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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, MARCH 07, 2005 Texas Bill Would Benefit Graduates of Online Law Schools Court Ponders Protection of Online Journalists Tech Companies Coordinate Compliance Efforts TEXAS BILL WOULD BENEFIT GRADUATES OF ONLINE LAW SCHOOLS A bill working its way through the Texas legislature could give graduates of online law schools more opportunities to practice law. The American Bar Association (ABA) has so far refused to accredit online law schools, saying that they do not train students adequately to practice law. Although the ABA continues to refuse accreditation to online law schools, the organization does accredit institutions that offer some courses online. Currently in Texas, a graduate of an online law school can only take the state's bar exam if he or she has practiced law in another state for at least five years. The proposed law would allow online graduates to take the Texas bar exam if they simply had passed the bar in another state. A small number of other states have similar statutes. California is currently the only state that allows individuals to take the bar exam without having passed another state's bar exam. The bill was prompted by the situation of Julie Drenner, daughter of a state legislator, who graduated from Oak Brook College of Law and Government in California, passed that state's bar exam, and now wants to practice law in Texas. Chronicle of Higher Education, 11 March 2005 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/prm/weekly/v51/i27/27a03501.htm COURT PONDERS PROTECTION OF ONLINE JOURNALISTS Two court cases involving Apple Computer have significant potential to define the legal landscape for online journalists. In one case, Apple has asked the court to allow it to compel the operators of three industry Web sites to disclose the identities of confidential sources who supplied the sites with confidential information about upcoming Apple products. The judge in that case indicated he is leaning toward finding for Apple. In the other case, Apple has accused Harvard student Nick DePlume, operator of the Think Secret Web site, of trying to persuade Apple employees to divulge company secrets. At issue in both cases is the extent to which online journalists are afforded the protection granted to traditional journalists for protecting their sources. An attorney from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which is fighting Apple in the first case, said that a ruling in Apple's favor would "have a chilling effect on the use of confidential sources." DePlume's attorney, Terry Gross, commented that had a major newspaper published the stories that DePlume published on Think Secret, those actions would simply have been deemed "good journalism" and no lawsuits would have been filed. New York Times, 5 March 2005 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/05/technology/05blogs.html TECH COMPANIES COORDINATE COMPLIANCE EFFORTS A group of eight leading technology companies has formed a working group to help organizations understand and meet a growing number of technology regulations, including such legislation as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Founding members of the Compliance and Management Electronic Information (CMEI) working group include Oracle, HP, Sun Microsystems, and Veritas; the group will begin posting resources on the Internet Law and Policy Forum Web site in the next six months. As technology increasingly underpins business processes, the range of regulations with which a company must comply can be daunting. For example, U.S. regulations require companies to maintain records on former customers for seven years; laws in the United Kingdom, in contrast, require companies to immediately delete information on former customers. The CMEI working group will publish best practices, work to foster communication between businesses and regulatory agencies, and offer resources for companies to help them understand various compliance requirements. Internet News, 7 March 2005 http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3487896 ***************************************************** 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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