From: technews <technews@ou.edu>
To: "'it-fyi@listserv.ou.edu'" <it-fyi@lists.ou.edu>
Subject: it-fyi: Edupage, 27 October 1999
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 09:26:44 -0500
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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, an international nonprofit association
dedicated to transforming education through information technologies.
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TOP STORIES for October 27, 1999
Tech Giants Microsoft, Intel Join Dow Index
U.S. House Opposes Net Tax
New Alliance Will Promote Wireless Access to Internet
Internet Name Provider Can't Be Sued
ALSO
Internet Porn Ruling Appealed Again
Technology Will Help Community Colleges Meet Needs
Microsoft Says Its Windows 2000 System Won't Reach Customers until Next
Year
TECH GIANTS MICROSOFT, INTEL JOIN DOW INDEX
Microsoft and Intel are being added to the Dow Jones industrial average,
signaling the U.S. economy's growing reliance on technology and services.
Phone company SBC Communications and Home Depot are also joining the Dow,
while Chevron, Goodyear, Union Carbide, and Sears will be removed. The
significant revision of the Dow reflects a move away from heavy
manufacturing in the United States as the technology sector grows. Some
experts believe the change in the Dow was long overdue, noting that the
index would be well above its current level if Microsoft and Intel had been
included in the early 1990s. "The Dow was becoming a useless gauge" in
analyzing the market, says Kirlin Securities chief market strategist Anthony
Dwyer. However, others argue that Microsoft and Intel will make the Dow
more volatile because of the nature of tech stocks. (Los Angeles Times
10/27/99)
U.S. HOUSE OPPOSES NET TAX
A resolution calling on the World Trade Organization to extend the current
one-year moratorium on Internet taxes was approved by a 423 to 1 vote by the
House of Representatives yesterday. The Global Internet Tax Freedom Act,
sponsored by Rep. Chris Cox (R-Calif.), is looked upon favorably by the
White House. The resolution urges the Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development to back the moratorium and criticizes the United
Nations-proposed "bit tax" on digitally transmitted information. Rep. Neil
Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) was the sole representative to vote against the
resolution. (IDG News Service 10/26/99)
NEW ALLIANCE WILL PROMOTE WIRELESS ACCESS TO INTERNET
A group of 10 leading technology companies led by Cisco Systems and Motorola
yesterday announced a new alliance to develop products that deliver wireless
high-speed Internet access. The alliance, which includes Texas Instruments,
Broadcom, Bechtel Telecommunications, Samsung, Toshiba, LLC International,
EDS, KPMG Consulting, and Pace Microtechnology, plans to develop products
that implement Cisco MMDS technology. The group will also promote LMDS,
although Cisco officials have said that MMDS provides a more effective
solution in crowded urban areas. A number of telecommunications companies
are planning to roll out high-speed Internet access, although they are
implementing different technologies. AT&T is pursuing cable, MCI WorldCom
and Sprint are investing in MMDS licenses, and Teledesic is building a
satellite system designed to deliver high-speed Internet service to remote
areas. (New York Times 10/26/99)
INTERNET NAME PROVIDER CAN'T BE SUED
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has granted Network Solutions immunity
from lawsuits in cybersquatting cases that result in trademark infringement.
The ruling pertains to a trademark infringement lawsuit brought against
Network Solutions by Lockheed Martin, which sued Network Solutions after the
Internet domain name registrar registered 12 names that played upon
Lockheed's "Skunk Works" trademark. Lockheed Martin had sought to hold
Network Solutions responsible for failing to act on an infringing domain
name, said Lockheed Martin lawyer David Quinto. However, Judge Stephen
Trott ruled that companies can only be held responsible for trademark
infringement if they directly control and monitor the infringement in
question. (Associated Press 10/25/99)
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INTERNET PORN RULING APPEALED AGAIN
A Virginia law that prohibits state employees from using state computers to
access sexually oriented content at work is being challenged in court by
half a dozen public college professors, who are being represented by the
ACLU. The professors argue that the law, which was declared
unconstitutional in early 1998 and then reinstated one year later, hinders
their academic research efforts on the Internet. The law "singles out a
particular category of expression the legislature decided it didn't like,"
and thus is unconstitutional, says Majorie Helms, the ACLU lawyer
representing the professors. The law provides exceptions for research that
has been approved by a professor's dean, says William H. Hurd, senior
counsel to Attorney General Mark L. Earley. (Washington Post 10/27/99)
TECHNOLOGY WILL HELP COMMUNITY COLLEGES MEET NEEDS, BOOK'S CO-AUTHOR SAYS
A new book entitled "Taking a Big Picture Look @ Technology, Learning & the
Community College," explores what steps community colleges need to take to
prepare students for working in the high-tech marketplace. The book,
written by 15 authors and co-edited by Mark D. Milton and Cindy L. Miles,
will be published in December or January by the League for Innovation in the
Community College. The authors say community colleges need to create a
student-centered educational environment that makes every effort to expose
students to the latest in relevant technology. Some schools are doing this
already by offering distance-learning programs and establishing
sophisticated Web sites that allow students to register and pay for classes
and generally avoid academic bureaucracies. Also, college presidents are
hiring younger, more technology-savvy professors to replace retiring
faculty. The League for Innovation surveyed 523 college presidents and CEOs
while preparing the book. (Chronicle of Higher Education Online 10/25/99)
MICROSOFT SAYS ITS WINDOWS 2000 SYSTEM WON'T REACH CUSTOMERS UNTIL NEXT YEAR
Microsoft yesterday announced that it will release Windows 2000 on February
17, 2000, although it says it will send the final code to manufacturing
sites by the end of the year, meeting its earlier stated deadline. The
long-awaited operating system, which features almost 30 million lines of
code, is a business- oriented server operating system designed to handle the
massive demands of the Internet and e-commerce. The operating system is
designed to replace Windows NT, not Windows 98, and is not intended for
consumers. Microsoft expects that Windows 2000 will take market share from
systems based on unix, just as its predecessor, Windows NT, was able to do
in the workstation segment of the market. (Wall Street Journal 10/27/99)
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COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
News abstracts Copyright 1999, Information Inc., Bethesda, MD
Edupage Copyright 1999, EDUCAUSE
*****************************************************
EDUCAUSE, an international nonprofit association dedicated to transforming
education through information technologies