Microsoft's Private Folder App Criticized
Microsoft has released an application that would make it possible for those who share a PC or account to store files in a separate folder that only they may access. The move has been criticized, however, as some say the program could be misused, hiding content from IT administrators.
The software is called Private Folder 1.0, and hides data from the hard drive in addition to protecting it with a password. While no support will be given for the product, it will be available to those who verify their software as genuine through Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage Program.
Navy Investigating Personal Data Leak
The personal information of nearly 100,000 Navy and Marine soldiers was publicly available on the Web for nearly six months, the Navy disclosed on Friday. However, it said it was at a loss to explain how it occurred and an investigation was underway.
For an unknown reason, the data appeared on the www.safetycenter.navy.mil Web site last December. It is believed any Naval or Marine aviator, both active and reserve, who served in the past two decades had their personal information leaked.
British Music Labels Demand ISP Action
The British record industry targeted 59 accounts across two Internet service providers Monday, asking those two companies to suspend those subscribers on suspicions of illicit file sharing of copyrighted songs. The British Phonographic Industry called it a significant development in its fight against piracy.
Before its request, the BPI was only targeting the individual itself. With Monday's move, the group is now soliciting the assistance of ISPs in curbing the problem, claiming they have failed so far to take initiative in the fight.
Judge Rules Movie Sanitizing Illegal
Companies will no longer be able to "sanitize" movies in order to make them appropriate for specific audiences thanks to a federal court ruling over the weekend. Calling their businesses "illegitimate," Senior U.S. District Court Judge Richard Matsch said movie studios had the right to control the content of their work.
CleanFlicks of Colorado along with other companies were targets of a lawsuit filed by the Directors Guild of America in September 2002. Eight Hollywood studios later joined the case three months later. While CleanFlicks and others tried to defend their actions on First Amendment grounds, the DGA said it was copyright infringement.
Judge Orders Review of Telecom Mergers
In a stunning rebuke of the Justice Department, a federal judge on Friday ordered a review of the agency's handling of the Verizon-MCI and SBC-AT&T mergers. While the ruling could not undo either merger, the judge would have the power to add new restrictions, possibly requiring the companies to shed some of their assets.
Critics of the Bush administration say it has not acted forcefully enough in approving new mega-mergers, which has hurt smaller companies. Unlike other antitrust challenges, this particular case does not come out of any legal action from opponents. Rather, an independent judicial review of the settlements is granted by powers awarded to federal judges by Congress in the 1970s.
British Hacker Extradited to U.S.
A British computer expert accused of hacking into U.S. military computers will now face extradition to the United States in order to face charges, after England's Interior Minister John Reid signed an order to begin the process.
Gary McKinnon, otherwise known by his hacking handle "Solo," has been fighting extradition since 2002. He has admitted to hacking into the servers, however denies doing any damage. McKinnon says his attacks were motivated by a search for "suppressed technology."
Former AT&T Customers Sue Cingular
Cingular has been sued by former AT&T Wireless customers who accused the company of breaching contracts and violating the law in the way it handled subscribers after the merger. Cingular purchased AT&T Wireless in 2004.
The suit was filed by several groups, including the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR), and the law firms of Cotchett, Pitre, Simon and McCarthy, of Burlingame, California, and Stritmatter, Kessler, Whelan, Withey and Coluccio, based in Seattle.
Friendster Gets Social Network Patent
Struggling social networking site Friendster received a boost Thursday after it learned that it had been awarded a patent for social networking technology. Founder Jonathan Abrams, who has since left the company, developed the methods described in the patent in 2003.
Called "A System, Method and Apparatus for Connecting Users in an Online Computer System Based on Their Relationships within Social Networks," the patent seems to give the site the rights to methods used to describe degrees of separation between users.
Excel Flaw in Asian Office Versions
Researchers with the French Security Incident Response Team disclosed another flaw within Excel on Thursday, saying it could allow attackers to take control of a user's computer. The newest vulnerability is the third discovered in the popular spreadsheet program in the past month.
According to the advisory, when Microsoft Excel handles or repairs documents that contain overly long styles, a memory corruption error occurs in the Asian language versions of the product. The issue occurs in Excel 2000, 2002 and 2003, the advisory says.
AMD Revenue Falls Amid Intel Pressure
AMD disclosed Thursday night that it expected to miss its revenue targets, a sign that Intel's moves to counter AMD's recent gains with lower prices may be having an effect. For the quarter, the company is expecting to post $1.21 billion in revenue, down nine percent from the first quarter.
In its first quarter results, AMD said it expected revenue to be flat or slightly down in the second quarter. Analysts agreed, expecting $1.3 billion in revenue. However, some feared that Intel's deep price cuts in early June might have hurt AMD's bottom line.
Consultant Easily Broke into FBI Servers
Highlighting the problems with data security within the United States government, court filings revealed this week that a consultant for the FBI was able to break into a computer containing classified information using tools widely available on the Internet, the Washington Post reported Thursday.
The break-ins comprised information relating to FBI activities including the Witness Protection Program and counterespionage work. Additionally, the passwords of 38,000 employees of the FBI including Director Robert Mueller were exposed, the paper said.
Sirius Continues Run, Outperforms XM
Sirius said Thursday it had added 600,460 customers in the second quarter, up 64 percent from a year ago. The new adds were well above XM's numbers for the quarter; the company added some 398,000 customers, down 39 percent from last year.
The smaller satellite radio provider's impressive numbers continued to indicate the tables may have turned in the nascent market. Although still smaller than XM -- Sirius has 4.68 million customers to XM's 6.89 million -- the company has made up a lot of ground in the past several quarters by consistently posting better numbers.
Mac OS Update Sparks Privacy Concern
Some Macintosh users are complaining about a new feature added in the latest update to Mac OS X that periodically checks in with Apple Computer without the user's knowledge. The feature checks to see if widgets on the Dashboard are authentic, and Apple says it is for security purposes.
Called Dashboard Advisory, the application is intended to protect users from malicious software. It checks to see if a widget installed on a user's machine is the same as the one advertised on Apple's download page. The check occurs every eight hours, and there is no way to shut it off.
Report: AOL Considering Free Access
In an attempt to boost ad revenues, AOL is considering a plan that would give away access to its service for free to anybody who has a broadband connection. Such a move would be a serious gamble; the company would need to make up some $2 billion in subscription revenue alone.
Citing sources close to AOL, the Wall Street Journal said on Thursday that plans were proposed to Time Warner executives last week. While those who subscribe to AOL for dialup access would still be required to pay the monthly fee, those who have a "bring your own access" plan would not.
Intel, Motorola Invest $900m in WiMAX
Intel and Motorola said Wednesday that they would invest $900 million in Kirkland, Wash. based Clearwire, a company that sells wireless access based on an early version of WIMAX technology In 26 markets. Intel will invest $600 million, while Motorola would purchase the company's hardware business, as well as contribute part of the remaining $300 million.
Clearwire owns the second biggest chunk of necessary frequencies for WiMAX next to Sprint Nextel. The technology is expected to offer a much longer range than currently available wireless technologies. Whereas Wi-Fi is limited to several hundred feet at most, WiMAX has a range of several miles.
Ed's Bio
Ed Oswald is a freelance journalist from the Reading, PA area. Although he has written across a variety of subjects, Ed’s passion and focus has been on technology and gadgets. His work regularly appears on tech news sites BetaNews, PCWorld, and Technologizer, and has been syndicated to eWeek, Time’s Techland blog, VentureBeat and the New York Times.
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