5th October 2007 Archive

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RIAA hits paydirt: wins first music-sharing jury trial

Jammie Thomas fined $220,000 for 24 songs

The Recording Industry of America today won its first jury trial against an individual accused of illegally downloading music. A federal jury fined Jammie Thomas, 30, of Minnesota $220,000 in damages to the six record labels suing her for copyright violation. Thomas will pay $9,250 for each of the 24 songs the prosecution …

Law 5 Oct 00:13
Coming to a Windows PC near you: 4 critical security updates

Terminate the remote execution vulnerabilities

Microsoft plans to roll out four "critical" security updates that stamp out remote execution vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet Explorer, Office, Outlook Express and Windows Mail. Two of the critical holes reside in Vista, and one in IE 7, programs that were created using Microsoft's vaunted Trustworthy Computing Security …

Enterprise Security 5 Oct 00:28
Sun patches multiple flaws in Java

'Highly critical' bugs leave Windows, Linux and Solaris users open to attack

Sun Microsystems has issued patches for several vulnerabilities in its Java Runtime Environment that leave users on Windows, Linux and Solaris wide open. By our count, there are 11 separate vulnerabilities plaguing versions 6, 5, 1.4 and 1.3 of the JRE, Sun said on its security blog. Miscreants could use the "highly critical …

Enterprise Security 5 Oct 00:32
IBM preps Power6-based blade and Blue Business Platform

Making another bundle

IBM has some server shenanigans planned in the coming months, and we'd like to share them with you. Let's start with IBM's blade servers. In February, IBM will dish out its long-awaited Power6-based blade server, according to David Tareen, a marketing manager at IBM. That February date proves important as it gives some sort of …

Servers 5 Oct 01:06
Google and Frontline smack Verizon over US wireless auction (again)

Court gives a helping hand

Score one for the anti-Verizons in the ongoing battle for the 700-MHz band, a slice of US wireless spectrum set to be auctioned off by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in mid-January. On September 27, more than two weeks after it brought legal action against the FCC over rules that would allow consumers to attach any …

Wireless 5 Oct 01:53
Betfair catches whiff of tennis match fix

Fraud, anyone?

The gentlewomen of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) have gotten their knickers in a twist over some unusual betting activity at the online betting exchange Betfair, the AP reports. The suspicions led Betfair to suspend payouts on the match, in which 120th-ranked Mariya Koryttseva beat No. 96 Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus 6-4 …

Law 5 Oct 01:57
Linux on mobile: manifest destiny?

Or unholy past?

When the Linux Foundation emerged from the collision of the Open Software Development Labs (ODSL) and the Free Standards Group in January 2007, cynical observers described it, with some justification, as "yet another Linux knitting circle". Probably more than any other software phenomenon, Linux has generated a plethora of …

Software 5 Oct 03:22
Westcon catches Latin American minnow

Logicalis buys out Latin minorities

Westcon, the specialist networking distie, is moving into Mexico and the Caribbean for the first time, through the acquisition of Cernet of America, and a sister Mexican company called Cernet Tecnologia en Telecomunicaciones. It won't break the bank - Westcon's purchase price will max out at $4.65m, gaining it a minnow that …

Channel Register 5 Oct 04:04
Facebook faces more legal trouble

Has to hand over sex offender info

Social networking site Facebook has been ordered to turn over information on whether registered sex offenders have set up profiles on its site. The Attorney General's office of New Jersey has supoenaed the popular social network, along with 11 other social networking sites, ordering them to release the information. Facebook …

Law 5 Oct 09:25
Birmingham trust signs up to VoIP

Joins NHS national broadband network

The Heart of Birmingham Teaching Primary Care Trust has signed a contract with BT to host its IP telephony services. The services will be delivered over the NHS national broadband network, N3, which is being rolled out by BT as part of the £12bn NPfIT. The trust is one of the first NHS organisations to sign up to the new N3 …

Telecoms 5 Oct 09:35
Global Voice hits right note with €32m bond

Metro networks for London, Berlin, and Munich

Irish-owned data network firm Global Voice, which trades as euNetworks, has raised up to €32m in funding through the issuing of a convertible bond. Global Voice said it intends to use the proceeds of the bond to accelerate the roll-out of metro networks and associated services in London, Berlin, and Munich. The funds will …

Data Networking 5 Oct 09:47
PC superstore puts Microsoft on sale for under £150

Would you like a warranty for your software giant?

