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Tuesday, March 27, 2007
 
  BBC NEWS | Technology | Many net users 'not safety-aware'
Fewer than half of the UK's 29m adult internet users believe they are responsible for protecting personal information online, a survey suggests.

Consumer News - Hard drives with hundreds of patient files stolen
KOMO 4 News has learned a thief or thieves have stolen computer hard drives with personal files on hundreds of local patients.

Man hijacks 90 eBay accounts [printer-friendly] | The Register
An Australian man pleaded guilty to breaking into eBay and a local bank to steal AU$42,000 (about $34,000), in a case that demonstrates the problem of account takeovers on the auction site.

E-Commerce News: Legal: Supreme Court to Review Child Porn Pandering Law
The Supreme Court will review a child pornography case reversed by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In the appeals court's view, the pandering provision could even apply to an innocent e-mail sent by a grandparent and entitled 'Good pics of kids in bed,' showing grandchildren dressed in pajamas.

Seven held for hacking
Seven persons are being held by the police for questioning after they were found in the act of hacking the networks during a major offensive launched by joint law enforcement units in Metro Manila recently.

To Understand Security Risks, Think Outside the Box
In the case of virtual risks, what people believe depends on who they believe, which in turn depends on who they trust. Curiously, people tend to put less trust in experts with access to the most reliable information, and put more trust in friends and family, who tend to be those with access to the least reliable information.

Do You Know Where Your Trade Secrets Are?
Assuming Oracle's description of SAP's activities is accurate, there is nothing technically that Oracle could have done to prevent the theft, said Ron O'Brien, senior security executive at Sophos. 'Given the fact that the logon and password were compromised, there is no security method that would lead me to believe that this could have been prevented.'

Trojan Horse Is Newest Windows Vulnerability
Microsoft on Monday announced a new security vulnerability in Windows that allows hackers to take over a PC remotely and which also could introduce a back door Trojan Horse to a user's system. Concurrently, security vendor Symantec upgraded the threat level of this vulnerability while Microsoft, on its Windows security Web site, downplayed the possible risk to users.

Citizendium's Solution for Wikipedia's Woes
Like Wikipedia, online encyclopedia Citizendium will be nonprofit, devoid of ads and free to read and edit. Unlike Wikipedia, Citizendium's volunteer contributors will be expected to provide their real names. Experts in given fields will be asked to check articles for accuracy. 'If there's going to be a free encyclopedia, I'd like there to be a better free encyclopedia,' says Larry Sanger, founder of Citizendium.

British Internet Users Avoid Banking Protections
Fewer than half of the UK's 29 million adult Internet users believe they are responsible for protecting personal information online, a survey suggests. One in six of the 2,441 people surveyed felt responsibility rested with banks.

Judge Blocks Cablevision in Video-Recording Case
A federal judge in New York has sided with entertainment producers who claimed that Cablevision's network-based remote-storage digital video recorder system violated copyright infringement laws. The judge, in Twentieth Century Fox v. Cablevision Systems, permanently enjoined Cablevision from proceeding with technology that would have allowed its customers who do not have digital video recorders in their homes to record and play back programs stored on central servers at Cablevision's facilities.

Lawyers Caution Companies Over Consumer Videos
Companies caught up in the YouTube craze are eager to put videos created by consumers on their Web sites and in TV spots -- but their attorneys are trying to restrain them long enough to explain the legal pitfalls. The consumer clips are typically rounded up through a contest, with a promise to broadcast or post the winners.

70% of All E-mail from Asia Called Spam
Almost 70 percent of all electronic mail from Asia is 'spam', or unsolicited advertisements, an anti-virus firm said. The Philippines had the worst record with spam making up 88 percent of all e-mails, Symantec Corp. said in excerpts of its Internet Threat Security Report.

Neiman Marcus Sues Domain Name Registrars
Neiman Marcus Group Inc. is suing a pair of domain name companies, accusing them of improperly registering more than 40 Internet addresses that resemble the department store chain's trademarks. The lawsuit accuses the companies of domain name tasting, or taking advantage of a five-day refund period to sample which of the addresses might generate traffic -- and thus potential ad revenues, before committing to buying them.

