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21st December 2004 Archive

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  • Labour's Zombie Army clinches ID card vote for Clarke

    The Commons at its spinelest...

    Britain's compulsory ID card scheme won a large majority in a Commons vote last night, with 385 MPs voting for and 93 against. The opposition consisted of all 55 Liberal Democrats, 19 Labour and nine Tories, but although the latter two figures are lower than might have been expected, 173 MPs were either absent or abstained, …

    Music and Media 21 Dec 2004, 09:12

  • Nvidia to pitch NV48 at ATI's R520

    Battle royale in Q2 2005, apparently

    Nvidia will launch against ATI's next-generation high-end graphics chip, the R520, in Q2 2005. So claim sources from among Taiwan's graphics card manufacturer community, cited by DigiTimes. They also allege that the part, codenamed NV48, will be fabbed by TSMC at 110nm, and not by IBM. The sources claim the move is a result of …

    System Builder 21 Dec 2004, 09:48

  • Munich asks ministers to drop EU patent vote

    More last minute changes

    The vote on the European Directive on software patents has, at the last minute, been moved to the afternoon session on the Agricultural and Fisheries Commission's meeting. The vote is now scheduled for around 3pm, Brussels time. The change in schedule follows a statement (pdf, in German) from the Mayor of Munich, calling on …

    Developer 21 Dec 2004, 10:01

  • Germany bans 'Intel only' IT tenders

    Government procurers will have to be more CPU agnostic

    Germany has modified its IT procurement policies in a bid to end projects being put out to tender with Intel processors as a pre-requisite. The move follows the European Commission's call for an end to such limitations within IT contracts. The EC even went as far as to threaten legal action against European Union member states …

    Public Sector 21 Dec 2004, 10:35

  • Security holes that run deep

    How a simple bug betrays Microsoft's disdain for basic best practice principles

    A couple of months ago, Toby Beaumont reported an ASP.NET vulnerability that, depending on the server configuration, allowed anyone to completely bypass user authentication and access protected files. Microsoft quickly provided a fix and the issue passed without much fanfare, mostly because the flaw wasn't widely exploited, and …

    Enterprise Security 21 Dec 2004, 11:02

  • EA to buy 20% of Ubisoft - report

    Consolidation comes to games publishing biz

    Electronic Arts is to buy a big chunk of Ubisoft, paying $85-100m for a 20 per cent stake in the French games publisher. So says today's Wall Street Journal, though neither company has yet to comment formally on the claim. Earlier this year, EA CEO Larry Probst forecast the games industry would see further consolidation over …

    Financial News 21 Dec 2004, 11:02

  • Rogue pharmacies still thriving

    Fake medicines and identity theft

    Pills peddlers, selling medicines with "no prior prescription required", are still thriving on the net, leaving thousands of patients at risk. They often use web sites without proper contact details; let you fill in flimsy online questionnaires to justify the prescriptions; hire spammers or hail products such as "Generic Viagra …

    Music and Media 21 Dec 2004, 11:04

  • Unions back Lucent pay deal

    Up the workers

    Workers at Lucent have agreed to a new pay and conditions settlement that will, union officials say, give them greater job security. Two unions - the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) - have ratified the deal which runs until 2012. Some 3,400 installers, …

    Channel 21 Dec 2004, 11:06

  • Internet logs nail fetus snatcher

    Forced Caesarian adoption none too clever

    A grotesque crime in which a pregnant woman was murdered and her fetus snatched and adopted by another has been solved quickly, thanks to the enormous amount of electronic evidence the murderer left behind. Lisa Montgomery, 36, of Melvern, Kansas arranged the fatal meeting with her victim, Bobbie Jo Stinnett, 23, via e-mail and …

    Music and Media 21 Dec 2004, 11:08

  • Iomega unveils 400GB, Firewire 800 drive

    Firewire 400, USB 2.0 built in too

    Iomega has started shipping external hard drives that incorporate a Firewire 800 interface, the storage specialist announced today. The launch also adds a 400GB unit to the top end of the company's desktop hard drive line. Available in three capacities - 400GB, 250GB and 160GB - the external units also sport more commonplace …

    Storage 21 Dec 2004, 11:41

  • European court to rule on MS sanctions

    To lift or not to lift...

