17th February 2000 Archive

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MS lobbies congress to oppose ‘regulatory death sentence’

But it's just information, not a leak from the talks, honest...

Microsoft's lobbying efforts have gone into overdrive, with an email sent to US Congress representatives last week describing breakup as "a regulatory death sentence" for the company. Talks about a possible settlement of the Microsoft case are currently being conducted by Judge Richard Posner, who has required absolute secrecy. …

Business 17 Feb 2000, 09:34
FBI seeks to apply RICO laws to hackers

Penalties include forfeiture of property, and serious time inside

FBI Director Louis Freeh recommends invoking Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) statutes in prosecuting some cyber crimes. "This is an initiative [the FBI is] exploring," Freeh explained during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing Wednesday. "Some activity which goes beyond a single incident of fraud or …

Business 17 Feb 2000, 09:40
How the FBI can r00t your hard drive

Man, these guys are good... they claim

The FBI is working hard to establish itself as the world's premier computer forensics expert. The Bureau has deployed 193 Special Agents devoted specifically to cyber crime, along with more than 100 related support personnel at FBI Headquarters in Washington, and 142 "parts examiners" busily recovering data from seized computers …

Business 17 Feb 2000, 10:53
The Street.co.uk launches – same week as parent goes on sale

That's what you hire an investment bank for, isn't it?

Looks like TheStreet.com is up for sale. At very best, the online financial new service is looking for what Salon neatly calls a sugar daddy to help it through its expansion plans. Faced with tumbling shares and stubbornly high losses ($9.1 million in the red on $5.1 million sales for its last quarter), the company has engaged …

Business 17 Feb 2000, 11:04
Microsoft to launch X-Box next month

Gates to surface at Game Developers Conference?

Microsoft will unveil its would-be PlayStation 2 killer, X-Box, next month during the Game Developers Conference in San Jose, California. At least that's what UK trade title CTW is predicting. It reckons Bill Gates will play second fiddle to Lionhead co-founder Peter Molyneux who will be on stage to demo his upcoming online …

Business 17 Feb 2000, 11:33
Crypto must be controlled – FBI director

Send this clown to Ireland....

FBI Director Louis Freeh remains determined to require cryptography users to register their keys so that the Bureau can crack their secret files whenever a judge can be persuaded that information contained therein might facilitate a prosecution. There were fifty-three cases last year which slipped through the FBI's hands because …

Business 17 Feb 2000, 11:46
Microsoft UK head falls due to old age

It's a young person's game

Microsoft's UK chief is quitting because he feels he is too wrinkly for the job. At 51, David Svendsen is stepping down from the post of UK chairman for the software giant just as it launches its flagship operating system. He will be replaced on 1 March by current Microsoft MD Neil Holloway, 39, who was described by one company …

Business 17 Feb 2000, 12:08
Microsoft's UK cable ‘ally’ joins rival camp via Liberate

'Tell me again Greg - why was it we spent $3bn on Telewest stock?'

UK cable operator Telewest Communications has executed a bizarre volte face, apparently hopping straight from the arms of Microsoft into those of Liberate Technologies. Telewest will now be using Liberate's TV Platform for the deployment of interactive TV services to its customers. Liberate is of course the company formerly …

Business 17 Feb 2000, 12:21
Iridium Japan's largest shareholder may close company

Telco DDI moots pulling out of satellite venture

DDI, Japan's third-largest telco, threatened yesterday to shut down Iridium's Japanese operation, Nippon Iridium. The telco is Nippon Iridium's largest shareholder, owning 35.7 per cent of the company. Iridium itself own just 11.2 per cent of the Japanese business. Kyocera, which, with Motorola, makes Iridium handsets, owns ten …

Business 17 Feb 2000, 12:42
Encryption rules threaten China Win2k launch

And heaps of other stuff from Western outfits too - funny that.