Bertelsmann Pays to Settle Napster Litigation
Bertelsmann, the German media giant that provided financial backing to Napster when it was an unauthorized file-sharing service, has agreed to settle with the last of the major record companies that had sued it for copyright infringement. Under the settlement with the EMI Group, the big British company that releases music by artists like Norah Jones and Joss Stone, Bertelsmann will pay an undisclosed sum but admit no liability.

Blog death threats spark debate
Prominent blogger Kathy Sierra has called on the blogosphere to combat the culture of abuse online.

Caught on camera: 'racist' classroom fight
A fight recorded on a cellphone camera has prompted the Western Cape Department of Education to investigate the classroom assault carried out on an Oudtshoorn boy in the presence of the teacher.

IOL Technology - Online bank fraud hits three banks
Cyberfraudsters have launched a massive phishing attack on the clients of major banks.

Marconi challenges court decision
Marconi Communications will challenge a ruling that it is guilty of infringing copyright and will file a notice to appeal today.

Judge hits firm with VOIP injunction
Reuters News Service, 26 March 2007 ] - A federal judge dealt a blow to Vonage Holdings Corporation that sent its stock reeling on Friday, when he agreed to bar the company from using Internet phone call technology patented by Verizon Communications.

Telkom, Marconi lose court case
A South African court has found fixed-line operator Telkom and telecommunications company Marconi Communications guilty of infringing copyright.

Phishing attempts on the rise
Internet banking remains a safe and secure method of banking, says the SA Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric), amid wide-spread mass media reports of a spike in Internet fraud.

Cape broadband project stumbles
A legal wrangle is holding up the City of Cape Town's wireless broadband project, in a dispute that could take years to resolve.

Local content the way forward
With the high cost of international bandwidth hampering the roll out of affordable broadband services, local content may be a partial solution to the problem.

SPAM causing major issues with ISPs
Smaller Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are facing hard times - and possible bankruptcy - as the massive increase in spam threatens the viability of their businesses.

The world at work... the rise of the new information worker
The workplace is not what it used to be. Employees do not necessarily fit traditional profiles and cannot easily be categorised.

Police warn of new ID theft scam
Police on Thursday warned of a scam offering overseas job opportunities which could lead to identity theft.

Don’t click too quickly
Online agreements are legally binding according to South Africa’s RIC Act.

Legal battle over proper use of ‘24’
LEGAL tension surrounding Media24’s claim to the numerals “24” more than two years ago has spurred one entrepreneur to undertake an all-out campaign that has him butting heads with the media giant.

ICANN to Vote Again on .xxx Domain Name Proposal
Online pornographers and religious groups are in a rare alliance as a key Internet oversight agency nears a decision on creating a virtual red-light district through a '.xxx' Internet address. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which has already rejected similar proposals twice since 2000, planned to vote soon on whether to approve the domain name for voluntary use by porn sites.

Belgian Court Dismisses Security Suit Against Google
A Belgian court dismissed a lawsuit filed by a company that said a feature for Google Inc.'s search engine offers up password-cracking tools and serial numbers to unlock their software. ServersCheck BVBA, based in Leuven, Belgium, charged that Google's Suggest feature could drive users who were interested in their network monitoring software to pirated versions, said Maarten Van Laere, CEO.

Six Charged with Stealing TJX Credit Card Data
Police charged six people with stealing credit card numbers from a TJX Cos. database to purchase about $1 million in merchandise with gift cards, authorities said. The company reported last year that hackers had gotten into a credit card database and many numbers had been stolen, Gainesville police Sgt. Ray Barber said.

Judge Blocks Vonage from Using Verizon's Technology
A federal judge issued a permanent injunction barring Vonage Holdings Corp. from using Internet phone call technology owned by Verizon Communications Inc. U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton granted Verizon's request for an injunction prohibiting Vonage from using some Voice-over-Internet Protocol technologies that allow consumers to make calls over the Internet.

Shareholder Sues TJX Companies Over Hacking Incident
A major shareholder in T.J. Maxx and Marshalls parent company TJX Companies has filed a lawsuit to obtain documents concerning a hacking incident that left large amounts of customer credit card data vulnerable. The Arkansas Carpenters Pension Fund, one of TJX's largest shareholders, filed the suit in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware.

