25th May 2001 Archive

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Snitch-a-customer program was ‘stupid’, says Microsoft

Won't get caught again

Microsoft branded its shop-a-non-Windows-user program for resellers "stupid" today, and blamed its own "very very confusing" license agreements for obfuscating the picture. Spokesman Matt Pilla denied that Microsoft had shared information gained from the scheme with anti-piracy cops, and deeply regretted offering resellers such …

Software 25 May 2001, 07:35
TiVo wields patent club against Microsoft

Are Linux users supposed to do this?

Silicon Valley executives are often urged to fill those precious moments between the Stairmaster and the early coronary by reading ancient war manuals. We're not sure if any of these contains the advice: "pick your fights carefully", but if they do, TiVo doesn't seem to have reached this page yet. The company, which pioneered …

Business 25 May 2001, 08:45
BT to sell Yell today?

That's the word on the street

BT is to announce later today the sale of it yellow pages and e-commerce outfit, Yell, the FT reported, although the sale could be delayed until after the holiday weekend if negotiators hit any last minute snags. Quoting unnamed sources close to the deal, it reports that the BT business will be bought by a consortium including …

Business 25 May 2001, 09:26
Italian court denies Rambus demand to shut Micron plant

Micron, 1 - Rambus, 0

Rambus' attempts to halt production of Micron memory chips that it claims infringe its SDRAM patents have failed - at least in Italy. The Italian court in Monza yesterday denied Rambus' demand that Micron cease making SDRAM at the latter's plant in Avezzano - a factory Micron acquired from Texas Instruments. The Italian ruling …

Channel 25 May 2001, 09:40
Apple to add more colours, bigger screen to iBook

Updated So says the Taiwanese company making them

Apple will update its new iBook with a range of coloured shells, the company that's producing them on the Mac maker's behalf has let slip. Apparently there's a version coming with a larger screen, too, but since the iBook's screen already takes up almost all of the space available for the display, we're a little puzzled by this …

Mac Channel 25 May 2001, 09:52
Intel lets slip 2GHz P4 release timeframe

It's Q3 - official

Intel has confirmed it will release a 2GHz Pentium 4 next quarter. Company officials, speaking at their annual shareholders meeting, hinted that the schedule for the part's release had been accelerated, according to EBN. Sounds like spin to us, since the 2GHz P4 has been down on Intel's roadmap for introduction early Q3 since …

Channel 25 May 2001, 10:26
No code or body fluids exchanged in MS Lavender Wedding

'Shared Source' initiative fails first big test

Microsoft's much-ballyhooed 'Shared Source' initiative appears to have failed its first big test. With a great deal of swagger, Microsoft announced a partnership with defense contractor Lockheed Martin yesterday to target US government contracts. A perfect deal for Redmond, for who could be better than the veteran pork barrel …

Software 25 May 2001, 10:41
Russian script wrinkly on hacking charges

Tales of lumberjacks and hijacked credit card details

A Russian pensioner has been arrested after allegedly masterminding a scam geared to lifting the credit card number of Western tourists visiting Moscow cyber cafes. According to a report by the Moscow Times, the unnamed 63 year-old was a programmer who turned to Internet crime after becoming disaffected about his meagre state …

Security 25 May 2001, 10:44
dot.com domain monopoly silences critics

So you can stop talking about Us

One of the quirks of domain name history is that the keeper of the all-important root file, Network Solutions (now VeriSign), hosted the most popular discussion forum on the subject of domain name politics. Until yesterday, that is. VeriSign yanked the Domain-Policy list, which ran up to several hundred messages a day on the …

Music and Media 25 May 2001, 10:49
DfEE needs to learn about Web sites

Updated UK govt thinks consultants are full of hot air

The Department for Education and Employment needs to learn a thing or two about Web sites. Specifically, how to build them without putting templates live on the Web. If you were to visit the department's consultations Web site, you may leave confused and empty-handed as most of the page appears to consist of the word "blah". …

Music and Media 25 May 2001, 10:52
QXL snuggles up to MS

Y/E trading loss widens

Shares in online auction outfit, QXL Ricardo plc, shot up 23 per cent (a whopping 1.5 pence) on news that it had signed a technology and marketing deal with Microsoft. QXL plans to offer multi-device access to its auction service for its three million punters in Europe by making use of MS's .NET initiative. Its services will …

Business 25 May 2001, 10:58
FOTW 'Kieren you ignorant slut…'

MAPS 'Lies, inaccuracies and FUD'

Site blocking furore kicks off It's been a quiet month so far on the flame front. However, the rather agreeable notion of our email bandwidth filled with harmony and peace between nations is, inevitably, a transitory illusion. This is what happen when you give resident Reg whippersnapper Kieren McCarthy half an hour's …

Letters 25 May 2001, 11:00
Transmeta licenses AMD Hammer technology

Wins rights to x86-64, supports HyperTransport. Surprise, surprise...

