Edupage, April 14, 2003

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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association
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the intelligent use of information technology.
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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, APRIL 14, 2003
  Group Makes Honeypots Simpler, More Effective
AND
  Germany Expands Academic Use of Copyrighted Material
  Michigan Tech Responds to RIAA Lawsuits
  University of California Sues AOL over Investment Losses
  Princeton Launches Arts Archive
  Computer Courses at Afghanistan University


GROUP MAKES HONEYPOTS SIMPLER, MORE EFFECTIVE
Members of the Honeynet Project will release an updated version of its
open-source technology that they hope will make the tools more
attractive to users and more effective. Honeypots are bogus servers set
up to monitor hacking attempts on networks. Network administrators
watch network activity, and, if a hacker attempts to gain access to the
honeypot, the administrator can see this and respond accordingly. Other
technologies are designed to detect intrusions, but honeypots eliminate
the problem of "false positives" because any traffic they register is
an intrusion. Honeypots have also been useful in discovering weaknesses
in software applications. The Honeynet Project's new version includes
a feature that allows administrators to "eavesdrop" on encrypted hacker
communications and another that prevents the honeypot from being used
to launch other attacks. The group said the updated honeypot will be
easier for companies or even for home users to deploy.
CNET, 14 April 2003
http://news.com.com/2100-1009-996574.html

AND
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GERMANY EXPANDS ACADEMIC USE OF COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL
The German Parliament has passed a law allowing academics to distribute
copyrighted works digitally to students and other academics. The
copyright exemptions allowed by the new law cover "small parts" of
copyrighted works distributed to small groups of people, such as the
students in a class. The law also stipulates that access must be
controlled by passwords or a similar mechanism, and Parliament must
re-approve the law in 2006 for it to remain in place. Academics cheered
the new legislation, saying it explicitly gives them the same freedom
with electronic materials that they already have with printed ones.
Publishers and some authors of copyrighted material strongly opposed
the law, saying it would kill the academic publishing industry. Many
academics dismissed that argument, saying publishers must work with
academic interests to "develop ... new ways to organize and distribute
digital material."
Chronicle of Higher Education, 14 April 2003
http://chronicle.com/free/2003/04/2003041407n.htm

MICHIGAN TECH RESPONDS TO RIAA LAWSUITS
The president of Michigan Technological University (MTU) responded
angrily to four lawsuits filed by the Recording Industry Association of
America (RIAA) against students--including one at MTU--for illegal file
swapping. In a letter to the RIAA, Curtis Tompkins accused the
association of acting in bad faith in pursuing prosecution against
students. Despite his school's cooperation with the RIAA in stopping
illegal peer-to-peer networks, according to Tompkins, the RIAA has not
shown reciprocity in working with the university. Tompkins said the
RIAA had clearly known for some time about the MTU student named in the
suit but that the RIAA never contacted MTU. Had the RIAA done that, he
said, "we would have shut off the student and not allowed the problem
to grow to the size and scope that it is today."
Internet News, 9 April 2003
http://boston.internet.com/news/article.php/2179281

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SUES AOL OVER INVESTMENT LOSSES
The University of California has filed suit against AOL Time Warner,
alleging that the company misrepresented its financial situation,
thereby costing the university $450 million. During the past year, AOL
has restated its earnings, eliminating about $600 million from
previously reported revenues. Those revelations caused the company's
stock to plummet, resulting in the losses. Amalgamated Bank, the
university's co-plaintiff in the case, said that because of the
alleged misrepresentation and ensuing drop in stock price, its AOL
stock lost almost $56 million. The plaintiffs argued that AOL's new
earnings statements may be "too conservative" and that AOL may have
overstated earnings by close to $1 billion. The suit also charges that
AOL executives knew about the restatements and sold hundreds of
millions of dollars in stock before the announcements were made.
Wall Street Journal, 14 April 2003 (sub. req'd)
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB105032911672076100,00.html

PRINCETON LAUNCHES ARTS ARCHIVE
Princeton University has unveiled what it calls "the world's first
fully interactive, Web-accessible digital archive of policy-relevant
data on culture and the arts." Visitors to the Cultural Policy and the
Arts National Data Archive (CPANDA), a project of the Princeton
University Library and the university's Center for Arts and Cultural
Policy Studies, can access both current and past research findings,
such as public opinion, city-specific data, and statistics dealing with
the arts. Resources available are currently broken down into four
categories: artists, audiences, organizations, and support for the
arts.
Information Today, 14 April 2003
http://www.infotoday.com/newsbreaks/wnd030414.shtml

COMPUTER COURSES AT AFGHANISTAN UNIVERSITY
Kabul University in Afghanistan will soon offer computer-networking
courses, including some classes with only female students. Afghanistan
was long cut off from the technological developments happening in other
parts of the world, and, under Taliban rule, women were denied
education altogether. According to the United Nations Development
Program (UNDP), almost no one in Afghanistan is able to handle
computers due to the country's 20 years of relative isolation. A
statement from the UNDP said, "The new academy fills a critical void
for women and men alike in Afghanistan."
Associated Press, 13 April 2003
http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/852842p-5976562c.html

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