Fewer Canadian-Made Drugs Sold Online, Group Reports
Fewer Canadian-made drugs were sold to American customers via the Internet in 2006, according to data compiled by a pharmaceutical industry group. IMS Health says while 2005 sales to the U.S. by Canadian internet pharmacies reached $420-million, 2006 sales declined almost 50 per cent, to $211-million.

Yahoo Promotes Attorney to Oversee Click Fraud
Yahoo has promoted one of its staff attorneys to an executive-level position that is akin to being click fraud czar at the second largest Web search provider. For seven years, Reggie Davis helped the Web search company defend itself against lawsuits by advertisers who claimed they were overcharged for pay-per-click ads that resulted from click fraud.

Viacom Accused of Misusing Copyright Law Online
Activist groups sued the parent company of the Comedy Central network, claiming the cable network improperly asked the video-sharing site YouTube to remove a parody of the network's The Colbert Report. Although the video in question contained clips taken from the television show, MoveOn.org Civic Action and Brave New Films LLC argued that their use was protected under 'fair use' provisions of copyright law.

Copyright Board to Reconsider Decision on Net Music
The Library of Congress Copyright Royalty Board agreed to reconsider a decision to increase royalties for music played on the Internet after radio broadcasters complained the new prices were too high. The judges agreed to listen to arguments submitted by National Public Radio, commercial radio broadcasters, and college stations, the board said.

Judge Rules Against Child Online Protection Act
A federal judge dealt another blow to government efforts to control Internet pornography by striking down a 1998 U.S. law that would make it a crime for commercial Web site operators to let children access 'harmful' material. The judge said parents can protect their children through software filters and other less restrictive means that do not limit the rights of others to free speech.

Data Storage: Fail-Safe System Fails in Alaska's Data Debacle
A story surfaced this week of a computer technician for the Alaska Department of Revenue who accidentally deleted a $38 billion data account. The backups that the department instated were useless, forcing a $200,000 manual recovery effort using the account's paper trail. While there are many backup and recovery applications and solutions that customers can buy, human error is often a key factor.

Online Anonymity Creates New Ethical Challenges
The Internet -- and the anonymity it affords -- has given a public stage to people's basest thoughts, ones that in earlier eras likely never would have traveled past the watercooler, the kitchen table or the next barstool. Some incidents -- and they are countless across cyberspace -- also raise the question: Is there anything to be done about it? Or is a decline in civil discourse simply the price that we pay for the advance of technology?

Cases Test MySpace's Accountability for Assaults
Lawyers for a Texas minor who alleged she was sexually assaulted by a 19-year-old she met on MySpace.com are expected to file new appeals in their case against the social network. Can lawyers succeed in holding MySpace.com more accountable for the safety of minors who use the site, or will judges decide protection is a parent's duty alone?

Judge Drops Defamation Suit Against Google
A U.S. judge has thrown out a lawsuit challenging the fairness of how Web search leader Google Inc. calculates the popularity of Web sites in determining search results, court papers show. In a ruling, Judge Jeremy Fogel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed a lawsuit against Google by parenting information site KinderStart.

Microsoft Investigates Fraud on Xbox Live Online
Microsoft is investigating possible fraud on its Xbox Live online gaming service, the company said. The investigation comes after gamers reported having their Xbox Live accounts hijacked and their credit card used to buy 'Microsoft Points,' the virtual currency on Xbox Live, which has more than 6 million users.

Court Upholds Ruling for Internet Phone Companies
A U.S. appeals court upheld a decision that exempted Internet telephone companies like Vonage Holdings Corp. from many state regulations and oversight. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit backed a 2004 decision by the Federal Communications Commission that exempted Internet telephone companies from rate regulation and from being required to seek certification before offering service.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007
 
  Online Anti-Virus Scans: A Free Second Opinion - Security Fix
Periodic online virus scanning is a good idea for Windows users, even for people already using up-to-date anti-virus tools. There are a couple of reasons I suggest this: First, anti-virus software is frequently slow to spot new threats. Take a gander at the daily 'unrecognized' stats posted by Shadowserver.org, which tracks the performance (or lack thereof) of several popular tools in spotting new variants. That list currently examines the performance of several free programs, but the reality is not much different with the commercial tools. Just have a look at performance metrics and virus detection failure rates chronicled here and here.

