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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2006 *** Thanksgiving Break *** Loopt Launches Social Mapping Service China Unblocks Wikipedia Chinese Court Clears Baidu *** Thanksgiving Break *** Edupage will not be published during the week of Thanksgiving, Nov. 20 to 24. Edupage will resume on Monday, Nov. 27. LOOPT LAUNCHES SOCIAL MAPPING SERVICE Start-up company Loopt Inc. is launching a social mapping service in conjunction with the Boost Mobile brand of Sprint Nextel. With the service, users can see on a map where other users are and can contact those people, either by phone or text message. The service, which is free for the rest of 2006, uses GPS technology in the Boost phones to locate and track users who have agreed to let their locations be monitored. Users can include notes that accompany their locations, such as that they are in class or at the laundry, and they can disable the feature whenever they want, preventing others from seeing where they are. Most of the 3.8 million customers of the Boost brand phones are under 25 years old, and officials from Loopt said this is a key demographic in such location-based services. CEO Sam Altman noted that among under-25 cell phone users, one of the most common text messages is "where are u?" Boston Herald, 14 November 2006 http://business.bostonherald.com/technologyNews/view.bg?articleid=167307 CHINA UNBLOCKS WIKIPEDIA Following the recent unblocking of the English-language version of Wikipedia in China, users in the country can now access the Chinese version of the Web site. Chinese officials made no comment about the change, but Andrew Lih, a Chinese-American academic who specializes in Wikipedia, said in his blog that he believes "consensus among the authorities determined the benefits of Wikipedia far outweigh the risks." China is notorious for blocking content it considers subversive, such as material on democracy or human rights. Paris-based Reporters Without Borders has routinely criticized Internet companies that make concessions to Chinese authorities' demands to censor online content. Those companies, including Yahoo, Google, and Microsoft, have argued that the benefits of having a presence in the country justify the concessions. Reporters Without Borders said that Wikipedia, which made no changes to its content to satisfy Chinese authorities, has shown that no such compromises are necessary. "The Chinese government is pragmatic," the group said, "and does not want to do without foreign businesses in the Internet sector." BBC, 16 November 2006 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6154444.stm CHINESE COURT CLEARS BAIDU A court in China has cleared search engine Baidu of wrongdoing in a case brought by representatives of the recording industry. The IFPI, an international media organization, filed the lawsuit on behalf of EMI Group, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony BMG Music Entertainment, alleging that Baidu facilitated copyright violations by linking users to sites that allowed them to download pirated music files. In a decision that IFPI Chairman John Kennedy characterized as "totally out of step with Chinese law," the court held that Baidu bore no responsibility for the copyright infringement of its users. The IFPI said it would appeal the ruling. CNET, 17 November 2006 http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-6136529.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
