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3rd March 2006 Archive

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  • The big DRM mistake

    Comment It just doesn't make sense...

    Digital Rights Managements hurts paying customers, destroys Fair Use rights, renders customers' investments worthless, and can always be defeated. Why are consumers and publishers being forced to use DRM? One of my favorite magazines is The New Yorker. I've been reading it for years, and it never fails to impress me with its …

    Media 3 Mar 2006, 11:00

  • Euro unions eye Indian closed shop

    Our offshore brothers

    A delegation of European unions will tour Indian call centres next week to investigate an industry scheme to register the country's call centre employees in a biometric database. Visiting under the umbrella of Union Network International (UNI), a workers' association, they will also be checking on working conditions and …

    Management 3 Mar 2006, 12:49

  • HP and Oracle committed to Itanic

    CEO love

    Intel pulled in top executives from Hewlett Packard and Oracle on Wednesday to pledge undying commitment to Itanic despite having "screwed" HP over use of its newest version of the chip in the latest Integrity servers. The chip giant's president and chief executive Paul Otellini rallied HP's Mark Hurd and Oracle's Larry Ellison …

    Servers 3 Mar 2006, 12:50

  • Microsoft lashes out at EU 'conspiracy'

    Infamy. They've all got it infamy

    With decision day about a penalty fine looming, Microsoft has accused the European Union of ganging up with its rivals against it. The complaint alleges that EU anti-trust staff had "inappropriate" contacts with consultant Neil Barrett, and rivals including Sun, IBM, Oracle and Novell. "The commission, the trustee, and …

    Software 3 Mar 2006, 12:56

  • Next-gen video iPod to launch 'March/April'

    With a 4in display, apparently

    Apple's upcoming video-oriented iPod will sport a 4in widescreen display, with the height of the landscape-oriented unit comparable to existing iPods' widths, presumably to allow it to use Apple's 'universal' dock. According to a ThinkSecret report, the movie player could be announced as early as the end of the month or the …

    Hardware 3 Mar 2006, 13:11

  • World chips sales beat seasonal downturn

    Traditional decline lower than anticipated

    Global chip sales totalled $19.66bn in January, the US-based Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said last night. The figure's seven per cent up on January 2005's $18.38bn total, but 1.5 per cent down on the $19.95bn sales recorded for December 2005, though a month-on-month decline is a traditional feature of the market at …

    Hardware 3 Mar 2006, 13:17

  • Office formats alliance opens for business

    Spreading the word

    Microsoft Office is facing an organized challenge from an alliance of government bodies and IT vendors that are promoting OpenDocument Format (ODF). Thirty-five organizations including IBM, Sun Microsystems, Red Hat, Oracle and Novell, plus international government representatives, are to start the Open Document Format Alliance …

    Software 3 Mar 2006, 13:19

  • Homeland Security report tracks down rogue open source code

    Coverity does the numbers

    The authors of a US government-sponsored report claim to have delivered the first reliable guide into judging the safety and reliability of open source software. The report, backed by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has evaluated 31 popular open source packages searching for defects that will cause "hard crashes …

    Software 3 Mar 2006, 13:29

  • Meet Mickey and Daffy: Pluto's new moons

    Letters Plus: pedants form queue to kick El Reg

    It's Friday, so we'll kick off this round up of the very best our bulging mailbag has to offer with a bit of light relief, viz: names for Pluto's new moons: Hi, Who or what are "Tracey and Chardonney"? (mentioned at the bottom of the letters page). A search on google only gives back 289 hits, none of the early hits are …

    Letters 3 Mar 2006, 13:34

  • XGI turns away from desktop graphics - report

    ATI out to acquire it?

    Graphics chip maker XGI has said it is to move away from desktop products and focus instead on embedded and server applications. The statement, made yesterday, came amid claims the company was about to be bought by ATI, and follows 3Dlabs decision to focus on embedded and mobile phone graphics chips. “XGI has decided to move …

    Hardware 3 Mar 2006, 13:38

  • How the digital revolution screwed songwriters. Twice.