Task Force Shapes ID Theft Policy - Security Fix
A viral epidemic of consumer identity fraud and data theft prompted President Bush last year to create a task force charged with crafting proposals to marshal Uncle Sam's resources to prevent identity fraud, assist victims and more aggressively prosecute those responsible.

Stolen Identities Sold Cheap on the Black Market - Security Fix
Recovering from identity theft can take years and cost thousands of dollars. But how much is your identity worth to the thieves who sell it to other fraudsters? Turns out, less than the price of two tickets to the movies.

AOL lets instant message users see where buddies are - USATODAY.com
AOL is offering users of its AIM instant messaging service new capabilities to see where people on their buddy lists are physically located.

Advice from the Top: Cisco CEO says top leaders will know technology - USATODAY.com
John Chambers is 57, which might suggest that he knows less about technology than the typical 14-year-old. Except that Chambers is not your average fiftysomething. He is CEO of tech giant Cisco Systems, and he spoke with USA TODAY corporate management reporter Del Jones about executives and leaders and how to compensate for their blind spots when it comes to technology.

Online anonymity lets users gets nasty - USATODAY.com
When a California woman recently gave birth to a healthy baby just two days after learning she was pregnant, the sudden change to her life was challenging enough. What April Branum definitely didn't need was a deluge of nasty Internet comments.

Digital lock's rights and wrongs
In the 80s, according to record companies, home taping was killing music. Fast forward some 20 years and the devices we use to listen to music may have changed, but the recording industry is still claiming that the illegal copying of their product harms future production.

'Surge' in hijacked PC networks
The number of computers hijacked by malicious hackers to send out spam and viruses has grown almost 30% in the last year, according to a survey.

Virtual worlds are 'worth $1bn'
Millions of people are flocking to inhabit virtual online worlds, says research by analysts Screen Digest.

Laptops set to out sell desktops
Laptops will overtake desktop PCs as the dominant form of computer in 2011, according to a report by analysts IDC.

And the YouTube award goes to...
Lonelygirl15, OK Go and other YouTube sensations will get an opportunity to walk down a virtual red carpet.

Technician Deletes Data for $38 Billion Account
Perhaps you've experienced that sinking feeling when a single keystroke accidentally destroys hours of work. Now imagine wiping out a disk drive containing an account worth $38 billion. That's what happened to a computer technician reformatting a disk drive at the Alaska Department of Revenue.

Malpractice Coverage Prompts Law Firm to Stop Blogging
Law firms of all sizes have turned to blogs to showcase their expertise, but at least one New Jersey firm has put the plan on hold out of liability concerns. The reason: Its malpractice carrier said blogging would make the firm uninsurable.

ICANN Continues Debate Over Future of "Whois" Database
Hearings on proposed changes to the domain name database known as 'Whois' are expected next week in Lisbon, Portugal, before the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, the main oversight agency for Internet addresses. Resolution, however, could take several more months or even years, with crucial details on implementation still unsettled and a vocal minority backing an alternative.

Fee Hike Could Devastate Internet Radio
A recent ruling by the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board raised the royalty fees that Internet radio stations must pay record labels for distributing music online. The consortium of industry heavyweights also involved with the case -- Clear Channel Communications, National Public Radio and several other groups -- claim the CRB's ruling places unreasonable demands on them.

Defamation suit against Google thrown out
A United States judge has thrown out a lawsuit challenging the fairness of how web search leader Google calculates the popularity of websites in determining search results, court papers show.

Chinese university dean fired after blog rant - report
An elite Chinese university has fired one of its deans days after he complained about being sidelined for bold criticism on the Internet of the country's higher education woes and lack of academic freedom.

SA Open Tuesday gets people talking
South Africa's first Open Tuesday event was held last night at the Holiday Inn in Sandton. This was the first of what should become an important monthly event on the calendar of both the local open source community and those on the periphery who have an interest in open source development.

Copy prevention tools won't last: Zimmermann
'I think that in the long run, we will look back at DRM as a temporary phase,' says Phil Zimmermann, inventor of the PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) cryptography system for email.