    Microsoft will hear tomorrow whether or not it has been successful in the first stage of its appeal against that antitrust sanctions imposed upon it by the European Competition Commission. Back in March, the Commission ruled that Microsoft had abused its monopoly. It imposed a fine of almost $650m, and instructed the company to …

    Operating Systems 21 Dec 2004, 11:53

  • Sony denies plasma TV pull-out

    No early withdrawal

    Sony has denied allegations that it is planning to pull out of the plasma display TV market in a bid to cuts costs and improve profitability. "We will continue production and sales of plasma televisions," the Japanese electronics giant said today in a statement. That contradicts a report in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun earlier …

    Peripherals 21 Dec 2004, 12:07

  • Cisco Networking specials for less

    Reg offer Save 30% on Cisco guides & more

    This week we've got a huge selection of titles from Cisco Press. Whether you're on the Cisco Networking Academy Program, installing a Wireless LAN or just starting out with TCP/IP, we've got guides to cover it all, and they're all reduced by 30%. TCP/IP First-Step RRP £21.99 - Reg price - £15.39 - Saving £6.60 (30%) This …

    Site News 21 Dec 2004, 12:15

  • Skype ties up with C&W

    While C&W helps keep beer flowing this Xmas

    Skype has inked new call-termination agreements with Cable & Wireless and Luxembourg's B3G Telecom Technologies. The Internet telephony outfit already has such deals in place with the likes of iBasis, Level3 and Teleglobe, who now provide global termination services for its SkypeOut service, which lets users make calls to …

    Mobile 21 Dec 2004, 12:24

  • Cisco pays $65m for Protego

    Keeping tabs on security threats

    Cisco yesterday announced a deal to acquire security start-up Protego Networks for approximately $65m in cash. Protego's line of security monitoring and threat management appliances will be used to bolster Cisco's security portfolio. Cisco said the "ability of Protego's products to detect, correlate and mitigate threats in the …

    Enterprise Security 21 Dec 2004, 13:26

  • Auto makers to create car-to-car WLAN by 2006

    Cure for [insert name of nation noted for poor motoring skills] drivers

    Car makers BMW, Audi, Daimler Chrysler, Volkswagen, Renault and Fiat have won a German government grant to help develop the basis for a standard method for car-to-car wireless data. The money will be used by Network on Wheels (NOW), a project run out of the University of Mannheim with the participation of Karlsruhe Technical …

    Wireless 21 Dec 2004, 13:38

  • Poland halts software patent directive

    As if by magic...

    Against all expectations, the final vote on the European software patents directive was postponed this afternoon. The Polish Minister of Science and Information Technology, Wlodzimierz Marcinski, made a special journey to Brussels to demand that the directive be dropped from the agenda. According to the FFII (Foundation for a …

    Music and Media 21 Dec 2004, 18:50

  • ABN Amro slashes IT workforce

    One in four techies to lose jobs

    IT workers will be hit particularly hard by proposed job cuts at ABN Amro. A quarter - 1,200 out of 5,000 full time IT workers at the bank - will lose their jobs over the next 18 months under a proposed restructuring plan. The 1,200 lost IT jobs (achieved through consolidation, partial outsourcing and offshoring) make up a …

    Financial News 21 Dec 2004, 18:53

  • Child porn suspect suicide tally hits 32

    Shame too much to bear

    Thirty-two of the men arrested during UK child porn investigation Operation Ore have committed suicide, police said yesterday. The men were reportedly unable to cope with the shame of their arrests. The revelation has prompted calls that anyone arrested for such offenses be granted anonymity until they are proven to be guilty. …

    Music and Media 21 Dec 2004, 18:57

  • Botnets, phishing and spyware

    2004 in review The year in IT security

    The year 2004 in internet security will probably be best remembered as the year the profit motive became a primary driver for the creation of computer viruses. 2004 also saw several high-profile arrests, making it one of the most successful years in the fight against cybercrime with a number of high profile arrests. Home PCs …

    Malware 21 Dec 2004, 23:35

  • Botnet used to boost online gaming scores

    Exclusive Randex worm shenanigans

    Teenagers convicted last week of setting up a huge network of compromised Windows PCs used it to gain an unfair advantage in online gaming - not to send spam. Detective Sergeant Steve Santorelli, of Scotland Yard's Computer Crime Unit, said the two principal suspects were members of a gaming clan which used illicit access to an …

    Malware 21 Dec 2004, 23:36

  • Santy worm defaces thousands of sites

    PHP exploit

    A worm which attacks web servers running the popular phpBB discussion forum software to deface vulnerable systems spread widely across the net today. The Santy worm searches for vulnerable forum sites using Google. When a suitable target is found, Santy uses a remote exploit to gain access and deface it before resuming its …

    Malware 21 Dec 2004, 23:38