US movie industry seeks cinema ban on recording equipment

The US movie industry is pushing for legislation that would make it illegal to take recording equipment into a cinema. A bill is currently being considered that would set a maximum $1,000 fine and a year in prison. Currently anyone caught videotaping a movie can be fined no more than $250. ...more

Microsoft starts legal clampdown on counterfeiters

Microsoft is clamping down on counterfeiters and illegal sales of its products filing 10 suits in states across the US. Seven of the suits centre on the abuse of the Microsoft Action Pack Subscriptions (MAPS) programme, which gives retailers access to Microsoft's products in order to test them internally. However, it transpired that these products were being sold on to consumers through online auction sites such as eBay. ...more

Intel and Micron combine to compete in Flash memory

Two of the US's biggest chip companies have joined together to compete in the fast growing business for NAND-based Flash memory products. The company, to be called IM Flash Technologies, combines the manufacturing technology, assets, experience and scale to allow Intel and Micron to compete in the NAND flash memory market. The new company will be 51 per cent owned by Micron and 49 per cent by Intel. ...more

Government focuses e-services on digital television

Television to be key framework for delivering government services online. At a product launch of an Internet-enabled set-top box, Anwar Choudhury, Director of Markets Technology and Innovation, revealed 'a new policy programme that requires every government department to consider digital television (DTV) as a key framework for delivering online services'. Choudhury said that while league tables showed we are near the top for e-commerce and making strides with broadband, the UK leads the way for digital television with 40 per cent of households owning a DTV set. ...more

Two more 'vertical' domains near final stages of approval

Two potential new second level domains have taken a step nearer. ICANN, which oversees the development of the internet and the naming conventions on which it is based, has said that two candidate registries .travel and . ...more