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13th January 2003 Archive

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  • Sun takes Liberty with Identity Server 6.0

    Signing on

    Sun Microsystems Inc is today expected to announce what is believed to be the industry's first identity sever based on Liberty Alliance Project specifications for federated network identity. Santa Clara, California-based Sun has begun shipping version 6.0 of its Identity Server, which uses version 1.0 of the Liberty …

    Data Center 13 Jan 2003, 09:28

  • C&W appoints new chairman

    Is it enough?

    Cable & Wireless Plc has bowed to the demand of irate investors and has appointed experienced outsider Richard Lapthorne as chairman - a move that is expected to be the precursor to the departure of chief executive Graham Wallace. The main virtue of Lapthorne, who chairs the boards of five other companies, is that he has no …

    Business 13 Jan 2003, 09:28

  • Borland ponders strategy for 2003 and 2004

    Getting closer to Microsoft

    Borland Software Corp executives will spend the next three months evaluating the impact of recent acquisitions and plot strategic goals for the company, to be executed in the next two years, writes Gavin Clarke. Fred Ball, Borland vice president of corporate development and mergers and acquisitions, told ComputerWire that …

    Software 13 Jan 2003, 09:28

  • Bull takes fast track to Linux deployment

    Linux Express

    Groupe Bull SA has announced the launch of a new Linux server and software stack called LinuxExpress, which includes hardware, services and open source software for web, groupware, application servers, and high availability. The Paris, France-based company's Linux hardware and software stack is based on the Express5800 Intel …

    Servers 13 Jan 2003, 09:29

  • Recycling activists condemn US PC makers

    Should do better. Much better

    US technology companies have been criticised for failing to match their foreign counterparts when it comes to electronics recycling and reducing hazardous waste. The latest annual report from recycling proponents Computer TakeBack Campaign accused many American computer manufacturers of not doing enough to reduce "e-waste" and …

    Personal 13 Jan 2003, 09:37

  • Sun to put Pirus switches inside arrays

    Greased Lightning

    Sun Microsystems is planning to integrate the hardware it gained with the purchase of smart storage switching start-up Pirus Networks Inc with what it described as "large scale" disk arrays - which is likely to mean the high-end Hitachi Lightning arrays it resells under its own brand. "We'll take the data services platform and …

    Storage 13 Jan 2003, 09:38

  • PS2 breaks sales records

    6.5m units sold in December

    PlayStation 2 sold more than 6.5 million units worldwide during the month spanning Thanksgiving and Christmas, compared to five million units during the same period the previous year, Sony says. Once again Sony has rewritten the book on the console market, breaking nearly every record associated with hardware sales in Japan, …

    Personal 13 Jan 2003, 09:46

  • Heathrow thieves nick £6.2m of Intel chips

    Then leave £1.5m-worth behind

    A £6.2m consignment of Intel chips was stolen under the nose of a courier at Heathrow airport yesterday. Thieves made away with the vehicle containing the chips, after it was left unattended for 'a few moments' in a loading area. The vehicle was later found abandoned in nearby Feltham, with £1.5m worth of chips, said to be …

    Channel 13 Jan 2003, 10:10

  • Case vacates AOL Time Warner chair

    Toodle pip

    Steve Case is to quit his position as chairman of AOL Time Warner in May claiming his departure is in the "best interest of the company". Mr Case - one of the architects of the merger between AOL and Time Warner - has become the focus of criticism for many after the giant merger failed to deliver the predicted benefits for …

    Business 13 Jan 2003, 10:24

  • Friends Reunited up for sale

    £25m+ price tag

    Friends Reunited is up for sale and there's a £25m+ price tag on its head. The school and college reunion site has appointed BDO Stoy Hayward to find a trade buyer or a management buy-in team, and the process is "quite advanced", co-founder Stephen Pankhurst told the Sunday Times yesterday. The Pankhursts and fellow founder …

    Media 13 Jan 2003, 10:56

  • HP ‘misled’ court over disk drive defects

    Legal cudgels are out

    California's attorney general has accused Hewlett-Packard of misleading court investigators by hiring its expert witness in a case concerning defective floppy disk controllers found in millions of PCs. HP paid $27.5m in 2000 to license a patented floppy disk controller software patch from Philip Adams, the expert witness, the …

