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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2005 Sun Moves Solaris to Open Source Microsoft to Limit Downloads to Legal Software Owners Broad Coalition Files Briefs in File-Trading Case Making Every Word a Link SUN MOVES SOLARIS TO OPEN SOURCE Sun Microsystems has announced it will make its Solaris 10 operating system available as an open source product. Sun has lost ground to companies including Dell and HP that increasingly offer Linux-based products. Changing consumer sentiment regarding proprietary systems has left Sun defending its products, and the company's latest move is designed to persuade developers to once again consider Sun's technology. The open source Solaris will be available free of charge, and developers will be able to make changes to the operating system to improve it as they see fit. According to John Loiacono, executive vice president for software at Sun, the goal is to get more developers using Solaris, thereby increasing opportunities for Sun to sell its other products and hardware. The company also announced it would modify its stance on intellectual property and allow free use of 1,600 of the patents it holds on the Solaris operating system. New York Times, 26 January 2005 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/26/technology/26sun.html MICROSOFT TO LIMIT DOWNLOADS TO LEGAL SOFTWARE OWNERS Microsoft will soon begin requiring users to employ a program called Windows Genuine Advantage before downloading software patches or updates. The program verifies that the computer requesting the download is running a legitimate copy of Windows software rather than a pirated or counterfeit version. Initially, the requirement will apply to users in China, Norway, and the Czech Republic, but it will include all users by the middle of the year. Users will still be able to receive software updates and patches using the Automatic Updates feature. The program is part of Microsoft's three-pronged approach to limiting software piracy: educating users, designing products that discourage illegal copying, and legal enforcement. In addition to allowing downloads, the program will also offer users discounts on Microsoft products and services. Analysts noted that although the obvious benefit of the program is to Microsoft by way of decreasing the incidence of software piracy, users stand to benefit as well. Ensuring that a computer is running a legitimate version of an operating system shields that computer from bugs and glitches associated with pirated software, while guaranteeing that patches and upgrades will work properly. CNET, 25 January 2005 http://news.com.com/2100-1016_3-5550205.html BROAD COALITION FILES BRIEFS IN FILE-TRADING CASE A broad group of organizations has filed legal briefs siding with the entertainment industry in its upcoming Supreme Court case over whether P2P services should be held liable for illegal file trading on their networks. Groups including the National Football League and the Christian Coalition of America joined with the U.S. government and 40 states and territories in calling for the court to overturn lower court rulings and find companies such as Grokster and Morpheus liable for P2P music piracy. A brief submitted by the Justice Department, the Copyright Office, and the Patent and Trademark Office said P2P companies have built their businesses on "massive copyright infringement." Adam Eisgrau, executive director of the P2P United trade group, said that a ruling against P2P companies would suppress technological innovation and would punish a technology that simply is not mature. According to Eisgrau, "If the standard for a technology in its relative infancy is whether at that instant it is used more for ill than for good, then we will almost never foster the development of breakthrough technologies." The case will be presented to the Supreme Court in March; a decision is expected in June. Reuters, 25 January 2005 http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=7428570 MAKING EVERY WORD A LINK A researcher at University College London wants to change the basic functioning of the Web, allowing readers of Web pages to change those pages--similar to wikis--and making every word a "hyperword." The Liquid Information project is the brainchild of Frode Hegland, who is collaborating with Doug Engelbart, inventor of the computer mouse. Hegland's vision of the Web is one in which consumers of content can also be producers of content. Users would be able to make connections, add links, and change the way information is presented. On an example page, Hegland has modified a CNN Web page such that users can hover over any word to display a menu of choices, including getting a definition of the word, performing a Google search for the word, and highlighting instances of the word in various colors. Hegland said that we need to replace the current Web, which consists of "handmade, one-way links" with what he calls "deep legibility" so that users can "make connections, explicit or otherwise." Hegland conceded that a Web like the one he envisions would require smart users. But, he added, "people are pretty smart. The days of baby steps when everything is shown to users are over." Wired News, 25 January 2005 http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,66382,00.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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