Oracle's Wish Comes True

But stay tuned: Oracle's fight for PeopleSoft is far from over. The Justice Department could appeal Judge Walker's ruling and Oracle still could face a potential antitrust challenge across the pond with the European Union. CNET's News.com said "Oracle still faces several obstacles, the most pressing of which is the resistance of PeopleSoft management. Oracle may need to sweeten the $21-per-share offer to put the deal on friendly terms. PeopleSoft could also invite a 'white knight' to offer a counter bid. Such a buyer would be more appealing to management than Oracle, with its promises of massive layoffs," the news service reported.

"The Justice Department said it might challenge the decision, and Walker stayed his order for 10 days to allow for an appeal," the Los Angeles Times said. "Attorneys predicted that the Justice Department would face a difficult road because the judge quarreled not only with the legal issues presented in the case but also with the quality of witness testimony. ... Although the Justice Department rarely loses antitrust trials, legal observers predicated that Thursday's ruling would not curb the government's enforcement efforts."
• CNET's News.com: Oracle Wins Antitrust Case
• The Los Angeles Times: Oracle Can Pursue Hostile Bid for PeopleSoft, Judge Decides (Registration required)

Remembering 9-11

The Internet is serving a key role in helping to memorialize the lives of victims killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Monica Iken, whose husband died in the attacks, is part of a group from Washington and New York spearheading an effort to create a 9/11 memorial of pictures and other mementos on the Internet. "While it is expected to take almost a decade to construct a memorial in Lower Manhattan, Iken's nonprofit group, September's Mission, set out to create more quickly an archival spot in cyberspace for mourners and scholars of the attacks," Washington Post technology columnist Shannon Henry wrote yesterday. E-Trade Financial and the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. donated grant money for the project. "Perhaps the greatest challenge ahead, one the group hashes out often, is how to handle all the differing views, requests and opinions of the family members of those who died. Each family will be invited to create a Web page about its loved one, including text, video and audio." As for Iken, she plans to post pictures of her bond-trader husband, Michael, and a wedding video to the site, the Associated Press said. "The only connection we have to our loved ones is at the (Web) site," Iken said. "Victims' families and the public can register on the Web site, www.911livingmemorial.org. Iken said the project would help heal families and children affected by the Sept. 11 attack until the ground zero memorial is completed," the AP reported.
• The Washington Post: Executives Plan Online Memorial to 9/11 Victims (Registration required)
• The Associated Press via Newsday: 9/11 Group Announces Web Site

EDS's Pink Slip Parade

Here's a sign that the technology sector isn't up to full swing: Electronic Data Systems could ax up to 20,000 jobs over two years to save money, company chief executive Michael H. Jordan said yesterday. The Plano, Tex., company is aiming to cut $3 billion.

The computer services company "is still evaluating which jobs to cut and didn't offer specifics on which employees might be affected," the Dallas Morning News said.

"EDS, which operates computer systems for other companies but has struggled with money-losing contracts, a turndown in corporate technology spending and a credit agency downgrade of its debt to junk status. Last month, a computer system EDS hosted suffered a data glitch, grounding hundreds of flights by AMR Corp.'s American Airlines and US Airways Group Inc. -- a high-profile embarrassment for a company that has endured several over the past two years," the AP said.
• The Dallas Morning News: EDS May Cut 20,000 Workers (Registration required)
• The Associated Press via The Washington Post: EDS May Cut 15,000 to 20,000 More Jobs (Registration required)

Reading, Writing and File Sharing

September marks the official kickoff for the college football season, but the start of the school year for college students across the nation has also become the season of file sharing. "The university environment has proved to be something of a 'perfect storm' for encouraging illegal downloading. Teenagers arrive on campuses already armed with powerful computers and are greeted with free high-speed Internet connections, unprecedented privacy and scads of free time," washingtonpost.com reported yesterday. "At schools throughout the region, administrators have stepped up their efforts to educate students, stiffened penalties for copyright violations, installed technology to restrict abnormal Internet traffic and in one high-profile case, given students a legal way to download their favorite songs. Although schools have differing strategies for tackling electronic piracy, the unifying factor among those efforts is increased education."
• washingtonpost.com: 'F' Is for File Sharing (Registration required)

File sharing isn't the only thing schools are keeping an eye on. Privately run Wi-Fi networks are also under a close watch too at the University of Texas at Dallas, CNET's News.com reported. "The university administration issued a new policy this week that bars students from running their own private Wi-Fi networks in campus housing. The unregulated hot spots are interfering with the university's own wireless service, which is offered freely to students and staff, campus technology administrators said. Some students have protested, saying that only federal regulators have the ability to govern how they use the wireless spectrum. The issue remains unresolved as the university waits for students to pull the plug on their Wi-Fi hot spots, and for now, administrators aren't backing down."
• CNET's News.com: Students, Colleges Face Off Over WiFi

Music for the Masses

With all the news about crackdowns on digital piracy, it might seem like there are few tunes that can be traded online without problem – or without ponying up 99 cents to iTunes and other digital music sites. Not so, however, according to a piece in today's New York Times, which gives a helpful primer on spots on the Web to find free music. "The first place to look for free music online is at musicians' own sites. Many performers, from Bob Dylan (www.bobdylan.com) to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs(www.yeahyeahyeahs.com), post hard-to-find songs for listening: some as free downloads, some as streaming audio (which can be recorded with a free program like StepVoice at www.stepvoice.com). A next place to look is the labels, particularly independent rock and electronic labels like Matador (www.matadorrecords.com/music/mp3s.html), Vagrant (www.vagrant.com/vagrant/audio/audio.jsp), Barsuk (www.barsuk.com), Saddle Creek (www.saddle-creek.com) or Tigerbeat6 (www.tigerbeat6.com/html/catalogue.htm)," the article said. "Many public radio stations also maintain music archives for streaming or downloading. Among them are the classical-music station WNYC (www.wnyc.org) and eclectic stations like WFMU in Jersey City (www.wfmu.org) and KCRW in Santa Monica, Calif. (www.kcrw.org), all of which have troves of live performances. MTV (at www.mtv.com) presents an entire album each week as an audio stream."
• The New York Times: No Fears: Laptop D.J's Have a Feast (Registration required)

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