5th June 2008 Archive

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French court fines eBay for sale of counterfeit handbags

Ordered to pay for sins of its users

A French court has ordered eBay to pay a hefty 20,000 euros to luxury goods designer Hermes for the online auction house's role in the sale of three counterfeit handbags. Wednesday's ruling was the first time a French judge has found eBay directly responsible for a fraudulent sale by one of its customers. eBay has long agreed …

Law 5 Jun 2008, 00:13
WiiMote game launched for visually impared

Mix tunes without sight

Gaming boffins from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a Wii-style videogame designed to help visually impaired players virtually thrash their 20/20 competitors. MIT's AudiOdyssey" as the beat quickens, a sea of clubbers rises onscreen AudiOdyssey sees the player become Vinyl Scorcher, an up-and- …

Reg Hardware 5 Jun 2008, 08:02
Intel fined $25m

More monopoly action

Intel has been fined $25m (26bn Won) by the South Korean Fair Trade commission for breaching fair trade rules. The chipmaker was found guilty of offering unfair subsidies to Samsung and Trigem Computer Inc if they promised to only buy Intel chips and froze out rival AMD. But Intel dismissed the charges. Bruce Sewell, Intel …

PCs & Chips 5 Jun 2008, 08:05
BAE's man in the MoD taken aside by feds in Miami

Brit arms execs feel long arm of US Justice Dept

A third senior BAE Systems executive has been subpoenaed by US investigators in recent weeks, it has emerged. Alan Garwood, until recently seconded from BAE as head of the Defence Export Sales Organisation (DESO), the controversial Ministry of Defence arms-sales bureau, was served with legal documents while changing planes in …

Government 5 Jun 2008, 09:07
Small, Cheap Computer sales to soar as Intel boosts Atom supply

Computex End in sight for battery shortage too, vendors cheer

Asus' President, Jerry Shen, has forecast sales of Small, Cheap Computers™ will top 10m units this year, presumably having been encouraged by Intel bigwig Sean Maloney's promise of "very, very high volumes" of Atom CPUs by September. What a week for this emerging market segment it's been. On Monday, Shen was reported to have …

Reg Hardware 5 Jun 2008, 09:33
ISS toilet sucks again

New pump brings relief

The International Space Station's troublesome toilet is now sucking like a good 'un after Oleg Kononenko yesterday fitted the new pump delivered by Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-124. The Russian ASU (Ассенизационно-Санитарная Установка, or "Waste Management System") clapped out last month, prompting a certain amount …

Space 5 Jun 2008, 09:49
Bletchley Park activates online donations

Flash the plastic, save our wartime codebreaking heritage

Our recent piece on some light tin-rattling by the Bletchley Park Trust aimed at raising cash for essential repairs to the home of the UK's wartime codebreakers prompted a few reader comments that the website didn't have an easy method for supporters to make donations. Well, the trust swiftly got its act together, and you can …

Bootnotes 5 Jun 2008, 09:49
Vodafone sees American horizons

Sarin makes one last lunge

Verizon, the US mobile operator part-owned by Vodafone, is in talks to take over Alltel, America's fifth largest operator, with a view to snatching the number-one spot from AT&T. The story was broken by the Wall Street Journal, and Vodafone has confirmed that negotiations are taking place. Verizon apparently values Alltel at $ …

Mobile 5 Jun 2008, 10:00
Pinnacle Video Transfer

Review PC-free H.264 video encoding

Gadgets now capable of playing video have left owners are hungry for content. Folk with large VHS tape collections want to digitise them, just like vinyl. Two problems, one solution, says Avid offshoot Pinnacle: its Video Transfer standalone H.264 encoder. Pinnacle's Video Transfer: one-touch, PC-less H.264 encoding The …

Reg Hardware 5 Jun 2008, 10:55
TeliaSonera says 'non' to Gallic advances

France Telecom offer rejected

TeliaSonera has turned down a $42bn offer from France Telecom, owner of the Orange brand, after the board decided unanimously that the company was worth more than that. This belief is in stark contrast to France Telecom shareholders, who sent the company's shares down 3.4 per cent when the offer became public, reflecting a …

