Edupage, 16 June 1999
EDUCAUSE
Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, an international nonprofit
association dedicated to transforming education through
information technologies.
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TOP STORIES for June 16, 1999
Senate OKs Bill Limiting Y2K's Legal Backlash
Online Search Service Loses U.S. Backing
Church-State Suit Could Nix Plan for Internet in Schools
FCC Weighs Appeal on ISPs, Cable
ALSO
Industrial-Strength Java
Ivory-Tower Open Source
Educators Also Retooling for the Internet
SENATE OKS BILL LIMITING Y2K'S LEGAL BACKLASH
The Senate passed a measure Tuesday to limit lawsuits arising
from Y2K-related problems. The bill, similar to one recently
passed in the House, restricts class-action lawsuits and limits
punitive damages in these cases. The legislation also requires
would-be plaintiffs to give 30 days' notice before filing suit
and grants defendants 60 days to fix the problem. President
Clinton has threatened to veto the bill, sparking much debate as
to the outcome of Y2K as well as the political motives of both
sides. Although the administration would like to reach a
compromise with Congress on Y2K legislation, it argues that the
present bill excessively limits lawsuits, potentially blocking
legitimate consumer claims. Bill sponsor Sen. John McCain
(R-Ariz.) counters that without this legislation, courthouses may
be consumed by frivolous litigation potentially totaling $1
trillion. (Los Angeles Times 06/16/99)
ONLINE SEARCH SERVICE LOSES U.S. BACKING
A new federal Internet search service is back online and has
reinstated its subscription fee, but lost its official backing
from the U.S. Commerce Department. The site, located at
www.usgovsearch.com, gathers more than 20,000 federal agency and
military web sites, two million document summaries from National
Technical Information Service (NTIS) archives, and eight million
articles from the database of Northern Light Technology, which
developed the service with the Commerce Department. The
government agency abandoned the venture after deciding that the
subscription fee for obtaining free public records was
inappropriate. Users must pay a subscription fee of $250 per
year, $30 per month, or $5 per day. The service will be free
to all U.S. public libraries and secondary schools that choose
to participate. (Washington Post 06/15/99)
CHURCH-STATE SUIT COULD NIX PLAN FOR INTERNET IN SCHOOLS
The Supreme Court has decided to review an appeals court decision
against a government program that allows public schools to loan
classroom equipment to private and parochial schools. The
appeals court struck down the program in Louisiana, Mississippi,
and Texas due to First Amendment issues -- specifically language
barring the government from "establishment" of religion. The
Clinton administration has argued that, if implemented across the
country, the ruling could jeopardize the administration's plan to
provide schools with computer equipment and Internet access. The
case will be heard next fall, but the Supreme Court is not likely
to hand down a ruling until the following year.
(USA Today 06/15/99)
FCC WEIGHS APPEAL ON ISPS, CABLE
The FCC may appeal a federal court decision that allows local
governments to force cable TV operators to provide open network
access. The FCC may appeal a decision by a federal district
court in Portland, Ore., that allows the city to decide on open
access. As part of a speech to be given today in Chicago, FCC
Chairman William Kennard contends that only the FCC is equipped
to make a decision on open access. But the FCC has yet to make a
decision, citing a lack proof that competition is being hindered
in the high-speed Internet market. Kennard is asking the cable
industry to offer open access on its own.
(Washington Post 06/15/99)
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INDUSTRIAL-STRENGTH JAVA
Sun Microsystems released its draft Java2 Enterprise Edition
specification at its JavaOne conference this week, indicating
that Java is finally close to being ready for the enterprise.
Java2 will help to reunify the splintered Java market and help
companies to lower the cost of Java development and avoid being
limited to a particular application server. PC Week Labs
recommends that companies move quickly to adopt the new standard
and make all new code compatible with Java2 enterprise edition,
as widespread adoption will bring code interoperability to the
application server market. Companies could deploy a relatively
inexpensive and small application server and rest assured that
migration to a higher-end platform will be simple. And with
incompatibility no longer an issue, vendors will have to
distinguish themselves with superior manageability, scalability,
and fault tolerance. Sun says the final standard will not be
released until the end of the year, but the draft clearly
outlines its components and vendors have already implemented
several key planks. (PC Week 06/14/99)
IVORY-TOWER OPEN SOURCE
Two Illinois scholars have created software that may open the
door to online academic collaboration and debate. The software
allows authors to post their papers to solicit outside reviews.
Readers' suggestions will be displayed in pop-up windows within
the paper's text, allowing authors to obtain feedback and other
reviewers to read previously posted commentary. The texts and
suggestions are stored on a server and edited using FileMaker
Pro, which can be downloaded on the project Internet site. The
software may change the publication of a text from a solitary
event to a means of interaction, facilitating interaction among
academics that once was only present within published journals
and scattered Internet bulletin boards. Co-creator Jim Levin,
an educational psychology professor at the University of Illinois,
sees the new interactive software as a method to raise new
questions immediately, thus speeding the debate. (Wired News 06/14/99)
EDUCATORS ALSO RETOOLING FOR THE INTERNET
Richard Schmalensee, who testified on behalf of Microsoft in the
ongoing antitrust trial, is now dean of the Sloan School of
Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In an
interview with the San Jose Mercury News, Schmalensee discussed
the impact of the Internet on education and society as a whole,
gathering from his experience as an educator, an economist, and a
member of the committee of national statistics. The Sloan School
is altering its MBA program to prepare graduates for the
Internet. Among the changes to be made are an upgrade of its
facilities and the addition of a new program in electronic
commerce marketing. The technology-heavy education model has
impressed corporate recruiters; Schmalensee said Dell was the
school's second largest recruiter, hiring 15 graduates.
Schmalensee believes that Sloan, as one of the first business
schools to make these adjustments to technology, is a leader in
the growing movement toward the Internet. He predicts that those
schools and businesses that refuse to embrace the growing Web
culture will crumble. (San Jose Mercury News Online 06/14/99)
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UPCOMING EDUCAUSE CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS:
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Strategy, Technology, Organization, Relationships, and Mission (STORM!)
August 6-11, 1999, Snowmass Village, Colorado
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EDUCAUSE '99
"Celebrating New Beginnings"
EDUCAUSE Annual Conference
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http://www.educause.edu/conference/e99/
For additional information on these conferences see
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For information on other technology related
educational conferences see
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Edupage Copyright 1999, EDUCAUSE
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EDUCAUSE, an international nonprofit association dedicated to
transforming education through information technologies