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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, JANUARY 05, 2004 FCC Fines Fax Company $5.4 Million for Abuses Linux Kernel Upgrade Fixes Security Flaws Consumer Group Sues Over Copy-Protected CDs File Trading Continues Its Decline Technology Companies Aim to Slow Illegal File Sharing Group Proposes Data Transfer for Coaxial Cable FCC FINES FAX COMPANY $5.4 MILLION FOR ABUSES Fax.com has been slapped with a $5.4 million fine for violating federal do-not-fax rules that went into effect in 1992. According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the company was cited for 489 separate violations of the law and fined $11,000 per violation. The FCC said, "Fax.com's primary business activity itself constitutes a massive ongoing violation." The do-not-fax rules were approved by Congress and implemented to prevent faxes from annoying consumers and using their own resources--paper and toner--for unwanted solicitations. Fax.com has said that restrictions on its business are unconstitutional and the fines excessive, but the FCC rejected these arguments. Fax.com has been ordered to report to the FCC on its compliance; depending on that response, further penalties against the company or its clients could be imposed. San Jose Mercury News, 5 January 2004 http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/7638258.htm LINUX KERNEL UPGRADE FIXES SECURITY FLAWS An upgrade has been issued for the Linux kernel to address two security flaws identified as serious. Marcelo Tosatti, who maintains the Linux 2.4 kernel series, said the security vulnerabilities of the older version pose significant risks to users and they should upgrade to the new kernel as soon as possible. One of the flaws fixed by the new kernel allows a hacker to change the privileges of a user account to those of the system's owner; the other flaw exposes some of the kernel's memory to intruders. Improvements to the 2.4 series kernel have otherwise been halted in an effort to encourage users to upgrade to the next series, the 2.6 kernel. ZDNet, 5 January 2004 http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5135129.html CONSUMER GROUP SUES OVER COPY-PROTECTED CDS A European consumers' group has filed suit against four of the five major record labels over their use of copy-protection tools on CDs. Such tools, according to the group, have spurred more than 200 complaints from consumers unable to make backup copies of legally purchased CDs or even to play the CDs in some devices. Record companies have been strongly criticized since their introduction of the copy-protection measures two years ago, and the new lawsuit is intended to set a legal precedent that will influence others, according to a spokesman for the group. Named as defendants in the suit are EMI, Universal Music, Sony Music, and BMG; Warner Music was not named. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, a trade group representing record companies, called the complaints baseless, saying that European law allows record producers to use technical measures to protect their intellectual property. Reuters, 5 January 2004 http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=4074630 FILE TRADING CONTINUES ITS DECLINE Data from a recent survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project indicate that the steep decline in file trading continued through the end of 2003. According to the study, 14 percent of Americans downloaded music from the Internet during the four weeks ending December 14. This compares to the 29 percent found by a Pew survey in the spring. Groups that saw the largest declines were women, persons with some college education, and those with children living at home. Data also indicated a steady decline in the use of file-sharing programs. Use of Kazaa dropped 15 percent from one year earlier, and use of Grokster fell 59 percent. The authors of the Pew study attributed the declines to lawsuits filed by the Recording Industry Association of America against individual file traders. CNET, 5 January 2004 http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-5134691.html TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES AIM TO SLOW ILLEGAL FILE SHARING Five companies have joined forces to create Project Hudson, a consortium that aims to create an Internet-based copy-protection scheme that will be agreeable to both the recording industry and technology companies. The members of Project Hudson--Intel, Nokia, Samsung, Toshiba, and Matshushita--hope that the entertainment industry can be convinced that their technology can provide an effective method to limit unauthorized file sharing while allowing consumers relatively free use of content. The new effort is the latest entry in the so-called "digital rights management" movement, which includes other players such as Microsoft, Sony, Apple Computer, and RealNetworks. Project Hudson is expected to release details of its plan in early February. New York Times, 5 January 2004 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/05/business/05share.html GROUP PROPOSES DATA TRANSFER FOR COAXIAL CABLE A group of electronics, cable, and satellite companies has formed an organization called the Multimedia Over Cable Alliance (MoCA) to develop technologies that allow high-speed digital transmission over coaxial cable. The promise of a fully wired, digital home--in which music, video, and data can be moved among various devices in any room of the house--requires a means for such transfer, and coaxial cable provides a new alternative to wireless, Ethernet cables, and other tools that use electrical or phone wires. Supporters note that with some new hardware added, existing coaxial cabling could provide a home with 100 megabits per second of data transfer without rewiring the entire house. Such performance would be similar to that of fast Ethernet and faster than wireless, which also faces challenges of interference. Technology that uses electrical wiring is expected to be upgraded to speeds comparable with fast Ethernet, but members of MoCA said powerline data transfer is more likely than coaxial cable to see degradation from interference from home appliances. Wall Street Journal, 5 January 2004 (sub. req'd) http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB107325760845006400,00.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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