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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 01, 2006 EFF Sues AT&T Over Cooperation with NSA Five Companies Cooperate Against Spyware Microsoft Outlines Blog Censorship Policy Congress Holds Hearings on Cell-Phone Customer Privacy MTV Debuts University Channel EFF SUES AT&T OVER COOPERATION WITH NSA The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has filed suit against AT&T for allegedly cooperating with the National Security Agency (NSA) in eavesdropping on individuals without a warrant. President Bush ordered the wiretaps following the terrorist attacks of 2001 and has vigorously defended them, saying the Constitution and Congressional resolutions allow them. Civil liberties groups and others reject that, saying that the wiretaps violate existing laws on surveillance. The EFF said it identified AT&T as one company involved in the activities and has filed suit "to stop this invasion of privacy, prevent it from occurring again, and make sure AT&T and all the other carriers understand there are going to be legal and economic consequences when they fail to follow the law." The EFF alleges that AT&T provided the NSA with access to its network, which carries both voice and data, and to its vast databases that store information on phone calls and Internet activity. AT&T refused to comment on the litigation. Yahoo, 31 January 2006 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060201/ap_on_hi_te/domestic_spying_lawsuit FIVE COMPANIES COOPERATE AGAINST SPYWARE A group of computer security companies is cooperating on an initiative to help consumers combat the growing problem of spyware, which is estimated to be increasing by 50 to 100 percent per year. ICSA Labs, McAfee, Symantec, Thompson Cyber Security Labs, and Trend Micro will initially offer tools that will help users identify spyware on their systems and effectively remove it. That effort will involve developing a common naming scheme for malicious programs and a coordination of various removal tools. Later, the five members of the group will work on tools that can help users avoid spyware in the first place. A related effort called Stop Badware was announced recently by Google, Sun Microsystems, the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, and the Oxford Internet Institute. BBC, 1 February 2006 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4669304.stm MICROSOFT OUTLINES BLOG CENSORSHIP POLICY Microsoft has announced details of a new policy on censoring the content of blogs maintained by its customers. According to the new policy, blog content will only be blocked to comply with local laws and with the terms of use of MSN Spaces, the company's blog application. In order to have content blocked, a local government must demonstrate that it violates local laws. Moreover, the content will only be blocked in areas where those laws apply; users in other parts of the world will still be able to see the content. In cases where content is blocked, users will be notified and told that the reason is a government restriction. Microsoft's announcement follows criticism of its decision to comply with requests of Chinese authorities to remove the blog content of an individual the government considered a threat. The announcement also comes on the heels of Google's plan to filter the content of its search results to comply with local laws in China. Both companies said their decisions are based on the belief that it is better to have a presence in countries like China, even if that requires limiting access to certain online content. Internet News, 1 February 2006 http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3582016 CONGRESS HOLDS HEARINGS ON CELL-PHONE CUSTOMER PRIVACY A Congressional hearing this week will address cell phone companies' efforts to protect the privacy of their customers. The hearing comes after recent revelations that a number of data brokers have been able to con cell phone companies into disclosing data about customers and their calling habits, which was then sold to third parties. The premise is that certain individuals, such as attorneys, might want details of cell phone calls, and data brokers supply that data. Cell phone companies and some members of Congress, however, object to the methods that data brokers use to obtain that information, including posing as people they are not and using information such as Social Security numbers without authorization. Some critics have pointed to weak policies and practices among cell phone companies for protecting such data as the root of the problem. Rep. Joe L. Barton (R-Tex.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a statement that he intends to make the practice of fraudulently obtaining such data "very illegal." ZDNet, 1 February 2006 http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-6033688.html MTV DEBUTS UNIVERSITY CHANNEL MTV has launched a new online station directed at college students. The station, mtvU, includes music videos, movies made by and for college students, games, news, and a range of other content targeting 18-to-22-year-olds. The station only works on PCs at this point, not on Macs, and invites viewers to submit their own content. In one section of the site, student-submitted videos capture short interviews with people students see as celebrities, such as Mark Romanek, a director of music videos. Other resources on the channel cover topics such as sexual health and how to get and keep a job. The channel is interactive, allowing viewers to pause, rewind, and fast forward, the way they can with TiVo and similar services. According to an MTV press release for the new station, the target audience are college students because they are "the first adopters of new music, new technology, and new trends." New York Times, 31 January 2006 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/31/arts/television/31mtvu.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. 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