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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2003 RIAA Begins Next Round of Suits with Notices Massachusetts Goes Open Source New Results from Campus Computing Project Quick Start for Windows iTunes RIAA BEGINS NEXT ROUND OF SUITS WITH NOTICES The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has begun its second round of lawsuits for copyright infringement. As promised last month to a Senate panel investigating the lawsuits, the RIAA has sent letters to 204 individuals informing them of imminent lawsuits before the suits are filed. The RIAA has been under pressure from some members of Congress and consumer groups for what some have described as reckless lawsuits. At least one of the original 261 suits filed has been dropped based on evidence that the defendant was mistakenly identified as an illegal file sharer. The new approach of notifying users prior to filing suits, while not an "invitation to negotiate" according to one industry representative, does, said RIAA President Cary Sherman, "offer illegal file sharers an additional chance to work this out short of legal action." Critics of the RIAA's lawsuits, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the notifications are a step in the right direction but maintain that the RIAA should pursue a completely different strategy for dealing with copyright infringement. New York Times, 20 October 2003 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/18/business/media/18MUSI.html MASSACHUSETTS GOES OPEN SOURCE Eric Kriss, administration and finance secretary for the State of Massachusetts, has directed the state's chief technology officer to choose open-source and open-standards technologies whenever possible. Applications for which a cost-effective, open-source alternative is not available can still be bought from vendors such as Microsoft that do not allow access to their source code. Although Massachusetts's IT budget is relatively small compared to other software buyers, some analysts noted that the state's official policy against proprietary software could spell trouble for companies like Microsoft down the road. Laura DiDio of Yankee Group said, "[T]oday's trickle could be a flood in 2005 or 2006." Critics of the policy, including Mike Wendy of the Computing Technology Industry Association (COMPTIA), said it would limit the state's choices and is ultimately bad for taxpayers. (Microsoft is a leading member of the COMPTIA trade group.) NewsFactor Network, 20 October 2003 http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/22516.html NEW RESULTS FROM CAMPUS COMPUTING PROJECT Results from this year's Campus Computing Project, an annual survey of information technology at colleges and universities, will be released this week. This year's survey reportedly highlights growing involvement with wireless technologies, with three-quarters of respondents having wireless networks and 14 percent having full wireless coverage on campus. Other trends indicated by the survey results include increasing e-commerce functions on campus, though not at the level of commercial enterprises, and general pressure within higher education on budgets. The exception to shrinking budgets, however, is in the area of computer security, with nearly half of the respondents saying they have increased spending on network security. This year's survey added a question about downloading files on campus networks. Of the 559 institutions that responded, 369 said they have explicit policies designed to discourage or prevent downloading and sharing of copyrighted music or movie files. Chronicle of Higher Education, 20 October 2003 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/prm/daily/2003/10/2003102004n.htm QUICK START FOR WINDOWS ITUNES Early reports from Apple Computer's foray into Windows-based online music indicate exuberance among consumers for the company's iTunes service. Apple has sold more than one million songs to iTunes for Windows customers since the service was launched last week, and computer users have reportedly downloaded more than one million copies of the Windows version of iTunes software in the past three days. Apple launched iTunes for Macintosh-based computers in April of this year, and since then the company has sold 14 million songs at 99 cents each. The company said it hopes to have sold 100 million songs by the first anniversary of the service next April. BBC, 20 October 2003 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3207984.stm ***************************************************** 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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