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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2006 Publishers Take Heart from Belgian Court Ruling U.S. Renews Agreement with ICANN Commerce Department Missing 1,100 Laptops PUBLISHERS TAKE HEART FROM BELGIAN COURT RULING Buoyed by a recent ruling from a court in Belgium, the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) is leading the development of an automated system for coordinating content permissions with search engines. The Belgian court found that Google violates the rights of content producers when it indexes news stories and reposts parts of those stories on its own site. News organizations have long complained that search engines profit from the efforts of news outlets, and the court ruling, which Google is appealing, strengthens their position in trying to restrict how search engines are allowed to use online content. Search engines typically rely on applications that scour the Web for content and incorporate it into search results without human intervention. The Automated Content Access Protocol being developed by the WAN will reportedly give news organizations the ability to include parameters about how their content may be used inside online content. The applications that search engines use to index content will be able to interpret those parameters and treat the content accordingly. Gavin O'Reilly, chairman of the WAN, said, "This system is intended to remove completely any rights conflicts between publishers and search engines." CNET, 22 September 2006 http://news.com.com/2100-1030_3-6118523.html U.S. RENEWS AGREEMENT WITH ICANN The U.S. Department of Commerce said it would renew its Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) for oversight of the naming system for the Internet. The current MOU will expire at the end of September, and international groups have called for responsibility of Internet names to be transferred to an organization such as the United Nations. Some within the U.S. government have criticized ICANN and pushed for changes. Rep. John Dingell (D- Mich.) said, "ICANN remains far from a model of effective and sustainable self-governance." Though details were not released, a new MOU is expected to be in force for between one and three years. Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) was critical of the Commerce Department's vagueness about a renewed MOU. Nevertheless, Upton commented, "Allowing ICANN to continue to develop under the watchful eye of the Department of Commerce is not only the right thing to do, but the most prudent action, as well." Internet News, 22 September 2006 http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3633701 COMMERCE DEPARTMENT MISSING 1,100 LAPTOPS A statement issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce indicates that the agency cannot account for 1,137 laptops that should be in its inventory of about 30,000. Of those that are missing--whether lost or stolen--249 reportedly contained personally identifiable information from the U.S. Census Bureau. The agency said that it has received no reports that the information contained on the missing computers has been misused, noting that the data are protected by passwords, encryption, and complex database software. The Commerce Department's statement did acknowledge, however, that since 2003, nearly 300 cases of compromised personal information had been reported. Those instances involved 217 laptops, 15 handheld devices, 46 other devices, including USB flash drives. ZDNet, 22 September 2006 http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6118495.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) 2006, EDUCAUSE
