Real patches RealOne vulnerabilties

Real Networks has issued patches in response to three vulnerabilities found in its RealOne players. Although the company says it has received no reports on anyone being affected by the security holes, it recommends that users with affected software should upgrade. The first problem, which affects RealOne Player, RealOne Player v2 for Windows only, the RealPlayer 10 Beta and all versions of the RealOne Enterprise Desktop or RealPlayer Enterprise edition allows an attacker run a malicious Javascript file from a domain opened by a SMIL or other file. ...more

ASA raps PC vendor Alienware for 25 per cent price discrepancy

Alienware has been ticked off by the Advertising Standards Authority for a magazine advert about its Area-51m laptop. Described as the 'Ultimate Gaming Machine', the price quoted for the 'Extreme Option' configuration was ?1,899 including VAT. A complainant, however, was unable to obtain the advertised machine and challenged whether the product was actually available at the stated price and specification. ...more

RFID chips capable of transmitting viruses

A group of Dutch researchers have demonstrated that it is possible to insert malicious code into an RFID chip. Until now the prospect of viruses appearing on RFID units has been considered remote because of the tiny memory capacity in the devices and the possibility of transmitting remote code simply by scanning. RFID or Radio Frequency Identification chips are becoming increasingly common as a method of tracking or securing goods in transit. ...more

Denmark considers separating iTunes store from iPod

According to reports, the Danish government is being petitioned by native companies to follow France and force Apple to break its tight integration of iTunes and the iPod and make its music store DRM-interoperable. Ars Technica reports that the country's largest telco TDC and supermarket Maersk - both of whom operate online music services - have urged Denmark to follow France and introduce legislation that ensures DRM interoperability. This is reported in the Danish-language Politiken. ...more

AOL to save Napster?

AOL/Time Warner is set to use Napster as the technology behind its own download service, it emerged today. Napster, which is being sued by Time Warner over copyright issues, would be the perfect way to take the "business of enjoyment of music" and "bring it into the digital communications age", said AOL/Time Warner CEO Gerry Levin in an interview with the BBC. Napster has already been down the road of doing deals with media companies. ...more