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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2003 Kazaa Courts the Entertainment Industry Microsoft to Add Pop-Up Blocker to IE FCC Widens Wireless Spectrum Advertisers Call for Federal Antispam Law Internet Cheating at British Universities KAZAA COURTS THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY Kazaa will reportedly launch an ad campaign next week directed at encouraging the entertainment industry to "embrace the revolution" and use peer-to-peer technologies to legally distribute content. According to Nikki Hemming, chief executive of Sharman Networks, owner of Kazaa, demand exists among file sharers for properly licensed content over the Kazaa network. Hemming dismissed recent claims that copyright-infringement lawsuits filed by the recording industry against file sharers have led to the steep drop in numbers of users trading files, attributing the decline to a normal, seasonal downturn. She said file sharers are increasingly calling for legal content, including music, movies, and games. The music and movie industries, however, have not responded warmly to Hemming's invitation to join the revolution. A spokesman from the Recording Industry Association of America said that Kazaa cannot be considered a "responsible corporate citizen" until it removes copyrighted works, informs users that trading such works is illegal, and takes steps to prevent children and teens from sharing copyrighted works. San Jose Mercury News, 14 November 2003 http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/7260502.htm MICROSOFT TO ADD POP-UP BLOCKER TO IE Microsoft has announced that a pop-up-blocking tool will be included in the next Internet Explorer service pack, scheduled to be released in the first half of 2004. Analysts said the impact on the pop-up market will be determined by whether the default setting is for the blocker to be turned on or off. Pop-up blockers are currently available to a large number of Internet users, but relatively few choose to use them. If Microsoft sets its blocker to be on by default, analysts expect that most people will simply leave it on. Because IE controls a vast majority of the browser market, this would effectively kill the pop-up market. Several Internet advertisers said the prospect of such a scenario did not worry them, believing they have sufficient alternative methods to reach consumers. Internet News, 14 November 2003 http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article.php/3108981 FCC WIDENS WIRELESS SPECTRUM Citing growing consumer demand for wireless networks, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Thursday reallocated a portion of the 5-GHz spectrum from military to civilian use. Wireless networks have been installed in a growing number of coffee shops, airports, and college campuses and offer the promise of delivering high-speed Internet access to rural and underserved areas without the expense of installing cables. Some faulted the FCC for its choice of spectrum to transfer, saying the 255 new frequencies offer poor performance for data networks. Harold Feld, associate director of the Media Access Project, said that "the combination of the high frequency and the low power limits mean the stuff won't go far enough." FCC commissioners disputed this claim, saying technology has already been developed to use the new frequencies effectively. Edmond Thomas, FCC chief of engineering and technology, said the signals can travel five miles. Washington Post, 14 November 2003 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38286-2003Nov13.html ADVERTISERS CALL FOR FEDERAL ANTISPAM LAW Three organizations representing advertisers are calling on Congress to pass federal antispam legislation, citing the morass of conflicting state antispam legislation and the possibility that legitimate marketers will be prevented from reaching consumers through e-mail. The American Association of Advertising Agencies, the Association of National Advertisers, and the Direct Marketing Association sent an open letter to Congress supporting the Can-Spam Act and the Reduction in Distribution of Spam Act. The groups recently drafted a set of principles to which it said legitimate marketers should adhere when using e-mail advertisements, but the groups do not support opt-in requirements, such as the one recently approved by the California legislature. California Senator Debra Bowen accused the advertising groups of pushing federal legislation that is weaker than her state's opt-in law. Proposed federal antispam laws, she said, do not end spam, "they legalize it." CNET, 13 November 2003 http://news.com.com/2100-1024-5107059.html INTERNET CHEATING AT BRITISH UNIVERSITIES Susan Bassnett of Warwick University in the United Kingdom is working to address the growing problem of Internet plagiarism at U.K. colleges and universities. Bassnett blames a higher education culture of mass education for the current situation, in which rising numbers of students engage in "cut-and-paste" cheating and cheaters are increasingly difficult to detect. Academic texts are widely available online, and the tools and strategies to mask plagiarized scholarly work are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Bassnett argues that in a higher education system where much of the grading takes place anonymously, preventing instructors from developing a sense of different students' writing styles, the odds of spotting cheaters drop significantly. Bassnett is calling for strong punishments for students caught plagiarizing from the Web, including expulsion. Charles Juwah of the Robert Gordon University said his institution is working to address the problem by educating students about their responsibility and what is expected of them academically. BBC, 14 November 2003 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/3265143.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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