Mobile 5 Jun 2008, 11:02
Ofcom slaps MTV with £255k fine

Pre-watershed cussing costs network dear

Ofcom has imposed fines totalling £255,000 on MTV Networks for various breaches of the Broadcasting Code on channels TMF, MTV France, MTV UK and MTV Hits. The network was charged with several infractions of the Code, viz: Rule 1.3: “Children must also be protected by appropriate scheduling from material that is unsuitable for …

Entertainment 5 Jun 2008, 11:06
Linux to outship Windows Mobile by 2013

Analyst predicts open source surge

Smartphones running Linux look set to become far more commonplace within the next five years, market watcher ABI Research has forecast. The firm’s VP, Stuart Carlaw, reckons that Linux will feature on 23 per cent of smartphones by 2013. He added that that share of the market will put the open source operating system in second …

Reg Hardware 5 Jun 2008, 11:11
Baby held in Indian jail alongside hacking suspect mum

Babyus corpus

A seven-month-old child has been held in prison alongside his hacker parents in India. P A Aryan is being held in detention at Puzhal central prison along with his mother, 25 year old Ritu Peter Anderson, and father Peter Anderson. The baby can't be entrusted to the care of his extended family because Anderson's brother P …

Crime 5 Jun 2008, 11:14
Ofcom asks ISPs nicely to stop mis-selling broadband on speed

Please?

Ofcom has today published a new voluntary code of practice aimed at rebuilding consumer trust in the ISP industry damaged by misleading speed claims. The code doesn't cover marketing, so don't necessarily expect an end to the "UNLIMITED* SUPERFAST** 8MEG*** BROADBAND!!!" adverts that leave so many feeling cheated. Instead, 32 …

Telecoms 5 Jun 2008, 11:17
Sony says yes to in-game PS3 adverts

Groan

The virtual world used to be one of the few places where we weren’t continually blasted with adverts, but no longer. Sony has announced plans to introduce "dynamic" in-game advertising on the PS3. Come to Al's Axes, for all your Axe needs! Chop-chop! Very soon you could be firing off rounds at aliens from far away worlds, …

Reg Hardware 5 Jun 2008, 11:40
Swedish authorities pull plug on female Elvis

'Inappropriate' name for a girl, couple told

A Stockholm couple is battling the tax authorities for the right to call their five-month-old daughter Elvis, The Local reports. The girl's mum, Linda, explained: "We talked about lots of names and then Elvis popped up. We thought it was a name that was both pretty and gender-neutral. We're not Elvis Presley fans at all." The …

Bootnotes 5 Jun 2008, 11:42
MS teases Joy Division fans with Unknown Pleasures Zune

"Love will tear us apart..."

It appears that Microsoft chiefs are closet Joy Division fans: it has commissioned a limited edition Zune, featuring etchings from one of the band’s album covers. Microsoft's Joy Division Zune: an unknown pleasure... if you live outside the US Peter Saville designed the bizarre mountain range-esque artwork for the much- …

Reg Hardware 5 Jun 2008, 11:53
Yahoo! hits back at Icahn

'Your letter seriously misrepresents and manipulates the facts'

Yahoo! has accused Carl Icahn of grossly misstating the facts about Microsoft's bid for the company and its subsequent actions. Roy Bostock, Yahoo!'s chairman, denied that the company's staff retention plan was a "poison pill" designed to make a Microsoft takeover prohibitively expensive. He said payments would only be made to …

Financial News 5 Jun 2008, 11:55
Painting by numbers: NASA's peculiar thermometer

Analysis What's the temperature, Kenneth?

The story is that the world is heating up - fast. Prominent people at NASA warn us that unless we change our carbon producing ways, civilisation as we know it will come to an end. At the same time, there are new scientific studies showing that the earth is in a 20 year long cooling period. Which view is correct? Temperature data …

Environment 5 Jun 2008, 12:11
Qinetiq ships first 'Transformer' war-droid

Cunningly disguised as heavily armed killer robot

The US war robot manufacturing arm of controversial Brit gov spinoff bonanza company Qinetiq has announced the first shipment of its so-called "Transformer" battle droid. Qinetiq informs the world today that the MAARS - Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System - has now been placed in the hands of the US military's Combating …

Policing 5 Jun 2008, 12:17
O2 to offer £100 iPhone... in time for Xmas?

