From: "Swisher, Bob" <bswisher@ou.edu>
To: "'it-fyi@listserv.ou.edu'" <it-fyi@lists.ou.edu>
Subject: it-fyi: Edupage, 21 March 1999
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 09:29:46 -0600
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Edupage, 21 March 1999. Edupage, a summary of news about information
technology, is provided three times a week as a service of EDUCAUSE, an
international nonprofit association dedicated to transforming higher
education through information technologies.
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TOP STORIES
Bill To Limit Database Piracy Introduced
Judge Throws Out Antitrust Suit Against Network Solutions
NIH Eyes Plan For Online Preprint Publishing
Barnes & Noble To Sell Stock In Online Venture
ALSO
Microsoft Offers Privacy Fix
Australia To Crack Down On Internet Porn
Mitnick Signs Plea Agreement
Honorary Subscriber: Charles Handy
BILL TO LIMIT DATABASE PIRACY INTRODUCED
A bill introduced to Congress by Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC) would make it
illegal for someone to extract all or parts of a collection of
information if the action would "cause harm to the actual or potential
market" for the owner of the database. The legislation is intended to
protect the ownership rights of companies that have developed databases,
against "pirates" who can quickly and easily copy massive collections of
information that they can then compile, catalogue and resell. The
Clinton administration and a diverse coalition of academics, Internet
companies, banking and medical groups oppose the measure, saying it goes
too far, and could ultimately result in "electronic toll gates" for
information that is now widely available free on the Internet. The
Coalition Against Database Piracy, which backs the bill, says it "is
about eliminating the inequity in a legal regime that allows an
unscrupulous competitor to copy with impunity the contents of someone
else's compilation and then destroy the first compiler's market by
selling a competing less expensive product." (New York Times 19 Mar 99)
JUDGE THROWS OUT ANTITRUST SUIT AGAINST NETWORK SOLUTIONS
A federal judge this week ruled that an antitrust lawsuit brought
against Internet domain name registrar Network Solutions was invalid
because the company is immune from antitrust liability under a legal
doctrine known as "federal instrumentality." Network Solutions has been
under contract to the National Science Foundation to perform the
registration service, and therefore is entitled to the same antitrust
immunity the government has, said the judge. The suit had been brought
by PGMedia, which runs its own domain-name service, called "name.space."
(Wall Street Journal 19 Mar 99)
NIH EYES PLAN FOR ONLINE PREPRINT PUBLISHING
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is considering a plan to build a
Web-based public clearinghouse for biomedical research papers. The
project has the backing of NIH Director Harold Varmus and a number of
other high-ranking public health officials, but the agency says it's not
ready to discuss specifics at this point. One dilemma has been how to
avoid siphoning off too much income from some scientific societies that
rely on their publishing activities for continued viability. The NIH
site likely would be modeled loosely on the e-print archives at Los
Alamos National Laboratory, which have become a major repository for
information on physics and astronomy. A "streamlined" peer review
process would ensure that information stored on the NIH site would have
merit among the biomedical community. (Science 12 Mar 99)
BARNES & NOBLE TO SELL STOCK IN ONLINE VENTURE
Barnes & Noble Inc. and Bertelsmann AG plan to sell up to a 20% stake in
their jointly owned online venture, barnesandnoble.com. Each company
owns half of the electronic bookselling business, which ranks No. 2
after Amazon.com. The news sent Barnes & Noble stock soaring, up 19%.
(USA Today 19 Mar 99)
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MICROSOFT OFFERS PRIVACY FIX
Microsoft Corp. has two free software programs on its Web site that will
strip out the identifying number that could be used to trace the
authorship of some electronic documents. One program removes the number
from existing documents and the other prevents it from being embedded in
new documents. The number feature was included as part of Windows 98,
but privacy advocates complain that the feature makes it technically
possible for the company to trace documents to a specific computer, even
if the author wishes to remain anonymous. Microsoft says the numbers
originally were intended to support a feature to link documents over a
network, but it was never fully developed. See <
http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/Articles/privacy.htm > (AP 19 Mar 99)
AUSTRALIA TO CRACK DOWN ON INTERNET PORN
The Australian government says it will introduce legislation as soon as
possible to ban all illegal or X-rated material on Australian-based Web
sites, and will limit access to soft porn to people over 18. The
government would require Internet service providers to remove Australian
sites that carry such material if ordered to do so by the Australian
Broadcasting Authority. Meanwhile, the head of the Internet Industry
Association, which counts two of Australia's biggest ISPs as members,
says, "It's simply impracticable for local ISPs and carriers to block
material that's coming from offshore," and that what's really needed is
more self-regulation by the industry, combined with parental supervision
and international coordination. "We would love to see the government
provide the funding for educational materials so that parents can learn
about things they can do in the home." (Reuters 19 Mar 99)
MITNICK SIGNS PLEA AGREEMENT
Computer hacker Kevin Mitnick, who has been behind bars for the last
four years awaiting trial, has signed a plea agreement that reportedly
would require him to remain in jail for another year, and to stay away
from computers for an additional three years following his release.
Mitnick, whose case had been scheduled to go trial April 20, has been
accused of damaging computers, stealing millions of dollars in software,
and using stolen computer passwords. (San Jose Mercury News 19 Mar 99)
HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: CHARLES HANDY
Today's Honorary Subscriber is professor and author Charles Handy, who
learned that his father was a great man. See the very end of today's
Edupage.
Edupage is written by John Gehl (gehl@educause.edu) and Suzanne Douglas
(douglas@educause.edu). Telephone: 770-590-1017
Technical support for distributing Edupage is provided by Information
Technology Services at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Washington, D.C.
http://www.educause.edu/netatedu/contents/events/apr99/
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HONORARY SUBSCRIBER
Today's Honorary Subscriber is Charles Handy -- English economist,
social philosopher, professor at the London Business School. Two of his
best-known books are "The Empty Raincoat: Making Sense of the Future"
and "The Hungry Spirit: A Quest for Purpose in the Modern World." In
the magazine Fast Company last year, Handy described the death of his
father, a quiet, modest man who had lived his life as an unambitious
minister of a small church in Ireland:
"When he died, I rushed back to Ireland for the funeral. Held in
the little church where he had spent most of his life, it was supposed
to be a quiet family affair. But it turned out to be neither quiet nor
restricted to the family. I was astounded by the hundreds of people who
came, on such short notice, from all corners of the British Isles.
Almost every single person there came up to me and told me how much my
father had meant to them -- and how deeply he had touched their lives.
"That day, I stood by his grave and wondered, Who would come to my
funeral? How many lives have I touched? Who knows me as well as all of
these people who knew this quiet man?
"When I returned to London, I was a deeply changed man. Later that
year, I resigned my tenured professorship. More important, I dropped my
pretense of being someone other than who I was. I stopped trying to be
a hot shot. I decided to do what I could to make a genuine difference
in other people's lives. Whether I have succeeded, only my own funeral
will tell.
"I only wish that I could have told my father that he was my
greatest teacher."
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EDUCAUSE, an international nonprofit association dedicated to
transforming higher education through information technologies
************************************************************