EDUPAGE> Edupage, March 15, 2004
- From: Gleason Sackmann <gleason@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: K12Newsletters <k12newsletters@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 09:40:00 -0600
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K12NewsLetters - From Educational CyberPlayGround
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Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2004 16:32:15 -0700
From: Educause Educause <EDUCAUSE@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Edupage, March 15, 2004
To: EDUPAGE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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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, MARCH 15, 2004
Cyber Schools Showing Poor Results
Feds Call for Expanded Wiretap Ability
Privacy Concerns Hamper Matrix Program
EU Looks Set to Issue Ruling Against Microsoft
PDF-Archive Pushed as an International Standard
CYBER SCHOOLS SHOWING POOR RESULTS
The number of online schools in the United States is growing, but test
scores indicate that students at those schools are not performing as
well as students in traditional classrooms. According to the Center for
Education Reform, the number of cyber schools grew from 30 to 82 in two
years, and the state of Ohio alone has granted charters to 63 cyber
schools. According to test results in Pennsylvania of students in
fifth, eighth, and eleventh grades, however, students at cyber schools
scored below state averages in 17 of 24 areas. Results in Ohio cyber
schools were similarly low. Students at one of Ohio's cyber schools,
the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, did not meet proficiency
standards set by the state, and of 22 "indicators of success," the
school only passed one, which was student attendance. Defenders of
cyber schools said the programs tend to draw students who are not
likely to succeed in traditional classroom settings, which skews test
results, and many parents of cyber-school students continue to support
the programs.
Wired News, 15 March 2004
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,62662,00.html
FEDS CALL FOR EXPANDED WIRETAP ABILITY
Federal law-enforcement officials have requested that the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) expand the scope of the Communications
Assistance for Law Enforcement Act to cover the Internet and other new
communications technologies. The law, passed in 1994, requires
telecommunications companies to make their products open to wiretaps
when a court order is issued. The Justice Department, FBI, and Drug
Enforcement Administration contend that the law needs to be expanded to
prevent criminals from taking advantage of communications tools that
are not subject to wiretap provisions. The FCC has agreed to consider
the issue and will "address the scope of covered services, assign
responsibility for compliance, and identify the wiretap capabilities
required." Opponents of the expansion said it would negatively affect
the development of new technologies and would be extremely expensive to
implement for existing ones.
Wired News, 14 March 2004
http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,62659,00.html
PRIVACY CONCERNS HAMPER MATRIX PROGRAM
With the departure of New York and Wisconsin, only 5 states of 16
remain involved in the Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange,
or Matrix. Compared by some civil liberties groups to the federal Total
Information Awareness program, Matrix is a project designed to allow
state and local government and law-enforcement officials to share
information in an effort to prevent terrorism. The program drew loud
protests from groups including the American Civil Liberties Union and
the Electronic Privacy Information Center as an unwarranted increase in
the surveillance powers of law enforcement. Developers of Matrix said
it merely makes available information that would otherwise be
accessible by law enforcement but does so much more quickly than other
methods of sharing such data. New York cited the significantly reduced
pool of states involved in Matrix as one of the reasons for its
decision to end participation in the program.
New York Times, 15 March 2004 (registration req'd)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/15/technology/15matrix.html
EU LOOKS SET TO ISSUE RULING AGAINST MICROSOFT
The administrative arm of the European Union (EU) has reached a
preliminary ruling that Microsoft used its monopoly power in an illegal
manner. The European Commission's ruling is reportedly supported by
all member states of the EU. Microsoft could still settle the case, but
it would have to do so before the commission issues its final ruling on
the matter, expected as early as March 24. Observers anticipate the
commission will order a fine of between $100 million and $1 billion and
require that the software company change the way its products are
bundled, particularly its Windows Media Player application. Because the
player is bundled with the company's operating systems, EU prosecutors
argued that Microsoft unfairly stifled competition from companies
including RealNetworks and QuickTime. Officials from Microsoft have
said that any changes made to its operating systems in Europe might be
extended to its software in other parts of the world, but some analysts
noted that the company has been working on versions of its software
tailored to specific countries, such as a recently introduced
Thailand-specific product.
New York Times, 15 March 2004 (registration req'd)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/15/business/16CND-TECH.html
PDF-ARCHIVE PUSHED AS AN INTERNATIONAL STANDARD
Corporate and government officials are working on a variation of PDF
specifications to create an archive-friendly format for documents.
Representatives from companies including Eastman Kodak, IBM, and Xerox
are participating in developing the new format, called PDF-Archive
(PDF-A), with Adobe Systems, creator of the original PDF. Also involved
in the project is Stephen Levenson, judiciary records officer for the
Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. The archival challenges
facing Levenson in the current era of vastly expanding numbers of
electronic documents have urged him to join in the work to create what
he said will be a slimmed-down version of PDF. PDF-A, which is based on
PDF 1.4, will include type fonts and other features to ensure the
documents are viewable by a wide range of applications in the future.
PDF-A also will be designed to shield PDF documents from becoming
security threats by prohibiting proprietary encryption schemes and
embedded executable files.
Federal Computer Week, 15 March 2004
http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2004/0315/news-pdf-03-15-04.asp
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