Antitrust Battle Next for Net Neutrality?
Google said Tuesday that it was prepared to take the legal route if it felt telecommunications companies were abusing their market position, a sign that the net neutrality fight may extend beyond the halls of Congress and into the courts.
Attempts o have some type of net neutrality provision added to a broad communications law reform bill making its way through Congress have so far failed. The closest supporters have come was in late June, when a Democratic amendment failed in a Senate Committee in an 11-to-11 tie.
Universal Revamps CD Packaging
Record label Universal plans to refresh its compact disc offerings by offering three different types of packaging in Europe. The simplest packaging would come in a cardboard sleeve intended to compete with online sales, while the deluxe version would come with additional content, such as video.
Both the standard and deluxe releases would come with a redesigned "Super Jewel Box." The new case is designed to be more rugged and has rounded edges, stronger hinges, and a clasp that can be used to lock the case. Overall, the case is said to break less easily.
IFPI to Sue Yahoo China for Music Piracy
A record industry group said Tuesday that it planned to sue Yahoo China over copyright infringement, saying the service was making pirated copies of music available for download from its Web site. The site is a partnership between Yahoo and Chinese-owned company Alibaba.com.
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said it wrote to the site in April 2006 asking it to take steps to curb the problem. It claims that Yahoo China never responded, thus it has begun the process required in the country to file a lawsuit.
Microsoft's Antitrust Woes Continue
Microsoft learned of bad news on two antitrust fronts Tuesday. European Union officials voted in Brussels to unanimously accept the European Commission's plans to fine the company 2 million euros per day, while in South Korea Microsoft's injunction appeal was rejected.
Of the two, the EU decision carries the most consequences for Microsoft, and could mean that the company may owe hundreds of millions of euros in backdated fines, potentially doubling the already 497 million euro antitrust settlement.
Apple Introduces iMac for Education
Replacing its aging eMac educational computer line, Apple on Thursday introduced a version of the iMac priced $400 below its counterparts. The computer is only available to education customers, and will ship immediately at a price of $899 USD.
Apple said it would continue to sell the eMac until supplies run out, however the system is no longer in production. The move by Apple to bring its educational line to the Intel platform means than only the Power Mac remains as a PowerPC-powered system.
British Record Industry Sues AllofMP3
A British record industry group has been given the go ahead to sue the popular Russian music download site allofmp3.com, however it is unclear if any ruling could be enforced outside of Britain. The British High Court agreed last week to hear the case even though the company is based outside of the country.
AllofMP3 claims it has licenses from Russian Multimedia and Internet Society (ROMS) and the Rightholders Federation for Collective Copyright Management of Works Used Interactively (FAIR). But the music industry has called the ROMS license invalid and said it would not cover users in foreign countries.
USA Today Backs Off Initial NSA Story
USA Today backed off its NSA domestic spying story on Friday, saying it could not confirm the participation of either BellSouth or Verizon in the program. However, the company stood by its claim that AT&T was part of the program, saying second interviews with its sources as well as anonymous politicians confirmed the telecom's involvement.
The newspaper reported in May that the NSA has been collecting phone call records from AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth containing the phone calls of tens of millions of Americans. United States President Bush previously asserted that the spying only involved calls made to international destinations.
Google Nabs Another MS Employee
Yet another Microsoft employee has left the Redmond company for its biggest rival. Vic Gundotra, Microsoft's evangelism head will join Google next year, the two companies have confirmed. Google said it had not decided what position he will assume at the company, but said he will be a valuable asset. Gundotra had spent nearly a decade and a half at Microsoft.
Gundotra follows some other high-profile Microsoft employees who have since left for Google: Adam Bosworth, a former general manager; Mark Lucovsky, former engineer and apparent witness to Ballmer's chair throwing incident; and most notably Kai-Fu Lee, former head of Microsoft's China arm.
France Passes Softened iTunes Bill
A bill that once threatened iTunes' dominance in France was approved by the country's parliament on Friday, albeit in a watered down form. While the initial bill essentially made closed proprietary digital rights management systems illegal, a loophole inserted into a compromise bill softened that requirement.
Although the bill passing through the lower house led some to believe that Apple might pull out of the country to protect its proprietary FairPlay DRM, the French Senate in May amended the bill to say that music stores would be allowed to keep their exclusivity only after receiving the go-ahead from copyright holders and artists.
Two New IE Flaws Discovered
Security researchers have discovered two new flaws in Internet Explorer. While proof of concept code is available for both, there are no known exploits of either flaw.
The first involves a cross-site scripting issue where an attacker could view information in an open browser window from another that is visiting a malicious site. However, researchers called the issue less serious than the other flaw, saying it requires user interaction, and sensitive data in other browser windows.
Napster Tries Free MP3 Player Promo
Napster has begun offering new customers its own branded music player for free in return for a one-year subscription to its music service. Users would be able to select from either a 256MB player at no charge that is capable of playing MP3, WMA, and WAV files, or a 1GB player that adds a larger color screen capable of displaying JPEG photo and MPEG video files for an extra $50 charge.
Music services like Napster have struggled in Apple's shadow. According to the most recent estimates by NPD Group, the iTunes Music Store garners over 80 percent of the market. This leaves services like Napster turning to special promotions like free gifts in order to fight over the remaining fifth. Napster did not comment on the MP3 player promotion.
Microsoft Sued Over WGA Program
Microsoft is the target of a class action lawsuit after a California man sued the company over violations of spyware statutes for its Windows Genuine Advantage anti-piracy program. The suit was filed Monday in a U.S. District Court in Seattle.
The case revolves around the WGA Notifications component, which was rolled out last November in a pilot phase, and officially launched worldwide earlier this week. The feature originally had a "phone home" functionality that caused computers to connect with Microsoft servers each day and check for updated configuration files.
Want to Test Vista? Better Act Fast
Microsoft UK .NET platform product manager Ian Moulster wrote in a post to his personal Web log that the company will cut access to Windows Vista Beta 2 on Friday, as the company has reached the number of testers it was looking to give access to through its Customer Preview Program.
Moulster gave some tips to those who want to beat the cutoff and ensure they have access to a copy of the Vista beta and Release Candidate builds. Users should start their downloads today, as Microsoft plans to maintain download servers until July 14, which means the download could be stopped and restarted later.
Anaheim Launches Wi-Fi Network
The city of Anaheim officially launched its wireless network on Thursday In cooperation with EarthLink. The ISP has announced two plans for usage, including occasional use and continuous access plans.
To support the Anaheim network and other Wi-Fi projects around the country, EarthLink has added a Wi-Fi option to its line of products, which include a modem, along with eight e-mail accounts and the company's malware protection tools. That package will cost $21.95 USD per month.
Yahoo Settles Click Fraud Claims
A federal judge approved a settlement where Yahoo has agreed to extend its period where it will review claims of so called "click fraud" back to January 2004. Yahoo's old policy only reviewed such claims within 60 days. Additionally, the company will pay $5 million in legal fees.
The settlement could also release the company from any liability in another click fraud suit, brought by Arkansas online retailer Lane's Gift's & Collectibles, LLC against Google. Yahoo was named as a defendant in that case.
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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