26th November 2002 Archive

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COMDEX Fall: the view from the Cab

Guest Opinion from our favourite Vegas taxi driver

As a veteran Las Vegas Taxi Driver and someone who has played with PCs even longer (I once even owned a Commodore Pet), I have always looked forward to the Fall COMDEX Show coming to town. This year was no exception, but even with the lowered expectations after last year's post-911 debacle and the continuing bleeding out of the …

Business 26 Nov 2002, 00:03
Anti-pirates hit Danish P2P users with huge bills

Court orders ISPs to reveal names, addresses

The Danish Anti Pirat Gruppen (Anti Piracy Group) has issued invoices of up to $14,000 apiece to approximately 150 users of KaZaA and eDonkey for illegally downloading copyright material. APG monitored the file sharing networks for available files with Danish IP addresses - and went to court to get the users' personal details …

Music and Media 26 Nov 2002, 00:37
Strong US Xbox Live uptake

150K punters in first week

Microsoft is celebrating strong uptake of its Xbox Live service in the USA, where over 150,000 Xbox Live Starter Kits were sold within one week of the online multiplayer system becoming available to consumers. The company considers this to be a major victory for its game division, and proof of its belief that Live would …

Personal 26 Nov 2002, 01:16
FT obtains Hutchison 3G business plan

Delays knock original assumptions

Hutchison 3G has denied that it will breach covenants with its bankers as a result of a delayed launch of 3G mobile services in the UK and Italy. The new wireless operator, which is due to launch much-delayed 3G services by the end of this year, insisted that suggestions in the Financial Times that covenants related to the …

Mobile 26 Nov 2002, 09:26
‘I demand the story be taken down immediately’ – RIAA

Letter Our so-called reporting

RIAA orders US Navy to surrender Letter Dear Mr. Orlowski: I have just read your story re: "RIAA orders US Navy to surrender." I am shocked by your factually inaccurate reporting. The RIAA has not, as you wrote, "mounted a daring raid on the US Navy." Your so-called reporting gives tabloid journalism a bad name! We did send …

Letters 26 Nov 2002, 10:03
RIAA punishing Navy cadets ‘because it can’

Letters Careers imperiled by contraband MP3

The RIAA may be "I demand the story be taken down immediately" - RIAA shocked (shocked!) by our satirical treatment of the US Navy Academy's confiscation of PCs containing MP3s, but Register readers are just as shocked that the RIAA has gone for a soft target. Many military staff past and present have written to us. The …

Letters 26 Nov 2002, 10:25
Sweden rejects Vodafone 3G delay

There ain't no Sanity Clause

Vodafone has been refused permission to extend the deadline and reduce the population coverage targets imposed by its 3G licence. The mobile network operator had sought to get its network rollout put back to 2005, from the original deadline of the end of 2003, citing delays in obtaining planning permission. Sweden's telecom's …

Mobile 26 Nov 2002, 11:57
Nominet UK takes legal action against DRS

'Passing off'

Nominet UK has launched legal action against Domain Registrar Services Limited (DRS) amid allegations of trade mark infringement and passing off. The legal action comes a week after it issued a formal warning concerning sales tactics of DRS. Nominet UK - the national registry for all domain names ending .uk - claimed DRS was …

Music and Media 26 Nov 2002, 12:06
'No conflict of interest,' as MS recruits top Brussels IT Eurocrat

But a curious number of his staff seem to cover 'competition cases'

In a barely-registered coup earlier this month Microsoft recruited senior European Commission official Detlef Eckert. But that's not a problem - Eckert, who it is understood will be joining The Beast on the 1st of December, "has had nothing to do with the Microsoft competition case," the FT's 'Observer' gossip column tells us, …

Software 26 Nov 2002, 12:22
IT project failure is rampant – KPMG

When will we ever learn

Most public firms have written off failed IT projects in the past year, typically due to poor project management, according to a new report from KPMG. The KMPG study, which covers 134 listed companies in the UK, US, Africa, Australia and Europe, reports that 56 per cent of firms have had to write off at least one IT project in …

Business 26 Nov 2002, 13:27
UK Govt says it's safe to e-shop

But you can't be too careful

The UK Government reckons it's safe to shop online this Christmas despite consumers' continuing fears over credit card fraud and personal privacy. Plugging advice for eshoppers, Consumer Minister Melanie Johnson said the risks surrounding online shopping could be reduced by following a few simple rules. Among them is for …

Music and Media 26 Nov 2002, 13:41
Feds break massive identity fraud

30,000+ victims

US investigators have charged three people for involvement in an ID theft scam believed to have hit upwards of 30,000 victims and cost millions through fraudulent transactions. Prosecutors say it the largest identity fraud case in US history. According to newswire reports, the chief suspect in the case is Philip Cummings, 33, …

Security 26 Nov 2002, 13:48
More arrests in Sonera snooping probe

Senior telco execs are in jail

Finnish police have withdrawn a request to arrest former Sonera boss Kaj-Erik Relander on suspicion of complicity in an escalating phone tracing scandal involving the telecoms carrier. Finland's National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) yesterday withdrew court proceedings at Helsinki District Court that would have led to the …

Music and Media 26 Nov 2002, 14:32
Mobile phone sales soar

Diddle-ee

There's encouraging news for the mobile phone industry today after Dataquest reported that sales of handsets were up almost eight per cent compared to the same time last year. Mobile phone sales topped 104m units in the third quarter of 2002, up 7.8 per cent from 97m in Q3 2001. According to analysts, the most encouraging part …

Mobile 26 Nov 2002, 16:11
Ximian Evolution 1.2 – the Outlook lookalike for Linux

Review Fortunately, looks can be deceptive...

The following review was first published by Extremetech, where you can read it with added screen shots here. We at The Register like the good people at Extremetech very much, we think they like us too, and we hope that the occasional piece of 'cultural exchange' will help further the causes of enlightenment and world peace. …

Software 26 Nov 2002, 16:59
RealPlayer security fix is faulty

Yikes!

That nemesis of application security, the buffer overrun, has found its way into media players from RealNetworks. Three similar, though separate, flaws in RealPlayer (and its update RealOne) create a way for crackers to inject hostile code onto Windows boxes of victims induced to run maliciously constructed media files. In …

Security 26 Nov 2002, 21:18
More Traser magic from Cash'n'Carrion

Add the PAlight and Krill lamp to your Xmas list

There's more illuminating stuff this week in the Cash'n'Carrion gadgets section with the introduction of two new Traser products. So popular have the amazing Traser GlowRings proven that we were prompted to add the company's excellent PALight and Krill lamp to the range: The PALight is an LED torch offering up to 200 …

Site News 26 Nov 2002, 21:29