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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, JULY 16, 2004 Sakai Project Releases Version 1.0 and Source Code Aggravated Identity Theft Legislation Becomes Law Judge Issues Summary Judgment Against Spammer Student Hackers in Hot Water at Oxford SAKAI PROJECT RELEASES VERSION 1.0 AND SOURCE CODE The Sakai Project, an effort spearheaded by four higher education institutions to offer an alternative to commercial course management software, this week will release Version 1.0 of its open-source application, as well as the source code. The Sakai Project was launched less than a year ago with funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the four institutions leading the project--University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Indiana University at Bloomington, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford University. Commercial products, from companies such as Blackboard and WebCT, have drawn fire for their rising costs and the difficulty of customizing the applications for specific campuses. As an open-source application, the Sakai Project aims to address both issues, though all involved concede that open-source projects are far from free, requiring substantial time to install and maintain. Three of the founding institutions have pledged to begin using the application by fall of 2005, and one will begin this fall. Leaders of the project have launched the Sakai Educational Partners Program, which currently includes 44 members who pay $10,000 per year to have early access to the software and can participate in its development prior to releases. Developers hope that the project can become self-sustaining within three years. Chronicle of Higher Education, 15 July 2004 http://chronicle.com/free/2004/07/2004071502n.htm AGGRAVATED IDENTITY THEFT LEGISLATION BECOMES LAW President Bush this week signed the Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act, which establishes "aggravated identity theft" as a criminal offense. Those found guilty of using a stolen identity to commit a separate crime are subject to prosecution under the new statute, which carries a mandatory two-year prison term on top of any other punishments for the other crime. In cases where the other crime is terrorism, the mandatory prison term for the aggravated identity theft rises to an additional five years. The law also imposes mandatory prison sentences for individuals found guilty of stealing information from their employers that is later used in identity theft crimes. Internet News, 15 July 2004 http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3381781 JUDGE ISSUES SUMMARY JUDGMENT AGAINST SPAMMER U.S. District Judge Manuel Real has issued a $4 million summary judgment in favor of Microsoft in its case against Daniel Khoshnood and his companies for crimes including sending deceptive spam and infringing trademarks. Khoshnood is accused of sending mass e-mail that appeared to come from Microsoft, including the company's trademarked logos, with false messages about bogus security patches that directed recipients to windowsupdatenow.com, which is registered to Khoshnood. He is also accused of registering domains such as "hottmail.com" and sending mail from that domain in an effort to deceive consumers. Anne Mitchell, president and CEO of the Institute for Spam and Public Policy, applauded the ruling, saying that a summary judgment indicates the judge believes the case to be sufficiently one-sided as to make a trial unnecessary. Mitchell also said Microsoft can seek to collect the $4 million by seizing Khoshnood's property. Ray Everett-Church, chief privacy officer with Privacy Group LLC, was similarly pleased with the ruling but said that a decrease in the overall spam problem would require "massive enforcement." The new ruling, he said, "barely scratches the surface." ClickZ, 15 July 2004 http://www.clickz.com/news/article.php/3381951 STUDENT HACKERS IN HOT WATER AT OXFORD Two first-year Oxford University students are facing fines and possible suspension from the university for hacking into the school's computer system. Patrick Foster and Roger Waite were able to access closed-circuit material, as well as e-mail passwords of other students. The students said the university's computer was extremely easy to break into, and they published a story in a student newspaper about their actions to highlight the system's lax security. Foster and Waite said they did not intend any harm to the university and are "happy to face up" to their actions, though they think the university's response is unfair. A university spokeswoman said that regardless of the students' intentions, their actions are subject to regulations of the institution and that any criminal offense "would be referred to Thames Valley Police." BBC, 15 July 2004 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/3897755.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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