Hackers sell fake credit cards for R7
Hackers are selling fake United States-based credit cards on the Internet for as little as one dollar (about R7), and a full set of data for a fake identity for as low as $14, a web security firm said.

Woman cons thousands in online dating scam
A married Singaporean woman who met a man in an online chatroom and conned him into giving her about $45 000 after she promised to marry him, was jailed for six months on Monday, court documents showed.

Free software meets the media
The Free Software & Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA) is to host a five-day workshop for African free software developers and media workers.

Client has eight-month wait for ADSL line
Telkom has told a Simon's Town man to wait for eight months to have his ADSL Internet connection installed.

Open Source used in fight for human rights
Last year Tectonic ran a story on Martus (see story), an open source software tool used by human rights workers, attorneys, journalists and others who need to secure their information from eavesdropping, theft or equipment failure.

DTI takes Companies Bill on the road
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has started a roadshow to popularise and debate the Companies Bill that will change the South African business landscape once it becomes law next year.

Quick death for analogue TV
Government's target to migrate to digital television by 2011 may be too tight, say industry stakeholders.

Mixed signals
AN IDEOLOGICAL TUG-OF-WAR is being fought in the telecommunications sector to decide whether the public or private sector should provide infrastructure and services aimed at bringing down costs and furthering access.

Can Infraco dial the right number?
THE setting up of a state owned broadband company, Infraco, has cast pebbles into the always turbulent sea of SA’s telecommunications sector.

Telkom ADSL demand: why can’t they keep up?
Telkom often states that there is a great demand for ADSL and that they can hardly keep up with installations. But is this not perhaps due to poor performance rather than a true demand overflow?

Protect yourself from hacking and bandwidth theft
BUSINESS owners have to combat crime on many fronts. While the physical threat of theft of stock is easy to identify, fraud can be more difficult to detect. Even more so when it comes to the theft of an “unseen” commodity such as bandwidth.

Defining tomorrow's mobile computing environment
No area of personal computing has changed more rapidly than mobile technology, blurring the distinction between the mobile workforce and any other form of computing.

Auction fraud tops computer crime complaints | InfoWorld | News | 2007-03-16 | By Robert McMillan, IDG News Service
Fraud still tops the list of complaints made to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, but the percentage of fraud complaints as well as number of complaints overall is down.

Six Ways To Stop Data Leaks
During the five months when Gary Min was stealing $400 million worth of proprietary information from a DuPont database, he downloaded and accessed more than 15 times as many documents as the next most active user of the system. But he wasn’t caught until after he left the company for a rival firm.

Laptop with city school employees' information stolen
Nearly 2,000 current and former employees of Springfield City Schools are being notified their personal information was on a stolen laptop belonging to the state auditor's office.

Dai Nippon Printing reports client data theft
Japan's Dai Nippon Printing Co. (7912.T: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday a former contract worker stole nearly 9 million pieces of private data on customers from 43 clients including Toyota Motor Corp.

'Surge' in hijacked PC networks
The number of computers hijacked by malicious hackers to send out spam and viruses has grown almost 30% in the last year, according to a survey.

Social Networking: 'Hillary 1984' - First 'YouTube Election' Off to Flaming Start
The takeoff on Apple's revolutionary 1984 Mac ad that depicts Hillary Clinton as Big Brother may signal a coming firestorm of anonymous political video gibes as the first YouTube-influenced U.S. presidential campaign gets underway. Sen. Barack Obama, whom the ad apparently supports, denies any knowledge of it. That refrain is likely to be heard a lot in upcoming months.

McAfee maps out malware hotspots - crn.com.au
Security firm McAfee has announced the results of a research report that creates a global map of the riskiest places to surf and search on the internet.

Anti-spyware bill could mean tougher fines [printer-friendly] | The Register
On Thursday, the anti-spyware bill - which has twice passed the U.S. House of Representatives only to be rejected by the Senate - got its third hearing in the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Colorado Woman Sues To Hold Web Crawlers To Contracts
Web site owner Suzanne Shell's lawsuit against the Internet Archive poses a question: "Can software programs be held liable for their actions?"

