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9th October 2000 Archive

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  • Dell, MS big winners in EDS $9bn US Navy contract

    Windows for Warfare everywhere as .mil buys the pitch big time

    EDS has clinched a contract worth up to $9 billion to supply the US Navy and Marine Corps with a single, seamless network. It's the biggest ever US government contract, but it only takes a quick look at EDS' major subcontractors for you to realise that the deal is a massive victory for the PC business - and therefore for Wintel …

    Business 9 Oct 2000, 08:14

  • Billary Clinton handles email surcharge hoax

    Not so her Congressman opponent

    Sunday's debate between New York Senate hopefuls Hillary (Mrs. President) Clinton (Democrat, Nowhere) and US Representative Rick Lazio (Republican, New York) took a comical turn when moderator Marcia Kramer of WCBS-TV asked then about "bill 602-P", a persistent Internet hoax claiming that Congress is contemplating the assessment …

    Music and Media 9 Oct 2000, 08:25

  • 'They could kick me off the case,' says MS trial judge

    And Gates doesn't know a lot about business ethics...

    Microsoft trial judge Thomas Penfield Jackson is accused by Microsoft of judicial misconduct for talking to the press, and it's becoming increasing obvious that this is one hell of an albatross around the good judge's neck. It seems to have become impossible for the press to come within a couple of streets of Jackson without …

    Software 9 Oct 2000, 08:45

  • IR35 protesters play Human Rights card

    Tax refugees

    The Professional Contractors Group (PCG)is off to the High Court today to seek a judicial review of IR35, a new tax law which severely curtails the self-employment status of its IT consultant members. The PCG argues that IR35 contravenes the European Convention of Human Rights as it is a "de facto confiscation of property". …

    Business 9 Oct 2000, 08:55

  • Make MS happy: send in your hooky software

    Pirates ahoy!

    Microsoft is launching another battlefront in its "war against piracy" which it hopes will bolster customer satisfaction and help it track down the counterfeiters at the same time. The idea is that people who think they've bought dodgy kit can send it in to Microsoft along with a signed statement of witness, available here, and …

    Business 9 Oct 2000, 09:11

  • Warner attempts to out-hack DVD hackers

    Modified region coding to 'discourage' region-free DVD player sales

    Time Warner's home video division has changed DVD's region coding scheme to make it even harder to play movies sold in one territory in another. Other DVD distributors are expected to follow suit. Sony subsidiary Columbia Tristar has already agreed to do so. According to a leaked internal Warner Home Video document posted on …

    Business 9 Oct 2000, 09:53

  • Chip sales to dry up 2003-4

    Growth will fall sharply then go negative

    Chip companies should expect their explosive growth to be sharply curtailed just two years down the line, market researcher Dataquest has warned. Semiconductor sales are currently going through the roof, as demand for mobile phones, PDAs, DVD players - let alone PCs - is on the increase. Dataquest's numbers reckon the chip …

    Channel 9 Oct 2000, 10:31

  • BT finance director quits

    And the share price soars

    Finally. Following months of heavy criticism from the media, City and shareholders, BT's finance director Robert Brace has resigned. The announcement immediately put EIGHT per cent on BT's share price, meaning his departure was worth around £4 billion. Brace ostensibly wants a change - he's been at BT for 11 years - and intends …

    Data Networking 9 Oct 2000, 10:35

  • So how much did InterX pay for its domain name?

    Six figures or seven?

    Last week, while prepping for a piece on InterX's results (out today), we noticed that the company's Web site URL had changed from Interxtechnologies.com to Interx.com. Last time we looked, Interx.com was owned and operated by a small US concern. So how much did InterX pay for the domain name. It's not saying - the amount is " …

    Bootnotes 9 Oct 2000, 10:38

  • Malaysia closes down game arcades

    Like opium to the nation's youth, apparently

    Malaysia has banned video game arcades, giving arcade owners just two months to shut up shop or face stiff penalties. The Malaysian Government issued the dictat in fear less the nation's youth become hopelessly addicted to Tekken et al., the BBC has reported. "[Video gaming] has [made] addicts out of the young. They need to go …

    Business 9 Oct 2000, 10:52

  • UK boffins reckon they can cram 10,800GB of data on a PC card

    And 245GB on a DVD style disk

    New techniques for achieving high-density solid state storage are better than the inventors thought. As reported last year on El Reg, researchers at Keele University discovered a "three-dimensional" memory system. This, they thought, would enable 2.3 TB of data to be crammed on to a PC card sized device. However, the latest …

