Apple antitrust suit gets green light

A US court has given the go-ahead for Apple to be sued over allegations that the iPod-iTunes axis breaches federal antitrust laws. eHomeUpgrade reports that Judge James Ware, of the District Court of Northern California rejected Apple's argument that the two products are not tied together - you can for example buy and play music from iTunes without owning an iPod - and found that plaintiff Thomas Slattery had 'met all the requirements for asserting the tying claim'. Tying two products together is (potentially) illegal under the 1890 Sherman Anti-Trust Act and is described as 'the practice of making the sale of one good (the tying good) to the de facto or de jure customer conditional on the purchase of a second distinctive good (the tied good)'. ...more

MIT warns of potential security loophole with VoIP

A group of communications experts is warning of a potential security loophole in Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) applications. Researchers at the Communications Research Network (CRN) believe VoIP could give Internet-based criminals a better way of covering their Internet Protocol tracks. The Communications Research Network is funded jointly by the intellectual heavyweights Cambridge University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which means the wider security industry will take note. ...more

Google apologises over Kama Sutra virus

Google has apologised for an internal error that may have caused fans of its popular video site to inadvertently download the Kama Sutra virus. On Tuesday this week, three items were posted on the Google Video blog that may have contained the mass mailing worm, officially called W32/Kasper.A@mm, which obliterates registry keys and files. ...more

AOL abandons instant messaging for business

AOL has joined Yahoo! in deserting the world of instant messaging for business. Last week, Yahoo! announced it was shutting down its enterprise instant messaging (IM) software - today AOL has announced it is to do the same, moving users from its AIM Enterprise Gateway system to IMlogic's IM Manager. End users will not be charged for the move and will receive licences for IMlogic's IM Manager which offers management, policy enforcement and security services, as well as for its IM Linkage for AIM Network Services. ...more

XP Plus! ?29.99

Microsoft has unwrapped the add-on pack for its forthcoming OS: Plus! For Windows XP. What you get with the "eXtra Package" that you don't get with XP by default is new games, more desktop themes, 3D screen savers and a multitude of multimedia tools. The tools include Plus! Voice Command for adding voice recognition to the Windows Media Player, Plus! Speaker Enhancement to help bolster the sound of common desktop PC speakers, Plus! CD Label Maker for customising CD covers and labels, Plus! Personal DJ for customising playlists and Plus! MP3 Audio Converter for converting MP3 files to Microsoft's preferred format, Windows Media Audio (WMA). ...more