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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2005 Eolas Ruling Swings Back to University of California RIAA Continues to Sue Swappers, Many on Campus Ireland and U.K. to Cooperate on E-Learning Hacker Hits University of Georgia Fab Labs Allow Creation, Not Just Consumption Massachusetts Plan Would Provide Laptops for All Students EOLAS RULING SWINGS BACK TO UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued its final ruling in favor of the University of California in its patent dispute with Microsoft. At issue is a technology used for launching certain applications in Web browsers. The technology was developed at the University of California at San Francisco and licensed to a company called Eolas Technologies. Eolas and the university had earlier won a $521 million judgment against Microsoft for violating the patent in its software, but that ruling was appealed on the grounds that the patent was not valid. Despite a preliminary ruling in which the Patent and Trademark Office indicated its leaning toward Microsoft's position on the Eolas patent, the final ruling upholds all of the university's claims. The ruling rejects the assertions of both Microsoft and the World Wide Web Consortium that the patent relies on "prior art." The case now returns to district court for trial. Chronicle of Higher Education, 30 September 2005 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/09/2005093001t.htm RIAA CONTINUES TO SUE SWAPPERS, MANY ON CAMPUS The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has filed a new batch of 757 John Doe lawsuits against users of P2P networks, accusing them of copyright violations. Included in the new suits are cases against individuals at 17 college and university campuses accused of illegally trading songs over Internet2's high-speed network using a file-sharing application called i2hub. The current action is the third time the RIAA has targeted users of i2hub and brings to 39 the number of campuses where students have been accused of copyright infringement using the application. Cary Sherman, president of the RIAA, invoked this summer's Supreme Court ruling against Grokster in a statement he issued with the new lawsuits. "The authority of the Supreme Court's unanimous ruling in the Grokster case," he said, "should not be ignored by students returning to campus this fall with sights set on free music." Sherman praised efforts at some campuses to educate users and restrict their ability to illegally trade copyrighted material on university networks. Internet News, 29 September 2005 http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/3552651 IRELAND AND U.K. TO COOPERATE ON E-LEARNING Education officials in the United Kingdom and Ireland have signed an agreement to work together in support of an initiative called the National Digital Repository, which is designed to support higher education e-learning. The repository, which started in January 2005, is to be a collection of components of higher education courses, allowing users to develop online courses in various fields by picking and choosing from among those components. Components can include images, multimedia clips, text, maps, and other elements that can support online learning. The repository is currently funded by the Irish Higher Education Authority (HEA) and the Department of Education and Science. Under the agreement between the HEA and the United Kingdom's Joint Information Services Committee, the two countries will cooperate "in building a technology infrastructure that provides lifelong access to programs of study for learners in a manner that is flexible and convenient to their particular life circumstances," according to Tom Boland, chief executive of the HEA. Silicon Republic, 29 September 2005 http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/news.nv?storyid=single5459 HACKER HITS UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA The University of Georgia has revealed that a hacker was able to access a computer system that contained personal information for employees of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences as well as people who are paid from that department. Social Security numbers were in the accessed database, though no credit card information was exposed. In all, 2,400 Social Security numbers for about 1,600 people were compromised, and the university is working to contact those affected. According to Tom Jackson, spokesperson for the university, names and Social Security numbers in the database were not connected, but an experienced hacker would likely be able to correctly match them up. The university suffered another computer hack in January 2004. No arrests have been made in that incident. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 29 September 2005 http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0905/29ugabreach.html FAB LABS ALLOW CREATION, NOT JUST CONSUMPTION With the help of host countries, MIT is setting up Fab Labs, or fabrication laboratories, around the world. Fab Labs provide an opportunity for individuals to use various technological means to build things that solve local problems. For example, Haakon Karlsen, a rancher who lives hundreds of miles north of the Artic Circle, used a Fab Lab in Norway to devise radio collars for his sheep. The collars help Karlsen locate his sheep in the conditions where he lives, and they send information about whether the flock is moving, what the temperature is, and other data he uses to care for the sheep. Neil Gershenfeld, professor at MIT and director of the university's Center for Bits and Atoms, said the labs take people out of the role of simply being consumers of technology that is available and puts them in the position of creating the technology they need. For each Fab Lab, MIT pays for equipment, and the host country provides the location for the lab. Officials in South Africa are currently working to introduce not one but four Fab Labs in that country, starting with one just outside Pretoria. Sushil Borde, who is directing the development of Fab Labs in South Africa, said the country hopes the labs will open new avenues for engineers and entrepreneurs to develop their ideas into tangible products. BBC, 27 September 2005 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4276180.stm MASSACHUSETTS PLAN WOULD PROVIDE LAPTOPS FOR ALL STUDENTS The state of Massachusetts is considering a plan to provide a laptop computer to every middle and senior high school student in the state. The plan, offered by Governor Mitt Romney, includes other provisions, such as adding 1,000 new science and math teachers. The nonprofit One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) organization was credited with the idea of providing the laptops; in 2000, Maine began a program to equip all seventh graders in that state with laptops. The initiative depends in part on acquiring laptops for about $100 each, an idea put forth by Nicholas Negroponte, founding chairman of MITÂ’s Media Laboratory. Negroponte formed the OLPC to help provide such inexpensive computers to children in developing nations. According to Negroponte, pencils are "tools to think with, sufficiently inexpensive to be used for work and play, drawing, writing, and mathematics." Computers, he says, can be seen the same way, though they are "far more powerful." Federal Computer Week, 29 September 2005 http://www.fcw.com/article90958-09-29-05-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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