    Personal 13 Jan 2003, 11:38

  • Public overwhelmingly supports ID cards, claims UK.gov

    Consultation pre-result spin machine cranks into action

    The British public is voting enthusiastically for ID cards, claims Home Office minister and long-standing Blair bagman Lord Falconer. Or at least, the "around 1,500 people and organisations [who] have sent in their comments" to the current consultation exercise have split two to one in favour, while "450 volunteers" who're …

    Security 13 Jan 2003, 14:07

  • NTL quits Chapter 11

    'New beginning'

    NTL has finally - finally - emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The UK cableco has been split into two and now consists of NTL Incorporated (formerly known as NTL Communications Corp and made up of NTL's UK and Ireland businesses) and NTL Europe (which includes the company's European operation and other minority …

    Business 13 Jan 2003, 14:24

  • Today's latest mass mailing worm

    Sobig - so blinking annoying

    There's precious little sign of any let-up on the virus front, with the emergence of a new mass-mailing worm. The (perhaps aptly) named Sobig-A is a mass-mailing worm that incorporates an SMTP engine. The worm spread rapidly across the Internet last weekend, after first appearing on Thursday morning. Managed services firm …

    Security 13 Jan 2003, 14:26

  • Reg branded Yo-Yos – we kid you not

    New year madness at Cash'n'Carrion

    If we asked readers to nominate the most unlikely product for Reg branding, it's likely that a Yo-Yo would be close to the top of the list. And condoms of course, but that's stretching it a bit, even for us. So, after due consideration, we decided not to penetrate the prophylactic market, but rather push back the envelope of …

    Site News 13 Jan 2003, 14:27

  • BT runs ADSL price promo

    Limited time offer

    BT Retail, the customer-facing part of the monster telco, has finally decided to pass on price cuts to its broadband consumers - cuts announced by BT's wholesale division last year. The promo runs until the end of March and applies to punters signing up to the no-frills access-only BT Broadband service and the ISP product from …

    Broadband 13 Jan 2003, 14:33

  • Chapter One: Kevin Mitnick's story

    Here it is

    Kevin Mitnick's 'lost' bio Chapter One: Kevin's Story I was reluctant to write this section because I was sure it would sound self-serving. Well, okay, it is self-serving. But I've been contacted by literally hundreds of people who want to know "who is Kevin Mitnick." For those who don't give a damn, please turn to Chapter 2. …

    Security 13 Jan 2003, 14:55

  • Kevin Mitnick's ‘lost’ bio

    Personal story axed by publisher

    The recent book "The Art of Deception" by Kevin Mitnick and co-author William Simon is without question the most readable and enjoyable text on computer security that I've ever encountered. While certainly no slouch in the realm of technological attacks, Mitnick's special gift and greatest weapon has been the art of social …

    Security 13 Jan 2003, 14:56

  • Feds seek public input on hacker sentencing

    Penalty kicks

    Sick and tired of a revolving door justice system that lets hackers skate with just a few measly years in prison? Or do you think that the courts are already too hard on online miscreants who sometimes go up the creek for longer than many killers? Either way, the U.S. government wants to hear from you. Last week the …

    Security 13 Jan 2003, 15:13

  • Freeserve signs up new broadband support opo

    Adieu Dixons

    Freeserve has signed up a Hartlepool-based company to provide support for its broadband customers after ending a contract with Dixons. Garlands Call Centre is understood to be taking-over the running of Freeserve's broadband support service from the end of March, although the hand-over is expected to begin later this month. …

    Broadband 13 Jan 2003, 16:06

  • US.mil launches Operation Desert Spam

    Propaganda: the killer email app

    The US has launched a spam offensive in the hopes of persuading senior Iraqi officials to defect. A senior unnamed US military official told CNN that thousands of email messages have been sent out since last Thursday, when the unconventional campaign began. "This is just the beginning of a psychological warfare campaign," he …

    Media 13 Jan 2003, 19:38

  • SCO says it has made no decision on Unix IP

    Righteous indignation

    A story at Linux Business Week, originally published by Client Server News, raised a ruckus in the Linux community. SCO, it said, had drafted a press release that detailed plans to cash in on its Unix patents, either by charging an extra license fee to users of its Linux distribution, or by "pressing infringement claims" …

    Software 13 Jan 2003, 22:20

  • AOL lifts Demon spam ban

    Purgatory

    AOL lifted a block on email from ISP Demon this afternoon, after a sudden surge of spam messages provoked AOL into rejecting all email from Demon users last Friday. In a notice to its users on Friday, Demon admitted that its users were unable to send email to a "small number of other ISPs" because of measures introduced after …

    Media 13 Jan 2003, 22:25