Narrowband "a good deal", says Oftel

Oftel has concluded a review of the dial-up Internet connection market and its initial conclusion is that UK customers fare well, despite some reservations. The review shows that ten million households now have Internet access, up four million in a year, and that 35 per cent of households choose some form of unmetered access. However, Oftel recognises that consumers are concerned about the quality of customer service and the availability of information that enables them to select the right package. ...more

Novell's SUSE 9.1 brings a 2.6 kernel first

SUSE has launched its first Linux product since its acquisition by Novell - SUSE 9.1 - which it claims as the first commercial distribution to incorporate the new 2.6 kernel. ...more

Sony fined for DRM downloads

A French court has ordered Sony to pay €10,000 in damages for selling downloads that can only be played on its own portable devices. The fine is a victory for France's Federale des Consommateurs (UFC) which took Sony's French and UK subsidiaries to court over the use of restrictive DRM on downloads sold through its Sony Connect store. Apple was also named in the lawsuit for a similar practice in its iTunes Store and that case is expected to be heard later this year. ...more

RIAA hit with anti-racketeering lawsuit

The Recording Industry of America has been sued under anti-racketeering laws by one of the people it is suing for alleged file sharing. Michele Scimeca from New Jersey is charging the RIAA with extortion, violating laws originally enacted to prosecute the Mafia. She has previously been sued by the RIAA which believes she uploaded 1,400 songs via KaZaA. ...more

AOL targets AIM add-on

An Open Source project to support instant messaging is the target of a legal attack from AOL. phpAIM is a php-based interface to AOL's Instant Messaging service. It's a project hosted by SourceForge. ...more