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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 2006 Academics Defend Educational Value of Computer Games IBM Opens the Lid on Research Centers Judge Gives Government Some of What It Sought RFID Susceptible to Viruses
ACADEMICS DEFEND EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF COMPUTER GAMES Two academics at Brunel University in the United Kingdom argue that in their study of an online game called RuneScape, teens defy the common perception that playing computer games impedes their development, social and otherwise. Simon Bradford and Nic Crowe said that in their research, RuneScape added to social experience for those playing, rather than minimizing it. Players can assume an identity very different from their own--a different gender or race, for example--and could practice social interactions that will help them in real life, according to Bradford and Crowe. In addition, the game teaches players a level of responsibility in areas such as time management that many do not experience until they go off to college. One teenager in the study said she spent considerable amounts of time in the game's downtime places, specifically a waterfall where the teen said she likes just to sit and relax for hours. Bradford and Crowe suggested that in this way, the game provides experiences for players that they might not be able to have otherwise. BBC, 14 March 2006 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4774534.stm
IBM OPENS THE LID ON RESEARCH CENTERS Citing the benefits of collaboration to innovative thinking, IBM has announced plans to open its research centers to business partners, creating what it called an "innovation ecosystem" of software developers, systems integrators, consultants, venture capitalists, academics, and others. IBM pointed to a survey it conducted recently of CEOs in which a large portion of respondents said many of the best ideas came from collaborations with external partners and clients. The PartnerWorld Industry Networks Program will give IBM partners access to the company's research centers, which are funded with considerable amounts of money annually to foster new ideas. Donn Atkins, general manager of IBM Global Business Partners, said the new program, along with other initiatives, is intended to help partners and clients be "more creative, dynamic, and competitive." Yahoo, 14 March 2006 http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20060314/bs_nf/42091
JUDGE GIVES GOVERNMENT SOME OF WHAT IT SOUGHT The judge hearing the case between the U.S. Department of Justice and Google has indicated he will require the search company to supply the government with a portion of the data it was seeking. Government officials had subpoenaed one million Web addresses and a week's worth of search queries, alarming Google as well as privacy advocates that the government was exerting too much control over data that most presume to be private. During negotiations, however, the government reduced its request to just 50,000 Web addresses and 5,000 searches, a reduction that went a long way toward defusing the standoff. U.S. District Judge James Ware said that given the changed terms of the government's request, he would likely support the subpoena but would make sure individuals' rights are not compromised by data that must be turned over. Observers said that the changed terms of the subpoena mean the case is unlikely to resolve the issue of government access to search records. Orin Kerr, law professor at George Washington University, said, "It...will have very little legal consequence in the long term." Lauren Gelman, associate director of Stanford's Center for Internet and Society, said, "It's something we're going to see come up again and again." San Jose Mercury News, 15 March 2006 http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/14104319.htm
RFID SUSCEPTIBLE TO VIRUSES A group of researchers affiliated with Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam has discovered a way to spread a computer virus through RFID tags, a scenario most security experts had previously dismissed. The researchers demonstrated that a virus can spread from an infected tag to the scanners and systems that register the tags and to other tags. In an airport, for example, an infected luggage RFID tag can infect airline systems, possibly allowing some luggage to avoid being screened, and can spread to other luggage and other airports. The group called RFID malware "a Pandora's box" of potential problems. Aware of the risks of disclosing a vulnerability, the researchers also offered advice to RFID developers about how to protect their systems. Peter Neumann, computer scientist at research firm SRI International, echoed the researchers' warnings about RFID technology. "It shouldn't surprise you that a system that is designed to be manufactured as cheaply as possible," he said, "is designed with no security constraints whatsoever." Daniel Mullen, president of the Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility, which represents the industry, said companies developing the technology are engaged in an "ongoing dialogue about protecting information on the tag and in the database." New York Times, 15 March 2006 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/15/technology/15tag.html
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