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14th March 2006 Archive

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  • Red Hat OS update goes to 64 CPUs and beyond

    Penguin put on steroid regimen

    Red Hat has shipped a fresh version of its high-end Linux operating system that pushes support for large x86 systems much higher. Customers can now run Red Hat Enterprise Linux on Opteron and Xeon servers with up to 64 logical CPUs. The same processor count now applies for IBM's Power chips too. The small club of Itanium …

    Servers 14 Mar 2006, 00:53

  • Gambling Code of Practice released

    Strict procedures for online operators

    Online gambling operators will have to keep tabs on problem gamblers and advise customers how much time and money they have spent on gambling websites under a draft Code of Practice published by the Gambling Commission on Friday. Conditions and Codes of Practice, which will form part of a major shake up of the entire gambling …

    Media 14 Mar 2006, 09:34

  • Blanket digital licence fails in France

    Carry on pirates, carry on DRM

    Under heavy pressure from the French government, the country's parliament has voted against introducing the world's first blanket licence for sharing digital media. A section that would have permitted internet users to freely exchange copyrighted material, effectively legitimizing file sharing, and hastening the demise of …

    Media 14 Mar 2006, 09:56

  • Passport data checks go live

    Scheme the basis for ID Cards?

    Personal details of passport applicants are being checked against third party databases in a scheme that could provide the basis for ID Cards. A scheme for verifying the personal details of passport applicants, which is intended to provide the basis for an ID Cards checking system, has gone live. The UK Passport Service (UKPS …

    Security 14 Mar 2006, 10:01

  • BSI in breach of own disabled advice

    Standard setter, set thyself

    The British Standards Institute (BSI), which last week joined the campaign for a worldwide web that is accessible to disabled people, has itself got an inaccessible website. The Disability Rights Commission teamed up with the BSI to produce a definitive standard (PAS 78), which was launched last week. The aim of the new …

    Management 14 Mar 2006, 10:04

  • Class action for music downloads

    Too expensive

    San Diego lawyers and class action specialists Lerach, Coughlin, Stoia, Geller, Rudman and Robbins are taking action against the big music labels who they accuse of conspiring to fix the price of music downloads. William Lerach's suit alleges Bertelsmann, EMI, Time Warner and Universal worked together to fix the price of …

    Media 14 Mar 2006, 10:13

  • Fraud falling under Chip and PIN

    Plastic protecting UK consumers

    Chip and PIN technology has helped cut credit card fraud by 13 per cent in the last year, its first decline in a decade, according to new figures. Data from the Association of Payment Clearing Services (Apacs) shows that losses due to the fraudulent use of credit and debit cards fell last year by £65m to £439m. The drop is the …

    Small Biz 14 Mar 2006, 10:14

  • King Tut's neighbours: broken pots

    'Undisturbed tomb' actually a dynastic Co-op

    The discovery of a previously unknown 'royal tomb' containing five sarcophagi in the Valley of the Kings has turned out to be no more than an ancient funeral parlour. Egypt's acrchaeology chief Zahi Hawass admitted: "This is not a tomb for nobles or relatives of a king, as had been thought upon its discovery, but rather it is a …

    Science 14 Mar 2006, 10:23

  • McAfee ate my system

    False positive creates havoc

    A faulty signature update from McAfee flagged up legitimate application files as infected with a low-risk virus, CTX. The dodgy anti-virus update (4715 DAT), issued on Friday, March 10, falsely identified a number of component files of Microsoft Office applications and some Windows systems files as infectious. Along with …

    Security 14 Mar 2006, 10:26

  • How your IT department is breaking data protection laws

    Comment Grid-tools a dream in a compliance nightmare

    Now, here’s a dirty little secret that most of the people that concern themselves with corporate governance and compliance don’t know about. Leaving aside very small print that may have been inserted into documents that no-one ever reads, the data protection laws mean that personal information may only be used for explicit …

    Management 14 Mar 2006, 10:33

  • Three ends cross-border roaming charges

    The news just gets better for Ireland

    Following a precedent set by O2 and Vodafone, Three Ireland has abolished charges for its Irish customers while they are roaming in Britain or Northern Ireland. All domestic and UK calls made or received while roaming will be included in Three's monthly price plan for customers. If these calls use more than half a customer's …

    Mobile 14 Mar 2006, 10:47

  • Murdoch tunes in to iPod generation

    Bigs up digital future

    Newspapers need to embrace the iPod generation or risk losing out in the digital world, according to media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Addressing the newspaper industry in London last night the chairman of News Corporation argued that content was "king" in this digital age, and that it was up to newspapers to provide that content via …

