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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2004 More Lawsuits from the RIAA Canadian Recording Industry Wants Names Another Security Lapse at NYU Cingular Wins Bidding War for AT&T Wireless MORE LAWSUITS FROM THE RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has filed another 531 lawsuits against Internet users accused of illegally trading copyrighted music files. Because of a court decision last year, the RIAA can no longer subpoena the identities of alleged copyright infringers without filing a lawsuit. The RIAA's strategy to deal with the potentially enormous cost associated with filing so many suits is to file individual lawsuits against groups of users who appear to be customers of the same ISP. Thus, in January, the RIAA filed four lawsuits against 532 individuals; this time the group filed five lawsuits. This approach appears to be effective, as the courts have so far approved three of the four suits filed in January, allowing the RIAA to subpoena the identities of users targeted in those suits. The RIAA has now filed more than 1,000 suits in 2004. CNET, 17 February 2004 http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-5160262.html CANADIAN RECORDING INDUSTRY WANTS NAMES Encouraged by the apparent slowdown of illegal file trading in the Unites States following legal action by the Recording Industry Association of America, Canadian music producers have begun to pursue prosecuting similar copyright infringement in that country. Music companies including the Canadian units of Universal Music and EMI Music have requested the Federal Court of Canada to compel ISPs to disclose the identities of 29 individuals suspected of trading high volumes of copyrighted files. According to Richard Pfohl, general counsel for the Canadian Recording Industry Association, Canadian law has long precedent for the "process of releasing information," and the group expects this request will be granted without difficulty. Shaw Communications, one of the ISPs involved, is contesting the request, however, calling it an invasion of its customers' privacy. Wired News, 16 February 2004 http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,62315,00.html ANOTHER SECURITY LAPSE AT NYU Officials at New York University reported that personal information for about 2,100 individuals was inadvertently exposed on a Web site run by the university's Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life. The announcement came a month after student Social Security numbers were available on the university's Web site. According to the university, the Bronfman Center's site "had a mechanism for collecting names for a mailing list," and information collected through this mechanism was available to unauthorized individuals due to improperly configured settings. The site has been shut down, and the university sent letters to those people who had submitted personal information through the site and whose information was compromised. Following this second such incident, the university reviewed all of its Web sites to determine which ones store personal information and whether it is adequately protected. A university spokesman said that six such sites were identified, one of which was then shut down because of security concerns. Chronicle of Higher Education, 20 February 2004 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/prm/weekly/v50/i24/24a02902.htm CINGULAR WINS BIDDING WAR FOR AT&T WIRELESS Cingular Wireless has won the bidding contest for AT&T Wireless after British carrier Vodafone, which reportedly offered $38 billion, stepped out of the contest. NTT DoCoMo and Nextel had also been involved in bidding but backed out late last week. Cingular's successful $41 billion offer to acquire AT&T Wireless will give the company 46 million subscribers and will make it the largest wireless provider in the United States, ahead of current leader Verizon. Industry experts said consolidation among the six major wireless providers was inevitable and overdue, and regulators are expected to approve the deal. Internet News, 17 February 2004 http://www.internetnews.com/wireless/article.php/3313351 ***************************************************** 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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