EDUPAGE> Edupage, February 05, 2003
- From: Gleason Sackmann <gleason@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: K12Newsletters <k12newsletters@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2003 08:26:27 -0600
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From: EDUCAUSE@xxxxxxxxxxxx
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Sent: Wed, 5 Feb 2003 16:11:08 -0700
Subject: Edupage, February 05, 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 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 05, 2003
German Twist on Copyright Compensation
Microsoft Wins Stay of Java Ruling
Sun Delays New Java Specification
Lindows OS Available from Walmart
AND
Blackboard Buys SA
Latest Distributed-Computing Project: Smallpox Cure
GERMAN TWIST ON COPYRIGHT COMPENSATION
A nonbinding recommendation from the German Patent Office calls for
makers of personal computers to pay copyright owners about $13 (U.S.
dollars) for every PC they sell. The fee is intended to reimburse
copyright owners for the digital copies of copyrighted works that PC
users are likely to make. This latest move in Germany is the first
attempt at levying a copyright fee on computers, though other levies
already exist in some countries on products such as blank compact
discs, recordable digital videodiscs, and CD writers. The new
recommendation comes on behalf of so-called "collecting societies,"
which have been formed to represent copyright owners in ongoing
disputes with hardware manufacturers. Collecting societies endeavor to
collect monies from users or device manufacturers to compensate content
owners for copies that computer users are likely to make but that
otherwise would be subject to royalties. A spokesman for the law firm
representing Fujitsu Siemens said that company, as well as the rest of
the industry, are likely to fight the PC levy in court.
Wall Street Journal, 5 February 2003 (sub. req'd)
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1044385225838491533,00.html
MICROSOFT WINS STAY OF JAVA RULING
A federal appeals court has stayed a judge's ruling that Microsoft
must include Sun Microsystems's Java in new versions of its Windows XP
operating system and in Internet Explorer. Judge Frederick Motz, who is
overseeing several cases against Microsoft, including one by Sun, had
ordered Microsoft to begin shipping Sun's Java on Tuesday. Sun's
lawsuit argues that Microsoft attempted to undercut the Java platform,
developed by Sun, by building its own, incompatible with Sun's, and
shipping it with its operating system and browser. The U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Fourth Circuit accepted Microsoft's motion that the
order to ship Sun's Java should be held until the suit is resolved by
the appellate court. A spokesman for Sun said the company "regret[s]
the Fourth Circuit Court's decision" and hopes the appeal of Motz's
ruling will be handled quickly.
InfoWorld, 3 February 2003
http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/02/03/HNjavarule_1.html
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WHY EBONICS IS A LANGUAGE
Stigmatized and Standardized Varieties in the Classroom:
Interference or Separation? What is among the most serious social
problems that our country faces? The failure of inner-city schools
to teach children to read.
<http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Linguistics/Home_Linguistics.html>
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SUN DELAYS NEW JAVA SPECIFICATION
Sun Microsystems announced this week that it will delay release of Java
2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) 1.4 for about three months, unveiling the
specification in the summer. Sun said the postponement will give the
company time to make J2EE 1.4 compliant with upcoming standards issued
by the Web Services Interoperability (WS-I) Organization. Ralph
Galantine of Sun said it was important that "there was no conflict
between J2EE 1.4 and the WS-I." Analysts said the delay of the new J2EE
specification is unlikely to have a negative affect on sales of Java
software from most major vendors, such as Sun, Oracle, IBM, and BEA
Systems, because the introduction of specifications typically outpaces
adoption by users. Shawn Willett of Current Analysis said, "Most
customers are not using all that's in the current standard."
CNET, 4 February 2003
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-983212.html
LINDOWS OS AVAILABLE FROM WALMART
Lindows.com announced that its stand-alone operating system is now
available at Walmart. The LindowsOS 3.0 Membership Edition costs $98.72
and includes one year of the Lindows.com Warehouse service, which
allows members to download any of 1,700 applications for free and to
keep them for life. Applications in the Warehouse service include
StarOffice 6.0 from Sun Microsystems, Inc. and the Bitstream Inc.
Deluxe Font Pack, which otherwise cost $75 and $99, respectively.
LindowsOS supports Microsoft software. Walmart also sells PCs, made by
Microtel Computer Systems Inc., with LindowsOS installed, for between
$200 and $500.
IDG, 4 February 2003
http://www.idg.net/ic_1122987_9677_1-5042.html
AND
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BLACKBOARD BUYS SA
Blackboard Inc. this week bought SA Cash from Student Advantage Inc.
for $4.5 million. SA Cash is an application that allows students to use
ID cards to make purchases from several vendors. The acquisition gives
Blackboard another level of presence on campuses. The company, known
primarily for its e-learning software, has been trying to broaden its
offerings to other aspects of campus life and had already developed a
transaction system for on-campus purchases. Adding SA Cash to its
products gives Blackboard conncections with off-campus vendors. Student
Advantage has been having severe financial difficulty for the past
three years and is trying to sell the rest of the company as well.
Washington Post, 4 February 2003
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20911-2003Feb3.html
LATEST DISTRIBUTED-COMPUTING PROJECT: SMALLPOX CURE
A group of universities and public and private organizations has
announced a new distributed-computing project to try to find a cure for
smallpox. Project participants include Oxford University, Memorial
Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, IBM, United Devices, Accelrys, and the
United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.
Recent fears about smallpox as a tool for terrorists have led President
Bush to call for vaccinating millions of health-care workers,
firefighters, police officers, and military personnel. The smallpox
vaccination, however, carries a risk of infection. The goal of the new
project is to narrow the list of substances that might prove effective
as a cure for smallpox after infection. As with other
distributed-computing projects, volunteers will download a screen saver
that gives the project access to unused processing power. The project
needs a few million computer users to download the screen saver and
donate their extra processing power to the molecular modeling and
screening of possible compounds.
New York Times, 5 February 2003 (registration req'd)
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/05/health/05SMAL.html
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