Two academic publishers have settled six of 20 lawsuits filed against individuals for selling copies of instructors’ manuals online. The manuals accompany specific textbooks but are intended for faculty only because they include answers to homework and quiz questions in the texts. The individuals involved in the settlements were accused of making copies of instructors’ […]

Federal charges have been brought against a technology director in South Carolina for defrauding the E-rate program, a federal program to fund technology improvements in disadvantaged schools. Cynthia K. Ayer was indicted on 12 counts of mail and wire fraud for funneling contracts worth $3.5 million to her company, Go Between Communications.
According to the Department […]

The National Archives and Records Administration has made public the details of a secret agreement made in 2001 with the CIA and said it will adjust its procedures to function in a much more transparent manner. The secret deal gave the CIA the authority to insist that certain materials in the archives be removed, with […]

Wayne Mansfield, who has been identified by Spamhaus as one of the world’s most prolific spammers, has become the first person convicted under a tough antispam law enacted in Australia in April 2004.
Mansfield and his company, Clarity1, were accused of sending more than 56 million unsolicited e-mails in violation of the law. In his defense, […]

In a settlement announced by prosecutors in Washington State, Zhijian Chen of Oregon will pay about $84,000 in fines, restitution, and attorneys’ fees following a scheme in which Chen sold consumers fraudulent antispyware services. Chen was charged with sending e-mail that led recipients to believe their computers were infected with spyware and that a product […]

In response to greater access to technology and growing expectations of students, some faculty have begun setting out explicit guidelines in their syllabi regarding how and when technology should be used. The perceived importance of “netiquette” is increasing as students come to campus with greater numbers of Internet-connected devices and with ideas that often differ […]

Cisco Systems has partnered with the recently launched mtvU on a program to elicit ideas about the evolution of online content from college students. The Digital Incubator program solicits ideas through mtvU and then selects 10 per year to receive $25,000 to fund the projects. Dan Scheinman, senior vice president of corporate development at Cisco, […]

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has gotten two new settlements in antispam cases. Matthew Olson and Jennifer LeRoy were accused of violating several provisions of the CAN-SPAM Act, including using others’ computers to send spam, inserting bogus “From” information and misleading subject lines in e-mails, and failing to provide recipients with an opt-out provision. Olson […]

Stanford University has announced that its existing Education Program for Gifted Youth program will in the fall begin offering a full high school curriculum and a diploma to students who complete it. Started in 1992, the Education Program for Gifted Youth currently offers online courses to about 4,000 students between the ages of 4 and […]

Following trade talks with the United States, Chinese authorities have issued a new guideline requiring PC manufacturers to load a licensed operating system on all computers before they leave the factory.
Although an official from the State Copyright Bureau in China denied that the new regulation is in response to foreign pressure–insisting it was implemented for […]