************************************************************** K12NewsLetters - From Educational CyberPlayGround http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/ ************************************************************** Date: Wed, 7 Apr 2004 16:15:17 -0600 From: Educause Educause <EDUCAUSE@xxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: Edupage, April 07, 2004 To: EDUPAGE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ***************************************************** Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. ***************************************************** TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, APRIL 07, 2004 Scholar Challenges Copyright Law Film Prices Cut to Fight Piracy in Russia DHS Begins Local IT Initiative SCHOLAR CHALLENGES COPYRIGHT LAW Stanford University law professor Lawrence Lessig has filed a federal lawsuit intended to allow online archives to include copyrighted works that are not available otherwise. The Internet Archive and the Prelinger Archives are being developed as online resources for academics and others. One project of the Internet Archive, the "One Million Book Project," a joint project with Carnegie Mellon University, the National Science Foundation, and the governments of India and China, aims to put one million books online by 2005. Many of the books developers want to include, however, are copyrighted to deceased authors or present other problems for obtaining proper permissions. The lawsuit was filed in an attempt to have various federal copyright laws declared unconstitutional under certain circumstances, particularly as they apply to such "orphaned" works--creative materials that are often out of print or otherwise unavailable through commercial avenues but that are still protected by copyright. Chronicle of Higher Education, 9 April 2004 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/prm/weekly/v50/i31/31a03401.htm FILM PRICES CUT TO FIGHT PIRACY IN RUSSIA High rates of DVD and CD piracy in Russia have prompted entertainment companies to try to fight rampant copyright violations by lowering prices on legitimate copies of movies and music. Reports indicate that 9 of every 10 DVDs sold in Russia are counterfeit, while 60 percent of CDs sold there are pirated copies, and some antipiracy groups say the problem is getting worse. Movies that have not been released on DVD yet are routinely available in Russian black markets for the equivalent of about $4 (U.S.), and copies of recently released music CDs can usually be bought for less than that. Given the level of piracy, U.S. film companies, including Columbia TriStar and Time Warner, have lowered the prices for DVDs in an effort to get Russians accustomed to buying legal copies of movies, "but at a price that most of the population can afford," according to Vyacheslav Dobychin, general director of Columbia TriStar's Russian licensee. Movie producers have been strongly opposed to lowering prices in the United States as a means to discourage piracy. Jack Valenti, head of the Motion Picture Association of America, said, "You can never compete on price with a pirate." New York Times, 7 April 2004 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/07/movies/07PIRA.html DHS BEGINS LOCAL IT INITIATIVE In the coming weeks, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will begin implementing a new program to facilitate local and regional implementation of information technologies. The Safe Cities initiative will be a bottom-up rather than top-down program to develop technology infrastructure, according to Nancy Suski, director of emergency preparedness and response within DHS's Science and Technology Directorate. Suski said the program is not a test-bed for new technologies but an operational test for tools that have already been proven to work, though the program is technology-neutral. Authorities at DHS will work with public and private groups in selected communities to develop horizontal as well as vertical integration with state and federal officials. Two primary points of focus for the project, said Suski, will be interoperability and sustainability. Federal Computer Week, 7 April 2004 http://www.fcw.com/geb/articles/2004/0405/web-safecities-04-07-04.asp ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your settings, visit http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/ Or, you can subscribe or unsubscribe by sending e-mail to LISTSERV@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To SUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SUBSCRIBE Edupage YourFirstName YourLastName To UNSUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SIGNOFF Edupage If you have subscription problems, send e-mail to EDUPAGE-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx For past issues of Edupage or information about translations of Edupage into other languages, visit http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/ ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE PUBLICATIONS EDUCAUSE publishes periodicals, including "EQ" and "EDUCAUSE Review," books, and other materials dealing with the impacts and implications of information technology in higher education. 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