AMD's long-mooted partnership with Transmeta has finally reached the point where the pair can admit it in public. So Transmeta announced today that has licensed AMD's x86-64 instruction set architecture and had signed up for HyperTransport while was at it. The timing of the announcement isn't surprising - not with Intel about …

Channel 25 May 2001, 11:17
Kyro II sails through Windows testing

Good news for Imagination

Kyro II, ST Microelectronics' 3D graphics accelerator, has passed hardware and software compatability tests set by the Windows Hardware Quality Lab (WHQL). This means that system builders don't have to do the tests themselves. It's also good news for Imagination Technologies, the 3D graphics chip designer, which, following the …

Business 25 May 2001, 11:20
PC World's got a DVD-R PC for £1,499

Updated Packard Bell with a Pioneer drive

PC World is claiming a UK first - it's selling a PC with a recordable DVD drive from today. If it is the first, what's everyone else been doing? The Packard Bell machine uses a Pioneer DVD-R drive, probably the same device Apple is calling the SuperDrive, and costs £1,499. A G4 Mac with the SuperDrive will probably set you back …

Business 25 May 2001, 11:24
Surfers warned about pro-anorexia sites

Starving online

A British eating disorder organisation was today warning women about the dangers of visiting pro-anorexia Websites and chatrooms. These corners of cyberspace are filled with people who are aware that they have eating disorders, but see it as a positive way to live their lives. Many refer to themselves as "pro-Anna", and swap …

Music and Media 25 May 2001, 11:34
Viva el Web!

Readers reject portents of Doom-style virtual market

Death of Web 'inevitable' So, will the Web as we know it eventually become the stuff of teary-eyed fireside nostalgia? Simon Crowle thinks not: A very interesting article - thanks. However, I would like to express my doubts regarding Carl Howe's vision of the executable Internet of the future. His example of a Doom-style …

Letters 25 May 2001, 11:46
MAPS backlash kicks off

Readers point Reg in right direction

Site blocking furore kicks off Having severely flamed young Kieren McCarthy over his MAPS allegations, our readers decided that they weren't finished with him yet. First in line is Rich Tietjens: Re: "MAPS needs to improve its own public relations rather than rely on its supporters to spam anyone that dares criticise it. That …

Letters 25 May 2001, 11:51
Email smut – sent quicker than a Prescott punch

While US bosses face controls over inbox snooping

Around one in seven office workers admit to sending raunchy emails to pals and colleagues at work. In a survey by US outfit Vault, 14 per cent of the 1,000 staffers questioned said they forwarded sexually explicit or other 'improper' emails. Another 13 per cent said they often received such emails at work, while 12 per cent …

Music and Media 25 May 2001, 12:03
Disabled mother of four beats off MS, Mounties in piracy case

Demands compensation, phone call from Bill

Further evidence of Microsoft's uncanny knack for publicity is provided by the story of a Canadian victim of the company's anti-piracy campaign. According to Canadian newswire CP Wire, 41 year old disabled mother of four Brenda Avery found herself on the receiving end of the full might of the Redmond SWAT team and the Royal …

Software 25 May 2001, 12:14
VIA unveils latest C3, announces design wins

Taiwan's flavour of the month

Taiwan's VIA launched its latest x86-compatible 0.15 micron C3 processor today, the EBGA (Enhanced Ball Grid Array) packaged C3 E-Series. The company also said it signed a number of leading local noteboook makers to offer machines based on the chip. The C3 E-Series is functionally identical to the previously released standard …

Channel 25 May 2001, 12:22
Security software crashes Cisco kit

Doh! Problems at Borg Central get sillier by the day

Probing Cisco's networking equipment with vulnerability scanning software is liable to crash its boxes, the networking giant has been forced to admit. The problem, which is due to a flaw in the design of Cisco's IOS (Internetwork Operating System) software, can be exploited to produce a consistent denial of service (DoS) attack …

Data Networking 25 May 2001, 13:09
NAF accused of unjustifiable money grabbing

Tells us something we don't know

The National Arbitration Forum has been accused of pocketing money for a case that never happened. The controversial domain name arbitrator has been criticised in the past for making arguable decisions in favour of trademark holders but in this case NAF is refusing to refund a $1250 fee paid by the respondent. The case …

Music and Media 25 May 2001, 13:16
Mobile phones – you're all going to die

But WAP will live forever

Text messaging could damage your kidneys Let's face it, if we continue to use mobile phones without regard to the consequences, we'll all end up sterile and carrying around our frazzled ears in a bag. So, what's the solution? John Robson thinks that the BMA has missed the point: I quote from the end of your article (itself a …