Auction Fraud No. 1 Online Complaint
An FBI report released Friday indicates that Internet auction fraud accounts for close to half of all online complaints. In addition to auction fraud, the report includes complaints relating to nondelivery and credit/debit card fraud, as well as nonfraudulent complaints such as computer intrusions, spam and unsolicited e-mail, and child pornography.

Case Raises Questions About Jurors Who Blog
A New Hampshire case involving a juror who posted entries about court duty on his blog has raised the issue of juror blogging, which legal experts said may soon become a regular part of voir dire and jury instructions. The juror foreman, Scott Vachon, made an entry in his blog in early 2005, four days before jury selection, in which he said he would have to 'listen to the local riff-raff try and convince me of their innocence,' according to court documents.

Chinese Court Jails Editor of News Portal
A Chinese court jailed an editor of a news portal for six years for inciting subversion by publishing anti-government essays, his lawyer said, the latest case in a government crackdown on dissent. The Intermediate People's Court in Ningbo in the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang convicted Zhang Jianhong, better known by his pen name is Li Hong, of 'inciting to subvert state power', lawyer Li Jianqiang told Reuters.

Two Plead Guilty to Illegal Internet Gambling Ring
A Miami executive and his wife pleaded guilty to participating in a $3.3 billion illegal Internet sports gambling operation in New York, the Queens District Attorney's office said. Daniel Clarin, 32, and his wife Melissa Clarin, 31, pleaded guilty in court to enterprise corruption and conspiracy charges for taking part in the operation that ran over a 28-month period, according to a news release.

Philip Morris Wins Ruling on Infringing Sales Online
Tobacco giant Philip Morris USA won a legal victory in its attempt to crack down on sales of its cigarettes that are manufactured overseas but sold over the Internet to U.S. customers, after a federal judge denied a motion to dismiss one such case it is pursuing. Southern District of New York Judge George B. Daniels held that the tobacco manufacturer's trademark infringement allegations were 'sufficient to raise an inference that defendants' sales of foreign Philip Morris brand cigarettes into the United States could be misleading to consumers, and therefore state a claim for relief under the Lanham Act.

Internet Radio Companies Oppose New Copyright Fees
Several Internet radio companies are arguing that a recent decision by the Copyright Royalty Board, a three-member panel under the Library of Congress, would make it almost impossible for them to stay afloat. Besides increasing the charge for each song, the ruling established a $500 minimum payment for each Web channel -- making it difficult for companies like RealNetworks and Pandora to offer as many different kinds of music as they do now.

Researchers Trace Companies Behind Fake Web Pages
Tens of thousands of junk Web pages, created only to lure search-engine users to advertisements, are proliferating like billboards strung along freeways. Now Microsoft researchers say they have traced the companies and techniques behind them.

Hackers Vow to Disclose Vulnerabilities in MySpace
Two hackers going by the names of Mondo Armando and Müstaschio promise to begin disclosing security vulnerabilities in MySpace, News Corp.'s popular social networking site, every day next month. 'The purpose of the exercise is not so much to expose MySpace as a hive of spam and villainy (since everyone knows that already), but to highlight the monoculture-style danger of extremely popular websites,' wrote Mondo Armando in an e-mail interview.

U.S. Called Responsible for Most Internet Attacks
U.S. networks pumped out the highest percentage of attacks during the second half of last year, with China running a distant second, according to a report released Monday by security firm Symantec. The U.S. accounted for 31 percent of malicious activity originating from computer networks, while 10 percent came from China and 7 percent from Germany, Symantec said in its Internet Security Threat Report.

Monday, March 19, 2007
 
  Cybersquatting complaints rise 25 percent, U.N. says
The U.N. copyright agency that arbitrates more than half the world's ``cybersquatting'' cases saw a 25 percent increase in complaints last year.

New crime website launched
A new crime website, this time an initiative by the South African Police Service (SAPS), was launched today.

Convergence leads to SMS fuelling growth of the mobile internet
THE advent of the mobile internet has not slowed the growth of the SMS industry. If anything, SMS is fuelling the mobile internet.

