UK Net connectivity levels out, but broadband climbs

Uptake of broadband continues to increase as pricing falls, according to the office of National Statistics. Tracking data from ISPs on a monthly-basis, the official statistics show an increase in UK Internet connectivity of 17.3 per cent year on year (from June 2001). ...more

Music and movie industries muscle in on EU anti-terror law

The film and music industries are demanding equal rights with anti terrorist agencies. An industry grouping called the Creative and Media Business Alliance (CMBA) has written to European MEPs asking that powers given to law enforcement agencies to monitor private phone calls, emails and Internet surfing be extended to record and movie industry investigators to help combat piracy and copyright theft. In the letter to the MEPs, the music and movie companies said they 'would appreciate your support in ensuring that this becomes an effective instrument in the fight against piracy'. ...more

Hollywood backs managed copying of movie discs

Hollywood is prepared to permit managed copying of movie discs for private use, the chairmans of its main trade group has revealed, but has no plans to abandon DRM any time soon. Dan Glickman, who heads the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), told an industry conference that managed copying should be available for HD DVD discs by the end of the year, adding that he would like to see it enabled for standard DVDs as well, though this would require a new DRM system. He made no mention of Blu-ray, the rival high-definition format to HD DVD. ...more

Crucial rolls out PC2700 DDR memory

And we roll out the deals. PC2700 DDR memory, currently the fastest JEDEC-approved DDR SDRAM around, is now available at the Crucial site in 128Mb and 256Mb flavours. It runs at 167Mhz, but being DDR (Double Data Rate), that's 333MT/s (mega transfers, or 1 million bytes, per second). ...more

Robot Wars

It's been on the cards for some time, but now BBC Multimedia has announced that it is to release Robot Wars - Arenas Of Destruction, a game based on the hit TV show. It will be due out in November 2001, ready for the Christmas market. To begin with, you need a robot. ...more