And also today (17-August-2001), for the record...

Here, in brief, are some of the day's other stories. No delay, MS told A US federal appeals court has rejected Microsoft's bid to have the anti-trust hearings delayed, pending its bid to have the case heard before the Supreme Court. The case will be sent back to a lower court in a week's time to see what "remedy" should be applied to Microsoft. ...more

Independent music publishers sue Apple

A group of independent music publishers has sued Apple and other online music vendors for alleged music licensing violations. Billboard reports that in the lawsuit, the publishers claim songs to which they hold the copyright had been sold by the online stores without the necessary licences. In addition to Apple, AOL, Buy. ...more

Music legends sue concert video site

A super group of music legends - LedZeppelin, Santana, The Grateful Dead and The Doors - have got their legal sights on Wolfgang's Vault. This is a website that specialises in streaming live concert performances from the 1960s and 70s. The groups are suing the site on the basis that it is has no right to offer the recordings, which are also used to stimulate sales of T-shirts and other memorabilia. ...more

Oftel rings the changes

Number changes, that is. As Oftel's reviews of the telecomms industry proceed, the most recent fruit of its bids to make owning a mobile phone cheaper is to give users the ability to change operators while keeping their number within a week. All four network operators, Vodafone, Orange, BT Cellnet and One2One have introduced an automated system that speeds up the entire process, which would previously have taken nearly a month, and gives users the choice on which day the number transfer takes place. ...more

Solar storms create 'profound' disruption to GPS systems

A solar eruption in December disrupted the Global Positioning System (GPS), the satellite-based navigational system used by the military, scientists and civilians, researchers report. The solar flare created radio bursts that traveled to the Earth, covering a broad frequency range, the researchers said, affecting GPS and other navigational systems. Solar flares have been known to knock out satellites and even electricity grids, but the researchers told the Space Weather Enterprise Forum this was an unexpectedly serious new effect. ...more