Global survey of communications executives identifies Skype-like services as primary cause of declining revenues
Survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit and Oracle finds that voice calls are expected to cease to be the primary revenue source for fixed-line communications service providers within six years.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007
 
  Excerpts from Viacom’s scathing YouTube complaint
Viacom filed a complaint against Google's YouTube and it isn't pretty. Whether Viacom is looking for leverage, a test of copyright law or the end of YouTube isn't exactly clear

YouTube’s end game nears
Viacom's $1 billion lawsuit against Google's YouTube kicks off what could be the end game for the video sharing site.

Friday, March 09, 2007
 
  Relief seen for SA web users
It's the snails pace with which participating member countries were moving towards embracing and commencing with works on the Eastern Africa Submarine System (EASSy) cable project that prompted cynics to dub it a lame duck project.

Thursday, March 08, 2007
 
  Bandwidth theft is 'easy'
Just when you thought that burglar bars and alarm systems were sufficient security to keep out thieves, on-line criminals have come up with new ways to creep into your computer and steal your Internet bandwidth.

Copyright payments hit online radio
Internet music broadcasters worry that a new ruling could put many of them out of business by drastically increasing the royalty payments they have to make to record labels and artists.

Yahoo! China in court for linking to music
Music industry giants including Warner Music Group are suing Yahoo! China for alleged copyright infringement by providing links to unlicensed music, trade organisation IFPI said on Wednesday.

Technology addiction grows
The growth of portable technology has sparked fears that people are becoming addicted to using gadgets, reports BBC News.

Cape Town leads in IT
The SA IT sector is expected to contribute about R77bn to the national economy by 2010 and Cape Town must position itself to take up the many thousands of jobs that will be created.

Convergence revolution hits SA
The era of convergence is about to hit SA, as consumer electronics and IT devices come together to make sophisticated new entertainment systems easy to manage and deploy.

How Tough Is Vista's Defensive Lineup?
In Vista, it is too early to say what the actual weaknesses might be. It is fairly safe to say that weaknesses do exist, that more will be uncovered over time and that even some of what Microsoft has touted as security enhancements have already proven to be vulnerable,' said Kaspersky Lab's Shane Coursen.

Intel Says It May Have Lost E-mails in AMD Case
Intel may have lost some internal e-mails that the company is required to produce in a lawsuit brought against it by Advanced Micro Devices, lawyers for the company said. In a letter to U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Farnan Jr., one of Intel's lawyers revealed that some internal e-mails were missing, despite the company's efforts to preserve documents related to the case.

Microsoft Lawyer Attacks Google on Copyrights
Microsoft is taking aim at Google Inc.'s rival book-scanning project, saying the search company 'systematically violates copyright.' In prepared remarks, a Microsoft Corp. lawyer also said Google is cutting into the profits of authors and publishers.

Scotsman wins 1,300 settlement against spammer [printer-friendly] | The Register
An Edinburgh man has obtained damages of more than 1,300 from British-based spammer.

'Embarrassed' Gun Suspect Sues Microsoft After FBI Finds Sex Videos On His PC
Despite efforts to keep the data private, FBI lab agents were able to access the files by making a mirror image of the hard drive.

Wikipedia, Academia Have a Love-Hate Relationship
University of Virginia English professor John Sullivan, who also teaches courses in mass media and American culture, is skeptical of Wikipedia. Sullivan compared the encyclopedia to the underlined and highlighted sections of library books that students may flip to instead of reading the entire book. 'Are we living in a world where we have intellectual fast food?' he asked.

Intel Contractor Gets Hacking Conviction Set Aside
A former Intel contractor has seen his conviction for hacking into the company's systems expunged, after a battle lasting more than a decade. Randall Schwartz had his arrest and conviction for bypassing Intel security systems 'set aside' at the beginning of February, legally giving him a clean slate.

GigaLaw.com Daily News: Hacker Steals Data from French Political Candidate
A hacker stole sensitive data from a computer in the offices of French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, police said, fuelling his fears that rivals used it to try and keep him out of the presidential race. The security breach at Le Pen's National Front party headquarters comes as the campaign intensified ahead of the April and May election with several candidates facing smear scandals in recent weeks.

