Catholic U. responds to lawsuit charging Muslim

Catholic University has been hit with a human rights complaint filed by a lawyer charging that the school has “illegally discriminated” against Muslim students because it has failed to make available rooms for prayer that have no Catholic religious symbols, the Washington Post reports. The suit was filed by lawyer John F. Banzhaf III, a public interest law professor at George Washington University who has filed, with his students, hundreds of legal actions over a range of topics. Muslims are the third largest student group at Catholic University, with only Catholics and Protestants ahead. The number of Muslim students went from 41 in 2006 to 91 this fall…

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Removing restrictions could help campuses decrease music piracy

Campuses have seen dramatic drops in illegal file sharing after adopting anti-piracy software.

A group of Rice and Duke university researchers say doing away with Digital Rights Management (DRM) restrictions could be the next step in fighting illegal downloads on college campuses.

Campus technology officials have used myriad methods to combat the use of college networks to rip copyrighted files from the internet without permission, and while these strategies have often curbed the frequency of illegal downloads, research published Oct. 7 challenges the theory that strict digital restrictions are a surefire way to cut down on piracy and increase profits for rights holders.

Removing DRM restrictions, according to the research, can decrease internet piracy because that makes the “product more convenient to use and intensifies competition with the traditional format (CDs), which has no DRM restrictions.”…Read More

College drug tests halted by judge

A Missouri college’s comprehensive drug-testing plan for students will stay on hold after a federal judge extended a temporary restraining order, the Associated Press reports. Linn State Technical College’s program calls for screening all first-year students and some returning students for cocaine, methamphetamines, oxycodone and eight other drugs. The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit last month challenging the constitutionality of the drug testing. U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey in Jefferson City granted a temporary restraining order in September, and issued a ruling Tuesday that extends the restraining order through Nov. 8…

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Feds to hear Va Tech appeal in Dec.

The U.S. Department of Education has scheduled a December hearing to take up Virginia Tech’s appeal of fines it received for failing to notify campus sooner during a 2007 shooting rampage in which a student killed 32 students and faculty, the Associated Press reports. Department spokeswoman Sara Gast said the hearing will take place Dec. 7-9. Several survivors and victims’ family members plan to travel to Washington to testify. The school appealed the $55,000 sanction in April. Virginia Tech officials have denied wrongdoing, saying the department is holding them to higher standards than were in place the day of the shootings…

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At one college, a fight over required drug tests

Linn State Technical College in Linn, Mo., informed students this semester that they would be required to submit to a urine test that would be checked for illegal drugs as a condition of studying at the college, reports the New York Times. Almost immediately, the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups sued on behalf of several dissenting Linn State students and have won a temporary injunction. The A.C.L.U. says Linn State is the first public college in the country to require all adult students to submit to mandatory drug tests…

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For-profit college company denies US recruitment lawsuit

Education Management could face a hefty settlement.

A large for-profit education company has asked a judge to throw out a Department of Justice lawsuit that claims it used improper sales tactics to lure unqualified students and the billions of dollars in financial aid they bring.

Education Management Corp. runs more than 100 higher-education programs across the country, offering diplomas and degrees in fashion, culinary arts, business and other fields, some through online courses.

A whistleblower lawsuit backed this year by the Department of Justice accuses the company of paying illegal incentives to recruiters to sign up students, in violation of a 1992 law that bans such practices.…Read More

Wrongly accused Duke lacrosse players ask for lawsuit against Durham to proceed

A group of former Duke University lacrosse players wrongly arrested on rape charges in 2006 has asked a federal appeals court to let their lawsuit against the City of Durham move forward, the Associated Press reports. Cleared players David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann sued Durham and a list of officials that include the former city manager and former police chief…

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Samsung’s legal woes threaten to crimp tablets, chips

An intensifying legal battle between Samsung Electronics Co and Apple Inc is expected to crimp growth at one of the fastest growing businesses of the Korean company, while threatening to worsen business ties with the firm’s largest customer, Reuters reports. The two technology firms have been locked in an acrimonious global battle over smartphone and tablet patents since April, and Apple has successfully blocked Samsung from selling its latest tablets in Germany and some smartphone models in the Netherlands. The iPhone and iPad maker has also forced its rival to indefinitely delay launching its new Galaxy tablets in Australia, where a court will give its ruling this week…

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Arizona college student charged in Sony hacking case

An Arizona college student was arrested and charged Thursday in a breach of computers at Sony Pictures Entertainment early this summer where more than 37,000 customers had their information stolen, the Associated Press reports. An indictment unsealed in Los Angeles charged Cody Kretsinger, 23, of Tempe, Ariz., with one count each of conspiracy and unauthorized impairment of a protected computer. If convicted of both counts, he faces up to 15 years in prison…

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Yale prof sued for crimes against humanity

Former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, who is now a Yale University professor, has been sued in Connecticut for alleged crimes against humanity in connection with the 1997 killings of 45 people in a Mexican village, a lawsuit that he called slanderous, the Associated Press reports. Lawyers for 10 unnamed plaintiffs filed the lawsuit last Friday in U.S. District Court in Hartford, alleging Zedillo was responsible for the massacre by paramilitary groups in the village of Acteal, in the southern state of Chiapas, and tried to cover up the killings…

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