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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2005 RIAA and MPAA Join Internet2 FBI Loses Round One Digital Rights Organization Opens in UK RIAA AND MPAA JOIN INTERNET2 The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) have become corporate members of Internet2, joining companies including the Ford Motor Company and C-Span. "Internet2 is a stepping stone between the research lab and the commercial sector," said Lauren Kallens, a spokesperson for the organization. Earlier this year, the entertainment groups sued hundreds of Abilene users for using the network to illegally trade files, but, according to Gayle Osterberg, a spokesperson for the MPAA, the groups' membership in Internet2 is unrelated to their antipiracy efforts. "This particular partnership," she said, "is more of an opportunity for us to have a technology testing ground." The groups plan to collaborate with the Internet2 community to study distribution and digital rights management technologies for networks faster than today's commercial Internet. Chronicle of Higher Education, 12 September 2005 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/09/2005091202t.htm FBI LOSES ROUND ONE A federal judge has handed the FBI a preliminary defeat in its efforts to continue to suppress information about an investigation of a Connecticut institution. The institution, whose identity has been kept confidential under the terms of the USA PATRIOT Act, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued the FBI for the right to disclose the institution's identity. Judge Janet C. Hall agreed with the plaintiffs, saying that under the FBI's position, "the very people who might have information regarding investigative abuses and overreaching are peremptorily prevented from sharing that information with the public." Hall did grant a stay of her ruling, however, giving federal authorities until September 20 to try to persuade the Court of Appeals to overturn the ruling. If the appeals court takes no action by then, the plaintiffs are free to disclose the institution's identity. Watching the case closely are groups critical of the PATRIOT Act, who have long argued that the law grants federal authorities excessive investigative powers at the expense of civil liberties. New York Times, 10 September 2005 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/10/nyregion/10library.html DIGITAL RIGHTS ORGANIZATION OPENS IN UK Modeled on the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) in the United States, a new organization is being launched in the United Kingdom to protect the rights of users of digital resources. According to the Web site of the Open Rights Group (ORG), the group will work to "vigorously defend our digital civil liberties, ensuring that the our hard-won freedoms are not taken away simply because they've moved to the digital world." Suw Charman, one of the group's co-founders, said that ORG intends not to replace but to work alongside organizations with similar goals, of which several already exist in the United Kingdom and Europe, including the Campaign for Digital Rights, the Foundation for Information Policy Research, and the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure. Officials from the rights group Citizens Online expressed skepticism that ORG efforts would be appropriately inclusive. Citizens Online worried that ORG's focus would be "middle class" issues, ignoring technology issues concerning people with disabilities and the digital divide. BBC, 9 September 2005 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4225938.stm ***************************************************** 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
