26th February 2001 Archive

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Case study Cambridge University Press

From woodblock to Web without tears

Cambridge University Press (CUP) is one of the world's largest educational and academic publishers, as well as its oldest. It produces more than 2,000 titles annually in print form. Now, this venerable company has made its mark on the Web via a major information technology shake-up. Although CUP already had its first-generation …

e-Business 26 Feb 2001, 10:34
UK broadband guide

Some useful links for you to peruse at leisure

Is your area wired for broadband? Check out ADSL and cable availability here: Telewest BTopenworld NTL Broadband Providers Blueyonder (Telewest) BTopenworld Clara.Net Colt Demon EasyNet Freeserve Iomart Kingston Communications Madasafish Mistral Nildram NTL PlusNet Redstone Thus Zen Internet More useful …

Telecoms 26 Feb 2001, 10:34
Visa e-tail awards rock its world

Updated Winner Lastorders is titsup.com

Last night Visa held its first e-tail awards at some fancy hotel in London and the whole world held its breath. The event was a great success, as they always are, but just a handful of companies walked away with the prestigious awards. There have been suggestions that only 29 Web sites made it into the nine different categories …

e-Business 26 Feb 2001, 10:56
Big businesses are arrogant e-laggards

So tell us something we don't know

Corporate arrogance is holding back the e-revolution according to a report published by a European business school. Swots at Ashbridge reckon that nearly two thirds of organisations are unready to meet the opportunities and challenges of the e-revolution - with a third of senior execs describing their company as a 'laggard'. …

e-Business 26 Feb 2001, 10:56
Lastorders.com downs pint and leaves pub

Has the word liquidation ever been more appropriate?

Despite winning the "Door2Door" award at Visa's fantastic e-tail awards on Wednesday, Lastorders.com* - the online delivery booze shop - has gone titsup.com, or perhaps more appropriately, this time, into "liquidation". We never reckoned that Lastorders had a chance simply because the cost of transporting heavy goods of small …

e-Business 26 Feb 2001, 10:56
Web Communities Don't Bring in the $$$

ZDNet cans paid moderators

One of the most depressing stories to come out of the Internet crash is the failure of community on the web. Like so much else online, sites that bring users in to discuss matters have been a commercial disappointment. The emotional argument for community was a democratic one: The web will bring us all together, enabling us all …

e-Business 26 Feb 2001, 10:56
Trad integrators rule e-business roost

The Future belongs to the Past

In July last year. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter forecast a move by corporates away spending from traditional IT projects. Instead, the money would be shovelled into Web integration work. The beneficiaries of this move was supposed to be the Razorfishes, the Framfrabs, the Scients etc. And the losers were supposed to be the …

e-Business 26 Feb 2001, 10:56
WIPO loads dice in domain dispute conference

The coup continues

WIPO made sure its views on domain name disputes were made clear at an international meeting in Geneva on Monday by stacking pro-WIPO speakers against critics. Of the 20 speakers that gave their views at the one-day conference, two spoke of things unconcerned with dispute resolution, one was just tosh, and three don't have …

e-Business 26 Feb 2001, 10:56
Govt must act to save broadband urges report

Now is the time to do something

BT is responsible for the tardy roll-out of broadband services in Britain according to a report out today. The Working Paper from the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) argues that Britain currently trails other countries in terms of the cost of broadband, the number of homes connected and the speed of services available. And …

Telecoms 26 Feb 2001, 11:02
iomart hits 1,000 broadband users

No whinging - just gets stuck in

iomart Group plc is glowing with pride today after reporting it now has 1,000 customers signed up its ADSL service. In a statement, Phil Worms, iomart director of broadband services, said: "Whilst 1,000 customers does not sound a great number, given the difficulties associated with deploying such a new technology as ADSL, we …

Telecoms 26 Feb 2001, 11:02
MSN to charge for portal content?

Must be 'ard up

MSN is considering charging Net users £60 a year to access its content. This is because it costs MSN more to run its portal than it makes in advertising revenue. And it has to make-up the shortfall somehow. Which is fair enough - plenty of porn sites make people pay for content so why not MSN? However, if MSN does carry …

Music and Media 26 Feb 2001, 12:01
E-minister rumbled by MPs

I say, I say, I say, when is broadband not broadband?

Britain's E-minister, Patricia Hewitt, floundered in front of a group of MPs yesterday as she answered questions about the Communications White Paper. According to a transcript of the hearing it seems Ms Hewitt isn't quite sure about her subject. Indeed, it seems the Government can't even agree on a definition of broadband. In …

Telecoms 26 Feb 2001, 12:05
UK Govt backs broadband

But yesterday you said...

