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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2004 Oracle Continues Acquisition Fight Report Raises Questions over Educational Benefit of Computers Senate Approves Stricter Copyright Legislation ORACLE CONTINUES ACQUISITION FIGHT Oracle has vowed to continue its efforts to acquire rival PeopleSoft, after a majority of PeopleSoft's outstanding shares were tendered by last Friday's deadline. Despite the number of shares tendered, the PeopleSoft Board of Directors on Saturday again rejected Oracle's bid of $24 per share. One of the PeopleSoft directors sent a letter Saturday night to Oracle executives urging them to raise the offer, but the company has said that $24 is its last and best offer. Oracle had promised that if fewer than half of the shares were tendered by the deadline, it would end its hostile takeover bid. The company also said that if more than half were tendered, it would ask a Delaware court to force PeopleSoft to withdraw its "poison pill," which automatically issues more shares in the event of a takeover, making such an acquisition virtually impossible. Legal experts said such a ruling is unlikely, which would leave Oracle with the possibility of presenting a slate of board candidates who would be friendly to the acquisition. Four of PeopleSoft's seven board seats are up for election next spring. New York Times, 22 November 2004 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/22/technology/22oracle.html REPORT RAISES QUESTIONS OVER EDUCATIONAL BENEFIT OF COMPUTERS A recent study of the effects of computer use on teenage students suggests that increased computer use may result in lower academic performance. The authors of the study, Thomas Fuchs and Ludger Woessmann of the CESifo economic research organization in Munich, looked at data on many thousands of students in 31 countries. Initial results indicated a positive relationship between computers and academic achievement, specifically in math and reading. When the results were adjusted, however, to compensate for the higher levels of wealth and education in homes where computers are more likely to be present, the data showed that the more computers there are in the home, the lower the student's performance. In addition, despite showing higher test scores for increased time spent using computers at home, the study showed that the more time students spent using computers at school, the lower their test scores. According to the report, "the initial positive pattern on computer availability at school simply reflects that schools with better computer availability also feature other positive school characteristics." BBC, 22 November 2004 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/4032737.stm SENATE APPROVES STRICTER COPYRIGHT LEGISLATION A bill passed by the U.S. Senate expands certain protections for copyrighted material but excludes proposed language that would have made file trading on P2P networks a criminal offense. Under the bill, which is similar to one already passed by the House of Representatives, those found guilty of videotaping movies in theaters face up to three years in prison. In addition, people who put copyrighted movies, music, or other content online prior to its official release will also face harsher penalties. The House and Senate versions of the bill must be reconciled before it can be signed into law. Last month the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a measure under which those found to have shared more than one thousand songs on a P2P network could face three years in prison, but that measure was stripped from the Senate bill after strong opposition from groups that said such a measure would represent an unreasonable expansion of copyright law. The Senate bill also did not include language that would have made it illegal to remove certain parts of copyrighted works. Representatives from the movie industry had argued that services that edit copyrighted movies to make them appropriate for younger viewers violate the movie studios' copyrights, but the Senate did not approve that measure. Reuters, 22 November 2004 http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=6886714 ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your settings, visit http://www.educause.edu/Edupage/639 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/Edupage/639 ***************************************************** 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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