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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, JULY 19, 2004 Six More Schools to Offer Napster on Campus Piracy Report Stirs Controversy House Committee Encourages Open-Access Publishing Pocket PC Virus Makes Polite Debut SIX MORE SCHOOLS TO OFFER NAPSTER ON CAMPUS Six institutions--Cornell University, George Washington University, Middlebury College, the University of Miami, the University of Southern California, and Wright State University--will begin providing Napster online music services to student this fall, joining Pennsylvania State University and the University of Rochester. Terms were not released, and conditions of the service vary by campus. At some schools, for example, all students can access the service, while at others, it is restricted to on-campus students. Student demand for the service was cited by several institutions as a driving factor, and many also expressed a desire to offer a legal alternative to P2P file-sharing and to discourage copyright violations. Other companies including CFlix, which provides movies as well as music, and Ruckus Network are also working to sign up colleges and universities for their services. Meanwhile, Virginia Tech has signed a site license with Apple Computer so its students can purchase songs from the company's iTunes service without being part of a subscription service. Chronicle of Higher Education, 19 July 2004 http://chronicle.com/free/2004/07/2004071901n.htm PIRACY REPORT STIRS CONTROVERSY A recent report by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) about the cost of software piracy has prompted some to suggest a political motive for the report. Two weeks ago, the BSA issued a report that estimated annual losses to software piracy at $29 billion. To some, however, the timing of the report--released not long after a Senate bill was introduced that would significantly strengthen copyright law--was not merely coincidental. Opponents of the Senate bill argued that it would effectively invalidate a Supreme Court decision that protects those who develop technology that could be--but is not necessarily--used for copyright violations. Overturning that precedent, said critics, would only serve to protect interests of copyright holders and would stifle technological innovation. Critics of the bill contend that the BSA, which has previously estimated losses to piracy at $13 billion, exaggerated the amount and released the report at a time that it would influence senators considering the bill. Supporters of the bill said it is sufficiently focused to target egregious violators of copyright. The BSA defended the new estimate, saying the data that led to the higher number were more comprehensive than in previous studies. New York Times, 19 July 2004 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/19/technology/19piracy.html HOUSE COMMITTEE ENCOURAGES OPEN-ACCESS PUBLISHING The U.S. House Appropriations Committee has issued a report that urges the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to offer free, public access to research it funds. While not a requirement, the recommendation gives supporters of open access a significant boost and has left publishers scrambling to try to change the report before it is approved by Congress. The report encourages the NIH to make research available free within six months of publication and directs the NIH to report back to the committee by December 1, 2004, on how it plans to comply. Some academic groups and librarians have long been pushing for such an open model for scholarly publishing, especially as prices for many academic journals have risen sharply. Since the report was issued, the Association of American Publishers has been working to persuade members of Congress to reject the open-access language in the report, particularly the request for a report on compliance. Barbara Meredith of the association, which said it was not consulted for input in the writing of the report, said that establishing open-access publishing for all government-funded research is "not in the best interest of business and readers." Chronicle of Higher Education, 19 July 2004 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/prm/daily/2004/07/2004071902n.htm POCKET PC VIRUS MAKES POLITE DEBUT A group of virus writers has introduced a proof-of-concept virus that attacks devices using Microsoft's Pocket PC operating system. A group called 29A VX is behind the new virus, which antivirus companies have named "Duts." Members of the 29A VX group recently released a benign virus called Cabir that targets mobile phones running the Symbian operating system. Like the Cabir virus, Duts does not cause any harm to infected machines and asks the user for permission to install itself. According to Romanian security firm BitDefender, Duts was initially released to antivirus experts rather than into the wild. A statement from 29A VX said that Duts was written merely to demonstrate that viruses can be written that target the Pocket PC operating system. Carole Theriault of antivirus company Sophos said, "You're more likely to have a meteorite strike your house than be hit by this virus," but added that "it might be a taste of things to come." BBC, 19 July 2004 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3906823.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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