26th March 2002 Archive

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Verisign accused of DNS slamming

'Predatory,' indignant competitor says

There's a cheesy scam in the phone industry called 'slamming', wherein customers are tricked into switching their service provider. Double-talk and deceptive marketing materials figure large in this enterprise. Now Verisign (formerly Network Solutions) is taking heat for a practice which borders on registrar slamming. According …

Media 26 Mar 2002, 07:19
Sun launches Java alternative to Mobile .NET

Exploding population

Sun Microsystems Inc will attack Microsoft .NET on mobile devices - a mushrooming area of application development - with a streamlined, fully-featured version of Java for carriers and customers to share XML-based web services. Palo Alto, California-based Sun opened its seventh annual JavaOne conference yesterday announcing …

Software 26 Mar 2002, 08:42
Sun opens Java to Open Source community

...With viral strings attached

Future versions of Java for servers, PCs and mobile devices could feature APIs developed by the open source community under changes to the Java Community Process (JCP) to be announced by Sun Microsystems Inc at its annual developer conference today, Gavin Clarke writes. Palo Alto, California-based Sun said it will modify …

Software 26 Mar 2002, 08:42
Verio joins CA for secure web hosting

Medium risk, low cost

Computer Associates International Inc has announced a partnership with web hosting provider Verio Inc, through which Verio will offer CA's security solutions to its European customers. Through the agreement Verio, a wholly owned subsidiary of NTT Communications Corp, will offer Islandia, New York-based CA's eTrust Firewall …

Security 26 Mar 2002, 08:42
LCD monitors cost more (for now)

Panel beaters

TFT panel prices are marching upwards, translating into higher prices for LCD monitors for PCs. Asian producers in Taiwan and Korea are quoting higher contract prices for April, on the back of strong demand for notebook panels, and on supply shortages for 15in desktops versions. TFT producers are quoting US$255-265 for 15in …

Channel 26 Mar 2002, 10:00
Mobile P4 prices ‘to drop dramatically’

In May, Digitimes says

Mobile Pentium 4 prices will come tumbling down in May, according to Digitimes. In 1K tray quantities, the 1.6GHz and 1.7GHz P4-M processors cost US$401 and US$508. In May, Intel could (our italics) reduce prices to c.US$210 and US$250, Digitimes says. Currently the 1.6GHz and 1.7GHz desktop P4s US$133 and US$163, also for 1, …

Channel 26 Mar 2002, 10:25
Gosling on C#, why X Windows sucks, and asparagus

'We just didn't understand how we were scaring the crap out of them'

Java creator James Gosling was wearing a custom-made T-shirt for the opening day of the JavaOne show in San Francisco, a blue number which features Duke the Java mascot surfing across a watchface, trailing behind him what appears to be a bunch of blue asparagus. Is it asparagus, we asked? At this point Gosling told us that he …

Software 26 Mar 2002, 10:30
EMC PR caught in a spin

WideSky drafts breeze over El Reg

(Our thanks to Phil Payne, of Isham Research for alerting us to this.) EMC has committed the cardinal error of sending out a press release to analysts in Word format, spilling details of draft revisions that will cause acute discomfort for the company's spin doctors. Compare and contrast, if you will, the draft (in red) and …

Bootnotes 26 Mar 2002, 11:10
Red Hat exec tussles over MSOffice for Linux

But who's this 'Lina Torbaugh' woman?

Red Hat CTO Michael Tiemann yesterday said that the availability of Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer would "open the door to a new range of potential customers" for Red Hat. Which we take as meaning that, if the States' version of the Microsoft antitrust remedies were accepted, Red Hat would be one of the companies bidding …

Software 26 Mar 2002, 12:16
France Telecom inches towards MobilCom deal

Conditional

France Telecom today said it has entered a conditional agreement with Gerhard Schmid, resolving its dispute with the founder and major shareholder of MobilCom, the German mobile network in which holds a minority stake. Schmid and associates will sell their shares in MobilCom to a group of financial institutions. He had a put …

Business 26 Mar 2002, 12:47
Another nail in the Napster coffin

Stay dead, Appeals Court rules

A Federal Appeals Court has turned down an appeal that would have allowed Napster to resurrect its free online file-swapping service. The decision by 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday confirms a ruling by US District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel that Napster must keep its service offline until it "can comply with an …

Media 26 Mar 2002, 14:32
Virus WildList closed ‘until further notice’

So how do you test AV software?

The WildList, a list of viruses currently at large which plays an important role in testing antivirus software, has been suspended indefinitely. In a message to the antivirus community, Shane Coursen, chief executive of the WildList Organization (which compiles the list), said that March, 2002 WildList will be the last "until …

Security 26 Mar 2002, 14:39
Travelocity snaps up Site59.com for $43m

Cash purchase

Travelocity is beefing up its last minute bargain basement travel capacity with the acquisition of Site59.com. The online travel giant is paying $43m cash for Site59, which provides the "engine" (aren't we supposed to call this "platform" nowadays?) for last minute offerings on other north American sites, including Travelocity …

e-Business 26 Mar 2002, 15:38
Afilias buys out Tucows .Info service

Sales disappoint - Tucows

Afilias is taking operational control for the registration of .Info names by buying out the operations of current service provider Tucows. Afilias was appointed by ICANN to run the official registry for .Info, the first generic top level domain (gTLD). It had in turn given Tucows an exclusive two-year contract to run and manage …

e-Business 26 Mar 2002, 15:38
Early Xbox sales low in Europe – report

France, Germany flat, UK better

Xbox may not be playing too well in Europe, according to a report at Heise News. Quoting figures from Markt für Computer- und Videospiele, the report suggests that only small quantities of the machines were actually sold in the immediate post-launch period in FRance and Germany. In the first three days in Germany MCV says only …

Personal 26 Mar 2002, 16:39
Disney chief Eisner recruits Abe Lincoln in piracy fight

Vaclav Havel also implicated...

Disney CEO Michael Eisner has recruited Abraham Lincoln, Vaclav Havel, Douglass North and Sigmund Eisner (relation) for his campaign against intellectual property pilfering on the Internet. And we want some of whatever his speech writers are smoking. In a piece published in today's Financial Times, Eisner announces that Lincoln …

Media 26 Mar 2002, 16:43
Telia to buy Sonera

Nordic/Baltic telecoms giant

Telia, Sweden's biggest telco, is to buy Sonera, its counterpart in Finland, through a stock swap. The deal represents a premium of approx 16 per cent for Sonera shareholders, based on yesterday's closing prices of the two firms. Telia shareholders will own 64 per cent of the merged entity, while Sonera will own 36 per cent. …

Business 26 Mar 2002, 17:09
NAI faces SEC probe

Bid to take over McAfee.com suspended

Network Associates has issued a statement confirming the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating its accounting practices. The probe will focus on NAI's results from 2000, which predates its current management. Network Associates stated that it believes that its accounting was proper but it will fully co-operate …

Business 26 Mar 2002, 17:13