Americans face piracy site blocks

13 May 2011 Last updated at 10:47 GMT

Americans face piracy website blocking

The proposed law aims to limit web access to counterfeit goods sold online

Websites that link to pirated music and movies or sell counterfeit goods could soon be blocked in America.

US politicians are about to consider legislation which includes a raft of measures to clamp down on such sites.

The Protect IP bill gives government and copyright holders tools to stop Americans reaching illegal material.

Digital rights groups said they were "dismayed" by the proposals and feared the effect the final law would have on the internet.

Bad actors

"The Protect IP Act targets the most egregious actors, and is an important first step to putting a stop to online piracy and sale of counterfeit goods," said Senator Patrick Leahy in a statement released as the bill began its progress through the US legislature.

"Both law enforcement and rights holders are currently limited in the remedies available to combat websites dedicated to offering infringing content and products," said Senator Leahy, one of 10 politicians backing the proposal.

The Protect IP legislation is a re-write of the controversial Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) that narrowly failed to become law in late 2010.

The law is being opposed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) which warned that it was no less problematic than its predecessor.

"We are no less dismayed by this most recent incarnation than we were with last year's draft," said Abigail Phillips, senior staff attorney at the EFF. She said the remedies suggested in Protect IP raised "serious First Amendment concerns about lawful expression".

Sites targeted under the Protect IP (Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property) Act would be removed from the internet's address books making them hard to find by their well-known domain name.

It allows the blocking of any domains that infringing sites switch to in order to avoid blocking. The bill also contains clauses that would force search engines to stop listing so-called infringing sites in their indexes.

As well as letting government take action, the Protect IP Act would allow copyright holders to apply for court orders to get sites blocked or de-listed.

Payment firms and ad networks could also be told to stop providing services to sites found to be infringing copyright or peddling fake goods.

Sherwin Sly, deputy legal director at the Public Knowledge digital rights group, said Protect IP threatened to unravel the consensus that the net is built upon.

If passed, it would "accelerate" the net down a path that could lead to governments everywhere sanitising online content so citizens only get what those in power think they should see, he said.

Limewire pays $105m settlement

13 May 2011 Last updated at 11:31 GMT

Limewire pays $105m settlement to music firms

The court case against Limewire began in 2006

File-sharing software company Limewire has reached an out of court settlement with record labels that sued it for helping people pirate music.

The Lime Group, which developed the Limewire system, has agreed to pay $105m (£64.6m) to 13 music firms.

The figure is far less than the billion dollar bill for damages that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) claimed it was owed.

The prolonged legal fight has led to Limewire being shut down.

Mitch Bainwol, chairman of the RIAA - which represents record labels - said the organisation was pleased with the result.

"This hard fought victory is reason for celebration by the entire music community, its fans and the legal services that play by the rules," said Mr Bainwol in a statement.

Limewire was a program that used peer-to-peer technology to help people find media on other computers and let others see their libraries of files.

The RIAA first took legal action against Limewire in 2006 shortly after concluding a $115m settlement with peer-to-peer software maker Kazaa.

In May 2010, the judge overseeing the case ruled that Limewire and its creator Mark Gorton had infringed copyright and aided others in downloading pirated music.

Another court ruling in the case in October 2010 led to the effective closure of Limewire as it was banned from letting people search, download, upload or trade files using the program.

An official updated version of the program has been distributed that stops people using Limewire to swap files in this way.

However, a pirate edition has been produced that leaves those services intact.

Number of adult learners 'falls'

13 May 2011 Last updated at 02:46 GMT

Fall in UK adults engaged in learning, survey finds

By Katherine Sellgren BBC News education reporter

The fall in the number of male adult learners represents a particular challenge, says the charity

The number of adult learners in the UK has fallen - with a particular decline among men, an annual survey suggests.

This year's National Institute of Adult Continuing Education survey - of 4,957 people - found a slight fall in adults in learning, down from 21% to 20%.

But there was concern that the number of men who had been in learning in the past three years had fallen to 37% - the lowest level since the mid-1990s.

This was a "fundamental challenge for policy makers", the charity said.

The annual survey from National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) - a charity which promotes adult learning - asked respondents to assess whether or not they identified themselves as a learner.

It was based on a survey of 4,957 people in the UK aged 17 and over carried out in February and March.

The type of "learning" could be formal, work-based, online or self-directed and covers a range of areas from academic subjects to recreational activities.

'Learning society'

The results indicated that the number of men who have been in learning over the past three years (37%) is at its lowest level since the NIACE survey began in 1996.

Participation in learning among those in the least skilled jobs and those outside the labour market fell seven percentage points from 2010 from 30% to 23%.

