10 December 2003

Deceptive “invoices”

Domain Names Australia has been sending Schools bogus “invoices” that require payment to reserve unnecessary domain names.

Recently a company called Domain Names Australia has sent a large number of what appear to be invoices to the Division: usually addressed to individual Schools or Centres. The letters request payment for the registration of domain names.

The organisation responsible for regulating domain names in Australia, .au Domain Administration Pty Ltd (auDA) has taken action against Domain Names Australia in the Federal Court for deceptive conduct as a result of letters such as the ones received recently in the University. More details on Domain Names Australia can be found on the auDA website at http://www.auda.org.au/news/dadn/ [link updated]

DO NOT PAY THESE "INVOICES".

If you have paid Domain Names Australia please let the cehelpdesk know and we will inform auDA. Should the auDA action be successful it may be possible to recover some or all of the money paid to Domain Names Australia.

09 December 2003

Wireless Working Party

The Working Party has recommended wireless expansion to the University network.

The University Information Management Systems Committee (UIMSC) established the Wireless Working Party to oversee developments in wireless networking at the University of Canberra.

After a number of meetings, discussions and reviews of wireless implementations at other organizations (including other Australian universities), the Working Party has developed a draft Implementation Plan for wireless networking on the Bruce campus. The Working Party recommended that UIMSC endorse the roll out the infrastructure necessary to support suitably authenticated computers connecting to the University network using 802.11b and 802.11g wireless standards on the UC Bruce campus.

Web Content Management System

A Web CMS should be trialled on campus to see whether it suits our requirements and makes it easier for the University to develop and maintain its Web presence.

A University working party was established to investigate the introduction of a Web Content Management System (CMS) to facilitate the management of the University's web pages. The working party has completed its investigations and has recommended the trialling of a system as the next stage in the process.

Adobe Software Audit

Adobe is coming to review the University’s use of Adobe software.

Adobe Systems has advised the University that it will be reviewed under Adobe’s Awareness Compliance Education Review program. The Review will be carried out sometime between 1 December 2003 and 29 February 2004 and will cover:

  • visiting those responsible for purchasing software licences to see how many licences have been purchased;
  • review the software purchasing, distribution and monitoring processes in place;
  • talk about software asset management and total cost of ownership; and
  • report on the adequacy of the current level of licensing and how to manage the level of licensing.

Software Licensing

Don’t take the software installed on your computer for granted: it may not be legal to use it for anything other than teaching purposes.

Application and system software installed on University computers is licensed: the exact conditions vary from package to package but generally the software from for example Microsoft, Macromedia, Adobe, Apple, QSR and SPPS is licensed for educational use only. No University licensed software should be used for any commercial purpose unless written approval for its use is obtained from the supplier or the University's legal representative.

Include the cost of full commercial versions of required software when developing budgets for commercial projects, if suitable licensing arrangements are not already in place. Maintenance and support arrangements should also be organised since the TSU may not be able to provide the required level of support for additional software installations.

Memory sticks/external drives

The recent increase in new external data storage devices like memory sticks, USB drives and other devices is changing the way people move data around.

The Division is investing its resources in network storage: because of their fragility, risk of loss and cost, removable or transportable media like floppy disks, Zip drives and so on are being phased out in preference to increasing the Division’s online network storage capacity. Staff that require removable media to transport data around outside the network are encouraged to purchase their own drives or devices to accommodate their requirements. All new computers have CD burners installed for transporting larger files and archiving.