9th January 2001 Archive

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Gemstar fends off monopoly probe

OFT backs VideoPlus firm

The Office of Fair Trading has refused to investigate VideoPlus-creator Gemstar for alleged anti-competitive practices, despite two anti-trust cases in the US and complaints of monopolistic behaviour in the UK, Andrew Smith writes. Gemstar created and controls the rights to the VideoPlus system which allows easy recording of TV …

Business 9 Jan 2001, 08:29
Vendors to turn to channel for Net sales

ISPs gain power

ASPs, ISPs and eMarketplaces will account for 30 per cent of online channel business by 2004, according to IDC. It predicts that shows that online IT sales to Western Europe end-users will "rise sharply" from $4.8 billion this year (1.7 per cent of the IT spend) to $67.4 billion (15.9 per cent) in 2004. IDC says the growth of …

Business 9 Jan 2001, 08:40
Broadcom grabs Intel by ServerWorks balls

Analysis Perils of the Building Blocks approach

As we reported yesterday, Broadcom paid over $1 billion for ServerWorks, a company which provides essential chipsets for much of the server and workstation range Intel now supports. But the deal has ramifications for the entire industry, given the bitter competition between Broadcom and Intel, and because the deal will also …

Channel 9 Jan 2001, 09:17
Egghead doubts hackers got the goods

Cancelling your credit card was just a precaution

Hacked computer e-tailer Egghead.com said it has "evidence which suggests" that its team of security sleuths interrupted the recent cyber break-in while it was going on, a mysterious event which may or may not have resulted in millions of credit card details being compromised. Reports from the credit card issuers "suggest that …

Media 9 Jan 2001, 09:48
Be plucks HARP to target hi-fi world

Harp stays sharp to the bottom of the glass. Sorry, wrong Harp...

Be unveiled its latest reference platform yesterday, this one designed to provide a way of connection audio equipment to the Net. Called the Home Audio Reference Platform (HARP), it's a canny way of promoting Be's appliance-oriented OS, BeIA, to a whole new bunch of hardware vendors. In most people's minds, the Net appliance …

Software 9 Jan 2001, 10:28
Fidelity increases Compel stake

Channel Flannel

Fidelity, the investment fund manager, has bought 255,000 shares in Compel, taking its holding in UK's third biggest reseller up to 2,526,858 - 8.14 per cent of the company. It notified Compel of the purchase in a letter dated 5 January. We guess that Fidelity reckons that somewhere there is a buyer waiting for Compel. …

Business 9 Jan 2001, 10:36
Intel offers quick Rambus rebate

And tells channel about price cuts

Dealers and distributors who are part of Intel's accredited route to market have been notified that there will be price moves on a range of parts probably around 26 January. But, at the same time, it has warned "there may be price moves on products in Q1 that are not included in this list in order to respond to market dynamics …

Channel 9 Jan 2001, 10:38
MP3.com seeks Copyright Office approval

Net-and-copyright investigation should recognise My.MP3.com-style services

MP3.com yesterday called upon the US Copyright Office to take into account services like its own My.MP3.com in a proposed investigation into the digital music market. The Copyright Office was recently asked by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to explore the implications of the Internet and e-commerce on …

Media 9 Jan 2001, 11:39
Bumlickycrawlie PC mag fawns over PC World

The buck is mightier than the pen

Some funny behaviour has been going on at PC Format. Its December issue had a one-page feature entitled "PCF investigates PC World", where it claimed the monster computer store was ripping off customers, getting inexperienced salesman to push overpriced RAM and charging up to 33 per cent more for other goods like CD writers and …

Business 9 Jan 2001, 11:41
Intel Ireland full of crack, booze

Focus on Fabs Arthur Guinness started his career here

OK, we don't mean to suggest there's a drug problem at Intel Ireland, for craic, pronounced 'crack', is Irish for fun, and there's stacks of fun loving Bunny Suiters at Intel's fab in Leixlip, just a little way away from Dublin, in County Kildare. We visited the Leixlip fab a few years back, and you can find the prehistoric …

Channel 9 Jan 2001, 11:47
Express Web sites liquidated

Messy way to go

Four former Express Newspaper Web sites - which were sold for £1 by its new owners last month - have been placed into liquidation. Express.co.uk, Allaboutparents.co.uk, sportlive.co.uk and companyleader.com were said to be costing the business between £7 million and £8 million a year. Fifty people have lost their jobs. Amazon …

Business 9 Jan 2001, 12:08
You Got Fired

Yet another useful email app

A Times journalist was more than a little annoyed when she was informed of her sacking after 13 years as chief cookery writer by an email asking her where and when she wanted her leaving do. But Frances Bissell's anger wasn't sufficient for her to win unfair dismissal at an employment tribunal. After all, the letter from the …

Media 9 Jan 2001, 12:11
Sun blocks Compaq's cluster raise

Rebuttal rebutted by rebutter

Sun has taken us up on our invitation for it to respond to a document prepared by Compaq which apparently rubbishes its Sun Cluster technology (see this story). Jonathan Mills, software product manufacturing manager at Sun UK, denied Compaq's claims that it was taking a proprietary stance on clustering and file systems, and …

Business 9 Jan 2001, 12:11
AMD looks for love while Intel gets hot and sweaty

All their fab-ulous plans

AMD has reiterated plans for a new fab, to be built by 2004. The company has clearly put its top creative brains on the team charged with dreaming up the name for this forthcoming facility. So far, it is expected to be called Fab 35. It has launched a search for its perfect partner for its long-anticipated new 300mm-wafer fab, …

Channel 9 Jan 2001, 13:16
London gets e-business adviser

Ssshhh or they'll all want one...

