Edupage, August 18, 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 MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 2003
  Cellular Carriers Criticized for Performance in Emergencies
  Library of Congress Seeking Partners for Digital Project
  New British Task Force to Fight Movie Piracy
  Intel Gains as AMD Loses
  Faster Wireless, but Not Compatible with Standards


CELLULAR CARRIERS CRITICIZED FOR PERFORMANCE IN EMERGENCIES
After intermittent cellular service during last week's power outage,
many consumers and industry watchers are highly critical of the idea
that cell phones offer consumers added security in times of
emergencies. Some wireless carriers have urged consumers to "cut the
cord" on landline phones and rely entirely on a cellular phone. Some
experts said that cell phone infrastructures are not built to be
redundant, the way landline phone networks are. Claims about added
safety from having a cell phone, they argue, are unfounded. Wireless
carriers stood by their claims that cellular phones are extremely
reliable and indeed offer consumers a measure of security they cannot
have if they depend on a landline phone. The power failure was
responsible for gaps in service, they said, not the networks
themselves.
Wall Street Journal, 18 August 2003 (sub. req'd)
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB106106896616183400,00.html

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS SEEKING PARTNERS FOR DIGITAL PROJECT
The Library of Congress is looking for partners for the National
Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program, whose goal
is to protect digital content from being lost. Applications are being
accepted through November 12 for awards of between $500,000 and $3
million, which will be distributed in February of next year. Organizers
of the program said it will work to create a system for gathering and
preserving content such as Web sites, electronic books and journals,
and films and sounds in electronic format. A spokesman for the Library
of Congress said that the project is not one that the library can do
without a group of committed partners.
Federal Computer Week, 15 August 2003
http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2003/0811/web-loc-08-15-03.asp

NEW BRITISH TASK FORCE TO FIGHT MOVIE PIRACY
The film industry and government of Britain will jointly form a new
Anti-Piracy Taskforce to address the growing problem of pirated movies
in the country. According to the Federation Against Copyright Theft,
sales of pirated DVDs and videos grew 80 percent last year, costing the
industry 400 million pounds. Copies of some movies have been available
before the films were released in theaters. The task force will include
members from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport; film
producers; distributors; cinema owners; and the actors' union. John
Woodward of the U.K. Film Council characterized the growing problem of
piracy as a threat to the country's film production. Further, he said,
such purchases often put money "straight into the hands of organized
criminals."
BBC, 17 August 2003
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3158227.stm

INTEL GAINS AS AMD LOSES
According to a new report from IDC, market share for Intel has risen in
the second quarter proportional to a decline for AMD. Overall market
share for Intel rose 1.2 percent, to 81.6 percent, as it slid for AMD
by 1.1 percent, to 17.2 percent. Analysts attributed the swing to
success of Intel's Centrino line of processors and to delays in the
introduction of AMD's 64-bit processor, Athlon. Despite shipping
slightly fewer desktop processors, Intel was also able to maintain
revenue because of larger numbers of higher-priced products, including
processors with the company's hyperthreading technology and a new 800
MHz front-side bus. Observers said that AMD's Athlon processor is
likely have a significant impact on the market when it is released in
September.
NewsFactor Network, 18 August 2003
http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/22106.html

FASTER WIRELESS, BUT NOT COMPATIBLE WITH STANDARDS
A start-up company will release a wireless chip set that reportedly
betters Wi-Fi technology in speed and effective distance, but the
technology is not compatible with Wi-Fi components. Officials from
Airgo Networks hope that the benefits will outweigh the lack of
compatibility. Airgo's chip set, which is based on multiple-in,
multiple-out technology, is said to offer transmission speeds of up to
108 Mbps, compared to Wi-Fi's maximum of 54. In addition, Airgo said
its wireless components will work as much as six times further from
transmitters than Wi-Fi. An official from Airgo said his company will
propose that its technology become the standard for wireless industry
research that aims to raise the transmission rate to 200 or more Mbps.
New York Times, 17 August 2003 (registration req'd)
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/18/technology/18WIFI.html

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