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24th June 2005 Archive

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  • EC backs inflight mobile calls

    Crazy Frog coming to a seat near you

    European aviation authorities say that mobile phones would improve security on commercial air flights without posing a safety risk to the passengers on-board. The findings are included in a little-known report entitled "Certification Considerations for Cellular Telephone Systems in Civil Transport Aircraft," which was published …

    Mobile 24 Jun 2005, 06:02

  • UN declares peace on the internet

    Blue berets to replace tinfoil hats?

    The United Nations has declared peace on the internet. The Working Group on Internet Governance, currently studying the problems of spam, network security and cyber-crime, will submit its report to Kofi Annan ahead of a world summit on information later this year. Although those involved will not discuss the content of the …

    Music and Media 24 Jun 2005, 06:02

  • BT agrees to give LLU chance to thrive

    Hands off

    BT has signalled its commitment to making local loop unbundling (LLU) work in the UK by promising not to cut charges for its wholesale broadband products until there are 1.5m unbundled lines in the UK. The move is designed to give local loop unbundling LLU - the process by which rival operators install their own kit in BT …

    Telecoms 24 Jun 2005, 06:02

  • Electronic forgery menaces humanity

    Bite you in the rear

    Electronic forgery is becoming a greater risk as more company information is stored electronically. But many organisations are ignoring the issue. About 80 per cent of all company information is stored electronically, according to Fran Howarth, Security Practice Leader at Bloor Research, yet the most valuable and sensitive …

    Security 24 Jun 2005, 06:02

  • Bango floats

    Splendid

    Bango - the UK outfit that helps companies flog content via mobile phones - has raised around £7m following its debut on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM). The IPO values Bango at £35m as it looks to capitalise on the increased interest in flogging content via mobiles. The cash raised from the IPO is to be used to …

    Financial News 24 Jun 2005, 06:02

  • MySQL Design and Tuning

    Site Offer Save 30% on knowledge from the experts

    More and more large organizations such as Yahoo!, Cisco and Google are adopting MySQL as a solution for their database management needs. Many of the applications being built for these companies using MySQL's technology are mission-critical and accordingly, they need to get the best reliability and performance MySQL offers. …

    Site News 24 Jun 2005, 07:32

  • Elpida touts 'first' 2Gb DDR 2 chip

    Volume production next year

    Elpida has developed a 2Gb DDR 2 SDRAM chip - the highest capacity part of its kind, it claims. However, don't expect to get hold of one until next year. The 2Gb part is the company's first 80nm chip, a process that paves the way for DDR 2 clocked at 800MHz and up. It also allows the die to be fitted inside a typical 68-pin …

    Servers 24 Jun 2005, 08:53

  • DRAM price slump pitches Micron into the red

    Not a good Q3

    Micron blamed falling DRAM prices for plunging into the red in Q3. The US memory maker lost $128m (20 cents a share) for the quarter ended 2 June - doing much worse than analyst forecasts of two cents a share for the quarter. Wall Street's estimate was well below the $118m (17 cents a share) income Micron posted for the …

    Channel Register 24 Jun 2005, 09:00

  • AOL UK to charge for tech support

    What would Connie say?

    AOL UK is to start charging customers who call its customer and technical support helplines. The ISP intends to charge its customers up to 7.5p a minute depending on the time of day. The new charges come into effect on August 1 and are believed to be the first time AOL UK has made its punters pay for calling its helplines. …

    Telecoms 24 Jun 2005, 09:05

  • Toshiba to fight 'unjust' Lexar trial verdict

    Flash the cash

    Toshiba's new chairman has vowed to fight a California court ruling that the Japanese giant stole trade secrets from rival manufacturer Lexar. Incoming chairman Tadashi Okamura, until today Toshiba's president, told shareholders that the March ruling was "totally unjust". He said the company was considering its "legal response …

    Channel Register 24 Jun 2005, 09:10

  • Sony UK denies grey PSP confiscation claims

    'Absolutely not going after consumers'

    Sony's European PlayStation division, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) has denied it has any plans to grab PlayStation Portables from UK punters who bought their consoles from unofficial importers. "We're absolutely not going after consumers - that's not our objective at all," an SCEE spokesman said yesterday, …

