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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2004 More Pressure to Police Campus Networks for Piracy New DVD Player Filters Objectionable Material Home Broadband Reaches 40 Percent Paper DVDs Promise Increased Capacity, Security MORE PRESSURE TO POLICE CAMPUS NETWORKS FOR PIRACY Developers of a new technology developed by entertainment and technology companies say it will help universities and ISPs combat digital piracy on their networks. College and universities continue to draw fire from entertainment companies for the relatively high incidence of digital piracy on campus networks. According to a technical summary of the new technology, the Automated Copyright Notice System (ACNS) is "an open-source, royalty-free system" that streamlines the handling of copyright notices, which are sent by copyright holders to those suspected of infringing copyrights. ACNS allows network administrators to force certain actions, such as cutting off network access or sending an e-mail warning, when a copyright notice is received. Developers of ACNS say it does not impose policy but rather helps network administrators enforce existing policies. UCLA and the University of Florida have implemented similar systems for dealing with copyright notices on campus. Fred von Lohmann of the Electronic Frontier Foundation criticized ACNS, suggesting it will simply draw universities into an "arms race" of competing technological means to protect and circumvent copyright. CNET, 19 April 2004 http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-5194341.html NEW DVD PLAYER FILTERS OBJECTIONABLE MATERIAL RCA will begin selling a DVD player with software from ClearPlay that allows users to filter certain types of content from movies they watch. Filters are written for specific movies and divide potentially objectionable content into four groups: violence, sex and nudity, language, and other. The other category includes such content as explicit use of drugs. The RCA player comes with 100 filters, and consumers can subscribe to get more filters for $5 a month. Users can select from various levels of filters or watch DVDs unfiltered. ClearPlay will not write filters for movies that have violence as a central element. Movie studios sued ClearPlay in 2002 over the software, saying it violates their copyrights by altering content. That lawsuit is pending, but demand from retailers encouraged RCA to begin selling DVD players with the filters, according to the company. Wired News, 18 April 2004 http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,63116,00.html HOME BROADBAND REACHES 40 PERCENT Broadband penetration in U.S. homes has reached 40 percent, according to new data released by the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Contrary to predictions a year ago by the Pew project that the number of broadband subscribers had reached a plateau, providers of broadband have found significant numbers of new customers and customers willing to upgrade from dial-up to high-speed service. Many of the new broadband customers are taking advantage of lower prices, especially for DSL compared to high-speed cable service, though relatively few cited cost as the reason for switching. John Horrigan, senior research specialist at Pew, said consumers are pushed toward high-speed connections as they spend more time online, involved in a growing list of online activities. Even if broadband costs more, consumers understand that faster connections will allow them to waste less time and save money in the long run. San Jose Mercury News, 19 April 2004 http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/8466355.htm PAPER DVDS PROMISE INCREASED CAPACITY, SECURITY Sony and Japanese company Toppan have developed a DVD made largely from paper that can store five times as much as current DVDs. The paper discs use blue-laser technology, which is being developed by electronics manufacturers including Sony, Philips, Hitachi, and Samsung. Compared to the red-laser technology on which today's DVDs are based, the blue-laser format allows capacities of about 25 gigabytes per disc. Current DVDs have a limit of 4.7 gigabytes. Because the new discs are made primarily of paper, they can easily be cut with scissors, offering a simple and reliable way to dispose of the discs and to destroy the data on them. Paper discs will reportedly be less expensive to produce than current DVDs, though Sony and Toppan did not say when the new DVDs would be available to consumers. BBC, 19 April 2004 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3639585.stm ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your settings, visit http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/ 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/ ***************************************************** 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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