The bargains just get better and better at PC World. This week it's got the world's leading software company on sale for a measly £149.99. For some reason there's no further information available on the UK retailer's site. In the absence of any provisos, we assume batteries, cables, Gates and Ballmer, are all included in the …

Bootnotes 5 Oct 10:11
BT says its Wi-Fi kibbutz isn't targeting 3G

Community open to other ISPs by year's end

BT has played down suggestions its new Wi-Fi sharing initiative is designed to compete with 3G mobile broadband in future. It will bid to improve coverage by opening the network to other ISPs' customers, however. The telco launched a bid with Spanish start-up FON yesterday to persuade its two million Home Hub router owners to …

Networks 5 Oct 10:35
Northamber blames Vista, weak dollar for revenue slide

Distie feels the crunch

IT distributor Northamber has seen revenue for the year ended 30 June 2007 tumble to £182.2m, down a hefty £22.2m on its 2006 figures. The Surrey-based firm's chairman D M Phillips blamed the slow adoption of Microsoft's Vista and the weakness of the US dollar for putting a dent in Northamber sales. Stock turns were down to …

Channel Register 5 Oct 10:39
MS claims Halo 3 is world's fastest selling game

Rakes in $300m during first week on sale

Halo 3 has proven to be a shrewd investment for Microsoft. The software behemoth claims the game is the world's fastest-selling video game to date, generating sales in excess of $300m (£150m/€190m) during its first week. Halo 3: Every little sale helps The company also claimed that initial reports from retailers around the …

Reg Hardware 5 Oct 11:00
BOFH: Skip diplomacy

Episode 34 Friendship through mutual embarrassment

"Hurry up and get the door open!" I gasp as the PFY fumbles with his swipe card at the back door of the building. "Ok, ok," the PFY whispers back. "I'm working as fast as I can! >swip< Got it!" >bip< >bip< >bip< >bip< >bip< >click< "Right, I'll hold the door, you pick up that lot." "Okay," the PFY says, hefting up a bunch …

BOFH 5 Oct 11:02
O2 Cocoon mobile phone

Review Nothing to do with pods, pensioners or swimming pools

O2 may have beaten its rivals to the iPhone, but it’s already launched a first assault on the mobile music market with a distinctively quirky own-brand design, the Cocoon. With 2GB of tune-packing internal memory and 2GB memory card support it’s ready to go toe-to-toe with most other music phones. And, strangely enough, alarm …

Reg Hardware 5 Oct 11:02
Money men rubbish spooky fears over 3Com deal

National security concerns unfounded

Bain Capital Partners, the private equity shop that sounded the death knell for 3Com this week, has moved to kneecap talk of a national security block by the US. Part of the takeover is being funded by Chinese firm Huawei, prompting collywobbles in Washington DC that Beijing might get its pinko mitts on some tasty networking …

Data Networking 5 Oct 11:07
MS drops nagware validation for IE7 installs

Free for all

Microsoft has dropped the requirement for Windows XP users to go through Windows Genuine Advantage validation in order to get Internet Explorer 7. The move, delivered via a software update on Thursday, means even users of pirated copies of Windows can take advantage of Microsoft's latest browser software. For the rest of us …

Applications 5 Oct 12:25
IBM coughs up SMB software

Little guys have needs too

IBM has reached out its sizeable hand to the little people in the biz world with the launch today of a new range of software products. Like many other big names vendors the firm said it had spotted an opportunity to offer software tailored for the small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) global market. The somewhat Orwellian- …

Software 5 Oct 12:33
Spammers turn YouTube into spam relay channel

Will anyone notice the difference?

Miscreants have turned a YouTube service into a spam relay channel. YouTube contains a facility that allows users to invite their friends to view videos that they are looking at or have posted. This "Invite Your Friends" system is being used to send out "massive quantities of spam", according to content security outfit Marshall …

Spam 5 Oct 12:42
Pipex-Intel WiMAX emerges as Freedom4

4 how much exactly?

The first serious attempt at a WiMAX ISP is getting tarted up for launch, but keeping its pricing cards close to its bosom. Pipex and Intel Capital's joint venture has been branded Freedom4, and has a spanky new website here. Freedom4 says it'll flog businesses a symmetrical 4Mbit/s connection, but not when or for how much. It …

Telecoms 5 Oct 12:54
Spam, scrams and scams - take your pick

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Microsoft vs Google, vs Microsoft, vs Microsoft? Google and Microsoft met for a bit of legal jousting on Capitol Hill this week. The subject? Google's proposed $3.1bn merger with online ad firm DoubleClick. Microsoft said the merger would hinder competition in the online ad market and endanger the privacy of people everywhere …

Business 5 Oct 13:02
UK company presents the pop-out post-a-phone

Flat as a pancake landline

A UK design company has gone eco-friendly with its recyclable landline handset, which is so flat it can be posted through your letterbox. The Post A Phone is just 0.4cm thick and made from recyclable cardboard and plastic. The Post A Phone It ships in an A5 envelope and pops out from a greeting card style packet, at which …

Reg Hardware 5 Oct 13:07
IBM drops attempt to patent outsourcing

Patent stupidity

IBM has abandoned a ludicrous attempt to patent outsourcing after an internet outcry. Big Blue submitted this highly original invention to the US Patent office in January 2006. Its principal claim was for "a method for identifying human-resource work content to outsource offshore of an organisation". The application was …