    Channel 9 Oct 2000, 12:00

  • BT and Oftel fight back

    But newspaper defences leave us unswayed and unimpressed

    Both BT and Oftel have hit back at last week's avalanche of critical stories and features. Both companies caught heavy flak, ultimately being blamed for Britain's failure to keep up with the rest of the world in the Internet revolution. BT's defender, in the form of Robin Pauley (director, group communications) has responded to …

    Data Networking 9 Oct 2000, 12:19

  • BT brings out broadband services

    TMA in Brighton 'We're not dragging our feet'

    BT has brought forward the launch of a brace of new broadband Internet services by a whole month scoffing any allegations that the telco is "dragging its feet". Its business 1000PLUS (£129.99 a month exc VAT) and business 2000PLUS (£159.99 exc VAT) services are available for SMEs and offer Net access of between 20 - 40 times …

    Data Networking 9 Oct 2000, 12:41

  • MS submits to Digital Divas

    The fat lady sings

    In January, The Register poured scorn on Microsoft's decision to employ a "Digital Diva" (story: Microsoft hires distinguished woman singer to throw tantrums). Little did we know at the time that the Beast of Redmond had not only chosen a crap name for its new software evangelist, but that this crap name was already owned by a …

    Music and Media 9 Oct 2000, 13:39

  • Eidos scraps plans to sell

    Shares flop

    Eidos, the games company responsible for Lara Croft, has ended discussions on selling the company because it didn't think the offers represented "fair value for shareholders". Shares fell 11.4 per cent to £2.61 on the news. Share prices rose as high as £5.50 on 20 June, the day after Eidos announced it was in talks with a …

    Business 9 Oct 2000, 14:48

  • HWRoundup Keeping cool in the Aussie outback

    Dr Tom celebrates Ferrari's win in Japan

    Dealing with overheating processors is clearly an ongoing battle for you overclockers. In a similarly vein, Australia is renowned for being extremely warm. So who better to look into cooling device than the crazy bunch at Insane Hardware. This time Thermaltake's new Super Orb gets the treatment. The results of the investigation …

    Hardware Roundup 9 Oct 2000, 14:58

  • Price cut sends Dreamcast sales through roof

    Still has a long way to go to catch PlayStation - let alone PSX 2...

    Sega's Dreamcast appears to be winning buyers, at long last. The ill-fated 128-bit console saw average US weekly sales shoot up 156.5 per cent between 23 July and 30 September, according to market researcher PC Data. Of course, it can't last, not with PlayStation 2 ready to hit the US console market in a couple of weeks, but it …

    Business 9 Oct 2000, 15:38

  • BT moans about speed of LLU – in Ireland

    Oh the irony

    BT is enjoying a taste of its own medicine in Ireland. Neil Parkinson, chief executive of Irish telco and BT subsidiary Esat, has gone on record moaning about Eircom dragging its feet over local loop unbundling. In an interview with the Sunday Business Post he said: "Eircom should not be blocking development either for …

    Data Networking 9 Oct 2000, 16:36

  • Tower Records Web launch confuses UK customers

    Bit of a sticky tape and glue solution

    Tower Records has had to relaunch its UK Web site using its US parent's code, with the unfortunate side-effect that all the prices are in dollars and the shipping mechanism is all over the place. That's right, now matter what you want to buy at Tower Records.CO.UK you will have to buy it in dollars. Apparently there is a …

    Music and Media 9 Oct 2000, 16:37

  • Employee email monitoring saga continues

    Yea, says government; nah, says data protection commissioner

    The government's new rules on employers being allowed to monitor their staff's email have been contradicted by the Data Protection Commissioner Elizabeth France, who intends to produce a Code of Practice condemning it. The government said last week that employers would be allowed "routine access" to personal email and phone …

    Music and Media 9 Oct 2000, 17:11

  • Accounting masterclass: how Cisco and MS avoid tax

    Analysis And it's all, shockingly, legal

    The financial reporting practices of industry titans like Cisco and Microsoft are coming under increased scrutiny. They're big, they're apparently highly profitable, but neither company paid federal income taxes for their most recent financial year. It's all legal, but the accounting approach they're using hovers on the edge of …

    Business 9 Oct 2000, 17:14

  • MS unleashes ‘free’ Web access Companion

    Subject to three year contract, of course, but it's still tempting...

    Microsoft will offer the Great Unwebbed access for free - almost - when the eMachines version of the MSN Web Companion goes on sale later this month. The eMachines version of the device will retail at $349 with a "total in-store transaction of $400," but by signing up for a three year MSN contract at $21.95 a month, customers …

    Business 9 Oct 2000, 18:06