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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2006 Berkeley Puts Course Video Online Judge Rules Against Morpheus Deal Reached for Online Music Royalties BERKELEY PUTS COURSE VIDEO ONLINE In an arrangement with Google, the University of California, Berkeley, will make available online considerable amounts of videotaped course content, including lectures, speeches, special events, and, in some cases, entire courses. UC Berkeley is the only institution with its own page on the Google Video Web site, and the course materials are available for public use. Dan Mogulof, director of public affairs at UC Berkeley, said, "We are a public university. We have fabulous faculty and incredible events. We want to share the wealth across the state, country, and world." UC Berkeley is not the first university to post course materials online, but its program is one of the broader initiatives, given the amount of content and the fact that it is open to anyone. Officials from the university said they expect other institutions to launch similar efforts. Mercury News, 28 September 2006 http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/15627859.htm JUDGE RULES AGAINST MORPHEUS A federal judge in California ruled against StreamCast Networks, developer of the Morpheus P2P application, saying that evidence of the company's "objective of promoting infringement is overwhelming." Previous high-profile rulings have been handed down against Grokster and Kazaa, both of which have stopped distributing file-sharing software. Morpheus was the remaining hurdle in the recording industry's legal attack on services that facilitate widespread copyright infringement. Saying the past few years have been "challenging...for the music community," the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) said the ruling against StreamCast "means that the rules of the road for online music are better today than they were yesterday." Officials at StreamCast remained defiant, however. A spokesperson for the company said StreamCast "did not encourage users to infringe on copyrighted works" and would continue to distribute the Morpheus software. Internet News, 28 September 2006 http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3634866 DEAL REACHED FOR ONLINE MUSIC ROYALTIES Songwriters and record companies in Britain reached an agreement over royalties for online music sales just as a copyright tribunal that would have decided the issue went into session. In the dispute, record companies were represented by the British Phonographic Industry, and Adam Singer represented songwriters. Singer heads the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society Ltd and the Performing Right Society Ltd. Songwriters and composers had sought a royalty rate of 12 percent, an increase from the existing rate of 8 percent. Record companies wanted the rate to drop to 6.5 percent. In the final negotiations, both sides agreed to accept the 8 percent rate for three more years, which amounts to about 10 cents per song sold on Apple's iTunes service. The tribunal accepted the settlement, which is legally binding only in the United Kingdom. Nonetheless, experts said the deal could influence similar negotiations in other countries, including the United States and Germany. Wall Street Journal, 28 September 2006 (sub. req'd) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115945647272576748.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