    Consoles 24 Jun 2005, 10:18

  • Battery-boosting body offers fuel cell advice

    What to do if you want to run a notebook for 24 hours

    The Intel-backed Mobile PC Extended Battery Life Working Group has published guidelines for vendors keen to create fuel cells to power portable PCs. The document is intended to provide fuel-cell developers will details of the devices their products will have to power, whether the cells will sit inside the devices in place of …

    System Builder 24 Jun 2005, 10:23

  • Aussies prosecute first 'spammer'

    A biggie, they say

    Australia is prosecuting the first alleged spammer under its new-ish Spam Act. The Australian Communications Authority (ACA) accuses Perth-based Clarity1 of sending at least 56 million junk emails since the Spam Act came into force in April last year. And it accuses the company and its managing director, Wayne Mansfield, of …

    Spam 24 Jun 2005, 11:03

  • Storage vendors suffer vertical vertigo

    Analysis Content industry upright on DRM

    Los Angeles! New York! Paris, France! Berlin! London! Like the leaders of a pair of heavy metal rock bands pimping their new album, the big names from Seagate and Hitachi have been touring the world these past couple of weeks, touting their latest wonder - the Defeat of Superparamagnetism. (Be honest, you can imagine a vinyl LP …

    Storage 24 Jun 2005, 11:25

  • C&W eyes Energis for 'takeover'

    'Advanced stage'

    Cable & Wireless (C&W) and Energis are reportedly holding behind-the-scenes talks that could lead to the eventual merger of the two UK telcos. The Independent reports that talks are at an "advanced stage". If C&W does go-ahead and complete the take-over it would create a telecoms company with sales of around £2.3bn. Through …

    Financial News 24 Jun 2005, 11:33

  • US rules all porn is child porn

    Prove otherwise

    All pornography in the US is now effectively classified as child pornography, unless providers can prove the ages of everyone taking part. The law, which requires porn producers to hold copies of all actors' photo ID for seven years, has been in place for some time, but as of 23 June, the rule was extended to cover online …

    Music and Media 24 Jun 2005, 12:47

  • German soldier wins software right of conscience

    Now, about that mullet

    A German court has backed an army officer who had a conscientious objection to developing software he thought might be used in the Iraq war. Reuters reports that a major in the Bundeswehr’s IT arm refused to work on an IT project that he felt might concievebly aid the US-UK war in Iraq. While the German government was dead set …

    Music and Media 24 Jun 2005, 13:05

  • Samsung E720 MP3 phone

    Review Small yet feature-packed?

    Samsung knows how to pack small handsets with lots of features and the E720 clamshell phone is no exception. It is one of the few new handsets to offer extra features without a penalty when it comes to size, writes Debbie Davies. The stylish, two-tone phone weighs a tiny 90g and measures 9 x 4.5 x 2.3cm. It fits well in the …

    Reviews 24 Jun 2005, 13:08

  • TV licence needed for TV-to-mobile services

    Depends

    O2 is due to begin trials of broadcasting TV-to-mobiles next month as part of a deal with cableco NTL. Performance testing is due to get underway shortly before 350 punters in Oxford get the chance to view TV on the move from September. Elsewhere, Virgin kicked off trials of its TV-to-mobile service earlier this month - …

    Mobile 24 Jun 2005, 14:15

  • Dutch AG pressures Lycos in ID disclosure case

    Stamp spat case closely watched by anti-piracy groups

    ISP Lycos may have to reveal the name of a Dutch (Lycos) website owner who ridiculed a part-time stamp trader, at least according to the Dutch Advocate General. Dutch citizen Bernard Pessers traded postage stamps through auction site eBay and was accused of fraud by an anonymous Lycos member on his home page. Pessers wasn't …

    Music and Media 24 Jun 2005, 14:39

  • Firemen challenge £31m planned IT bill

    Money that could save lives

    The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has accused the government of wasting money on expensive IT consultants instead of ploughing funds into the fire service itself. Information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) reveals that £31.1m has been budgeted for IT consultants, as …

    IT Director 24 Jun 2005, 15:37

  • Judge slates Customs in £120m VAT fraud case

    HMRC says lessons will be learned

    HM Revenue and Customs insisted today that it would press on with its attempts to crack down on VAT fraud after a judge’s withering criticism of its handling of one prosecution. Five Manchester-based businessmen accused of a £120m VAT fraud centring on imported mobile phones were freed last month, after Mr Justice Crane stayed …

    Financial News 24 Jun 2005, 16:40

  • Yahoo sued by child abuse victim

    Is the buck stopping?

