***************************************************** Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. *****************************************************
TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2003 Report Questions Student Use of Technology RealNetworks Announces Deal with Comcast New Slant on Copy Protections from Sony REPORT QUESTIONS STUDENT USE OF TECHNOLOGY Results from the 2003 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) suggest that many U.S. college students may be routinely misusing technology resources in their studies. The current results are from the fourth edition of the survey, which is designed to provide campuses with information about the effectiveness of specific policies and practices. For 2003, the study found that while 83 percent of students regularly use information technology, 87 percent believe that fellow students at least occasionally copy material found on the Internet and put it in their own work without attribution. George Kuh, professor at Indiana University and director of the NSSE project, said, "Technology could well be a double-edged sword." Although it may allow students to "produce more in less time," he said, it remains to be seen "whether students are learning with authentic understanding." USA Today, 9 November 2003 http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2003-11-09-students-it_x.htm REALNETWORKS ANNOUNCES DEAL WITH COMCAST In a deal announced today, subscribers to Comcast Cable will have access to RealNetworks's Rhapsody music service. Rhapsody is primarily an online music--rather than a download--service. Users pay a subscription fee to access songs that are played through the users Internet connection. Downloading songs from Rhapsody costs 79 per song. The Rhapsody catalogue includes tracks from 30,000 albums from all of the major record labels as well as another 200 other labels. As an incentive to Comcast subscribers, the companies will offer seven free days of Rhapsody service as well as 10 free downloads. Rhapsody has similar arrangements with other Internet providers and some retailers. The Comcast deal is significant, however, because it makes Rhapsody available to nearly 5 million Comcast subscribers; currently Rhapsody has about 250,000 subscribers. New York Times, 10 November 2003 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/10/technology/10real.html NEW SLANT ON COPY PROTECTIONS FROM SONY This week Sony Music will introduce CDs with copy protections that the company hopes will effectively address consumer complaints about earlier copy-protected CDs. The new CDs, which will be introduced initially in Germany, will allow users to make personal copies of the songs but not to make the songs available on peer-to-peer networks. Customers will be able to play the CDs on virtually any conventional player, according to Phil Wiser, Sony Music's chief technology officer. Songs can be copied to Sony portable players and can be played by Sony-licensed digital media players. The company said plug-ins will be available next year to allow other digital players, such as Windows Media, to play songs from the new CDs. The CDs also allow users to access to Web sites with bonus songs and concert tickets. Sony hopes that by allowing users to make personal copies, and by offering added features, the new CDs will discourage consumers from hacking the copy protections and putting the songs on file-sharing networks. Wired News, 10 November 2003 http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,61161,00.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. For information on EDUCAUSE publications see http://www.educause.edu/pub/ ***************************************************** CONFERENCES For information on all EDUCAUSE learning and networking opportunities, see http://www.educause.edu/conference/ ***************************************************** COPYRIGHT Edupage copyright (c) 2003, EDUCAUSE
