A Florida appeals court ruled Friday that ISPs can be compelled by subpoena to identify people who post defamatory messages on Internet bulletin boards, even when the libellous nature of the statements has yet to be proved.

Intel saw profits rise 52 per cent for the third quarter, (compared with Q3, 1999) sneaking past Wall Street's reduced expectations.

DesktopX - half of Stardock's attempt to recreate Microsoft's lost Cairo project - was publically unveiled today in alpha form for widespread download.

MiTAC has sold its European subsidiary lock, stock and barrel to Synnex, the computer manufacturer outsource people. Terms were undisclosed.

After what must seem like an eternity of heavy losses and layoffs, IBM's PC division turned a profit in the most recent quarter, showing an 11 per cent rise over the same quarter last year. "Personal systems" makes up just over a fifth of Big Blue's total revenue.

Intel is predicting one of the steepest ramps in its history for the Pentium 4, the new company flagchip due to be unleashed on November 20th. This may simply be another aspect of the company's marketing plan to focus attention on the new high price, low availability one and away from the travails of the Pentium III, but it might mean that Intel is getting its fabbing problems licked.

ST Microelectronics sailed through its first $2 billion quarter, on the back what it modestly claims was the successful execution of its "differentiated products" strategy.

The European Commission has extended the deadline for Microsoft to file its response to charges that it's unfairly using its dominance in the PC market to achieve a similar position for Win2k in the server market. Microsoft now has until the middle of next month to come up with what we can expect to be a monstrously large pile of paperwork.

Micron is to assume full control of its Japanese DRAM plant, after buying out its JV partner Kobe Steel for $450 million ($125 million cash and $325 million assumption of debt).

The collective wisdom of candidates Bush and Gore has failed to shed significant light on the Napster controversy. Faced with a question on the subject at the Web White & Blue rolling election cyber-debate site, both sought - it's funny when you think about it - some kind of middle road.

Almost a year to the day after Microsoft struck a deal with Japanese wireless giant NTT DoCoMo, the first fruits of the deal were displayed at World PC Expo in Tokyo yesterday. But it may well go unnoticed as the Japanese market swings to using Java-based gadgets.

Mesh is looking like hot favourite to buy Carrera, its stricken rival, judging from its confidence in buying the domain name: CarreraComputers.co.uk. This registered at easily.co.uk on October 17 WebConsultancy on behalf of Mesh Computers PLC.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that chipmongers form the last bastion of the old 'mine's bigger than yours' school, egged on by hardware geeks around the world.

The much-talked about body scanners that will revolutionise online clothes shopping (no, really) have arrived. Or at least, plans for their installation in Lands End outlets in 50 American shopping malls have arrived.

BT is charging the police £130 a pop for searching information about suspected paedophiles using its services to access the Web.

Visitors to the AOpen booth at World PC Expo 2000, which started yesterday in Tokyo, can check out one of the world's best two mobos for Intel's upcoming flagchip Pentium 4.

US vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman yesterday announced "more than 440 technology and business" community endorsers for the Gore-Lieberman campaign. By a bizarre coincidence, the rival Bush-Cheney campaign also yesterday announced that "the number of high technology leaders now endorsing Governor Bush... is now up to 440."

Although the situation in the Middle East is mercifully slightly more stable today than it was last week, relations between Israel and the Palestinians are still a long way from what one might call cordial.

Intel performed a stealth price cut on a handful (if you're a character in The Simpsons) of chips on Monday, reducing three Pentium III parts by up to $50. The 667 and 650MHz PIIIs drop from $193 to $163, while the 600MHz chip drops a tad more, from $193 to $143. All prices are for 1Ku.

Intel CEO Craig Barrett says that his company made a mistake getting into bed with Rambus.

While lesser publications drone on about mainframes, Linux and other trivia, The Register reports on the one issue that really matters to our readers: cubicle sizes.

PC World is to start flogging broadband ADSL services from Freeserve directly to punters.

Does Gartner hold an internal contest for the best 'look at me' news hooks to be used for its annual Florida Symposium? If so, competition must have been pretty intense this year. But we think Tom Bittman with his combo 'Whistler will slip to 2002, Microsoft is derailing .NET by not dealing with the DoJ, Microsoft should agree a split into two companies' pitch probably clinched it.