    DMF Slicing the pie

    This may not be news to most of you, but in light of DiMA's Jonathan Potter blaming music publishers for the sorry state of digital downloads, it's a topical reminder. Music companies - and we blur the distinction deliberately for the moment, for the sake of simplicity - paid songwriters in two ways. For what they called ' …

    Media 3 Mar 2006, 13:43

  • Nvidia posts H.264 HD video decode tool

    PureVideo Decoder available at three price-points

    Nvidia has posted software that allows certain GeForce graphics chips to decode video encoded using H.264 format. But it wants up to $49.95 for the Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center plug-in. The PureVideo Decoder software allows systems containing a GeForce 7 series, GeForce 6 series - mobile and desktop - or …

    Hardware 3 Mar 2006, 13:46

  • UK monolingualism spurs Amazon shift to Ireland

    Another kick in the teeth for Slough

    Amazon has decided to relocate its customer service centre to Cork in a bid to take advantage of stronger language skills in Ireland. The workforce in perennial joke-butt Slough doesn't have the necessary polyglotism required to deal with calls from all over Europe, it says. Headquarters will stay in Slough, but 90 call centre …

    Media 3 Mar 2006, 13:46

  • 'Keylogger text' spooks Symantec

    Boo to a (Norton) ghost

    Script kiddies have latched onto a minor glitch in Symantec security software to boot users off Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channels. Typing “startkeylogger” or “stopkeylogger” in an IRC channel results in the involuntary logoff of users of Norton Firewall and Norton Internet Security suites, The Washington Post reports. The …

    Security 3 Mar 2006, 13:50

  • European Digital Library is go

    EC studies copyright issues of putting 6m books online

    More than 6m books and other culturally significant works are to go online via the European Digital Library over the next five years. The ambitious scheme will involve establishing centres throughout Europe dedicated to rendering works in a digital format, partially funded by the European Commission. The commission plans to …

    Media 3 Mar 2006, 13:52

  • BOFH: A change in tone

    Episode 9 Insert this, way up

    "Is it a full moon?" I ask the PFY disgustedly as I put the phone down for the third time this morning. "Could be," the PFY says, deleting a swathe of jobs from the helpdesk system. "What could be?" the new Boss asks, fresh back from his course on helping people the IT way. "A full moon," I reply. "Why?" he asks, smiling …

    BOFH 3 Mar 2006, 14:07

  • Telescopes: 'worthless'

    The cost of budget flights

    A top Cambridge astronomer has warned that star-gazing will be impossible by the middle of this century. Professor Gerry Gilmore said ground-based telescopes would be "worthless" if cheap air travel continues to boom and climate change increases cloud cover as predicted. He said to reporters: "You either give up your cheap …

    Science 3 Mar 2006, 14:10

  • DoJ 'to probe music download pricing'

    Spitzer enquiry proving fruitful?

    US Department of Justice investigators have begun to probe major music labels' download pricing policies, sources close to the world's four biggest recording companies told Billboard magazine. According to the report, the DoJ has started sending out subpoenas to Warner Music Group, EMI, Sony BMG and Universal Music Group, …

    Media 3 Mar 2006, 14:21

  • Intel to unveil ultra-mobile PC on 7 March

    Intel Developer Forum opening salvo?

    Intel appears to be preparing to launch is ultra-mobile PC on 7 March, if the umpc.com website is anything to go by. The date is just two days before the deadline set by Microsoft's Origami Project website for more information about the Windows XP-based consumer-friendly tablet PC. In August 2005, Intel announced its new …

    Hardware 3 Mar 2006, 14:43

  • Schmidt says Google could hit a hundred billion

    A hundred billion of what?

    Google promised Wall St the world yesterday, as it sought to steady nervy analysts who have wiped billions of its stock value in recent weeks. CEO Eric Schmidt lifted the roof of the Googleplex a touch when he told a meeting of analysts he reckoned the firm could become a $100bn company, the Associated Press reports. However, …

    Financial News 3 Mar 2006, 14:47

  • Dotcom contract 'undermines' ICANN's integrity

    Board member lashes out at decision

    The new dotcom contract undermines ICANN's integrity and "poses unacceptable risks to the values that underly ICANN's mission", one of the internet watchdog's own board members said. In statements released today over the controversial contract passed earlier this week, new member Susan Crawford pulled no punches in her …

    Media 3 Mar 2006, 15:03

  • Korea may probe Samsung, Hynix price-fix claims

    Local Fair Trade Commission ponders move

    The South Korean government may be about to investigate claims that local memory makers Samsung and Hynix conspired to fix memory prices, a senior official from the nation's Fair Trade Commission has suggested. The move follows the announcement this week that four Hynix executives have agreed to plead guilty to US Department …

    Hardware 3 Mar 2006, 15:11

  • Ofcom publishes media literacy audit

    Noo meejuh

    Ofcom has published the results of a survey assessing the extent of media literacy in the UK. It finds that media platforms are seen mainly in 'traditional' terms, with little widespread recognition of their wider digital functions. Ofcom, as telecommunications regulator, is obliged by the Communications Act of 2003 to promote …

    Networks 3 Mar 2006, 15:16

  • Oscars in HD?