The British Government wants the UK to have the most "extensive and competitive broadband" market among leading industrial nations by 2005, it announced today. The pledge, outlined in the report UK online: the broadband future, once again asserts the Government's commitment to broadband Britain. However, the document launched …

Telecoms 26 Feb 2001, 12:05
E-minister defends BT

Monster telco safe under New Labour

The E-minister has defended BT's role as the dominant telco in Britain. Appearing before a select committee on Wednesday to discuss the Government's Communications White Paper, Patricia Hewitt was asked whether there was a case to split BT in two with one half operating the network and the other providing network services. The …

Telecoms 26 Feb 2001, 12:05
Govt considers tax pounds for ADSL roll-out

But talks itself out of it

The Government is to assess whether it should use tax payer's money to fund the development of a broadband infrastructure in Britain. However, while the Government is happy to commission research to clarify the "need and economic justification" for intervention, it has, effectively, already ruled it out. According to a …

Telecoms 26 Feb 2001, 12:05
E-district.net CEO accused of inflating figures

UK dotcom CEO suspended

The CEO of entertainment outfit e-district.net has been suspended ahead of an investigation into the dotcom's affairs. Steven Laitman was told to stand-down on Sunday after an initial inquiry discovered that the numbers of registered users, page impressions and revenues reported to investors appeared to have been "substantially …

e-Business 26 Feb 2001, 12:05
Software allows ISPs to control Web site ads

Dotcom revenue model shake-up

Technology which allows ISPs, instead of site owners, to control the adverts which appear on a Web page was released today. Fotino, which was developed at Brunel University and is being marketed by privately-held company Meltingpoint Technology, promises to stir up legal controversy and put pressure on the advertising model …

e-Business 26 Feb 2001, 12:11
HP rejigs e-biz software

Softly softly, catchee McNealy

Hewlett Packard, which has spent much of the last decade in a swirling La Ronde of middleware partnerships, finally floated its own boat yesterday. Despite a formidable R&D spend, it's been company policy at HP to partner with other vendors such as BEA and BMC in a complicated game of "after you... no, after you" for enterprise …

e-Business 26 Feb 2001, 12:11
Business which offered £50k recruitment bounty lays off staff

Skills go out of fashion

Ebusiness software developer Entranet has made 30 staff redundant. The announcement is significant because only last summer the Henley-based company announced it was offering a £3,000 bounty to anyone who could help it recruit skilled staff. It also said it would give £50,000 to anyone who could get it an entire Java …

e-Business 26 Feb 2001, 12:11
Americans flock online

At home, in office, wherever

Nearly two thirds of Americans have access to the Net either at home or work. Around 168 million people, or 60 per cent of the population, went online in January, according to figures by Nielson/NetRatings. But this growth was not massive - just eight per cent higher than Internet penetration numbers for October. The figures, …

e-Business 26 Feb 2001, 12:11
Amazon One-Click patent injunction overturned

Barnes & Noble just a little bit pleased

The US Court of Appeals has overturned an injunction taken out by Amazon against Barnes & Noble for its One-Click technology. Amazon was awarded a patent on the software that enables online visitors to purchase goods with just one click (as opposed to going through shopping baskets, filling in details) in September 1997. In May …

e-Business 26 Feb 2001, 12:11
World Online cans LLU broadband trial

Not many left now

World Online has become the latest operator to lose confidence in local loop unbundling (LLU) in Britain. Apparently, it's got the hump with BT and pulled out of the Edinburgh trial. It's also considering whether to pull out of LLU altogether - not just the trial. According to a Reuters interview with Andy Frost, World Online …

Telecoms 26 Feb 2001, 12:35
Americans flock to fast Net access

While more DSL lawsuits loom

The number of American homes with high-speed Net access has doubled in a year, Nielson/Netratings says. Twelve million households went online using speedy Internet connections such as ISDN, cable modems or DSL in December, compared to five million a year earlier. The fact that nearly two thirds of homes still connect via a …

Telecoms 26 Feb 2001, 12:35
Compaq files lawsuit after top staff go to Transmeta server start-up

RLX accused of trade secret violation

Compaq has filed a lawsuit against RLX Technologies, the server start-up that's using Transmeta Crusoe chips to create low-power "dense" servers. Q alleges that RLX poached a number of former senior executives has violated its trade secrets. RLX was founded by Gary Stimac, formely a Compaq server exec. According to the lawsuit …