    Media 14 Mar 2006, 10:56

  • World LCD TV sales overtake CRT revenues

    More CRTs were shipped, though

    Display manufacturers made more money from LCD TVs than they did from sets based on CRT technology, market watcher DisplaySearch's figures for Q4 2005 reveal. However, far more CRT TVs shipped during the quarter, making it the dominant telly technology by a large margin. Q4 revenues from LCD TVs reached $10.1bn, up 54.3 per …

    Hardware 14 Mar 2006, 11:03

  • Java Bytecode patent allowed in UK law

    Invention 'new and inventive'

    The Patent Office has concluded that Sun Microsystems can patent an invention for a reduced set of Java Bytecode instructions – the form of instructions that a Java Virtual Machine will follow to execute a Java program. "The invention has nothing to do with how that computer program would be structured or how it would be …

    Developer 14 Mar 2006, 11:04

  • FTC retains children’s online privacy protection rule

    If it ain't broke, don't fix it

    The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has decided to retain a rule implementing the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which demands that website operators obtain parental consent to their collection of children’s personal information. The COPPA Rule imposes certain requirements on website or online service …

    Media 14 Mar 2006, 11:23

  • Google and DOJ back in court today

    Nine o'clock sharp...

    Google and the US government go back to court today to decide if the search giant should hand over records of user searches. The Justice Department asked Google in January to hand over a week's worth of searches. Google refused saying the demand was unreasonable and not likely to provide useful information. The government is …

    Media 14 Mar 2006, 11:29

  • Rochdale outsources IT in £200m deal

    15-year contract to generate jobs in Lancashire

    Rochdale Council has confirmed that two private sector partners are to take on the management of its services in a deal worth £200m. In collaboration with support services group Mouchel Parkman and technology firm Agilysis, the authority has established a new company, the Impact Partnership, to take on the running of some of …

    Policy 14 Mar 2006, 11:35

  • WTF is a 'lappy'?

    Poll Click here to kill/save techy barbarism

    Back in September last year our very own Lester Haines was left sobbing uncontrollably in a darkened room after readers voted to excise the word "mobe" from the Vulture Central lexicon. It was, however - and despite the human suffering caused to slang-prone Reg hacks - a landmark moment in reader democracy. Which is why we …

    Bootnotes 14 Mar 2006, 11:59

  • Orange kicks off HSDPA trial in France

    Okey dokey

    Orange France has become the latest mobile outfit to trial a high-speed mobile network service based on HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) technology. Around 150 business users in Lyon, France's second largest city, are trialling the service which is providing mobile broadband at speeds of up to 1.8 meg - four times …

    Mobile 14 Mar 2006, 12:03

  • ID cards are compulsory

    No they're not. Yes they are. No they're not...

    ...yes they are, after MPs last night voted for ID Cards to be introduced with "creeping compulsion". That means that anyone who wants a new passport will have to get an ID Card as well. If you are the government, that means the cards are voluntary: you can always choose not to have a passport. MPs laughed at Home Secretary …

    Media 14 Mar 2006, 12:20

  • Intel to hop on third-world-PC bandwagon

    Better to use old machines first?

    Intel is to follow AMD's lead and pitch an ultra-low cost PC at the developing world. It will tout a machine priced at significantly less than $300 "in the next several weeks", according the company VP Bill Siu. Speaking in an interview with CRN, Siu said the system will provide full PC functionality to "take advantage of all …

    Hardware 14 Mar 2006, 12:28

  • Sprint and AT&T to do battle over enterprise services

    Comment Race for multinational integration projects

    Sprint CEO Gary Forsee was bullish last week about the prospective merger of AT&T and BellSouth, claiming his company’s challenge to the Bell operators — based on broadband wireless, cable company alliances and mobile multimedia - would be equally strong against three RBOCs as four. While the race for the mobile triple play …

    Mobile 14 Mar 2006, 12:34

  • Readers exorcise satanic BMW

    Letters A very German postbag

    To jump-start this Tuesday's foray into the rolling steppe where enlightening missives stand like welcoming peasant villages amid seemingly endless tracts of email buffoonery, let's have a quick butcher's at a couple of points regarding accessible websites. Or more specifically, the snappily-titled PAS 78: Guide to good …

    Letters 14 Mar 2006, 12:51

  • Greenhouse gas hits record high

    Portents of potential planetary peril

    Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have scaled record highs. CO2 has hit 381 parts per million - 100ppm above the pre-industrial average, the BBC reports. Researchers at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration analysed air samples the world over. The benchmark findings mean the rate of increase in CO2 has doubled …