GigaLaw.com Daily News: Police Use YouTube to Catch Crooks, With Mixed Results
A handful of police departments have utilized YouTube as a law enforcement tool, putting up video of suspects and eliciting help from the Internet-using public in identifying them. Experts say the idea has promise, but it's too soon to tell whether it will have staying power amid constantly evolving technologies and the difficulty of making a video stand out among millions.

GigaLaw.com Daily News: Police Use YouTube to Catch Crooks, With Mixed Results
A handful of police departments have utilized YouTube as a law enforcement tool, putting up video of suspects and eliciting help from the Internet-using public in identifying them. Experts say the idea has promise, but it's too soon to tell whether it will have staying power amid constantly evolving technologies and the difficulty of making a video stand out among millions.

Saturday, March 03, 2007
 
  Hack Attack Forces Texas A&M To Change 96,000 Passwords
Students, faculty, and staff are required to change their passwords after a hacker tried to break into files containing encrypted passwords to university accounts.

Laptop Computers Stolen From Hospital Parking Lot
Thieves have swiped laptop computers from a hospital parking lot in the Hill Country. The two computers are missing from Burnet. But it's the information on them that's important.

Information on 500 people posted to web in latest police security leak
Data believed to be information on investigations conducted by Yamanashi Prefectural Police has been leaked, including personal information on over 500 individuals including the name of a sex crime victim, sources close to the force said.

Telkom does not comply with Advertising Standards Authority
Telkom has again come under fire from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), this time for ignoring a directorate ruling.

Take-Two settles lawsuit for explicit game
Take-Two Interactive Software has agreed to enter into settlement talks in a lawsuit accusing it of selling Grand Theft Auto video games containing sexually explicit images under the wrong content label, according to a court document made public yesterday.

Budget holds ICT promises
This week: Finance minister sparks Infraco hope, boost for TV digitisation, and Neotel goes the Ethernet route.

Municipal manager guilty
Aganang municipal manager Stan Langa has been found guilty of sexual harassment by a disciplinary inquiry."

Telkom withdraws dialling claims
Telkom's educational campaign for its 10-digit dialling system has hit a snag, as the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ordered the operator to withdraw certain claims made in a television advert.

Gmail domain dispute looms for Google in China
Google Inc., fighting to consolidate its trademark globally, faces an obstacle in the world's second largest Web market -- China's www.Gmail.cn, which is refusing to sell its Internet address to the US giant.

Bank code looks kindly on customers
South Africa's major banks have agreed on a code of conduct for responsible credit extension, the Banking Association said on Thursday.

Directors' independence gets spotlight in new bill
Chris Seabrooke, the chairman of technology company Set Point, and the entire board may feel confident about his independence, but in terms of the Companies Amendment Bill that is awaiting the signature of President Thabo Mbeki, Seabrooke is unlikely to qualify as an independent member of the board and may have to resign from the audit committee.

Microsoft faces $1.9bn in MP3 damages (Correspondents in New York, FEBRUARY 23, 2007)
A US federal jury has found that Microsoft infringed audio patents held by Alcatel-Lucent and ordered the company to pay $US1.52 billion ($1.9 billion) in damages.

Software as a Service needs a clear service level agreement | OUT-LAW.COM
Software houses must create a whole new kind of service level agreement (SLA) if they start selling their software as a service rather than a product, according to a body which represents software developers.

Software partners in legal struggle (Andrew Colley, FEBRUARY 27, 2007)
DUTCH company Exact Software is facing contempt of court allegations as a result of its legal battle with Sydney technology consultancy, Hume Business Solutions.

Has MTN triggered a broadband price war?
MTNs recently launched 'More bytes for your buck' campaign has caused a stir in the South African broadband market.

IOL Technology - Pioneers get shot and settlers make money
If you listen to much of the chatter on IT sites these days, people would have you believe that there is a phenomenon called Web 2.0.

IOL Technology - Sheet music online may get shredded
The world's massed bands of bedroom guitarists have been enjoying themselves more than usual of late. The growth of the Internet has made sheet music freely available, putting even the trickiest Jimmy Page solos within the reach of the average guitar picker.

IOL Technology - SA TV goes digital in 2008
South Africa will switch to digital broadcasting from November next year as it gears up for the 2010 soccer World Cup, the government said on Thursday.

 

 

 

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