Edupage, April 25, 2003

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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association
whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting
the intelligent use of information technology.
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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 2003
  Privacy Advocates React Strongly to Verizon Ruling
  Coalition Proposes Anti-Spam Registry
AND
  Three Students Arrested for Music Piracy
  Washington State Budget Cuts Affect IT Programs
  Few High-Tech Jobs for College Grads
  E-Learning Appeals to Businesses


PRIVACY ADVOCATES REACT STRONGLY TO VERIZON RULING
A group of 28 privacy and consumer organizations has voiced strong
objection to the latest court ruling that Verizon Communications must
disclose information to the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) about suspected music pirates. U.S. District Judge John Bates
this week ruled that Verizon must identify the users' identities
requested by the RIAA under the terms of the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act, marking the second time this year the judge has agreed
with the RIAA in this lawsuit. The groups upset by the ruling,
including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Consumers Union, and
the American Civil Liberties Union, object to forcing disclosure of a
user's identity without judicial review or proof that the user is
guilty of the alleged crime. Such a system, they said, leaves users
guilty until they prove themselves innocent.
Internet News, 25 April 2003
http://dc.internet.com/news/article.php/2196891

COALITION PROPOSES ANTI-SPAM REGISTRY
The Network Advertising Initiative's E-mail Service Provider Coalition
(NAI ESPC) revealed the general outline for a new anti-spam initiative
called Project Lumos. The NAI ESPC, a coalition of e-mail marketing
companies, claims that as much as 15 percent of its e-mails are blocked
by false positives on spam filters. Project Lumos would involve
creating a registry of e-mail marketers, maintained by a public key
infrastructure, that would form a record of those marketers'
practices. The outline of the project includes details about
certification, standards, policies, and performance and is designed to
protect Internet service providers, marketers, and e-mail recipients,
according to one official from the NAI ESPC. According to the
announcement, the project could take more than three years to be
developed and implemented.
Internet News, 24 April 2003
http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/2196041

AND
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THREE STUDENTS ARRESTED FOR MUSIC PIRACY
Three students have been arrested by Australian authorities for
operating a music-trading Web site responsible for estimated losses to
the music industry of $37-44 million. The three ran a Web site called
MP3 WMA Land, which included so-called mirror sites of various other
sites hosting music files. Many of the copyrighted files available on
the Web site are reportedly stored on university computers. Michael
Speck of the Australian music industry's piracy investigations unit
called the arrests "a turning point." Music piracy, he said, is shown
to be "nothing more than another form of theft." The three students
face penalties of up to five years in prison or fines of $37,000.
CNET, 23 April 2003
http://news.com.com/2100-1027-998132.html

WASHINGTON STATE BUDGET CUTS AFFECT IT PROGRAMS
As in many other states, institutions of higher education in Washington
State are facing severe cuts in state funding. Some higher education
officials have expressed concern that, because technology programs are
among the most costly, they will be some of the most significantly
affected by proposed budget cuts. Some administrators and business
leaders in the state argue that such cuts are likely to exacerbate the
economic problems that have led to the cuts in the first place.
Washington State, they said, lacks adequate numbers of graduates with
high-tech training, and restricting the capacity of technology programs
will hamper efforts to fill the high-tech jobs in the state. Ken Myer,
president of the Technology Alliance, a consortium of state businesses
and institutions, said what the state needs is to expand, not contract,
those programs, which will ultimately benefit the state's economy.
Chronicle of Higher Education, 24 April 2003
http://chronicle.com/free/2003/04/2003042401t.htm

FEW HIGH-TECH JOBS FOR COLLEGE GRADS
A recent report from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray, and Christmas
Inc. paints a grim picture for new college graduates looking for
high-tech jobs. The slowdown in the tech sector has led to a very
difficult job market for recent graduates, due to a number of
circumstances, according to the report. Many high-tech workers have
been laid off over the past couple of years, flooding the market with
available workers with prior experience. Most employers will typically
opt for an experienced applicant over one just out of college. In
addition, companies are spending significantly less on new technologies
and therefore have much reduced needs for workers who understand the
newest hardware and software. Many companies are able to operate
efficiently with current staff rather than seeking new employees with
cutting-edge skills. Students who have participated in programs such as
internships are likely to have an edge over those whose education has
been limited to college courses.
IDG, 21 April 2003
http://www.idg.net/ic_1309268_9677_1-5048.html

E-LEARNING APPEALS TO BUSINESSES
Despite the troubles facing the technology sector generally, e-learning
programs continue to roll along with strong support from many corporate
learning programs. Home Depot, for example, is in the middle of a
program to install computer kiosks in its stores to allow training of
its 300,000 employees. Gary Jusela, vice president of learning at Home
Depot, said e-learning cuts the training time while increasing
retention. Black & Decker University has experienced similar results;
an official from the company said that "each hour of e-learning is
replacing three to four hours in the classroom." Other companies such
as McDonald's, as well as various federal agencies and the U.S. armed
forces, also have invested significantly in e-learning programs.
Washington Post, 24 April 2003
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26874-2003Apr23.html

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