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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, JANUARY 14, 2005 FBI's New Computer System Already Old Texas Targets Notorious Spammers Apple Sues Harvard Student FBI'S NEW COMPUTER SYSTEM ALREADY OLD A complete overhaul of the FBI's computer system following the September 11 attacks may prove to have been wasted effort, according to the agency. Criticism was leveled at intelligence agencies following the attacks of September 11, with some arguing that, had information been freely shared among the agencies, the attacks might have been prevented. The FBI undertook to replace all of its systems at one time, which agency officials said was the wrong approach. One official compared the initiative to "changing wheels on a car that is going at 70 miles per hour." Such an overhaul, he said, should be done in stages. Critics faulted the old system for being largely paper-based, preventing agents in the field from accessing needed information or from filing reports electronically. An application called Virtual Case File was supposed to fix many of those problems, but after numerous delays, the software that was finally delivered last month is largely unusable. Reuters, 13 January 2005 http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=7324403 TEXAS TARGETS NOTORIOUS SPAMMERS The attorney general of Texas has filed a civil lawsuit against two individuals believed to be responsible for millions of illegal e-mail solicitations. Ryan Samuel Pitylak, a student at the University of Texas, and Mark Stephen Trotter of California operate two companies, PayPerAction and Leadplex. Spamhaus.org, a watchdog group that monitors spam, has identified the two companies as being among the top five spam operations worldwide. Prosecutors allege that the e-mails sent by the two companies violate state and federal laws, including the CAN-SPAM Act, by including misleading subject lines and fraudulent information in the body of the messages. The defendants, who are also accused of violating Texas trade practices, face millions of dollars in fines, though no criminal charges were filed against them. An attorney for the defendants said his clients' businesses are in full compliance with all applicable laws, including the CAN-SPAM Act. CNET, 14 January 2005 http://news.com.com/2100-1030_3-5536356.html APPLE SUES HARVARD STUDENT Apple Computer has filed a lawsuit against the operator of a Web site that revealed information about upcoming products before the company publicly unveiled them. The ThinkSecret Web site posted rumors of a sub-$500 Macintosh computer and an iPod that uses flash memory just days before those products were announced at the Macworld show. Apple has a reputation for being one of the most secretive high-tech companies concerning new products, and it alleges that the information posted by ThinkSecret was obtained illegally. The operator of the site, however, which many industry analysts regard as one of the premier rumor sites about Apple, turned out to be 19-year-old Nick Ciarelli, a freshman at Harvard. Ciarelli, who started the site six years ago, said he has done nothing wrong in collecting material to post. "My reporting practices are the same that any journalists use," he said. "I talk to sources, I confirm details, I follow up on tips and leads that I get." Intellectual-property attorney Robert E. Camors said it will be difficult for Apple to prove harm in the case because the information revealed does not constitute trade secrets as traditionally defined and because the information was not revealed sufficiently ahead of company announcements for competitors to benefit from it. Wall Street Journal, 14 January 2005 (sub. req'd) http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110566157500825906,00.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. To access resources including articles, books, conference sessions, contracts, effective practices, plans, policies, position descriptions, and blog content, go to http://www.educause.edu/resources ***************************************************** CONFERENCES For information on all EDUCAUSE learning and networking opportunities, see http://www.educause.edu/31 ***************************************************** COPYRIGHT Edupage copyright (c) 2005, EDUCAUSE
