18th March 2002 Archive

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Sorenson advances on video codec market

Big deal with Macromedia

While Sorenson Media Inc may not be the best-known video software company out there, pretty soon its codecs are likely to be playable on more desktops than those from Microsoft Corp and RealNetworks Inc. When Macromedia Inc started shipping Flash Player 6 on Friday, it came with 70k of decompression code, custom-built by …

Software 18 Mar 2002, 10:49
Microsoft secures Passport while lobbying interest groups

Consumer Association unconvinced

Microsoft will take first its steps towards delivering a federated version of Passport this year, releasing tools enabling developers to build Kerberos protocols into the online security system ahead of a full product release in 2003, Gavin Clarke writes. The company told Computerwire it planned a series of Software …

Software 18 Mar 2002, 10:49
Reg hack ‘helps’ CNN with bare knuckle boxing probe

Comedy moonlighting shocker

Ok, the game's up - I've been rumbled. For the last five months the staff at Vulture Central have been wondering why on earth a man whose duties consist almost entirely of supervising Indonesian children at the Cash'n'Carrion Reg merchandising warehouse would occasionally lapse into a fit of uncontrollable chuckling. Now I must …

Bootnotes 18 Mar 2002, 11:59
All of McAfee, why don't you take…

NAI wants rest of McAfee.com

Network Associates wants to buy the 25 per cent of McAfee.com it doesn't already own, in a stock deal worth approx. $208.2 million This values McAfee.com at $18.64 per share, or about 20 per cent more than their closing price of $15.54. The aim of the acquisition is to remove confusion over Network Associates business units …

Security 18 Mar 2002, 12:05
Cyber cops & security orgs: DIRTy, stupid and out of control

The DIRT files We name and shame

A number of what one would hope to call professional computer security and cyber law-enforcement figures in England, Australia, South America and Asia appear to have been duped by DIRT Trojan marketer Francis Edward "Frank" Jones, according to documents obtained by The Register. A second load of Codex Data Systems …

Security 18 Mar 2002, 13:44
EU closes AOL UK VAT loophole (but not yet)

HM Custom states its case

AOL will have to start charging UK customers VAT - from July 1, 2003, bringing it into line with British ISP rivals. The change follows a policy review conducted by HM Customs & Excise, the British government arm responsible for VAT ruling and collection. Currently, AOL UK is treated as a content provider domiciled outside the …

Media 18 Mar 2002, 13:45
Review Motorola v70: good looking, but not compelling

The Motorola v70 is a startling new phone with a brushed titanium look finish, aimed at the fashion conscious user. The most striking thing about it is its unique rotating mechanism. The sliding front panel revolves through 360 degrees to reveal a flattened keypad. At 93x45x16mm, it's super sleek, and feels good to hold. It’s …

Mobile 18 Mar 2002, 14:30
Nvidia intros DDR333 support for nForce

CeBIT Memory lift

Nvidia is to introduce support for DDR333 fast memory with the 615-D and the 620-D, the latest members of the nForce chipset family. Both products will launch "within 60 days", according to Drew Henry, general manager, of Nvidia's platform processors division. Speaking at CeBIT, Henry pointed to nForce's 128-bit DDR memory …

Channel 18 Mar 2002, 16:03
Nvidia hit with securities fraud suit

Class Action

Nvidia has been slapped with a class action suit alleging securities fraud. Leading the charge is legal rottweiler Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, a class action specialist based in Washington DC. The law firm alleges that Nvidia officers misled shareholders between Feb 15, 2000 and Feb 14, 2002, and it it is seeking people …

Channel 18 Mar 2002, 17:04
Website downtime cost UK plc £565m last year

Outsource or flounder, advises Yankee

Web site downtime cost UK businesses more £565 million in 2001 and is set to cost even more this year. A study by analysts Yankee Group, commissioned by hosting firm Worldport, estimates the direct cost of Web site downtime will reach £715 million this year, 26 per cent up on last year. Factor in other indirect costs, such as …

e-Business 18 Mar 2002, 17:05
Super DIRT Trojan to infect indiscriminately

The DIRT files We'll call this one F.I.L.T.H.

Our friend Frank Jones of Codex Data Systems has been busy with a number of projects associated with his loathsome DIRT Trojan, most notably one which seeks to distribute the infection indiscriminately. Cryptome's John Young has posted an HTML version of Jones' PowerPoint slide show, and from this we gather that Jones either has …

Security 18 Mar 2002, 17:18
Microsoft's Mira – take smart display, maim, serve

A compelling toy that'll be nice once hacked into a webpad...

It sounds like a great idea - a dinky little LCD display unit you can just pick up and wander around the house with, while at the same time having access to all your stuff on the PC. But the trouble is that the more you look at Microsoft's Mira, the more the device's nagging contradictions and limitations jump up and bite you. …

Personal 18 Mar 2002, 18:19
Vegas commission probes vice hacks

City telecoms infrastructure ruled by cyber-syndicate?

The only hint that Larry Duke Reubel is 63-years-old is his slow step as he ambles to the witness chair and takes a seat behind the microphone. Once seated he looks fifteen years younger. He's dapper in a sports coat and a black shirt buttoned to the top, the overhead florescent lights glint off his gold watch, which matches …

Security 18 Mar 2002, 19:56
Board member sues ICANN

Open the books - Auerbach

ICANN board member Karl Auerbach is suing the organization in order to gain access to corporate records. "Directors are in charge and need to have access," he told The Register today. The suit has been filed by Auerbach's attorney and is backed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Auerbach says he has been prevented from …

Media 18 Mar 2002, 22:29
Taking the piss is banned in South Carolina

Urine the money - move to NC

Taking the piss from online vendors is officially banned in the South Carolina, following a Supreme Court (yes, Supreme Court!) ruling. In 1999, the state of South Carolina passed a law making the sale of (human, we guess) urine online verboten, to the dismay of local online bladder merchant Kenneth Curtis. He has sold his …

Media 18 Mar 2002, 22:57