UK record industry starts legal action against 28 file sharers

The BPI has announced that has begun taking legal action against 28 UK file sharers, some of whom, it says, have made thousands of files available for downloading. It will seek damages and injunctions to prevent them from making files available in the future. The record labels' chief body said that these 'large-scale uploaders' used the Kazaa, Imesh, Grokster, Bearshare and WinMX networks to make music files available in contravention of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. ...more

Symbian treads lightly for new mobile platform

Symbian has announced version 9.5 of its eponymous platform for mobile phones. The new release has been designed to reduce its appetite, using up fewer hardware resources and freeing them up for use by the applications running on top. ...more

3G licence bids will take 15 years to recoup cost

A report released by Arthur Andersen Consulting and investment bank JP Morgan predicts that it will take the five winners of the UK auction of 3G licences 15 years to recoup their costs. The TIW, Vodafone, BT, Orange and One2One, which put in winning bids ranging from ?4bn to ?5.96bn, now face the prospect of establishing the network that will allow mobile devices high-speed access to the Internet. ...more

Microsoft to develop more than 40 new languages for XP and Office

Microsoft has promised to develop up to 40 new language versions of its flagship Windows XP and Office 2003 products over the next 12 months. The scheme is part of an ambitious Local Language Programme that, the company hopes, will allow people wider access to technology in a language familiar to them. The LLP is in partnership with government and academic institutions worldwide. ...more

Mozilla roars into action

After four years of development and lots of point-releases, the browser Mozilla 1.0 is officially available for download. Mozilla is an Open Source development project set up to create a highly-portable and standards-compliant Web browser. ...more