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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2006 Study of Laptop Use on Campus Finds Mixed Results Copyright Office Issues DMCA Exceptions VoIP Left Vulnerable to Hackers Novell Withdraws from Hula Open Source Project BitTorrent Deals with Studios to Offer Video Online Court Says CAN-SPAM Trumps State Laws Google Ends Question and Answer Service Quick Growth Predicted for Global Mobile Entertainment STUDY OF LAPTOP USE ON CAMPUS FINDS MIXED RESULTS Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found that although laptop-using students have more flexibility in when and where they study and spend more time on assignments than students who visit computer labs, their academic work shows no measurable improvement. Both groups of students get approximately the same grades. The researchers discovered that the laptop users spent considerable time on e-mail, instant messaging, and surfing the Web. Chronicle of Higher Education, 29 November 2006 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/daily/2006/11/2006112901t.htm COPYRIGHT OFFICE ISSUES DMCA EXCEPTIONS The U.S. Copyright Office granted narrow, three-year exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that permit circumvention of access-control technologies on electronic media if specific conditions are met. Under one exemption, professors of film and media studies can circumvent the access-control technology of DVDs in their libraries to use film clips in class. Another exemption permits circumvention of access-control technology to test, explore, and fix security flaws in copy-protection software included on audio compact discs. Chronicle of Higher Education, 28 November 2006 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/daily/2006/11/2006112801t.htm VOIP LEFT VULNERABLE TO HACKERS Security company Scanit blames the vulnerability of sensitive data sent using voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) on inadequate network security, leaving 7 of 10 calls open to wiretapping. Scanit's audit of data transfer at call centers and service providers pinpointed the main cause--assumptions that VoIP vendors on the network had already installed security measures. According to Scanit engineer Sheran Gunasekera, "Administrators at these places lacked adequate skills and understanding of the security aspects of setting a VoIP network up. They relied on the vendor or system integrator to secure it." He said that many networks were running VoIP without encryption. The Register, 29 November 2006 http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/11/29/voip_hack_calls/ NOVELL WITHDRAWS FROM HULA OPEN SOURCE PROJECT Novell stopped participating in the Hula open source e-mail and calendaring software project it began in February 2005. According to Novell representative Peter Teichman, business customers already had e-mail and calendaring services in place. The company is thus shifting its resources to other projects, asking members of the Hula community to take over its previous leadership role and to continue working on the code. ZDNet, 29 November 2006 http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6139279.html BITTORRENT DEALS WITH STUDIOS TO OFFER VIDEO ONLINE BitTorrent has made deals with Paramount, MTV Networks, 20th Century Fox, and smaller studios to permit its users to purchase or rent movies and buy TV shows when the new video service begins in February 2007. The company signed a similar agreement with Warner Brothers earlier this year. Initially, customers will be able to play the video downloads only on their computers, but the company plans to support downloads to portable devices in the future. San Jose Mercury News, 29 November 2006 http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/16122678.htm COURT SAYS CAN-SPAM TRUMPS STATE LAWS The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded in mid-November that unsolicited e-mails advertising cruise vacations were permitted under the federal antispam law called the CAN-SPAM Act, even though they included a false Internet address and a nonworking "From" address. In the case involving antispam activist Mark Mumma of Oklahoma, the three-judge panel ruled that the federal law preempts state statutes. CNET, 28 November 2006 http://news.com.com/2100-1030_3-6138874.html GOOGLE ENDS QUESTION AND ANSWER SERVICE Google Answers, a service that lets users submit questions that researchers answer for a fee, will end this week. The service will no longer accept questions, although it will permit new answers to questions until the end of the year. The archive of questions and answers will continue to be available online for browsing. PCWorld, 29 November 2006 http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,128040-c,google/article.html QUICK GROWTH PREDICTED FOR GLOBAL MOBILE ENTERTAINMENT Juniper Research estimates that the global mobile entertainment market is currently worth $17 billion and will grow to $47 billion by 2009 and $77 billion by 2011. The company predicts European and Asia Pacific countries will come to dominate the global market for mobile entertainment. Today, mobile music is the largest sector, followed by "infotainment," which includes sport, leisure, and information products. Juniper expects revenues from mobile games and mobile TV will surpass the music sector by 2011, as will mobile gambling. Silicon Republic, 29 November 2006 http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/news.nv?storyid=single7426 ***************************************************** 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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