Letters 25 May 2001, 13:22
Yogic Flyers top political sites

Shame they're not standing

The latest figures from Internet monitoring outfit, Keynote, reveals that those Yogic Flying members of the Natural Law Party have the most responsive Web site of all the political parties in the general election. Except, everyone knows that the Natural Law Party - which bases its political aspiration in the belief that " …

Business 25 May 2001, 13:25
AOL ‘aim’ suit way off target

And Reg 'ster' registration stirs it up

AOL wins rights to Aimster domain name Register trademarks 'ster' Matt Grinsteinner will rue the day that he ever sent the following email: I've been reading the recent articles about AOL's 'AIM' suit and The Register trying to control all of the 'ster' names and was wondering this: What about www.aimster.com, or any domain …

Letters 25 May 2001, 14:12
Tiscali UK cull about to begin

Under starter's orders

Word has reached Vulture Central that the cull at Tiscali's UK operation is about to get underway. In fact, these things can happen so quickly it may have already got underway. No matter. The important this is that employees of WorldOnline, LibertySurf and LineOne have already had meetings with their prospective bosses this …

Business 25 May 2001, 14:14
Register is penguin running dog lackey

Linux bias allegation provokes clarification

Microsoft PocketPC racks up 1m sales in first year Well, it seems that Mark Pinson doesn't like the cut of our jib regarding Microsoft: "The Register" should just have the BALLS to come right out and say "The Register Hates Microsoft". Had a Linux OS based PDA reached those numbers you would have put a completely different " …

Letters 25 May 2001, 14:17
eMachines loses Nasdaq listing

Shares drop below $1

eMachines, the bottom-scraping budget PC maker, has been delisted from Nasdaq because its shares fell below the $1 level. Things aren't looking good for the company. Earlier in the month announced it might put itself up for sale and retained Credit Suisse First Boston to help it. In March it announced it was laying off 16 per …

Business 25 May 2001, 14:20
Readers' Letters The Web is dead

Long live the Web...

Death of Web 'inevitable' Forrester Research's claim that the Web will eventually yield to an executable Net with throwaway code found little favour among our readers. Grant was among those who wanted to take Forrester CEO George F. Colony to task. Especially since the latter branded the Web 'dumb, boring and isolated': Ok for …

Letters 25 May 2001, 14:23
ATI illegally misled shareholders, lawsuit claims

Class action filed in US

ATI has been hit with a class action alleging that the 3D graphics company misled shareholders by providing a false picture of its current financial statement and its potential earnings. The suit, filed in the US by two law firms - Bernard M Gross and New York-based Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach - on behalf of …

Business 25 May 2001, 15:06
Conservatives given the A-team treatment

Bit of entertainment for a sunny Friday

The Conservative party has been given the A-team treatment on guydowman.com. Pictures! Music! Talk! And Little Willy Hague, Mad Anne Widdecombe, Michael Portillo and Francis Maude become Hannibal, Mr.T, Face and Murdoch respectively. It's not going to change your life but this bit of animation will at least make you chuckle on …

Business 25 May 2001, 15:08
F-In-Secure muddles up its digital certificate

One certificate, lots of sites - nul points for ecommerce

F-Secure has become the latest security firm to get its online credentials in a twist. Register reader Richard George spotted that prospective customers who want to download software from www.f-secure.com were warned that the name of the site doesn't match the name on its digital certificate. A closer look reveals that the …

e-Business 25 May 2001, 15:19
Contribute to the SMS election poll

A good idea like a bolt from the blue

Mobile portal Boltblue is running "the first ever" election poll using mobiles on 5 June - two days before the general election. Text message who you intend to vote for and the company will collate the info and pump out what it hopes will be an accurate reflection of how the national will vote. Boltblue reckons its represents a …

Business 25 May 2001, 15:30
50% of US surfers shop online

$3.5b spent in cyberspace in March

Half of US surfers shop online, according to a survey out today. In March, 48 per cent of Americans over the age of 18, around 100 million people, bought goods or services on the Internet. They spent more than $3.5 billion online during the month, up 36 per cent on March the previous year, the report by Nielson/Netratings …

e-Business 25 May 2001, 16:17
Recording Industry Ass. sues Aimster

Attacks file sharing firm using same arguments used against Napster

Aimster's attempt to seek judicial protection from the Recording Industry Ass. of America hasn't deterred the litigious music business organisation - yesterday it hit the software company with a Napster-style contributory copyright violation suit. "Aimster is Napster all over again," said the RIAA. "Beneath the bells and …

Music and Media 25 May 2001, 16:46
Windows HyperTerminal surrenders your box

Unchecked buffer week

Microsoft issued its third security bulletin for the week on Friday, this time reporting an unchecked buffer susceptible to an overrun attack in the ubiquitous HyperTerminal Telnet/serial client which cheerfully sets itself up as the default during Windows installation. A maliciously-crafted Telnet URL can be used to trigger a …

Software 25 May 2001, 18:10