Rumours abound

UK carrier O2 will punt Apple's anticipated 3G iPhone for just £100 - provided buyers agree to an 18-month tie-in, it has been claimed. Meanwhile, one Register Hardware reader claims O2 staffers told him not to expect the handset until Christmas. The O2 tariff details come from a Macworld UK report citing unnamed sources. In …

Reg Hardware 5 Jun 2008, 12:21
Google's Hot Trends shafted by strap-on

NSFW Horny teens bypass 'inappropriate material' filter

It appears that Google Trends' advanced algorithm which "filters out spam and removes inappropriate material" from the search monolith's analysis of "broad search patterns" has been shafted by horny teens, as today's hot tips demonstrate: Interest in "pussy strap on sex teen" seemingly climaxed at around 08:00 GMT this …

Bootnotes 5 Jun 2008, 12:27
Freesat to show Euro 2008 in HD

ITV HD to debut when Saturday comes

The BBC and ITV will be showing Euro 2008 footie matches in HD over the Freesat network, the two broadcasters have announced. When Freesat launched last month, it promised ITV's HD channel would be coming exclusively to its set-top boxes "soon". Today, it said the first broadcast will take place on Saturday evening at 7.45pm. …

Reg Hardware 5 Jun 2008, 12:37
Skateboarding Sidekick slated for release

Featuring Tony Hawk design

It's rumoured that another Sidekick handset is being prepped for an unveiling tomorrow, with the latest design being hawked by legendary sidewalk surfer Tony Hawk. According to a story on website Boy Genius Report, the Motorola-made phone features a skateboarding look and feel. We don’t know if that means that some tiny wheels …

Reg Hardware 5 Jun 2008, 12:41
'Legit' website compromises reach epidemic proportions

Malware bazaar getting out of control

Once upon a time surfers could stay unmolested by malware by staying away from warez and smut. Those days are well and truly over as changes in hacking tactics mean that compromised content on legitimate website has become the main conduit for so-called drive-by download attacks. Web security firm ScanSafe reports that two in …

Channel Register 5 Jun 2008, 12:53
AMD mugs Intel in backstreets of Paris

Kick a rival when it's down? Mais oui?

AMD unveiled its marketing strategy for its Puma notebook silicon this week: rub Intel’s nose in it for as long as it can get away with it. Perhaps it’s no coincidence the launch was in Paris. The chip makers’ execs were at pains to point out that “this is not a paper launch” and you can buy systems running these chips today. …

Channel Register 5 Jun 2008, 13:02
German government approves plod-spyware law

Uncharted territory

The German government yesterday passed a controversial anti-terror law that would grant police the power to monitor private residences, telephones and computers. Instead of tapping phones, they would be able to use video surveillance and even spy software to collect evidence. Physically tampering with suspects' computers would …

Government 5 Jun 2008, 13:44
Sanyo camcorders turns to tracking technology

Shy people beware!

If you’re the sort that hides whenever a camcorder’s brought out, then you’d better hope your friends don’t buy Sanyo’s latest model, because it features face-tracking technology. Sanyo's HD1010 can track up to 12 faces The 1080i Xacti HD1010 camcorder’s “Face Chaser” feature is essentially face-detection for both video and …

Reg Hardware 5 Jun 2008, 14:38
DS Lite Guitar Hero bundle plucked out

Leaks'r'us

Toys'R'Us has revealed details about an upcoming Guitar Hero: On Tour bundle pack for the Nintendo DS, which should get portable gamers thrashing air-guitar virtually anywhere. Guitar Hero: On Tour - strum along virtually anywhere The retailer’s website reportedly displayed a page, which has now been removed, that showed a …

Reg Hardware 5 Jun 2008, 14:42
UK workers heading back to the office

You've got to be seen to be believed

Research from Microsoft reports that less than half of UK companies are interested in letting staff work remotely, a drop of 10 per cent since last year, as companies become more concerned about their future. The research polled 1000 companies, of which 13 per cent admitted that any kind of remote working was actively …

Mobile 5 Jun 2008, 15:11
VIA takes tiny mobo spec to second generation

Computex Mini-ITX 2.0 launched

VIA has launched the second generation of its Mini-ITX micro motherboard form-factor. Mini-ITX 2.0 retains the 17 x 17cm size of its predecessor, but now mandates a chipset capable of hosting a PCI Express x16 slot for a graphics card. The chipset should have sufficient integrated graphical horsepower to handle DirectX 9 …

Reg Hardware 5 Jun 2008, 15:16
Gov ready to drop Gowers?

