***************************************************** Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. *****************************************************
TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2005 Report Addresses Campus Efforts to Control File Sharing Congressmen to Ask for Review of Higher Ed Antipiracy Efforts New Tool Defeats File-Sharing Applications IBM to Launch Online Job Service REPORT ADDRESSES CAMPUS EFFORTS TO CONTROL FILE SHARING A report submitted to Congress this week provides a snapshot of campus programs to provide legal alternatives to illegal file trading. Prepared by the Joint Committee of the Higher Education and Entertainment Communities, the report noted that the number of institutions offering legal download services has tripled during the past year, to 70, covering more than 670,000 students nationwide. Campuses offering such services include a number of large and high-profile institutions, and many other colleges and universities are expected to introduce such programs. The report acknowledged that measuring the effect of legal options on student behavior can be difficult, and it noted that large numbers of students at some schools continue to engage in illegal file trading despite the option of a legal service. The most successful approach, according to the report, is for a campus to enforce copyright policies and work to limit illegal file trading while offering students a legal alternative. Inside Higher Ed, 22 September 2005 http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2005/09/22/filesharing CONGRESSMEN TO ASK FOR REVIEW OF HIGHER ED ANTIPIRACY EFFORTS At a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee meeting this week, lawmakers, campus officials, and representatives of the movie industry and of a provider of legal download services discussed efforts by U.S. colleges and universities to curtail copyright violations on their networks. Reps. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) and Howard Berman (D-Calif.) said they will ask the Government Accountability Office to issue a formal report on what effects those efforts have had on student file-trading habits. According to Smith, "We will ask for the report so we can increase the scrutiny and increase the public attention to piracy." Also at the hearing, Norbert Dunkel, director of housing at the University of Florida, described his institution's use of an application called Icarus, which automatically restricts usage of the network for students who connect to P2P services. Dunkel said the tool, which the university developed, has led to a 95 percent reduction in outgoing traffic from the university's network and virtually eliminated notices of copyright infringement. Smith applauded the application, but Daniel Updegrove, vice president for information technology at the University of Texas at Austin, expressed concerns that such a blanket approach to the problem could limit the academic freedom and privacy of students. Chronicle of Higher Education, 23 September 2005 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/09/2005092301t.htm NEW TOOL DEFEATS FILE-SHARING APPLICATIONS A new tool from the recording and film industries uninstalls or disables P2P applications, and it scans computers for illegal copies of songs or movies and deletes them. Digital File Check was developed by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) in conjunction with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and is available free from the IFPI Web site. A statement from the IFPI noted that the tool does not report evidence of file sharing to any antipiracy organization. Rather, it is designed as an aid to parents and employers who want to discourage children and employees from using computers to violate copyrights. The IFPI will also publish a guide called "Copyright and Security Guide for Companies and Governments" that offers advice to employers about the risks they face by failing to prevent copyright violations on their networks. ZDNet, 23 September 2005 http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-5876687.html IBM TO LAUNCH ONLINE JOB SERVICE To help fill what it calls the "gap between skilled IT professionals and the increased number of technology jobs," IBM will introduce an online job-listing service targeting graduates in computer sciences. On the applicant side, the service will be open to students who have passed an IBM Professional Certification test. Those individuals will be able to post resumes as well as access tips on writing resumes and being interviewed. For employers, the site will be open to IBM, its partners, and its clients, who can search the resumes for prospects, sorting them by skills and location. Meanwhile, the company has introduced a doctoral fellowship program as well as an initiative that helps those in technical fields to become math and science teachers. CNET, 22 September 2005 http://news.com.com/2100-7342_3-5877754.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. 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