    Yahoo is facing a $10m lawsuit from a victim of child abuse who claims pictures of their abuse were distributed by the firm. Adam Voyles, partner at Heard, Robins, Cloud & Lubel, told the Reg he represents a child who was molested and pictures of that molestation were distributed to the Candyman website, which was hosted by …

    Music and Media 24 Jun 2005, 16:45

  • Microsoft software partner finds Microsoft software cheaper than Linux

    'Independent' study reveals Linux patch hell

    Microsoft has bankrolled another "independent" study that happened to turn up some interesting results. Namely that Microsoft's software is less expensive to patch than open source products. The study was run by Indian consulting and services giant Wipro Technologies, which surveyed 90 companies in the US and Europe. But, while …

    Hardware 24 Jun 2005, 16:51

  • IP, U-P, we all P together

    Letters Except Firefox users. Excluded again

    This week's letters round up has a distinct IP/Piracy/RIAA flavour to it, but with some interesting diversions, to save us all from being too angry on a Friday afternoon. Let's start business with your thoughts on the poor poverty stricken music business and its high priced lawyers: So while the industry is chasing 12yo girls …

    Letters 24 Jun 2005, 17:04

  • Sun layoffs hit hundreds in US

    Canada and Latin America losses too

    Sun Microsystems has laid off several hundred workers in the US, Canada and Latin America, as it continues to try and cut costs, El Reg can confirm. Sources this week told The Register that engineering and sales staffers were particularly hard hit by the most recent cuts. Sun declined to provide specific details on what areas …

    Hardware 24 Jun 2005, 17:55

  • Shareholders approve Symantec and Veritas marriage

    No dogs or poets harmed

    Symantec and Veritas shareholders today gave the go ahead for the merger of the two software companies. At a special meeting, Symantec revealed that 95 per cent of the votes cast were in favor of its purchase of Veritas - an all-stock deal originally tagged at $13.5bn. Veritas watched as 98 per cent of the votes cast by its …

    Hardware 24 Jun 2005, 19:31

  • Geeks should 'outsource themselves' - Mongolian BoFH

    Comment Can do spirit ordered in China

    It's hot hiring time in China now! If you want to have a paid vacation for 6 months or 1 year, think about coming to China! Your English skills and IT skills are in demand right now. Since I finished my last round of graduate school a few years ago, I have had some chances to live a Gypsy lifestyle, traveling around the world …

    Hardware 24 Jun 2005, 20:09

  • RIM lawsuit: all over bar the judgment?

    USPTO nullifies NTP patents

    The US Patent Office has struck down two more patents held by the IP company NTP, which has been a costly thorn in the side of Research in Motion. Seven out of eight patents that formed the core of NTP's litigation have now been invalidated. A settlement formed in March this year saw RIM agree to pay $450m to license the …

    Financial News 24 Jun 2005, 21:37

  • PayPal founder on Google's Wallet

    What to do, what not to do

    Max Levchin co-founded PayPal in 1998, and saw it through a public flotation and its acquisition by eBay for $1.5bn in 2002. He now heads his own incubator, MRL Ventures. So Google has a finance company. What now? I prefer to think of PayPal as a risk management business, but that's a separate point. Assuming what has been …

    Financial News 24 Jun 2005, 23:10

  • Sun and EMC form broad technology pact. No, really

    Support deal backs Solaris x86

    Sometime lovers, sometime fighters Sun Microsystems and EMC made this the feel good week of the year for the two companies by announcing a broad technology collaboration. EMC has agreed to support Sun's new Solaris 10 operating system across its line of storage hardware. That's hardly a surprise given that EMC sells millions of …

    Servers 24 Jun 2005, 23:13