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29th March 2001 Archive

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  • French industry minister rejects patents, backs Linux

    Politician says all right things shock

    The French government has lined up against software patents. The minister in charge of patent policy, industry secretary Christian Pierret, last week stated that he opposed them, and that they "would kill innovation and promote judicial terrorism" by multinational companies against startups. Which seems pretty categorical to us …

    Software 29 Mar 2001, 09:05

  • Scaldera born in flames

    Old Economy stalwart needs New Economy credit

    The Unix business has never been known for the simplicity of its business alliances, and in that tradition one of the most complicated deals of all was concluded this week. Finally. The SEC has at last approved the Santa Cruz Operation's merger with Caldera, which was originally announced last August, with the combined outfit …

    Software 29 Mar 2001, 10:25

  • Software poachers turn gamekeepers

    Secure apps wrappers

    A group of reformed software security breakers have developed technology to secure digital content and software applications. BitArts, a UK based digital rights management start-up, has developed technology which provides a secure software 'wrapper' around applications or, for example, MP3 files. There are numerous digital …

    Security 29 Mar 2001, 10:45

  • Cabletron results a bright spot in the networking gloom

    Increased revenues buck the trend

    Bucking the trend of poor financial results from networking equipment suppliers, Cabletron Systems posted increased revenues for its last quarter when it reported its full year results. Cabletron, a holding company for telecommunications outfits targeting the enterprise, service provider and network management markets, reported …

    Business 29 Mar 2001, 10:53

  • Xbox gets ADSL Net channel

    MS strikes deal with NTT

    Microsoft has teamed up with Net services business NTT Communications to create a broadband Internet channel for the Xbox. Trials of online gaming services using broadband high-speed connections will begin this year and online services are set to be launched in 2002, Robert Bach, MS' Xbox officer, told Reuters. Microsoft will …

    Games Industry 29 Mar 2001, 11:19

  • Chimpzilla evolves into 800lb super primate

    Darwinian leap up the food chain

    Jerry Sanders, AMD CEO famously once referred to arch-rival Intel as 'the 800lb gorilla'. Using this simian rule of (non-extensible) thumb, The Register calculated that this would make AMD a chimpanzee. Hence the moniker Chimpzilla. But AMD seems to have ideas above its station, judging from the picture of an 800lb gorilla …

    Bootnotes 29 Mar 2001, 11:21

  • Palm stock nosedives

    Share price halved in high-volume trading

    Palm's financial problems, outlined at week's quarterly results announcement, sent panic among investors yesterday. The company's shares lost nearly half their previous value, after trading at ten times the stock's average volume. Shares closed at 8.0625, but the stock fell to 7.4375 during the day's trading - an all time low …

    Business 29 Mar 2001, 11:41

  • Toshiba chief sells ‘Cell’ CPU

    Details of IBM/Sony/Tosh 'supercomputer-on-a-chip' emerge

    The head of Toshiba's semiconductor operation, Yasuo Morimoto, has revealed a few further details of Cell - the multiprocessing-oriented CPU architecture for the broadband era currently being developed by Toshiba, Sony and IBM. The three partners announced the chip earlier this month. They committed themselves to spending $400 …

    Channel 29 Mar 2001, 12:51

  • Welsh hacker pleads guilty to deception and theft

    Credit card cracker Curador faces chokey

    A teenage computer cracker, who's efforts sparked a worldwide manhunt and brought FBI investigators to a sleepy Welsh village, faces a possible jail sentence after pleading guilty to deception and theft. Raphael Gray, who's handle was Curador (or Custodian in Welsh), claimed he hacked into sites and gained access to customer …

    Security 29 Mar 2001, 13:54

  • Ex-hacker to help Nintendo with viral marketing

    Kuji: from almost starting WWIII to Zelda

    A well-known former computer hacker has been hired to do viral marketing for games firm Nintendo and TV channel E4. Mathew Bevan, whose hacker handle is Kuji, was accused of breaking into US military computer systems but escaped without punishment when a 1997 case at Woolwich Crown Court was dropped after a long-running legal …