Microsoft is facing more trouble in selling Windows 2000 in mainland China, because Chinese restrictions imposed last October forbid the use of foreign encryption products. Microsoft is due to roll out Win2k in China on 20 March, and in January announced that, er, "the Windows 2000 operating system will be the first platform …

Business 17 Feb 2000, 12:51
BT shares tumble on false Brown Net cuts story

We said the FT was wrong: we were right

More than £2 billion was wiped off the value of BT shares yesterday after it was reported Chancellor Gordon Brown was to announce plans that would cut the cost of Net access in Britain. In the event, he didn't. He merely voiced his desire to see costs come down and to speed up the unbundling of the local loop. But a combination …

Business 17 Feb 2000, 14:01
Via fights Intel in UK courts

Requests dismissal of patent case

The wheels of justice grind exceedingly slow, but not, for once, in Britain. Here, the High Court of Justice's Patents Court (Chancery Division) is set to be the first jurisdiction to hear Intel's suit alleging that Via's chipsets infringe its patents. On Monday (Feb 14), Via filed a countersuit in the UK, requesting dismissal …

Business 17 Feb 2000, 14:19
Govt calls ex-pat IT professionals back to Blighty

Why live that California lifestyle when Basingstoke beckons?

The UK government wants British IT professionals working in the US to pack their bags and come home to Blighty to help fuel the Internet revolution. Speaking at the UK Software Partner & Investment Forum today, e-commerce minister Patricia Hewitt said she would use a visit to the US next month to try and woo back British ex-pats …

Business 17 Feb 2000, 15:41
NTL conflagration cuts customers' connections

Phone, Net, TV brought down by fire at cable company

Fire has destroyed part of NTL's cable network in Nottingham leaving thousands of customers unable to use their phones, TVs or the Net. The blaze broke out last night after an electric cable caught fire in underground ducting. The flames damaged NTL's fibre optic links. Engineers have been working round the clock to repair the …

Business 17 Feb 2000, 15:55
E-commerce Bill to be UK's first Act of the Millennium

Queen may sign Bill digitally

The E-Commerce Bill could be the first Act of Parliament to receive Royal Assent in the 21st Century, e-commerce minister Patricia Hewitt said today. The Bill is currently going through its final stages before being set before the Queen for her Royal Assent. The Bill's PR value of -- especially in light of the Government's …

Business 17 Feb 2000, 15:56
Intel, Sony side on IEEE 1394, Memory Stick

Or have they? Intel says 'yes', Sony says 'maybe'...

Just what has Intel agreed to on work with Sony? Has it agreed to work with the Japanese giant at all? There certainly seems to be some confusion here. On Tuesday, speaking at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF), Pat 'Kicking' Gelsinger, general manager of Intel's desktop group, told attendees the company is working with Sony on a …

Business 17 Feb 2000, 15:58
UK Mac dealer charges £30 for chance to get free mouse

Rodent would cost $19.99 otherwise

When is a free mouse not a free mouse? When it costs £30, and it's provided by online reseller MacWarehouse's UK operation. MacWarehouse's list of top selling portable products today included two items: a blue iBook at £969 (exc. VAT) and a blue iBook with a free USB mouse for... er... £999 (exc. VAT), so the mouse effectively …

Business 17 Feb 2000, 16:45
Reg pins down Rambus story

Intel Developer Forum What a difference a day trader makes

No-one was more shocked than Intel at how the shares of Rambus Ink soared the day it introduced its Willamette chip, we can reveal. In fact, a source very close to Intel's plans, said yesterday that "Rambus was the surprise celebrity at this IDF". So what exactly happened? Apparently, Ted and Jane's CNN ran an interview with …

Business 17 Feb 2000, 17:54
Wall Street clobbers DoubleClick on news of FTC interest

You can backpedal, but you can't hide

Web marketing outfit DoubleClick's shares plummeted on Thursday, largely on news of several impending investigations of its privacy policies, vouchsafing it the un-enviable distinction of leading the NASDAQ's losers for the day. The nose-dive followed a press conference earlier this week during which the company scrambled to …

Business 17 Feb 2000, 21:52