14th December 2001 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

How a sceptical Reg warmed to the HP Compaq merger

Vulture volte face

There'll be no more cheap cracks about the Sircam merger here - no jibes about Princess Fiorina this or Don Capellas that, no more references to Carly and Curly. Recent evidence we've unearthed convinces us of the imperative that this merger must succeed. Cast your mind back to one of Fiorina's first marketing initiatives. She …

Business 14 Dec 2001, 06:52
Intel, VIA settle patent suit (not the big one)

Redesign, cash-free

Intel and VIA have settled a patent infringement suit, with VIA agreeing to redesign some AMD-supporting chipsets. That's what Intel says. No money has changed hands. That's what VIA says. Other terms remain confidential. Intel filed the suit against the Taiwanese chip designer in 1999 and the case was to be heard in January …

Business 14 Dec 2001, 07:10
Founder sues Baltimore for dissing him

The Fighting Irish

Fran Rooney, the founder of Irish security software firm Baltimore, is taking the company to court for saying harsh things about him in public. He is demanding an apology and damages for comments made by new CEO Bijan Khezri in a series of press briefings. These breach an 'compromise agreement', struck in May when he left the …

Business 14 Dec 2001, 07:47
Energis wins AOL UK deal

'Major' contract

Energis, Freeserve's infrastructure supplier, has picked some major business with AOL UK, according to the Daily Telegraph. Matt Peacock, AOL's communications director, declined to discuss the deal with the paper, but confirmed the company is "conducting a major build-out of our network, which includes new suppliers". AOL has …

Business 14 Dec 2001, 08:16
Europe to levy tax on US, non-EU web sales

Trade war incoming...

Europe is set to go ahead with a plan to tax digitally delivered products sold by non-EU companies to EU citizens. The current proposal is for Value Added Tax to be levied on downloaded software, music, video and the like for a period of three years, pending the development of a global tax system covering digitally delivered …

Business 14 Dec 2001, 08:47
ATI to unveil A4 Pentium 4 chipset next quarter

Targeting mobile and games markets

ATI will launch its Pentium 4 integrated chipset, codenamed A4, during the first three months of 2002 and will target the part at notebooks and gaming PCs. So claims DigiTimes, citing unnamed sources who we reckon are close to Taiwan's motherboard makers - who ATI has been courting on order to win support for the chipset. The …

Business 14 Dec 2001, 11:11
Carphone Warehouse founder joins board of Daily Mail

Dunstone is non-exec director

The founder of Carphone Warehouse, Charles Dunstone, has become a non-executive director of the Daily Mail & General Trust - publishers of UK national newspaper the Daily Mail. The announcement came as the paper released its annual results this morning. Shareholders still need to confirm Dunstone appointment at its agm in …

Business 14 Dec 2001, 11:12
TSMC ramps 0.13 micron output

50,000 wafers a month by December 2002

TSMC will be pumping out 50,000 0.13 micron wafers per month by the end of next year, up from the 7000 wafers per month its top-end production line is producing right now, the foundry says. During Q1 2002, TSMC hopes to ramp 0.13 micron production -currently operating at Fabs 4, 6 and 12 - up to 10,000 wafers a month. Since …

Business 14 Dec 2001, 11:34
Monaco gets Europe's 3G silver medal

But don't get too excited

Monaco Telecom has launched its 3G network, coming second in Europe after BT in the Isle of Man and fourth in the world Korea and Japan. However, like BT's network, it's a pretty minimal affair and is being used as a test bed. Currently just 10 lucky Monaco punters are testing the service. The public will have to wait just as …

Business 14 Dec 2001, 11:53
Oracle profits down 12%

Dotcom death drains growth

Oracle's revenues fell 11 per cent and profits dropped 12 per cent, as the software maker battled its way through its toughest quarter in a decade. Earnings of $549.5 million were made on the back of $2.36 billion in sales. Revenue from software licenses was $803 million, down 27 per cent year on year from Q2 2000's $1.1 …

Business 14 Dec 2001, 11:53
Case against Dmitry Sklyarov dropped

Russian programmer can leave US, but must testify against employer

Charges against Dmitry Sklyarov were deferred yesterday allowing the Russian programmer to return home after a five-month enforced stay in the US. Under the terms of a legal deal, Sklyarov must still return to the US to testify in the case that remains against Elcomsoft, Sklyarov's employer, when it faces copyright violation …

Business 14 Dec 2001, 11:56
MS hires compliance lawyers to keep it honest

Pre-emptive strike on final judgment

Microsoft's eagerness to comply with the terms of the antitrust settlement deal that it has appointed not one but two legal compliance officers, early. Indeed, as the Proposed Final Judgment remains merely proposed until the judge decides whether or not to accept it, Microsoft might find itself not needing its two appointments …

Business 14 Dec 2001, 12:05
Hynix preps ‘drastic’ solution to its woes

Announcement next week, says restructuring chief

Hynix will even consider striking a deal with Samsung if its attempt to build an alliance with Micron falls through, the head of the company's Restructuring Committee has said. Shin Kook-hwan, who chairs the panel formed under Hynix's creditors to oversee the hunt for a solutions to the ailing chip company's financial woes, …

Business 14 Dec 2001, 12:24
UK closer to switching 500k desktops from MS Office?