Financial News 5 Oct 13:16
Forget municipal Wi-Fi, welcome to Zigbee City

Gothenburg to get 270,000-node Zigbee network

Utility company Göteborg Energi AB has selected NURI Telecom to provide Zigbee-enabled electricity meters to every home in the Swedish city of Gothenburg. The meters will then link themselves together to allow remote meter reading without infrastructure costs. The self-forming mesh network won't actually be a single network …

Data Networking 5 Oct 14:09
Spammers target hamsters after Ig Nobel winning research

Gay bombs, viagra, and indexing 'the'

Today is surely the biggest day of the year for boffins and those involved in the pursuit of boffinry. Because today, the Ig Nobel awards are handed out. Well, they were handed out last night, but the boffins will be having their hangovers today, and that is even more important. As regular readers will know, the Ig Nobel Awards …

Science 5 Oct 14:32
Doubters fret at Nokia Navteq deal

Comment But the logic is unassailable

Nokia has spent the greatest part of its life being misunderstood by US stock analysts, and its move to acquire US mapping company Navteq, for a colossal $8.1bn, at $78 a share, is no exception. Navteq had revenues last year of just $581m but is on track for about $800m this year, with its last quarter up 49 per cent to $202. …

Mobile 5 Oct 15:06
Kim Jong Il: dictator, gnome, and now 'internet expert'

Who told him about the tubes?

This week's historic reconciliation summit between North and South Korea has delivered an unexpected nugget of pure news gold: as well as being a "mad as cheese" bon viveur and the world's greatest golfer, Kim Jong Il considers himself an expert in packet-switched networking. That's actually a tricked-out Mac Pro. Liquid …

Bootnotes 5 Oct 15:16
Orange offers extended network coverage

At a price

Orange is to charge customers for extending network coverage into buildings with limited or no coverage, while still billing them for calls carried over their own broadband connection, according to the firm's picocell strategy, announced today. Pico (or femto) cells offer the opportunity for license-holders to deploy tiny GSM …

Mobile 5 Oct 15:20
Geeks and Nerds caught on film lacking geeky nerdiness

Canadians assailed by shoddy repairmen

Canada was shocked to its honest-to-goodness core this week by the news that the country's PC repairmen are undermining its sweet as maple syrup image. Canadian TV show CBC Marketplace did a hidden camera investigation into computer repair firms to see how many technicians could correctly fix a hardware problem. Of the 10 …

Channel Register 5 Oct 15:27
Computer glitch nixes death row appeal in Texas

Judge holds firm on deadlines

A Texas inmate was sent to his death after a computer glitch held up his appeal filing, and a presiding judge refused to extend the deadline. Earlier that day the US Supreme Court said it would consider a case from Kentucky, in which lawyers were arguing that the lethal injection is unconstitutional. The Houston Chronicle …

Law 5 Oct 15:34
DRM on steroids controls backfires on Blu-ray

Double-plus bad

The introduction of a new form of encryption control for Blu-ray discs last week has been accompanied by playback snags and worse, on a number of players. 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer and The Day After Tomorrow are the first two Blu-ray releases to feature BD+, a virtual-machine technology which allows content providers to …

Reg Hardware 5 Oct 15:47
Alcohol makes you smart enough to study it

Comments And plane wings are a little chilli

Studious teens can now take a course in "alcohol awareness" and earn a certificate equivalent to half a GCSE. The exam appears not to include a practical section, instead focussing on the dangers of drinking to excess. Always willing to discuss alcohol, you bit right in: Happy days. I actually moved from lager to mild (i.e. …

Letters 5 Oct 16:01
Open .NET challenge for iPhone development

Moonshine for OpenMoko

It stole the summer and broke hearts, with its empty promises on customization and a hardware lock down that turned some iPhones into bricks. Now, a new device could provide an alternative for developers interested in mobile applications after the start of a process porting a Microsoft-like architecture has begun. Parts of …

Software 5 Oct 17:37
Microsoft and Bungie part ways

Microsoft platforms now a 'primary focus' for developer

The whispers and omens of Halo developer, Bungie Studios departing from Microsoft were true. Microsoft announced today it will spin its record-breaking development team back into the wild. "Our collaboration with Bungie has resulted in Halo becoming an enduring mainstream hit," said Shane Kim, corporate veep of Microsoft Game …

Reg Hardware 5 Oct 20:28
Lawmaker shows nudie pic to high school seniors

Mammary stick malfunction

Ohio state legislator Matthew Barrett was supposed to give a group of high school seniors a civics presentation using PowerPoint slides he had prepared on how a bill becomes a law. What they got was an anatomy lesson when the computer he was using displayed the image of a topless woman. The busty photo appeared shortly after …

Bootnotes 5 Oct 22:39