Yahoo completes takeover of Overture

Internet portal, Yahoo Inc, has announced that it has completed the acquisition of the pay-per-position specialist Overture. The announcement follows the approval by Overture's shareholders which was given on 7 October. The deal which was announced in July is one more step towards Yahoo's goal of providing a one-stop solution for search services. ...more

Could the end be nigh for Windows?

Microsoft will argue next week that the very future of the Windows operating system is under threat, if the nine US states that have rejected last year's anti-trust settlement have their way. Last summer a federal court ruled that Microsoft had illegally attempted to exert a monopoly over desktop computer systems by excluding rival products such as Netscape's Web browser and email client and Sun's Java programming language. Though a settlement was reached, nine states rejected the deal, which would force Microsoft to accept the installation of third-party software on PCs and restrict the extent to which Microsoft could tie-up agreements with PC manufacturers to exclude such third-party products. ...more

BPI forces ISPs to provide file sharer details

The BPI has begun a second wave of lawsuits against alleged illegal file sharers. The UK music industry body has been granted a High Court order compelling ISPs to provide the names and addresses of 31 individuals. ISPs now have 14 days to identify the individuals, based on IP addresses and log-on times provided by the BPI. ...more

Record UK album sales defy illegal file sharing gloom

UK album sales have hit an all-time peak, a record 237 million were sold in the 12 months to September 2004. Album sales are continuing to defy industry doom and gloom pronouncements on illegal file sharing, although the same cannot be said of the sales of physical singles which declined by 12 per cent. However if the value of the 1. ...more

Wimbledon site serves ace

IBM's official Wimbledon site has surpassed last year's figures to become the busiest grand-slam site ever, the company claims. The site notched up 2.3 billion hits during the fortnight according to IBM's figures, up from 943 million last year, and, surprisingly, the dramatic men's final between Pat Rafter and Goran Ivanisevic wasn't the busiest period. ...more