    Geek TV Maybe next year...

    And the Oscar for best HD movie line-up goes to... Sky, which has now secured a batch of Disney films to add to its various HD channels. But you know how Oscar-winning movies often aren't out in the UK for ages after the red carpet has been mothballed? Well, in tribute to the Oscars, Sky is making us wait before we can see the …

    Bootnotes 3 Mar 2006, 15:20

  • Intel cuts Q1 sales forecast

    Cites 'slight' market share loss

    Intel has warned that its first-quarter sales will not meet its expectations, thanks not only to demand proving less substantial than the chip giant had anticipated, but - AMD watchers will love this - a "slight market segment share loss". Intel didn't say which segment of the market it has lost market share in. Instead, it …

    Hardware 3 Mar 2006, 15:30

  • US Robotics flies in Skype-branded speakerphone

    Voip-tastic

    Yes, it looks like something that landed near Roswell, but this Skype-certified speakerphone will land in the UK later this month, its manufacturer, US Robotics, said this week. Officially dubbed the USR9610, the £50 gadget connects to a host PC's USB port and then via the VoIP network to callers around the globe. The unit …

    Hardware 3 Mar 2006, 16:12

  • US jury convicts animal rights extremists

    SHAC attack

    A federal jury has found six animal rights protestors guilty of using their website to incite attacks on the operations of animal testing company Huntingdon Life Sciences. They face jail time of up to 23 years and hefty fines. The six were charged with violating the US' Animal Enterprise Protection Act. During the trial, held …

    Science 3 Mar 2006, 16:20

  • Permanent Pat Act a done deal as Senate caves

    Signed, sealed, delivered next week

    The US Senate has approved a new version of the so-called "Patriot" Act at last, by a vote of 89-10. After months of stalling and pointless posturing that made two temporary extensions of the previous version necessary, Senators knuckled down and gave the Bush Administration what it has been asking for all along. Although the …

    Media 3 Mar 2006, 16:29

  • Science reporting in sensationalism shocker!

    Daily Mail takes a whipping

    A Blairite thinktank has criticised the media's treatment of science stories. The Daily Mail came in for particular bashing for its whipping-up of the MMR controversy. The Social Market Foundation's pamphlet "Science, Risk and the Media: Do the front pages reflect reality?" calls for caution in science reporting. They say …

    Science 3 Mar 2006, 16:35

  • PCs not dull, admits Apple UK

    Even though Apple US says they are...

    Apple UK doesn't believe PCs are as naff as its Stateside parent company does. Don't believe us? Just take a look at the company's TV adverts for Intel-based Macs. In the original, US-oriented ad, Apple takes a dig at "dull" PCs, but in the version cleared for UK audiences the d-word is peculiarly absent. Compare and contrast …

    Hardware 3 Mar 2006, 16:59

  • SGI kicks off new era by firing 12% of its staff

    Nice to meet you. Here's a pink slip

    SGI's new CEO has wasted no time performing a major shakeup at the server company. Moves announced today include substantial layoffs, executive departures and SGI's plans to tweak its server business. SGI will fire close to 12 per cent of its workforce - 250 staffers - in the hopes of saving some extra cash. Word of the layoffs …

    Management 3 Mar 2006, 18:35

  • Mexicans are not smart or fragrant enough to defeat the Asian peril

    Stern response Defeatist doom

    Last week, I wrote about the need for the likes of Wal-Mart and Dell to set up engineering and computer science training centers in Mexico. This proposal - which is the only way the US can defeat the growing Asian peril - has been well received. Many of you, however, have raised questions about the intellectual prowess of our …

    Letters 3 Mar 2006, 20:04

  • RIM puts $613m settlement in motion

    CrackBerry dealer pays NTP

    CrackBerry users will not have to face the pains of messaging withdrawal thanks to a $613m settlement between Research in Motion (RIM) and NTP. RIM paid up to settle all patent infringement claims made by NTP. In addition, it has acquired a perpetual license for NTP's IP. Blackberry users everywhere will rejoice as it appeared …

    Financial News 3 Mar 2006, 23:34