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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 2004 Supreme Court Sends COPA Back to Lower Court Microsoft Offers Tools for Novice Developers British MPs Call for Tougher Cybercrime Laws US-CERT Advises Switching Browsers SUPREME COURT SENDS COPA BACK TO LOWER COURT A closely split U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to send the case against the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) back to a lower court for trial, saying that a full trial could fairly examine the debate over the best way to prevent minors from seeing pornographic content online. The Court upheld an injunction against enforcing the law while the case is pending. Supporters and opponents of the law both said they would continue the fight. Under COPA, Web site operators must shield children from content deemed "harmful to minors," but the law has been challenged since its passage by those who argue that it violates protections of free speech. The Court did not rule the law unconstitutional, but the majority opinion suggested that Web filters are a more appropriate means to limit access that restrictions on content. A dissenting opinion, written by Justice Stephen Breyer, stated that the law's impact on free speech is "modest" and that the law "does not censor the material it covers." COPA, wrote Breyer, simply stipulates requirements for limiting access to certain types of content. CNET, 29 June 2004 http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5251475.html MICROSOFT OFFERS TOOLS FOR NOVICE DEVELOPERS In an effort to attract some of the estimated 18 million amateur developers worldwide, Microsoft will release a set of pared-down developer tools and a free database under the moniker "Express." In recent years, novice developers have increasingly been drawn to other platforms, including Linux, that offer free development tools and open access to source code. The new database from Microsoft will be SQL Server Express Edition, and the company will offer Express versions of Visual Web Developer, Visual Basic, and Visual C#. Industry analysts estimate Microsoft will charge $50 or less for each of the developer tools, compared to as much as $1,800 for professional versions. Currently, an estimated 15,000 Windows applications written by third-party developers are on the market, and millions of others have been written by various companies, government agencies, and educational institutions. With its new tools, Microsoft is hoping to continue to encourage development of these sorts of applications. New York Times, 29 June 2004 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/29/technology/29data.html BRITISH MPS CALL FOR TOUGHER CYBERCRIME LAWS A group of British Members of Parliament (MPs) has issued a report calling on the government to make changes to the country's current computer law to reflect the broadening scope of cybercrimes and the damage they cause. Among the changes to the existing Computer Misuse Act urged by the All-Party Internet Group is a recommendation to classify denial-of-service attacks as a specific crime. The group's report also calls for longer jail terms for those found guilty of computer crimes, and it suggests that reforming the country's fraud laws might also be necessary to fight spyware. Simon Janes, formerly of Scotland Yard's Computer Crime Unit, characterized the report as a good first step but said more needs to be done. For example, making court proceedings confidential could encourage more companies to report cybercrimes, which would allow authorities to measure and track such crimes much more accurately. Currently, said Janes, "93 to 95 percent of all cybercrimes go unreported because companies rate unwanted publicity as potentially more damaging than the incident itself." BBC, 30 June 2004 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3853059.stm US-CERT ADVISES SWITCHING BROWSERS In light of a recent announcement about an "extremely critical" security vulnerability in Internet Explorer (IE), the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) has issued a warning advising computer users to stop using Microsoft's browser. US-CERT is a nonprofit formed in September 2003 by the Department of Homeland Security and the public and private sectors to improve computer security preparedness and response. According to the US-CERT notice, there are "significant vulnerabilities in technologies relating to the IE domain/zone security model, the DHTML object model, MIME-type determination, and ActiveX." The IE bug allows hackers to install spyware on users' computers without any action on the part of the user. The notice goes on to say that, particularly for browsing untrusted sites, use of another browser is an effective way to avoid the security risks mentioned. Internet News, 29 June 2004 http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3374931 ***************************************************** 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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