Analysis: Sony's DRM song and dance

Faced with crippling piracy, Sony recently took heavy-handed anti-copying measures to new levels by sneaking software onto customers' computers when they played CDs from artists as diverse as Neil Diamond and Ricky Martin, outraging consumer groups. 'Music fans shouldn't have to install potentially dangerous, privacy-intrusive software on their computers just to listen to the music they've legitimately purchased,' said Electronic Frontier Foundation legal director Cindy Cohn. 'Regular CDs have a proven track record and no-one has been exposed to viruses or spyware by playing a regular audio CD on a computer. ...more

CDs that glow in the dark

There are some pretty weird and wonderful gadgets on the market, but none so weird as a product from CD duplicator Optech. The LumiDisk takes optical disc technology and turns it into something you'd least expect. Building a special phosphor layer into its CDs, Optech has come up with a way of transforming the humble CD into, of all things, a nightlight. ...more

Oftel calls for unmetered Internet price cut

Oftel has proposed a seven per cent cut in BT's wholesale charges to ISPs for providing unmetered narrowband Internet access. The recommended cut is based on Oftel's detailed information on the cost to BT of providing ISPs (Internet service providers) with unmetered access - based on FRIACO, or flat-rate Internet access call origination. When FRIACO first became available, Oftel could only estimate how much it would cost BT to provide the service. ...more

Wi-Fi to be secured by force of law

A county in the US state of New York is proposing to enact a groundbreaking law covering security on Wi-Fi hotspots. Andy Spano, county executive of Westchester, has submitted a bill that would require locations such as Internet caf?s with public access points and businesses with wireless networks to ensure that their networks are secure. 'People don't realise how easily their personal information can be stolen,' Spano explained. ...more

IBM memory gadgets infected with computer virus

'False alerts' turn out to be genuine. Owners of IBM's 32Mb Memory Keys, USB devices that can be used as handy removable storage devices, may find their anti-virus programs detect a boot-sector virus called WYX (also known as Eek) residing on the key. Late last year Network Associates' anti-virus arm, McAfee, discovered that its products detected the virus, which technicians believed to be a false positive and attempted to find out why they were receiving alerts. ...more