Tactical leaks at dawn...

The battle for the desktop in the UK's civil service may have taken a turn for the worse for Microsoft, according to a story in today's Times, which appears to be the current home of the Microsoft-civil service talks leak. The Office of Government Commerce (OGC), an arm of the Treasury set up to cut better deals with Government …

Business 14 Dec 2001, 12:44
MS releases mother of all IE security patches

Apply 'immediately'

Microsoft has released a cumulative patch for Internet Explorer which the firm says is a "critical" security precaution against crackers which should be applied "immediately". Installation of the mother of all patches "eliminates all previously discussed security vulnerabilities affecting IE 5.5 and IE 6" as well as tackling …

Business 14 Dec 2001, 13:13
Buy an Entrepreneur Wife on eBay

Updated Wife auction goes titsup

Kay Hammond, a 24-year old blonde 'Internet entrepreneur' from Birmingham, has auctioned herself off on eBay with a reserve price of £250,000. Ms Hammond, currently MD of TAMBA Internet, says one of the only things she hasn't succeeded at is getting married. The description of eBay item 1677522500, "Buy an entrepreneur wife", …

Business 14 Dec 2001, 14:15
Anti-Terror Bill becomes law

Concessions made

The Anti-Terror Bill became law just after midnight last night after Home Secretary made several concessions to the Lords. With regard to the controversial measure that will allow government bodies, the police and the security services to force ISPs and mobile companies to hand over up to seven years of data on an individual, …

Business 14 Dec 2001, 14:24
White House CyberSecurity ignores bad (MS) software

Clarke's office more bureaucrat gravy train than think tank

Diane Frank's December 5 article Bills Aim at Cyber R&D in Federal Computer Week reports that the Cyber Security Research and Development Act, introduced by US Representative Sherwood Boehlert (Republican, New York), seeks to provide nearly half a billion dollars in funding for research and education of information security …

Business 14 Dec 2001, 14:33
UK govt seeks to embrace open source software

Not as pro-Linux as it sounds

The UK government has published the first draft of its proposed policy on the use of open source software and is seeking comments from the public. The policy essentially seeks to increase the use of open source software at all levels of government and public sector IT provision. Behind this broader acceptance of open source …

Business 14 Dec 2001, 14:41
Quantum crypto edges closer

British boffins develop single photon LED

British boffins have made a breakthrough in quantum cryptography, an advanced code-making technology which is theoretically uncrackable, by developing a single photon-emitting diode. The researchers from the University of Cambridge and Toshiba have discovered a way of incorporating semiconductor nano-technology into an LED so …

Business 14 Dec 2001, 15:14
Intel trade secret stealer sent down for two years

Prison term for engineer who took Itanium plans to Sun

A former Intel engineer was yesterday sentenced by the San Jose District Court to two years for stealing details of the chip giant's Itanium processor. Say Lye Ow, 31, was found guilt last September of misappropriating Intel trade secrets in violation of the Economic Espionage Act of 1996. The engineer left Intel three years …

Business 14 Dec 2001, 16:02
MemoWatch HP begs staff to PR Compaq deal

Wear the company underpants, sing the company song

Hewlett Packard is rounding up loyal staff to sing the company song and say the proposed merger with Compaq is a very good idea. The middleware part of the business is really doing its bit. An email on behalf of Bob Bickel, general manager of HP Middleware, is doing the rounds soliciting positive testimony form long serving HP …

Business 14 Dec 2001, 16:04
BT and Cisco's new channel offering

Integrator

BT Indirect Channels (BTIC) and Cisco today teamed up to announce Integrator, a channel programme that provides resellers with a one-stop shop for Cisco's kit and BT's telephony and network offerings. Integrator is in essence a virtual distribution platform for BTIC to widen its reach into SME customers, a market that brother …

Business 14 Dec 2001, 17:21
Microsoft, terrorism, and computer security

Commentary by cDc's Oxblood Ruffin

Since 11 September the world has changed immeasurably, but some things remain the same. The single greatest threat to Internet security is still Microsoft - not the soon to be Osama Haz Bin. Microsoft is not, of course, a terrorist organization. But its ubiquity on the desktop coupled with its poor track record in network …

Business 14 Dec 2001, 17:22