Professional and managerial groups were twice as likely (52%) to participate in learning than the unskilled and unemployed.

But younger learners were on the increase - with participation in learning increasing among those aged 17 to 24, up from 58% in 2010 to 71% this year.

This is set against a decrease across all other age groups, with learning activities for adults aged 65 to 74 dropping from 23% last year to 17% in 2011.

NIACE chief executive Alan Tuckett said: "If Britain is to recover economically it has to invest in the whole of its workforce, not just the young.

"With an ageing labour force we need to encourage people to prolong their active working and learning lives, reducing learning opportunities will hardly help with the well-being or work-readiness of Britain's third age adults.

"But overall, the most concerning aspects of this year's survey are the lowest ever figures of participation for men and for the least skilled and those outside the labour market.

"When you take these findings, with the reported decline in people's intentions to take up learning in the future, you have a fundamental challenge for policy makers, employers and providers.

"We won't have a learning society unless everyone takes their share of responsibility to create it."

Watchdog to probe exam standards

13 May 2011 Last updated at 10:20 GMT

Watchdog to investigate exam standards

GCSE results have been rising consecutively for 22 years

Fears that GCSEs and A-levels are getting easier are to be investigated by the exams standards watchdog.

Ofqual said it would gather evidence and listen to views in what it described as an "objective and constructive debate" on the issue.

GCSE results have been rising for more than 20 years, and 27% of A-level students received As or A*s last year.

Education Secretary Michael Gove has made it clear he wants exams to be rigorous and demanding.

Ofqual spoke out as this year's exam season gets under way, with 800,000 pupils across England, Wales and Northern Ireland revising for their GCSE and A-level exams.

'Firm but fair'

Ofqual's new chief executive Glenys Stacey told the Daily Telegraph: "We do a lot of work to maintain standards on all the key qualifications across the board on subject matters and subject levels.

"But there is still a public concern over standards and a feeling that things aren't what they used to be.

"Well, I would like to understand that better and actually bring some evidence to the debate as well. I want an objective and constructive debate."

She said her investigation would be "firm but fair".

An Ofqual spokesman said that in the past the watchdog had focussed on the technical standards of individual exams.

However it now wanted to draw all the evidence together because it was aware of a public perception of falling standards.

Ofqual will also look at competition between exam boards and the use of modular exams - where exams are broken down into smaller units. This often leads to a high number of re-sits.

International comparisons

A number of studies have suggested exams are getting easier, and there have been attempts to tighten standards up by reducing the amount of course work.

Mr Gove has already called for exams taken in England to be compared with tests taken in other countries and has asked Ofsted to run a separate inquiry into standards in vocational exams.

The Department for Education did not wish to comment on Ofqual's plans.

Teachers' legal bid over pensions

13 May 2011 Last updated at 15:15 GMT

Teachers mount legal battle over pensions

By Hannah Richardson BBC News education reporter

Teachers have been working out how much the change will cost them

A teachers' union is mounting a High Court challenge to government changes to their pension scheme.

The Nasuwt union is seeking a judicial review over the switch from the higher RPI to the lower CPI index of inflation.

Chancellor George Osborne announced the change for public sector pensions in his emergency budget last June, saving £11bn a year by 2014-15.

The government said it stood by the move.

The CPI method of calculating inflation - which does not include housing costs - is usually lower than the RPI definition.

The Nasuwt say the change means retiring teachers could lose up to £10,000 a year. It lodged papers with the High Court earlier this month.

General secretary Chris Keates said the change effectively broke the "contract" between teachers and the government because staff would have given consideration to the level of pension they were to get when they took decisions about if and when to retire.

'Good case'

She said: "It's been such a devastating change and it's been imposed - it's not up for negotiation with the government. They took a unilateral decision to do this.

"We took legal advice and on the basis of what our lawyers say, we think there is a good case to be made. If we win, it will have a massive impact for teachers."

Nasuwt has joined with the Fire Brigades Union, the Prison Officers Association, the PCS civil servants' union and Unite to mount the challenge.

As part of their legal case, the Nasuwt has drawn up a range of case studies for teachers leaving the profession at different stages and mapping out what the changes mean for those individuals.

If the case goes in favour of the unions, then these examples would set precedents for teachers and other workers in similar positions.

'Preferred measure'

A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: "We are currently considering the claims but stand by our policy to move to the CPI for the up-rating of pensions and benefits.

"The CPI is an internationally recognised measure of inflation and is the Bank of England's preferred measure."

The case comes as the Nasuwt publishes the results of a survey of 35,000 members suggesting nine out of 10 would support industrial action over future planned changes to their pensions.

However, the Nasuwt has committed itself to the TUC-led negotiations with the government before balloting for action.

