Eminem agrees out-of-court settlement with Apple

Eminem has settled a lawsuit with Apple over the 'unauthorised' use of one of his songs in an advertisement. His company, Eight Mile Style, agreed an out-of-court settlement for an undisclosed amount. 'The parties were able to reach an amicable resolution,' said Howard Hertz, a lawyer for Eminem. ...more

Brits revealed as Internet shopping champs of Europe

Britain has edged in front of Germany in Internet retail sales. Market research firm Mintel says that British sales stood at €9.79bn (?6. ...more

EU treaty could spark hacker witch-hunt

Security experts at Def Con Europe in Amsterdam have expressed outrage at the implications of The Council of Europe's draft Cybercrime Treaty. The Treaty, drafted by EU member states in consultation with the US Department of Justice could be signed as early as December and would criminalise the writing or possession of hacking software and the publishing of software vulnerabilities. To many of the experts at Def Con, the word 'hacking' is simply a way of discovering how something works - research by disassembly. ...more

LaCie expands capacity of mobile hard drives

LaCie has overhauled its range of FA Porsche-designed portable hard drives, taking the top capacity up to 100GB and incorporating a dual, USB/FireWire interface. Weighing 200g, less than a pack of cards, the 7.6x12. ...more

The world signs up to 100m broadband lines

Broadband connections have topped 100 million this year, according to analysts Point Topic, beating even the phenomenal growths trends shown by the mobile industry in the 1990s. The number of connections has risen from 10 million to 100 million in little more than three years, with China rapidly becoming a major contender. All the G7 countries now feature in the top ten for the numbers of lines, but Point Topic says China is already leapfrogging these and will overtake Korea, Japan and even the USA in time. ...more