When is a fence not a fence?

When it's an online auction, perhaps. According to a US state judge in California, the eBay online auction company can not be held liable for the bootlegged music sold over its Web site. In a ruling last week, Judge Pollak, cited a section of the US Communications Decency Act, which says that interactive computer services are not liable for material published on their networks. ...more

Restless in Seattle

The "Windows Everywhere" crusade took a further leap forward this week when Microsoft revealed the full extent of its mobile strategy to writers and analysts at a Mobility Forum in Seattle. The philosophy behind the strategy is all well and good. We operate in a world of personal and corporate information and we should be able to access that information wherever we are, on whatever device comes to hand, with a familiar and consistent interface. ...more

SCO accuses IBM of delaying tactics

SCO has filed a document in its ongoing litigation against IBM that alleges Big Blue is using delaying tactics to withhold vital evidence from SCO. In a memo that was filed to support its bid to have the Judge force IBM to hand over documents that would help build SCO's prosecution it alleges that IBM is being deliberately unhelpful in meeting SCO's requests 'Had IBM properly answered this request a year ago, when required, [it] would have provided direct evidence relating to the heart of the claims at issue in this case,' it reads. It says that the AIX and Dynix source code offered by IBM does not contain details of who wrote which parts and when. ...more

Cyber attacks growing more targeted

Anti-virus expert warns that hackers are turning to precise methods to steal company data There has been an increased amount of malware targeting specific companies, according to an anti-virus expert. Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer of Finnish anti-virus company F-Secure said that targeted attacks where companies receive only a couple of malware-infected emails from criminals instead of thousands was "an interesting new phenomena". "Instead of the attacker sending out millions of emails with infected attachments to random recipients, the attack might send just five emails with infected attachments only to one single company," said Hypponen. ...more

Shuffle makes a splash

The iPod shuffle claimed 43 per cent of the worldwide flash player market in February, Apple said yesterday, quoting figures from NPD Techworld. Its success has boosted Apple's share of the market for all portable music players to around 70 per cent; over 90 per cent of all hard drive players sold are iPods Apple sold over five million iPods in the last three months, its best return yet, but declined to give separate figures for the three varieties. The iPod-compatible iTunes Music Store has between 70 and 75 per cent of the global downloads market. ...more