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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2005 Media Lab Europe to Close Report Calls for Increased Spending on Cybersecurity Ellison Talks Up Merger and Future Plans Two Convicted for File Sharing Carnivore is Dead MEDIA LAB EUROPE TO CLOSE Five years after it was opened, Media Lab Europe will close its doors, unable to attract sufficient funding to remain viable. Modeled after the successful Media Lab at MIT, Media Lab Europe opened in Dublin, Ireland, hoping to secure 165 million euros as a 10-year budget. Despite 35.5 million euros from the Irish government--as well as another 22.5 million the government spent on Media Lab's facilities, which were rented to the lab for virtually nothing--organizers of the lab were only able to sign up eight corporate and private-sector partners. Some critics of the lab said the funding model that worked in the United States was unlikely to work in Europe and should have been adjusted accordingly. Others noted that in an environment where public funding of academic research was difficult to come by, the Irish government's generous support of Media Lab may have annoyed other researchers in the country, thereby isolating the lab from them. Nicholas Negroponte, founder of Media Lab, said he had hoped the lab would seed other such research projects in Europe, but he attributed its demise to the bursting of the dot-com bubble and to what he called "top-down, highly bureaucratic and geopolitical funding offered by the E.U." New York Times, 18 January 2005 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/18/technology/18lab.html REPORT CALLS FOR INCREASED SPENDING ON CYBERSECURITY A new report from the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee calls for increased federal spending on cybersecurity research and stronger efforts to support academic research into cybersecurity. The report outlines a number of structural issues that contribute to the current problem, including a bureaucracy that causes confusion among federal agencies about the sources of funding for cybersecurity projects. According to the report, the Cyber Trust, which was established by the National Science Foundation (NSF), funded only 8 percent of the proposals it reviewed, while 25 percent warranted support. The report recommends increasing the NSF's cybersecurity budget by $90 million a year. Because cybersecurity projects often involve classified material, many colleges and universities cannot participate. The report argues that the government should take steps to increase the number of faculty involved in cybersecurity research--currently fewer than 250--and to attract more students to the field, with the goal of doubling the number of cybersecurity researchers in 10 years. Chronicle of Higher Education, 18 January 2005 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/prm/daily/2005/01/2005011802n.htm ELLISON TALKS UP MERGER AND FUTURE PLANS Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, speaking to a group of about 400 customers, described his company's acquisition of rival PeopleSoft as "largely over" and laid out plans for the future. Regarding layoffs, Ellison said Oracle has made offers to the "vast majority" of PeopleSoft employees and that there should be no more terminations in the United States. Ellison again stated his company's intention to continue supporting PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards products through 2013, saying that he expects retention of PeopleSoft customers to be about what it is with Oracle customers--at least 95 percent. Ellison also described a product called "Project Fusion" that will represent functionality from Oracle, PeopleSoft, and J.D. Edwards software, to be available starting in 2006. Analysts commented that Oracle's plans are ambitious and that only time will tell if it can fulfill its stated goals. San Jose Mercury News, 19 January 2005 http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/10680855.htm TWO CONVICTED FOR FILE SHARING Two men have pleaded guilty to criminal copyright infringement charges in federal court. Although entertainment companies have won a number of civil judgments against individuals for file trading, the cases against William Trowbridge and Michael Chicoine mark the first convictions for such activity under federal criminal charges. The two face prison terms of up to five years and fines of as much as $250,000, as well as restitution and forfeiture of computer equipment used in the crimes. Trowbridge and Chicoine admitted to operating Internet hubs from which others could download software, movies, and other copyrighted material. The two men were part of a group called the Underground Network, an organization of 7,000 users who made computer files available to one another. Investigators reportedly downloaded files from Chicoine valued at $4,820.66 and files from Trowbridge worth $20,648.63. Wall Street Journal, 19 January 2005 (sub. req'd) http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110610434199329863,00.html CARNIVORE IS DEAD According to two recent reports to Congress, the FBI has put an end to its electronic surveillance tool, known as Carnivore. Despite claims from federal officials that they need expanded access to electronic communications, the system was widely criticized by civil liberties groups as being overly invasive and for not respecting individuals' privacy. The reports, which the Electronic Privacy Information Center obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, note that the FBI did not use the system for fiscal years 2002 and 2003 and instead used commercially available monitoring software. According to the reports, the FBI engaged in court-ordered Internet surveillance 13 times during those years. CNET, 19 January 2005 http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5541483.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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