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Bill Would Ban Minors' Access to Social Networks at Schools, Libraries

Authored by dmw on May 11, 2006 - 12:54pm.
San Francisco - House Republicans have introduced a bill that would prohibit minors' access to social networking sites at schools and libraries, CNET News.com reported. The Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA), authored by Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.) and backed by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, would ban students' access to sites that let them create personal profiles and that feature chat rooms and other forms of online communication that can subject them to sexual advances. "We've all heard stories of children on some of these social Web sites meeting up with dangerous predators," said Rep. Hastert. "This legislation adds another layer of protection." The director of the American Library Association's office of government relations, Lynne Bradley, told CNET News.com that librarians are "as protective of kids as any other protection in this whole field, but we do know there are legitimate uses (of social-networking sites)." Some schools already block access to sites like MySpace, Facebook and Friendster, prompting enterprising students to take elaborate steps like setting up online proxies to their home computers, which allow them to bypass filters and access the social networks from school computers.
tags: Internet | Law | Social Networking | Youth | Censorship | Bills | DOPA | Schools | Libraries |

Napster Adds 53 Schools to University-Based Subscription Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 15, 2005 - 10:53am.
Los Angeles -- Napster announced on Thursday the addition of 53 new colleges to its university-based subscription service initiative. New additions include the University of California, which comprises 10 campuses including UCLA and UC Berkeley; Cal State University, which includes 23 campuses in cities like Northridge and San Luis Obispo; the University of North Carolina, a system of 16 schools including Chapel Hill, Greensboro and Charlotte; and standalone schools Brown University, American University, Bentley College and Grove City College. The company also signed deals with First Worthing Housing, which provides residential housing to students nationwide, and Spartan.net Housing at Michigan State. The campus service includes unlimited streaming and hard drive downloading from Napster's 1.5-million song library, and the ability to purchase permanent song downloads for 99 cents per song and albums starting at $6.95. Napster also said that some schools have implemented the service into curriculum offerings, citing as example an American popular music course at Penn State University.
tags: Subscriptions | Napster | Schools | University-Based |

Dept. of Education Posts Online Database of Accredited Online Schools

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 2, 2005 - 3:41am.
Washington -- The U.S. Department of Education has launched an online database that contains the names of online schools for higher learning that have received accreditation by agencies recognized by the federal government, in an effort to combat the growing number of fraudulent online schools. Such "diploma mills" defraud both students of their investments, and prospective employers who are misled about applicants' qualifications. The new online database lists the names, addresses and enrollment of all accredited online universities and schools. "Obviously diplomas become a growing concern as the internet has made it easier for these schools to proliferate," Education Department spokeswoman Jane Glickman told Wired News. "The department has no direct way to shut them down, but we want people to know what's a legitimate school and what's not."
tags: Internet | Schools | Database | Dept. of Education | Accredited |

Napster Inks Deals With Six Schools for Campus Music Services

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 19, 2004 - 5:12am.
Los Angeles -- Napster, the digital music service unit of Roxio, announced on Monday that it has signed agreements with six schools to offer campus digital music services. The new deals with Cornell, George Washington University, Middlebury College, the University of Miami, USC and Wright State will complement Napster's existing agreements with Penn State University and the University of Rochester. Napster did not disclose whether students will be paying for the basic service as part of their tuition, but they will be charged $0.99 to burn tracks to CD or transfer them to portable players. Some schools will utilize Napster and IBM's "Super Peer" application, which caches the most popular Napster content on on-site IBM servers managed remotely by Napster. "Penn State's students have been thrilled with the Napster experience, downloading as many as 100,000 songs each day," said Penn State president Graham Spanier. "We see our Napster implementation as central to our effort to create a more student-centered university while at the same time offering an alternative to music piracy and copyright infringement."
tags: Deals | Napster | Schools | Campus | Music Services |