Music biz hopes so

Is the Government edging away from the recommendations made in the Gowers Report? The British music business seems to think so - based on perceived nudges and winks from the new Culture Secretary Andy Burnham. Burnham addressed the Annual General Meeting of the non-profit collection society the PPL yesterday - but your reporter …

Music and Media 5 Jun 2008, 15:26
Verizon and Alltel join hands

Vodafone stays in background of $28bn deal

Verizon's parent Vodafone has confirmed the second largest mobile operator in the US will soon take the top spot by acquiring Alltel for a total of $28.1bn. The deal will see Verizon's subscribers base jump up to 80.4 million, making it the biggest in the USA when compared to AT&T's 71.4 million, but also giving it access to …

Mobile 5 Jun 2008, 15:54
Breach disclosure laws have 'no effect' on identity theft

Red tape failing to stanch losses

Widespread information security breach laws in the US have failed to do much to reduce identity theft. The finding, by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, comes as calls are growing in Europe to enact laws that would oblige organisations to notify customers in cases where their personal details become exposed. The …

Law 5 Jun 2008, 18:24
Holographic storage kingpin turns staff and product into an illusion

InPhase still InDenial

Holographic storage developer InPhase Technologies has been promising the imminent arrival of its 300GB Tapestry drives for three years. But the constant setbacks and delays have now forced the Longmont, Colorado-based firm to cut a substantial amount of its workforce, according to several reports. InPhase was formed in 2000 …

Storage 5 Jun 2008, 19:53
EFF pushes court to block unmasking of anonymous MySpace user

Constitutional challenge mounted

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is waging a constitutional challenge against an Illinois politician seeking to unmask an anonymous MySpace user accused of creating impostor profiles and posting defamatory material on them. Cicero, Illinois, Town President Larry Dominick filed a discovery petition (PDF) last month after …

Law 5 Jun 2008, 20:31
Comcast rolls out brand new bandwidth throttles

Faces new suits for bagging BitTorrents

Update: This story originally quoted from a piece from The New York Times. But The Times has largely rewritten its story, and after several calls, Comcast has responded to our requests for comment, so we have removed all quotes from The Times. Comcast is testing a brand new means of throttling traffic on its cable-based …

Telecoms 5 Jun 2008, 20:53
BEA AquaLogic SOA business dismantled

Busting the $300m dream

BEA Systems' AquaLogic service oriented architecture (SOA) business, assembled through a multi-million dollar M&A splurge, is being dismantled it seems. The Register has learned from individuals close to the company that BEA's new owner Oracle is merging the AquaLogic and WebLogic professional service teams. Oracle is also …

Applications 5 Jun 2008, 21:19
IBM fills chips with water

Beating the 3-D stacking heat

Oh, those crazy kids at IBM's Zürich lab. They can't get enough of processor cooling technology. Two years ago, IBM announced a breakthrough with carving channels into chips to let thermal paste sink down nearer the silicon. Then, in 2007, IBM Zürich patted itself on the back for cutting more channels into the cooling unit. …

PCs & Chips 5 Jun 2008, 21:47
Drugs, hookers and cranked customers: Ex-Broadcom boss indicted

Private jet hot-boxing and other CEO of the century antics

More proof arrives today that we should have befriended the folks at Broadcom in the early part of this decade. Broadcom co-founder and former CEO Henry Nicholas has been indicted on charges unsealed today of illegal stock-option backdating, which resulted in the largest financial restatement (a write down of $2.2bn in profits …

Law 5 Jun 2008, 22:41
Battle of the SSD strategies: Sun vs. EMC

Living information takes on the dot in dot-com

How do the flash solid state disk (SDD) strategies of EMC and Sun differ? EMC is super-charging its Symmetrix arrays with enterprise flash solid state drives (SSD). The idea is to have the most frequently accessed data reside in a tier zero of SSD storage with less frequently-accessed data in Fibre Channel hard disk drives ( …

Storage 5 Jun 2008, 23:18