But Ms Keates added: "Should the coalition government either fail to take seriously the concerns of teachers or fail to use the negotiations with the TUC genuinely and seriously to seek an agreed outcome, then the overwhelming support for industrial action among NASUWT members will be translated into reality with inevitable widespread disruption."

A number of other teaching unions have said they will ballot on strike action over pension changes.

Twitter boost for Japan doctors

13 May 2011 Last updated at 07:13 GMT

Twitter 'vital' link to patients, say doctors in Japan

The earthquake in Japan left many people with long-term health problems without medication

In the aftermath of the earthquake in Japan, Twitter is proving "an excellent system" for communicating with chronically-ill patients, say doctors.

In letters written to The Lancet, Japanese doctors say social networking sites have been vital in notifying patients where to get medication.

Although telephone networks were disrupted after the earthquake, internet access remained reliable.

But Japan must now strengthen its primary care system, they said.

The letters, which appear in the Correspondence section of The Lancet, were written by Japanese doctors across the country.

They talk about the health care consequences of the earthquake and tsunami disaster which occurred in Japan in March.

In one letter, Dr Yuichi Tamura and and Dr Keiichi Kukuda, from the department of cardiology at Keio University School of Medicine in Tokyo, described their initial concern over how to get drugs to patients with pulmonary hypertension after the disaster.

"Forming a supply chain for such drugs in the earliest stages of the disaster was difficult; however we found that social networking services could have a useful role."

Using the 're-tweet' facility on Twitter allowed information to be spread rapidly, they said.

"We were able to notify displaced patients via Twitter on where to acquire medications. These 'tweets' immediately spread through patients' networks, and consequently most could attend to their essential treatments."

On the move

But they also needed the hands-on help of countless medical staff to deliver drugs and oxygen.

"Our experience has shown that social networking services, run concurrently with physical support, were significant in triumphing over many difficulties in the recent catastrophe," they wrote.

In another letter, doctors describe how they transferred 600 dialysis patients from the area near the Fukushima nuclear power plant over 200km to another city to receive the urgent care they needed.

The patients were unable to bring their medical records with them on the journey from Iwaki to Niigata in the north west of Japan.

Dr Junichiro James Kazama, from Niigata University Hospital, said his team's experience of two previous earthquakes helped in the mass transfer.

"The transfer of 600 haemodialysis patients is an unprecedented event.

"However this mass relocation seems to be merely the beginning, because the accident recovery operation is still underway at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant," Dr Kazama wrote.

In other letters, doctors criticised the weakness of the Japan's primary care system, saying that patients normally have to go straight to hospital if they want to be treated for anything.

After the earthquake and tsunami, this situation created chaos.

"Hospitals were unable to tend to patients with non-urgent but important needs such as treatment of hypertension, diabetes, gastroenteritis, and so forth. Japan needs to strengthen its primary-care system," wrote Dr Jay Starkey from the University of Iowa and Dr Shoichi Maeda from Keio University in Tokyo.

IVF multiple births 'coming down'

13 May 2011 Last updated at 07:12 GMT

IVF multiple births 'coming down' says HFEA

The HFEA wants to reduce the percentage of IVF births resulting in more than one child.

The proportion of risky multiple births during IVF treatment is falling according to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA).

Multiple birth pregnancies have a higher chance of miscarriage, and of leading to premature birth and of babies with cerebral palsy.

The HFEA said 23.6% of IVF births led to more than one child at the beginning of 2008, which fell to 22% in mid 2009.

The Multiple Births Foundation said it was "great news".

Multiple births are a consequence of increasing the odds of IVF working. Implanting more embryos increases the chance of success, but also the chance of twins or triplets.

The HFEA has introduced targets for reducing multiple births because of the health concerns for mother and child.

It has aimed for fewer than 24% IVF births resulting in more than one child by April 2010, 20% by April 2011 and 15% by April 2012.

One by one

Multiple births have health risks for the babies and the mother.

The reduction so far has largely been down to increased use of a technique called single embryo transfer.

Only one embryo is implanted in women who have the greatest chance of getting pregnant. HFEA figures show this has not affected the success rate.

Professor Lisa Jardine, chair of the HFEA said: "It is excellent news that the number of multiple births is coming down whilst overall success rates for patients are still being maintained. This shows that the policy is proving successful."

Susan Seenan, from the Infertility Network UK, said: "With full funding on the NHS - if patients could access three cycles - a lot more women would be willing and able to go for single embryo transfer.

"Some women who are only getting one cycle feel they are limiting their chances of success."

Jane Denton, director of the Multiple Births Foundation said: "There is no doubt that a multiple pregnancy creates risks for both mother and babies. The good news is that the strategy is working."