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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2006 Students Blame i2hub for Their Downloading Habits Putting a Price on Cybercrime Apple Changes iTunes in Response to Complaints STUDENTS BLAME I2HUB FOR THEIR DOWNLOADING HABITS A group of students at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst are demanding that the operators of the now-shuttered i2hub pay for their settlements with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). According to Lisa Kent, an attorney at the university's Student Legal Services Office, which is representing the 42 students, i2hub deceived students into believing the service was endorsed by the university. This deception led to their believing that downloading materials over the network was legal. Unless i2hub pays the $157,500 that the RIAA is seeking from the students, the student legal office will file a lawsuit, said Kent. Charles S. Baker, the attorney for Wayne Chang, who created i2hub when he was a sophomore at UMass Amherst, rejected Kent's argument, saying that the software that Chang wrote was technically legal. "i2hub," he said, "is not responsible if your clients used the software for an improper purpose." Fred von Lohmann, a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, compared the students' legal argument to "a shooter deciding to sue a gun company, saying, 'The gun made me do it.'" Chronicle of Higher Education, 19 January 2006 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/daily/2006/01/2006011901t.htm PUTTING A PRICE ON CYBERCRIME A study by the FBI estimates that yearly losses to computer crimes exceed $67 billion. The study is based on the results of a survey of more than 2,000 organizations, of which 90 percent reported having suffered some form of computer attack in the previous 12 months, and 64 percent said they suffered a financial loss due to those attacks. The average financial loss was $24,000 per company. In estimating total losses, the FBI multiplied the average loss by just 20 percent of U.S. organizations because survey results are often skewed when reporting problems. Even with the significant reduction in the number of affected businesses, the total estimate was an enormous amount of money, far exceeding the $1 billion in losses each year to telecommunications fraud. Because of the relatively large sample size, Bruce Verduyn of the FBI said he believes the estimate is more accurate than other studies that have attempted to quantify losses to cybercrime. CNET, 19 January 2006 http://news.com.com/2100-7349_3-6028946.html APPLE CHANGES ITUNES IN RESPONSE TO COMPLAINTS Responding to complaints that its iTunes software infringed on user privacy, Apple has made changes to the application. At issue is a feature called MiniStore, which recommends songs to users based on what they are listening to. When the new feature was released earlier this month, some users discovered that the feature transmitted information about iTunes users to Apple with unique identifiers. Those ID numbers exposed the users of the service to violations of their privacy because the iTunes software did not alert users to the feature and how it works. Critics also pointed out that Apple did not disclose what exactly it does with the data that is transmitted to the company. Apple has changed the software to include a pop-up that tells users about the feature and allows them to turn it off. Apple also said that it has not done anything with the data it has collected. Kirk McElhearn, one of the users who first reported the concerns about MiniStore, commended Apple for its response, saying it had "done the right thing." BBC, 19 January 2006 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4627214.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) 2006, EDUCAUSE