    Science 14 Mar 2006, 12:52

  • Phishing fraudsters offer cash reward

    Poll axed

    Email scammers are trying to dupe online banking customers into handing over sensitive account information using a bogus survey that offers a fictitious $20 reward. The attack, targeted against Chase Manhattan customers, represents the latest evolution of social engineering attacks by phishing fraudsters. The bogus email …

    Security 14 Mar 2006, 12:54

  • Met police make free with Oysters

    Travel information a-go-go

    Police in London are making increasing use of journey information logged by people using Oyster cards. The smartcards store information on all bus, train and tube journeys taken in the last two months. In 2004, the Metropolitan Police made just seven requests for travel information. But in January of this year alone the Met …

    Media 14 Mar 2006, 12:59

  • Hitachi wants European consultants

    Like there's any going spare

    Hitachi launched a consulting division in Europe today with the bold claim that it would be buying its way into the tight market for high level IT consulting. London, Madrid and Lisbon were identified as the centres of the most desirable European markets, but the firm plans to have consulting arms in two other European …

    Management 14 Mar 2006, 13:05

  • Samsung YP-Z5 MP3 player

    First UK Review Can it size up to Apple's iPod Nano?

    There's no doubt Samsung has its eye on the hugely popular iPod Nano, and the YP-Z5 is its boldest attempt to woo consumers away from the Apple product. The Z5 is roughly the same size as a Nano; has a similar storage capacity and feature list; has a cool, visually stylish user interface; and even comes an a comparably sized box …

    Hardware 14 Mar 2006, 13:07

  • Ex-Gizmondo team form ads-for-airtime phone firm

    Xero Mobile applies Smart Adds approach

    Three ex-Gizmondo Europe executives have have emerged as the minds behind US-based virtual network operator Xero Mobile. The start-up's pitch: offer mobile phone users free airtime if they'll put up with adverts being pushed to their handsets. Xero Mobile first started making headlines last month when the company's detail- …

    Games 14 Mar 2006, 13:45

  • MSI takes a shine to solar-powered MP3 players

    Demo'd at sunny CeBIT

    MSI has unveiled what it has been claimed to be the first solar-powered, hard drive-equipped MP3 player, though it appears a custom job kitted out to wow the crowds at the CeBIT show in Hannover, Germany this week. The player is the Mega Player 540, which sports a 1.8in, 128 x 160 colour display - the same size as the one …

    Hardware 14 Mar 2006, 14:34

  • D-Link shows off 'first' clamshell Wi-Fi VoIP phone

    TelTel on board, not Skype

    D-Link said today it will ship this Summer what it claims is the first clamshell Wi-Fi VoIP phone. Lest enterprising Reg Hardware readers come up with such a device already on the market, the networking gear company qualified its claim by noting its DPH-540 is the first Wi-Fi "flip-style" handset pre-loaded with TelTel VoIP …

    Phones 14 Mar 2006, 14:50

  • Gent well cheesed off by Voda row - report

    Fires off letter to execs

    It appears Sir Christopher Gent still has a few things he wants to get off his chest following his decision to cut all ties with Vodafone by resigning his honorary role as life president. According to The Times, Sir Christopher has drafted a private letter to execs at Vodafone in which he details his displeasure at the way the …

    Financial News 14 Mar 2006, 15:10

  • US cops collar ATM fraud ring

    You're nicked

    US police have arrested 14 people suspected of involvement in widespread ATM fraud that has forced a number of US banks to reissue debit and credit cards over recent months. The suspects are all accused of manufacturing counterfeit cards using stolen credit card details. Most of the arrests happened over the last fortnight. …

    Security 14 Mar 2006, 15:14

  • WD brings external hard drive biz to book

    Hardback-shaped disk

    Hard drive maker Western Digital clearly hopes to appeal to more literate computer users with its latest external hard disk: between 160GB and 500GB of back-up space and media storage capacity dubbed My Book that "sits naturally on desktops and bookshelves", according to the company. WD is offering two versions of My Book. …

    Hardware 14 Mar 2006, 15:24

  • Ofcom rules out broadband USO

    It's 'undesirable' apparently

    The notion that broadband should be universally available in the UK has been kicked into the long grass after regulator Ofcom ruled that high speed net access should not be part of a universal service obligation (USO). Publishing its review of the USO - which ensures that basic fixed line services are available at an affordable …

    Networks 14 Mar 2006, 15:48

  • Dutch blaggers explode ATMs

    You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off

    Banks in the Netherlands have begun fitting air vents to ATMs after local blaggers took to blowing up tills using explosive gas. According to local reports, enterprising local crims have taken to drilling holes in conventional ATMs and filling them full of flammable gas and igniting it from a safe distance, a technique called …

    Security 14 Mar 2006, 16:17

  • MS tweaks Software Assurance again

    Prices frozen

    Microsoft is tweaking its Software Assurance program again and promising to make the unpopular licensing scheme more loved by customers and partners. Software Assurance is a way for firms to spread payments for software licences as well as getting maintenance and integration advice. Some criticised its earlier incarnations as …

    Small Biz 14 Mar 2006, 16:31

  • Olympus recalls 1.2m film cameras

    Last nail in the coffin for 35mm?