Business 26 Feb 2001, 12:38
Broadband blinking expensive in UK

Oftel report unearths expensive truth

The cost of residential broadband services in Britain is 20 per cent more expensive than similar products in the US, according to an Oftel-sponsored benchmarking survey for October 2000. The per-month cost of residential broadband services in Britain was £40, compared to £37 in France, £31 in Germany and just £32 in the US. …

Telecoms 26 Feb 2001, 12:40
Britain's broadband crisis – The War of Words

Comment We got a fight on our hands

AOL UK and Freeserve claim they will take legal action against BT if the issue of ADSL installations is not resolved. BT claims it has nothing to hide and accuses AOL UK and Freeserve of "sabre rattling". Whether you believe this is simply a war of words or a genuine challenge to BT's hold on the future of broadband in Britain …

Telecoms 26 Feb 2001, 12:53
Miramax in movie pay per view Net play

Experiment

Miramax, the Hollywood film studio, is to offer full-length feature films for rent over the Internet, in an experiment designed to test consumer demand for pay-per-view services. Next Monday, Miramax will flog its 1999 release Guinevere for $3.49 - the first of 12 feature films it intends to make available on the Internet. The …

Telecoms 26 Feb 2001, 12:54
2001: the year when broadband takes off

That's if we're not all strangled first by copper loops

At the Lisbon Summit in March 2000, the heads of Government throughout Europe voted to push for rapid improvements in Europe's IT and ecommerce sector. They were witnessing the beginnings of a broadband revolution in the US and they didn't want Europe to fall behind. That meant opening up monopoly telcos to competition. This …

Telecoms 26 Feb 2001, 12:56
300 Sega workers in kamikaze mission

Dreamcast related redundancies in Japan

Games giant Sega is to chop 300 jobs in Japan following its decision to ditch the Dreamcast console. The workers will go via early retirement, and the company is accepting applications from today until March 12. The scheme, which will hit Dreamcast-related consumer product sales, development, and general HQ staff, will see the …

Games Industry 26 Feb 2001, 13:00
Electronics Boutique eyes BarrysWorld

Could buy it tonight

Games retailer Electronics Boutique is in advanced talks to buy bust gaming website BarrysWorld. The Telegraph believes a deal could be struck as early as tonight. BarrysWorld went into liquidation on 5 February. It failed to secure second round funding, but before its collapse boasted it had 300,000 games players a month on …

Games Industry 26 Feb 2001, 13:03
Barclays goes down on customers

Updated again: Et tu, HSBC?

Customers of Barclays Bank online service will be having a tough time accessing their accounts this morning. Although the front page is available, any attempts to logon are met with an error message suggesting that the logon form has not been filled in correctly. However, a quick call to Barclays' customer services line …

e-Business 26 Feb 2001, 13:07
ISPA: Oi, Oftel, Nooooo!

Open letter questions watchdog's ability to regulate

The Internet Service Providers Association - ISPA - has written an open letter to Oftel asking that the regulator sort out the rollout of high speed net access services. It expresses concern that it took Oftel 14 months to reach a decision about FRIACO, saying that the delay gave BT time to get products of its own ready for …

Music and Media 26 Feb 2001, 14:40
IBM/Sun/Bea standards group takes on MS SOAP

Long rumbling dispute ends

Standards group Oasis has agreed to integrate a Microsoft-backed ebusiness technology into its own efforts, so drawing the line under a technology dispute that has been rumbling for over a year. Oasis, whose members include IBM, Sun Microsystems and BEA Systems, has announced a project to integrate the SOAP(Simple Object Access …

e-Business 26 Feb 2001, 14:49
Brit music awards hit the Net

Now you can despair online

The Brit music awards (tonight at 9.30pm GMT) will be streamed live and uncut on the Internet tonight. The highlights are to be broadcast on TV tomorrow night. The company behind the Madonna Brixton gig has set up various Webcams which you'll be able to choose from and enjoy raw, unedited footage of this most exciting event. …

Music and Media 26 Feb 2001, 15:58
ISPs asked to unplug Napster cloners

US music industry puts pen to paper

A trade group for the US recording industry is targeting ISPs in its latest bid to rid the world of Napster-style devilry. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has sent around 75 letters to ISPs this week, accusing them of infringing music copyrights, according to Newsbytes. It reckons Napster clones should be …

Music and Media 26 Feb 2001, 16:01
Micron preps Copperhead Intel DDR chipset

Production later this year

Micron Technology has produced a prototype of Copperhead, its DDR SDRAM chipset designed for Pentium III processors. The memory maker says it will have customer samples ready in the first half of 2001, and will go into production later in the year. Copperhead is positioned for use with entry-level servers. The chipset supports …

