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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, MAY 17, 2004 Oracle Lowers Bid for PeopleSoft Panel Calls for Restraint in Data Mining Forrester Gives New Estimates for Offshoring ORACLE LOWERS BID FOR PEOPLESOFT Citing "changes in market conditions," Oracle has lowered its bid for rival PeopleSoft from $26 per share to $21. The lower price represents a total bid of $7.7 billion, compared to $9.6 billion at the higher price. According to a statement from Jeff Henley, chairman and CFO of Oracle, the revised bid is in response to lower market valuation for PeopleSoft. Henley noted that the new bid represents a higher premium over PeopleSoft's current stock price than did the original bid and said the proposed takeover would "benefit stockholders of both companies." A statement from PeopleSoft said its board would consider the offer but criticized Oracle for announcing the new bid the day before an annual PeopleSoft event for customers. "This is one more instance of what we firmly believe is Oracle's ongoing effort to damage our business," read PeopleSoft's statement. CNET, 14 May 2004 http://news.com.com/2100-1012_3-5213271.html PANEL CALLS FOR RESTRAINT IN DATA MINING A federal panel has written a report that calls on the Defense Department as well as other areas of government to institute strong measures to protect civil liberties in the context of data mining. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld appointed the panel, called the Technology and Privacy Advisory Committee, in early 2003 in response to criticisms of the Pentagon's data-mining program, the Terrorism Information Awareness program. The panel's report, which is expected to be released in about two weeks, says that although the goals of data-mining programs are worthwhile, the government must take steps to ensure that they do not infringe on individuals' privacy. The panel also called on Congress, the president, and the courts to be involved in efforts to safeguard personal privacy, as federal agencies sift through databases with personally identifiable information, trying to combat terrorism. Newton N. Minow, head of the panel and former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, noted that the panel's recommendations would add a new burden of responsibility to the government but said that the changes would enhance personal privacy and ultimately national security. One panel member, William T. Coleman Jr. filed a dissent, stating that the panel's proposals far exceed what is required by the Constitution, federal laws, or former court decisions. New York Times, 17 May 2004 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/17/politics/17privacy.html FORRESTER GIVES NEW ESTIMATES FOR OFFSHORING A new report from Forrester Research forecasts that a total of 830,000 jobs will have been moved from the United States overseas by 2005. The new estimate compares with about 600,000 projected by Forrester in November 2002. Despite the increase, however, Forrester said the overall outlook for offshoring is not substantially different from the earlier report's forecast. The company had previously predicted a total of 3.3 million jobs sent overseas by 2015; it now puts that number at 3.4 million. Forrester analyst John McCarthy said that after the 2002 report, many companies began looking into offshoring and that providers of such services have expanded their offerings. Wall Street Journal, 17 May 2004 (sub. req'd) http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB108474869663912901,00.html ***************************************************** 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. 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) 2004, EDUCAUSE