    Olympus has asked the buyers of 1.2m Infinity Twin, AF-1 Twin, Infinity Z00 200 series, AZ 200 series and other film cameras sold in the US between 1989 and 1995 to return them for repair after the manufacturer discovered that the products' flash units may overheat and produce smoke. Fortunately, no one's yet been injured, but …

    Hardware 14 Mar 2006, 16:37

  • Computacenter saw revenues, profits down in 2005

    But says reasons to be cheerful

    Computacenter's 2005 revenues and profits were down on the previous year, results released today showed. Revenues came in at £2.29bn, compared to £2.41bn last year, while profit before tax slumped to £34m compared to £67.9m the previous year. In an illustration of how channel economics are changing, the firm said £27m of the …

    Financial News 14 Mar 2006, 16:54

  • Norwegians plumb in beer-dispensing kitchen sink

    Turn water into ale

    It's every right-minded Englishman's dream: you've been dispatched to the kitchen on a Sunday afternoon - protesting pathetically against your other half's (absolutely correct and justified) assertion that you're "not going down the bloody pub until you've done the washing-up" - but when you half-heartedly stick a mug under the …

    Bootnotes 14 Mar 2006, 17:07

  • Sun's Rock goes 16 cores and arrives with multi-core friends

    Exclusive Marriage made in crypto

    Sun Microsystems has promised a great deal with its futuristic "Rock" processor line but, thus far, failed to back up the promises with any technical details on the chip's design. That situation changes now that The Register has obtained exclusive information pertaining to the Rock chip - or should we say chips - and its related …

    Servers 14 Mar 2006, 17:21

  • HP takes 12 'one-time' charges in a row

    Rivals in awe of layoff lifestyle

    Ever since the Compaq terror, layoffs have become a way of life at HP. The company, however, continues to treat the firings as "one-time" events in its financial statements. This practice has raised the suspicions of one of Wall Street's most observant analysts. Sanford Bernstein's analyst Toni Sacconaghi issued a report today …

    Financial News 14 Mar 2006, 19:46

  • Red Hat enters state of Xen

    Races SuSE to slice the penguin

    Red Hat is going up against Novell by beefing up its support for Xen's hypervisor, bringing virtualization technology to a "mass market." Red Hat rolled out executives and industry partners on Tuesday morning to announce Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5.0 will "tightly integrate" Xen by the end of the year, with migration and …

    Servers 14 Mar 2006, 22:21

  • Razr returns to US strs

    In brief GSM model bug fixed?

    The GSM version of Motorola's Razr phone is returning to US retail channels after a week long hiatus. Cingular says it has resumed stocking the device, which it pulled last Monday. T-Mobile withdrew the Razr two days later. The fault lies in a sensor which can't tell if the fold-design phone is open or shut. A batch shipped to …

    Mobile 14 Mar 2006, 22:24

  • Fujitsu and Tyan flex their Opteron eight-packs

    A 7U blade and a space heater

    Call it the Cramming Game. Fujitsu and Tyan struck out this week with compact new Opteron systems. Fujitsu went the blade server route, while Tyan showed a type of Opteron space heater outfitted with handles and wheels. In the second quarter, Fujitsu will ship an eight-socket blade centered around AMD's 2.6GHz dual-core Opteron …

    Servers 14 Mar 2006, 22:49

  • Mozilla's Google millions - a tax dodge?

    Transparency? We've heard of it

    When the Mozilla Foundation turns to the public for money, it happily assumes the mantle of a penniless public institution asking for charity. Over 10,000 FireFox fans drew deep into their own pockets to place an expensive two-page advertisement for the browser in the New York Times 15 months ago. But the Mozilla Foundation's …

    Media 14 Mar 2006, 22:56

  • Google cuts data deal with DoJ

    Everyone's a winner

    In a 90-minute court hearing in San Jose, a Judge has said that Google must hand over some search data to the Department of Justice, but less than Federal lawyers had originally wanted. Judge James Ware said he'd produce a definitive written list shortly. Google was fighting a subpoena from the US Department of Justice as part …

    Media 14 Mar 2006, 23:56