Real boss calls iPod owners thieves

The boss of Real Networks has accused iPod owners of 'stealing' half their music, either by downloading it or copying friends' CDs. 'The average number of songs sold for the iPod is 25, and there are many more songs on iPods than 25,' Rob Glaser told The Guardian. 'About half the music on iPods is music obtained illegitimately either from an illegal peer-to-peer networks or from ripping friends' CDs, which is illegal. ...more

BBC digs deeper into its archives

The BBC has opened up yet more of its archive material this week. For teachers, the BBC has launched the Open Schools Archive. Content here is divided into six categories, covering geography, history, nature, politics, places and audio resources. ...more

The week that was five years ago: Apple finishes OS X and Napster makes waves

As Microsoft prepared to release Office XP, oh the excitement, and Apple was putting the finishing touches to the very first version of OS X, it was Napster that was grabbing the headlines five years ago this week. The original file sharing network's days were numbered and it was eagerly courting partners to launch what would then have been a pioneering digital music service. To think we might never have heard of the iTunes Music Store. ...more

BT starts legal action defending its hyperlink patent

BT has taken US ISP Prodigy Communications to court in an attempt to recover licence fees over the use of hyperlinks. BT hopes to force all ISPs that use hyperlinks to pay the telco a licence fee. This move is believed to be the first of many, as the company contacted 16 ISPs, including America Online, back in June with a request for licence fees and hired intellectual property licencing firm QED. ...more

Wireless network equipment shortage worsening

Wireless network equipment makers in Taiwan, which supply nearly 80 per cent of global WLAN equipment, find themselves in a worsening situation for the supply of components, local IC distributors said. According to an earlier report, Taiwan-based networking equipment companies have already been troubled with 802.11b chipset shortages. ...more