London's mayor is to get an e-business adviser to promote e-commerce and hi-tech businesses in the capital. Colin Jenkins is on secondment from Energis and will work alongside Mayor Ken Livinstone for the next six months. He will try and help develop policies to boost e-business activity within London - no easy task seeing …

Business 9 Jan 2001, 13:17
Reg reader skydives into history

Plane in Spain leads mainly to fame

We greatly value the emails and contributions we receive from you, our readers, but every now and again someone excels themselves. This is why we feel it our duty to flag up one Craig Poxon, based in London. "After being inspired by Alex Cooksey's pictures of him wearing some of your merchandise at 14,000 feet please find …

Bootnotes 9 Jan 2001, 13:18
Napster and co. violate copyright, users admit

So says survey, but so what?

Napster's argument that its music sharing service doesn't violate copyright laws is fooling no one, least of all its users. That at least is the conclusion drawn from a survey of Internet users by market researcher Gartner Group. Gartner asked US surfers whether they agreed with claims that Internet-based file sharing services …

Media 9 Jan 2001, 13:44
VA Linux IPO – something fishy?

SEC probe

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating how certain investment firms managed to obtain a disproportionately large share of VA Linux's IPO. According to the Wall Street Journal's interactive edition, regulators are looking into the VA Linux offering as part of a wider probe into whether some investors paid …

Business 9 Jan 2001, 14:31
Turkish police nick cybercafe kids

Smoke, smut and... er... backgammon

Turkish police have arrested 130 kids for the heinous crime of visiting cybercafes. The children were detained briefly in the central Anatolian town of Kirikkale for fear that they could be corrupted by spending time in such establishments, Reuters reported. "Checks were made into complaints that Internet cafes were full of …

Media 9 Jan 2001, 15:38
Geeks garbling Greek, heirs to Aristotle complain

Scorchio!

The Greek language is threatened with corruption thanks to the use of the Internet and computers, according to a gaggle of Greek intellectuals, who have written to their government urging it to stem the erosion of their mother tongue. The Times reports that 40 Greek intellectuals, including philosophers, archaeologists and …

Media 9 Jan 2001, 15:46
Silicon.com grounded by burglars

Dotcom robbed over weekend

IT news site Silicon.com should be up and running again by teatime today after vital equipment was stolen at the weekend. Explaining the unscheduled downtime, a notice on Silicon's site read: "We apologise that silicon.com, silicon.fr and atscojobs.com are not available currently. This is due to essential engineering work. …

Media 9 Jan 2001, 15:50
Xerox poo-poos bankruptcy claims

Has enough cash to stay out of Chapter 11

Troubled Xerox today denied it is planning to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, despite hiring a New York investment firm specialising in bankruptcies. The New York Post today claimed that was precisely why loss-making and debt-laden Xerox had sought the help of the Blackstone Group. Not so, replied Xerox. "Xerox has no …

Business 9 Jan 2001, 16:14
Porn case heralds UK cyber court

British justice enters the Internet revolution

The first case of the Internet being used in a court case will start tomorrow. Kingston Crown Court will wire up jurors, witnesses, barristers and the judge to give an indication as to how porn is moved over the Internet. The equipment - which cost £5000 - will show how the seven defendants in a child porn case managed to …

Media 9 Jan 2001, 16:19
IC24 terminates ‘free’ Net access offer

Could be overturned

IC24 has yet to confirm whether it is to extend its offer of limited unmetered Net access beyond the end of January. A notice on the ISP's site warns that the "offer closes January 31st 2001 - outside promotional hours calls will be charged at local rate". This was confirmed by one of the 50p-a-minute help line representatives …

Media 9 Jan 2001, 16:49
The PC is not dead

According to processor manufacturers

Despite the recent slow down in the PC market, AMD and Intel both remain optimistic its prospects, with AMD claiming the market is healthy and growing at a good rate. Hector Ruiz, anointed successor to Jerry Sanders, predicted that sales would recover in the second half of 2001, rising to $41 billion in 2002. Sales in 2000 …

Business 9 Jan 2001, 17:38
Hard times to come for the hardware reviewers

It is Darwinian out there

It has become increasingly apparent that there are more Web sites than there are advertisers. This state of affairs has only one logical conclusion: there will be a shakeout, and only the strong will survive. At least one hardware site is eagerly awaiting the culling of lesser sites. BXBoards has run an editorial deploring …

