Surfing while you work

Which sites we visit at work is the focus of the latest survey on Net usage. Drawing on the Web behaviour of 8,300 individuals, the results come from an 'at work' panel set up by Jupiter MMXI, the Internet research company. The figures - for December 2001 - show search engines and news sites gaining the largest share of visitors, after portals and the sites of ISPs. ...more

Pioneer delays its first Blu-ray players

Pioneer has delayed the release of its first Blu-ray players, citing unspecified development problems and despite having begun shipping Blu-ray drives for PCs. The delay could further put back the launch of the high-definition successor to DVD, which has already been put back a month. To make matters worse Toshiba began delivering the first players based on the rival HD DVD format in April, although Blu-ray's backers, including Sony and Apple, may be consoled by the news that these players are not without problems. ...more

Sophos buys Canadian antispam firm

UK antivirus company Sophos has bought Vancouver-based ActiveState for ?23mn in cash. ActiveState builds enterprise-level anti-spam software and tools for open-source programmers. Its PureMessage anti-spam product will be combined with Sophos antivirus as Sophos PureMessage, which supportsAIX, HP-UX, FreeBSD, Linux and Solaris. ...more

Music labels fight French parliament

The French parliament is resisting heavy pressure from the major record labels and pressing on with plans to legalise the sharing of music and movie files. This week parliamentary deputies will question the country's culture minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres about the draft legislation that proposes to allow unlimited file sharing in return for the payment of a monthly fee of 'several euros'. Consumer groups back the move, but the record industry is staunchly opposed. ...more

Microsoft ordered to release Windows code

The judge in one of the Microsoft anti-trust cases has ruled that the software company must supply the source code for Windows to lawyers representing the nine US states that are contesting the original ruling against the company and demanding stiffer penalties. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly told Microsoft's lawyers that, 'It seems to me that if your side has access to it, the other side, frankly, should have access to it.' Microsoft's lawyers had argued that the nine states' request was too close to the hearings, which are due to begin next month. ...more