Michael Speck, an investigator with Music Industry Piracy Investigations, an Australian watchdog group. Speck praised the courts for their willingness to treat online piracy as seriously as other types of offenses. Speck noted that methods for locating music pirates are becoming increasingly sophisticated and easy for investigators to use. "[I]t's almost impossible to wipe your fingerprints off a digital crime scene," said Speck. The three men, who will be sentenced on November 10, face fines of around $40,000 (U.S.) and prison terms of up to five years. Yahoo, 7 September 2003 http://uk.news.yahoo.com/030907/323/e7q4v.html HIGHER EDUCATION INCREASES SPENDING ON HARDWARE According to data from research company IDC, colleges and universities spent $569 million on 517,000 computers in the second quarter of the year, an increase of 17.5 percent. IDC's David Daoud attributed the strong rise--an increase of 4 to 5 percent would be more usual--to strength in the higher education market resulting from tuition increases and growing enrollments. Kenneth C. Green of the Campus Computing Project, however, sees the rise in purchases as a product of a spend-it-before-it's-gone attitude among university officials whose budget year ended June 30. Of the computers purchased, 72 percent were desktops, 25 percent laptops, and 3 percent servers. Dell held on to its leading position in the higher education market, with nearly 48 percent market share. Gateway came up second, with 12 percent, followed by Hewlett-Packard, Apple Computer, and IBM. Chronicle of Higher Education, 10 September 2003 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/prm/daily/2003/09/2003091001t.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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