Channel 26 Feb 2001, 16:50
breathe's resuscitation is complete

Offering a £15 a month unmetered deal

So it's official: breathe is back. It has abandoned its flat fee unlimited surfing business model and, as anticipated, re-launched itself with new business model which it hopes will make some cash. Rather than the original £50 one-off fee for unlimited access, the company has joined the real world and is now offering a FRIACO …

Music and Media 26 Feb 2001, 16:56
VeriSign joins multilingual domain name party

The World Wide Web starts living up to its name

VeriSign has joined the growing movement for foreign-language domain names. Existing customers will be allowed to register .coms, .nets and .orgs in French, German, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Swedish (and another 56 languages). The company will use the registrations to test its encoding system for foreign …

Music and Media 26 Feb 2001, 17:02
3Com slashes 1,200 jobs

More than one in eight workers to get pink slips

Networking equipment maker 3Com has announced the loss of 1,200 jobs as part of a plan to return its business to profitability. The job cuts will mean 900 full time employees and 300 contractors will lose their jobs at 3Com - 13 per cent of the firm's work force. The lay-offs will begin today. The redundancies are part of a …

Data Networking 26 Feb 2001, 17:05
IBM using AMD in its servers?

The rumour mill keeps a-churning

A recent posting on a Yahoo! message board has sparked a rumour that IBM is planning to use AMD chips in its new server. An IBM executive was flying back from Germany and got into a conversation with an interested party, apparently a 102 year old man called Sevnotrump. During the conversation the IBM exec let it slip that the …

Business 26 Feb 2001, 17:16
Cube8 fledgling dies

Another day, another dotcom failure

Net investment outfit, Cube8, has revealed that Web Street Limited - which developed software to build online shops - has ceased trading and is looking for a buyer. Cube8 had invested £250,000 in Web Street for a 25 per cent stake in the company. No one from Cube8 was available by press time. In a statement, Brian Hindson, CE …

e-Business 26 Feb 2001, 17:47
LetsBuyIt trading again

Fewer lines and suppliers

LetsBuyIt.com is back in business in the UK, as well as in Germany, France and Sweden. The group buying etailer grabbed E53 million ($49.6 million) in fresh funding earlier in the month. The company's announcement says it has come back from the dead with "a renewed commitment to LetsBuyIt.com's million-plus members to provide …

e-Business 26 Feb 2001, 17:47
Online security gaffe exposes consumers' bank details

Drops customers pants in public

An online retailer running a special promotion offer via the sites of prominent web retailers left customer details in plain view on an insecure Web server. The problem came to light when a Register reader entered his details for a mobile phone promotion, which was administered by onehighsteet.com, and carried on the sites of …

e-Business 26 Feb 2001, 19:26
Mr Legoland Windsor banged up

M&S takes him to the High Court

An Internet fraudster was jailed for a year today after wangling credit card details out of surfers by starting bogus sites under the names of famous companies. Craig Cottrell, also known by the name of Legoland Windsor, received the sentence after Marks & Spencer took matters into its own hands and marched him to the High …

Security 26 Feb 2001, 19:28
Microsoft lawyer hectored by appellate judges

MS on Trial So what did happen to Netscape, then?

"I don't see how you can get a reversal," Judge David Tatel flatly told Microsoft lawyer Richard Urowsky, early in Monday's round of oral arguments before the federal appeals bench. It was not an auspicious start. Repeatedly, Urowsky was forced to concede under sharp questioning from the bench that many of the findings of fact …

Software 26 Feb 2001, 19:58
Napster alternative: hack people's hard drives

'ShareSniffer' blurs line between hacking and P2P sharing

With the future of music-swapping site Napster looking grim, on Friday a tiny Nashville-based startup began touting an even more controversial milieu for peer-to-peer file sharing: random, unprotected hard drives on the Internet. ShareSniffer's newly-launched software, itself called ShareSniffer, allows people to hunt for …

Security 26 Feb 2001, 21:29
Intel hints Rambus coming to low-end P4 PCs

Intel Developer Forum Systems to break $1000 barrier by year's end, apparently

Intel Developer Forum, San Jose Rambus-based Pentium 4 systems will be shipping for under $1000 by the end of 2001, Intel VP and General Manager of the Desktop Product Group, Louis Burns, predicted today, in the run up to the start of the latest Intel Developers Forum. Discussing today's "phenomenal prices" of dual-channel …

Channel 26 Feb 2001, 22:37