File sharing networks face patent claim

A US peer-to-peer tech company is hawking its patent portfolio around the file-sharing community looking for licensing deals. According to the Washington Post, Altnet Inc has mailed numerous companies claiming their services infringe patents around the use of hashing. The technology appends a unique hash code to files on these distributed networks. ...more

Ricoh takes aim at inkjets with gel technology

Ricoh has demonstrated a new printing technology that could provide a new middle ground between consumer inkjet printers and workgroup lasers. Ricoh's GelSprinter technology uses pigment-based gel instead of more viscous ink, but while the new printers look and sound like inkjets, Ricoh claims that its printers will deliver a laser-like 29ppm in both mono and colour modes. The most basic model, the GX3000, will cost ?128 (?150 inc VAT), which is cheap indeed for a colour printer capable of 29ppm at default quality settings. ...more

EFF guns for AT&T over privacy of communication

US comms giant AT&T has been sued by electronic civil rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) for its part in aiding the National Security Agency's (NSA) programme to intercept communications across the US. The EFF is suing AT&T on the basis that its activities violate communications privacy laws. It alleges that the company allowed the NSA to intercept traffic over its network and gave it access to its 300 terabyte 'Daytona' database, which includes customer data on emails and phone calls made. ...more

Stallman: On SCO, GNU and Linux

Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation, which maintains the GPL, under which the GNU/Linux operating system is licensed, has asked us to publish his article clarifying that SCO's legal actions touch only the kernel of the platform, not the operating system as a whole... ...more

Peter Gabriel wants to Filter your music

Peter Gabriel's latest foray into the digital world of music is 'The Filter'. Having successfully broken online music services with OD2, powering many European music downloads channels and bought by LoudEye in 2004, Gabriel sees the next challenge as overcoming the difficulties of choosing through the hundreds of files on your computer. 'The first wave of the digital revolution was about the freedom of choice, trying to make everything accessible to anyone, anyplace, anytime. ...more