Highest court lets it lie for AOL

The US Supreme Court has refused to revive a lawsuit against America Online brought by subscribers. AOL was accused of imposing unjust charges and failing to protect customer privacy. According to a report in USA Today, the court turned down, without comment, the subscribers' argument that AOL should be considered a ''common carrier'' that can be regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. ...more

Microsoft puts a price on virus writers' heads

Microsoft has announced it will offer $250,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the authors of the SoBig and Blaster viruses. The announcement came as part of a $5mn fund given to US and EU law enforcement agencies to help them crack down on those responsible for creating the swathe of worms and other malicious programs that have exploited flaws in Microsoft products this year. Indeed the Blaster worm was configured to launch a denial of service attack against windowsupdate. ...more

States reject Microsoft delay appeal

The nine US states that have rejected the proposed settlement of anti-trust proceedings against Microsoft have opposed the software company's request for more time to assemble its evidence. The states' call for much stronger penalties to be imposed on Microsoft, and their case is due to be heard in March. Microsoft insists that the call for new penalties amounts to a new case against it and that it needs nine months to go through millions of documents. ...more

Yahoo! releases new Messenger

Yahoo! is to formally unveil the latest version of its instant messenger communications applet today. The latest version of of Yahoo Messenger which the company released as a beta a month ago features 'audibles' - kind of audio equivalents of emoticons, which are bound to annoy offices everywhere - and avatars. The service also offers such things as Launchcast radio, photo sharing and address book. ...more

World Cup spurs BBC's HDTV schedule

The BBC is scheduling high-definition television (HDTV) broadcasts to begin mid-2006 - make that 'just in time for the World Cup'. The corporation has announced that 'highlights of its schedule' will be made available in high-definition format to selected digital satellite and cable viewers. It will also be tested on digital terrestrial TV in London. ...more