    Games Industry 29 Mar 2001, 15:01

  • Net via radio for schools group has govt ear after all

    Talking, but not negotiating

    UBC Media's chief executive Simon Cole tells us that contrary to what Department of Education flaks tell us, meetings have taken place with mandarins on providing schools with Internet access via Digital Radio. The Sunday Times reported that negotiations between the MXR consortium and the Department of Education were taking …

    Music and Media 29 Mar 2001, 15:09

  • BT ordered to offer wholesale leased lines to other operators

    Oftel comes over all macho

    Winged watchdog Oftel is strutting its stuff again with an "order" against BT to offer wholesale leased lines to other operators. Where does this fit in with the existing situation, local loop unbundling and FRIACO? Well, Oftel tell us, this is all about fixed always-on fast lines i.e. between a company's HQ and its other main …

    Data Networking 29 Mar 2001, 15:14

  • Be getting ready to open source BeOS?

    It's got the domain names ready

    Is Be planning to release its BeOS operating system to the open source community? It's something it has discussed in the past but never come down on the issue one way or the other. Until recently, perhaps. Be has registered the domain name openbeos.com (and .org and .net) - and thanks to Register reader Jim for alerting us to …

    Software 29 Mar 2001, 15:44

  • ‘Forgotten’ distros stealing Linux developers' mindshare

    Although Red Hat leads beauty contest

    Money may pour in and out of commercial Linux vendors, but that does little to diminish the enthusiasm for the less well-known distros. Results from a survey of Linux developers seem to prove the diversity of the distro market. Santa Cruz based Evans Data polled 300 web developers using software libre platforms, and perhaps …

    Software 29 Mar 2001, 15:52

  • How do you reckon mobile companies will pay for 3G?

    Here's how

    You know how huge multi-billion pound companies have managed to ruin themselves by paying ridiculous sums of money for 3G licences? Well, unless you live in a Disney movie, you will also know that you (that's you and me - the consumers) will end up paying for it. (Talking of which, this email just came in from PA: "Walt Disney …

    Data Networking 29 Mar 2001, 16:08

  • War driving – the latest hacker fad

    Crackers get out of their bedrooms... and into their dad's car

    The introduction of wireless networking has spawned a fresh sub-culture in the digital underground. It has brought script kiddies out of their bedrooms and onto the roads. War dialling, the hacking practice of phoning up every extension of a corporate phone network until the number associated with a firm's modem bank is hit …

    Security 29 Mar 2001, 17:22

  • Sony gets into mobile in a big way

    A 'personal broadband network solutions company'

    Sony has announced plans to fire itself up as a mobile phone and mobile computing company. The Japanese games giant said it would transform itself into a "personal broadband network solutions company" as part of its plan for the 2001/2002 fiscal year starting next month. This includes turning its mobile phone handset business …

    Business 29 Mar 2001, 17:30

  • Cisco calls halt on Borg-like acquisition spree

    It doesn't make sense when its canning its own workers

    Cisco Systems has placed a hold on further acquisitions until its financial outlook improves. A report in today's Financial Times quotes Cisco chief executive John Chambers as saying it would be buying firms would be inappropriate "at a time when we're reducing our own workforce". The decision is slightly surprising, if …

    Business 29 Mar 2001, 17:31

  • NASA's new supercomp sits on a desktop

    Sayonara Moore?

    Supercomputers are bigger than the average person's holiday cottage, draw enough juice to run a small factory, and require industrial refrigeration units to prevent them cooking themselves, right? Not necessarily. The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has taken delivery of a desktop-sized supercomputer …

    Business 29 Mar 2001, 18:12

  • NorthPoint moves to shut off DSL service ‘immediately’

    Customer service, we've heard of it...

    NorthPoint has moved to shut down its DSL network, disconnecting up to 100,000 customers. In a statement issued late yesterday, the company warned customers to expect "network outages and termination of DSL services immediately". The bankrupt company had been in last minute talks with a group of ISPs that were trying and keep …

    Telecoms 29 Mar 2001, 20:43

  • Pink slips coming at WSJ.com

    Slowing ad spend claims more victims

    Online newshound WSJ.com is to lay off staff as part of parent company Dow Jones' cost cutting campaign. The site, which has 250 full-time staff - including 80 in editorial, will be hit by "a limited number" of layoffs, a Dow Jones representative said today. The job cuts are part of a move announced earlier this month to save …

    Business 29 Mar 2001, 20:44