Business 9 Jan 2001, 17:38
Hawaiian Airlines hacked my Web site – pilot

Book 'em, Danno

An American airline will have to answer charges that it illegally gained access to one of its own pilot's Web sites which criticised its management, a Federal appeals court has ruled. Bloomberg reports a decision by the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse an earlier decision to dismiss a pilot's lawsuit, which claimed …

Media 9 Jan 2001, 17:41
Windows is most-hacked Web server

Regains top spot in pants-down bake-off

Microsoft has consolidated its lead as the Web server platform most vulnerable to hackers. Hacker site attrition.org today published its latest stats for defacements. Combined Windows NT and Windows 2000 defacements for the most recent full month of December hit more than two thirds of the total. Combined Linux servers account …

Software 9 Jan 2001, 17:52
Pentagon hacker ‘Analyzer’ pleads guilty

Solar Sunrise attacker tops US most frightening list

Ehud Tenebaum, the Israeli hacker famous as "The Analyzer," has pleaded guilty in Israel to the 1998 attacks on unclassified US Defence Department systems that once touched off alarms at the highest levels of government. In an appearance late last month before the Magistrate's Court in Kfar Sava, a suburb east of Tel Aviv, …

Media 9 Jan 2001, 17:59
Site offers soccer coats for pets

Barking good idea

An Internet site has being set up which offers to kit out dogs in the colours of an owners' favourite football team. The Soccer Dog-Coat Company offers four different coat sizes, to suit any dog from a ShihTsue to a German Shepherd, in the team colours of most English Premiership teams as well as Scottish clubs like Rangers and …

Media 9 Jan 2001, 18:27
US Supremes decline Net academic-freedom appeal

America emulates banana republic

The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal by six university professors objecting to a Virginia law which prevents public employees from using state-owned computers to access sexually explicit content on the Internet, the Associated Press reports. The professors argued successfully in 1999 before a federal judge …

Media 9 Jan 2001, 19:13
MacOS X to ship 24 March

Updated But pre-loading and most apps won't happen until the summer

Apple's next-generation operating system, MacOS X, will ship on 24 March, one month later than expected. However, the Mac maker won't begin bundling the OS until July, when it will be shipped by default on its hardware. Interestingly, that timeframe ties in very nicely with Apple's New York MacWorld Expo hardware release …

Mac Channel 9 Jan 2001, 19:21
Moto G4 Plus makes it to latest Power Mac line-up

Updated Drops dual-processor configs for singles

Apple has decided two brains are no longer better than one and ditched its dual-processor desktop Mac configurations in favour of single-CPU machines - but trade off is that of these computers (well, some of 'em) are based on Motorola's eagerly awaited G4 Plus chip. As anticipated, the new Power Mac G4 line-up, which was …

Mac Channel 9 Jan 2001, 19:22
Novell stings pirate for $600,000

Better margins than NetWare

Novell has won more than $600,000 from a Californian software pirate who auctioned fake goods online. Novell alleged that Chris Bonner used several alias accounts on eBay's auction site to shift unlicensed copies of its Net Services software. The company filed the suit in the US District Court for the Eastern District of …

Software 9 Jan 2001, 20:46
DRAM 64Mb slips under $3

I fall down, don't get up again

DRAM memory prices continued to freefall in the first week of 2001, slipping under $3 per chip. Prices of 64Mb PC-100 SDRAMs and 64Mb PC-133 type SDRAMs have fallen as low as $2.90 and $3.07 per chip, down by 2.68 per cent and 3.97 per cent respectively against figures at the end of 2000, AsiaBizTech reported, quoting Korea's …

Channel 9 Jan 2001, 20:47
Computer Associates shows its true colours

Even with its new touchy feely logo

We ran a story last week covering Computer Associates' (sorry, CA's) new corporate branding. Yes, one of the world's most unfriendly companies had transformed itself into a "friendly, open, trusted" organisation simply by using lower-case letters and some pastel colours. We knew it couldn't be long before the old culture …

Business 9 Jan 2001, 21:20
Xerox denies bankruptcy story

But offers no alternate explanation

Xerox is contradicting a report in Tuesday's New York Post claiming that it retained New York investment firm Blackstone Group to help it manage an impending bankruptcy. While denying the bankruptcy charge, Xerox declined to explain its business with Blackstone, and would not confirm whether or not Newman is involved. The …

Business 9 Jan 2001, 21:37
Security guard hacks nuke plant

About as bad as it gets

A security patrolman is believed to have hacked his way into computer networks at the Bradwell nuclear reactor in Essex near London and to have altered and deleted information, the Guardian Unlimited reported Tuesday. According to documents leaked to the press, the incident, which was never voluntarily disclosed to the public …

Media 9 Jan 2001, 22:01
Microsoft launches couch-potato geek chic

Cyber armchair available now!

Microsoft has teamed up with La-Z-Boy to come up with the ultimate gift for the couch potato geek. The 'Explorer' is a plush reclining armchair with built-in gadgets for surfing the Net in pampered style. It comes with a Sony WebTV Plus Internet Receiver, wireless keyboard, electrical plug for a laptop, fold-out airline-style …

Media 9 Jan 2001, 22:03