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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2005 Opera Browser Free for Higher Education IBM Offers Patents to Open Source Projects Trial Raises Questions About Exposing Software Flaws Apple Unveils Products for Wider Markets Adult E-Mails Shut Down by CAN-SPAM Act OPERA BROWSER FREE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION Opera Software said this week that its Opera browser will be freely available to any university worldwide, in an effort to protect higher education from flaws in "more vulnerable browsers." The company also touted its browser's customization features, which would allow colleges and universities to personalize the browser for their own campus. Opera CEO Jon von Tetzchner said his company's browser is "fully standards-compliant and offers extensive administration possibilities for network configuration." Institutions including Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Oxford University have reportedly already taken Opera up on its offer. CNET, 12 January 2005 http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-5533666.html IBM OFFERS PATENTS TO OPEN SOURCE PROJECTS IBM will begin allowing the use of 500 technologies covered by patents it holds by developers working on open source projects. While IBM will not forfeit the patents, it will seek no licensing fees from groups that use them on projects that meet a definition by the Open Source Initiative. Despite past donations of intellectual property to open source groups, the new program is seen as a fundamental shift in the company's approach because unlike those donations, this one does not hold the potential to harm IBM's competitors. The 500 patents that will be available involve 14 categories of technology and do not target any specific open source project. IBM said it hopes to create a "patent commons," including the initial 500 as well as other patents, that other companies could join. IBM's new approach to managing its intellectual property, however, has not diminished its pursuit of new patents. IBM, which is the world's largest patent holder, collected 3,248 new patents in 2004, 1,300 more than Matsushita Electric Industrial, which had the second-highest tally for the year. New York Times, 11 January 2005 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/11/technology/11soft.html TRIAL RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT EXPOSING SOFTWARE FLAWS French researcher Guillaume Tena is currently on trial in a Paris court for violating copyright laws when he exposed software flaws in an antivirus application called Viguard, developed by Tegam International, a French company. Tena, who is a researcher at Harvard University, faces a prison term and fine, and Tegam has also filed a civil suit against Tena for about $1.2 million. Although K-OTik, a French computer security organization, conceded that Tena did technically break French copyright law, the group said that a decision against him could set a dangerous precedent for prosecuting individuals for exposing software vulnerabilities. Officials from K-OTik said a ruling against Tena would be "unimaginable and unacceptable in any other field of scientific research." The court's final ruling is expected March 8. CNET, 11 January 2005 http://news.com.com/2100-7348_3-5531586.html APPLE UNVEILS PRODUCTS FOR WIDER MARKETS At the Macworld trade show in San Francisco, Apple Computer cofounder and CEO Steve Jobs presented several new low-priced products targeted at a broader group of consumers than current products. Notably, Apple showed its Mac Mini, a very small computer with a starting price of $499, and the iPod Shuffle, which will sell for as little as $99. The iPod Shuffle, which is the shape of a pack of gum, has no screen and uses flash memory, like that in digital cameras, rather than a hard drive. Apple's entry into the digital music market has been a boon for the company, with consumers buying 4.5 million of the current iPod models during the 2004 holiday season. Some analysts believe Apple may be able to capitalize on interest in its music products to appeal to consumers who previously would not have been likely to consider purchasing an Apple computer. Tim Bajarin, an analyst with Creative Strategies, said it would be an "intriguing" goal for Apple to "convince traditional PC users to make the Mac the center of their creative, digital work." Reuters, 12 January 2005 http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=7300623 ADULT E-MAILS SHUT DOWN BY CAN-SPAM ACT The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has won an injunction against six companies accused of sending thousands of spam messages that failed to meet the requirements of the CAN-SPAM Act. According to the FTC's complaint, the companies sent e-mail that directs recipients to adult Web sites but did not include the phrase "sexually explicit" in the subject line, as required by the antispam law. The e-mails also did not provide opt-out functions to recipients and falsely promised free memberships with the Web sites involved. The temporary injunction issued by a court in Las Vegas marks the first time the requirements of the CAN-SPAM Act regarding adult content have been used. The FTC will ask the court to make the injunction permanent. In addition, those who operate the Web sites that benefit from unlawful spam can be held accountable under the CAN-SPAM law. Wired News, 11 January 2005 http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,66240,00.html ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your settings, or access the Edupage archive, 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] ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE RESOURCES The EDUCAUSE Resource Center is a repository for information concerning use and management of IT in higher education. 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