Police collar drugs peddlars on Google's networking tool

Police in Brazil have arrested 10 people accused of using Google's Orkut social networking website to sell drugs. The police investigation began with authorised phone tapping which led them to the Internet dealings. A police officer who declined to be named said that there may yet be more arrests. ...more

Which names 'best buy' dial-up ISP

Consumers' organisation Which has given its 'Best Buy' award for dial-up Internet access to Firenet's PAYG and unmetered dial-up packages. The services were judged on three criteria: file download and upload speeds and the reliability of the service, specifically the number of dial-up errors, engaged tones and connection drop outs. Firenet CEO Alan Castle said, 'This is excellent news, we cannot believe how well our customers talk about us so much, where the likes of Which magazine test us, and give us the best buy ISP for the third time in a row. ...more

Microsoft affirms commitment to the Mac

The head of Microsoft's Mac Business Unit (MBU) has confirmed that the company's commitment to software development for the Mac remains undiminished, despite the imminent expiry of a five-year agreement between the two companies. Kevin Browne told an audience at Microsoft's California campus that, 'The agreement has ended, but our business is absolutely continuing.' Apple and Microsoft signed a five-year deal in August 1997, which committed Microsoft to develop its Office applications suite for the Mac for the following five years. ...more

RIAA sues satellite radio broadcaster XM

The music industry trade association in the US, the Recording Industry Association of America, has filed a lawsuit against XM Radio, America's biggest satellite radio station alleging that it is promoting the theft of copyright material. The dispute is superficially about the Pioneer-manufactured Inno device that allows XM subscribers to record up to 50 hours of material. This works out as around 1,000 tune's worth of XM content for playback solely on the Inno device. ...more

Google turns to RSS news feeds for placing ads

Google has begun testing the placing of adverts within RSS news feeds. The ads are beginning to appear in feeds from several of Google's testing partners; the first instances were in around 60 feeds from LonghornBlogs and have since appeared in Engadget's feed. The adverts are drawn from Google's AdSense programme, which gives the website or, in this case, RSS feed a share of the proceeds. ...more