...reported on "Silicon.com" at http://hardware.silicon.com/storage/ 0,39024649,39131285,00.htm: Free iPods for students: The verdict June 20 2005 by Jo Best

The university that gave all its first-year students an iPod has evaluated the success of the pilot scheme - and come up with mixed results. US institution Duke University gave all its 1,650 freshmen the Apple music player, as well as a voice recorder, in autumn 2004 to "encourage creative uses of technology". One year on, the university has found that over 600 students in both the autumn and spring terms made use of the device.

Humanities students, particularly those studying music and foreign languages, were the most forthcoming in their use of the iPods, although the whole first class of engineering students had to use the device in a project for their Computational Methods class.

Among the faculties that took part in the experiment were Spanish, where students recorded themselves speaking the language for evaluation on their music players, and electrical and computing engineering, where students used the iPods to record pulse rates.

Mostly, however, the students used the devices to record or play back lectures and tutorials.

Duke's report into the project said: "Initial planning for academic iPod use focused on audio playback; however, digital recording capabilities ultimately generated the highest level of student and faculty interest."

The evaluation found that 60 per cent of the undergraduates involved in the scheme used their iPod to record academic material, while 28 per cent used the device for storage.

[...]

--Class Action Suit Filed Against CardSystems, Visa and MasterCard for Data Security Breach (27 June 2005) A California attorney has filed a class-action lawsuit against CardSystems Solutions, Visa and MasterCard on behalf of California residents and merchants who accept credit cards. The lawsuit alleges the companies did not appropriately secure their systems and did not inform people in a timely manner about a security breach that exposed data on 40 million accounts. Apparently information on approximately 200,000 accounts was verifiably transferred out the payment processor's computer system, but the credit card companies said they do not intend to notify people of the problem unless the accounts are used fraudulently. The lawsuit asks that the companies notify all people whose data were exposed and provide special notification to the 200,000 whose data were stolen. The suit also asks that chargeback fees and penalties to merchants be waived on transactions where the information was used fraudulently. http://news.com.com/2102-7350_3-5765383.html?tag=st.util.print http://www.techfirm.com/cardsystems.pdf

--Alleged Spammer First to be Tried Under Australia's Spam Law (24/23 June 2005) The Australian Communications Authority will try Wayne Mansfield, managing director of Clarity 1, for allegedly sending at least 56 million spam messages since Australia's Spam Act took effect in April 2004. The ACA is also seeking an interim injunction against Clarity 1 to prevent it from sending out more unsolicited email until the court hearing, which is scheduled for July 20. Mansfield maintains he has not broken the law and is looking forward to proving his innocence in court. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/06/24/ australia_sues_alleged_spammer/print.html http://internet.aca.gov.au/ACAINTER.65636%3ASTANDARD%3A%3Apc=PC_3000 http://www.techworld.com/security/news/index.cfm?NewsID=3912 http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,15714808%5E15331%5E% 5Enbv%5E15306%2D15318,00.html

--Microsoft Suing German Company for Sending Spam (22 June 2005) Microsoft is suing an unnamed German company for allegedly inundating Hotmail users with spam. The German company allegedly used organizations in the US and the Ukraine to send the unsolicited commercial email. The company's director denies any personal wrongdoing; he says his partners are responsible for the spam and that they are "out of control." Because Germany does not presently have any laws against distributing spam, Microsoft is seeking an injunction in an attempt to shut down the North Rhine Westphalia-based company under German fair trade law. http://www.scmagazine.com/news/index.cfm? fuseaction=newsDetails&newsUID=71539896-5ee5-46b5-b9fe- b72d83d68d83&newsType=News http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2005/0,4814,102670,00.html

--Indian Police Need Formal Complaint Before They Can Arrest Alleged Data Thief (24/23 June 2005) A man who reportedly sold data on 1,000 bank accounts of UK citizens to an undercover reporter in India is still at large. The information was reportedly stolen from call centers. Delhi police cannot arrest the man, Karan Bahree, until they receive a formal complaint either from the call centers where the data were stolen or from banks or individuals in the UK affected by the theft. In a BBC interview, Mr. Bahree said he gave a CD to the undercover reporter at the behest of another person and did not know what the disk contained. UK organizations that outsource customer services are liable for security problems that arise; the banks affected in this case could be found to be in violation of the UK's Data Protection Act. http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2005/0,4814,102755,00.html http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8345423/ http://www.silicon.com/research/specialreports/offshoring/print.htm? TYPE=story&AT=39131387-3800003026t-39000857cs