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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2005 Thief Grabs Laptop and 100,000 Identities Investors Buy SunGard, Expect Few Major Changes Media Companies Settle with Freelancers Model Supports Archiving of Digital Information THIEF GRABS LAPTOP AND 100,000 IDENTITIES Officials at the University of California at Berkeley said that a laptop stolen from the university's graduate division contained personal information for nearly 100,000 individuals. The computer included records for applicants to Berkeley's graduate programs from fall 2001 to spring 2004; students enrolled in the school's graduate programs from fall 1989 to fall 2003; and individuals who received doctorates from Berkeley between 1976 and 1999. Although no evidence exists that any of the stolen information has been used fraudulently, according to a statement from the university, the institution is required by a California law to disclose the breach to those affected. The statement said the university is making "every reasonable effort to notify by mail or e-mail all 98,369 individuals whose names and Social Security numbers were on the computer." Inside Higher Ed, 29 March 2005 http://www.insidehighered.com/index.php/news/2005/03/29/theft INVESTORS BUY SUNGARD, EXPECT FEW MAJOR CHANGES A group of investment interests will pay $11.3 billion for SunGard Data Systems, the parent of SunGard SCT and SunGard Collegis. Although SunGard SCT and SunGard Collegis both cater to the higher education community, the former focuses on business software, whereas the latter develops software for academic development and student information systems. As a result of the acquisition, SunGard will become a privately held company rather than a public company. Michael Zastrocky, vice president for academic strategies at Gartner, said that the sale of SunGard could result in greater coordination between the divisions of the company and ultimately "more emphasis on higher education in the long run." Glenn H. Hutchins, cofounder and managing member of Silver Lake Partners, which heads the investor groups in the deal, said the company expects no significant changes and that the new owners would continue to support current SunGard businesses and customers. Chronicle of Higher Education, 29 March 2005 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/prm/daily/2005/03/2005032901t.htm MEDIA COMPANIES SETTLE WITH FREELANCERS A settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit between media companies and freelance writers over stories included in electronic databases. The class action suit was the combination of three separate suits and represented defendants including the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Authors Guild, the National Writers Union, and almost two dozen freelance writers. Defendants in the suit, including Time, Knight Ridder, Reed Elsevier, and The New York Times Company, agreed to pay between $10 million and $18 million for works originally published between August 1977 and December 2002. Under the terms of the settlement, writers who did not sign away electronic publishing rights can apply for payments of as much as $1,500 for works that have been added to electronic databases. Although many payments will be significantly smaller than that, "some freelancers ... will make six figures under this settlement," according to Jim Morrison, one of the negotiators of the settlement and a past president of the American Society of Journalists and Authors. Wired Magazine, 29 March 2005 http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,67063,00.html MODEL SUPPORTS ARCHIVING OF DIGITAL INFORMATION The Center for Technology in Government at the University at Albany has created a toolkit to aid in the preservation of digital content. The project was funded by an $800,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, and the toolkit will be distributed to states and territories as part of the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program. Federal laws specify requirements for the preservation of paper documents, but the arena of electronics records remains largely unregulated. According to Brian Burke, the Center for Technology in Government's project manager, this results in inconsistent procedures from state to state for preserving digital material. Librarians and archivists from around the country are saying that "there�s tons of information that's being lost or predicted to be lost," said Burke. The toolkit focuses on establishing predictable policies and communication among states and territories so that various agencies can work together to preserve digital content consistently. Federal Computer Week, 30 March 2005 http://www.fcw.com/article88434-03-30-05-Web ***************************************************** 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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