Cable group to Congress: Don't let ESPN jack up the cost of broadband
The American Cable Association represents small-town network operators, those who serve rural markets or more sparse populations, and speaks out on issues that are of special interest to their subscribers, specifically those issues which could result in increased subscription rates.
The group's latest issue deals with the site ESPN360.com, which features streams that rebroadcast various sporting events. However, if you are connected to the Internet through an un-affiliated service provider, which includes Comcast and Cox, all the streams on the site are blocked. The only official way to get access to the site's content is to switch to an affiliated service provider.
Dell goes direct with Microsoft downloadable software
If you thought Microsoft's partnership with HP in the Laptop Hunters ad series was a notable "outside of the box" relationship, another has shown up today: Microsoft has made its software available as direct downloads through Dell's five-month old online software shop.
This makes Dell the first official non-Microsoft download shop since Redmond opened The Microsoft Store's downloads late last year.
New York to get cash from Symantec and Mcafee
Yesterday, the New York Attorney General's office announced a settlement effectively closing the investigation of McAfee's and Symantec's automatic antivirus subscription renewal practices. Several New Yorkers complained that they had purchased the software online, only to later have their subscription automatically renewed without their knowledge or consent.
In the settlement, McAfee and Symantec have to pay a combined $750,000 to the state of New York, and improve the visibility of their subscription terms and renewal policies so customers won't be caught unawares by recurring charges on their credit cards. This will involve notifying customers both before and after renewal of the subscription and offering a 60 day grace period for refunds.
Casio Exilim Mobile info gives glimpse at tough military testing
Adding phone functionality to a camera, instead of the other way around -- that's not such a stretch these days, which makes Casio's new Exilim Mobile... telecamera? photophone?... interesting rather than a weird outlier. If you want outliers, you'll have to look to the testing process it went through to reach market.
In the process of browsing around the Exilim Mobile site, we noticed that along with the usual tech specifications, Casio lists the MIL-STD-810 tests for which the handset is certified. Those tests -- the Department of Defense Test Method Standard for Environmental Engineering Considerations and Laboratory Tests, to give them their full name -- replicate the effects of the environments gear might encounter during life in the company of a service member. And frankly, the tests sound a lot more fun than the namby-pamby civilian stuff -- never mind voice quality, how does it hold up in a sandstorm?!
Up front: Microsoft no longer needs Money
Microsoft Money was the package that proved Redmond could be beat. The package's failure to best Intuit's Quicken family of personal-finance software may not have directly inspired the likes of Netscape or Google, but the simple fact that one niche eluded Bill Gates' grasp made it evident that it was possible to do so.
Money, Money: Why Microsoft's personal-finance package mattered
Google settles AdWords overcharge spat
A class-action lawsuit served on Google by AdWords advertisers who were charged more than their Daily Budget plan should have allowed, will be awarded up to $20,000 under the terms of a settlement reached this week. Meanwhile, the lawyers who brought the suit were awarded up to $5 million, plus expenses, for their trouble.
The suit covered AdWords advertisers who signed on between June 1, 2005 and February 28, 2009, and who were charged more than their Daily Budget on any day during that period, sometimes by as much as 120%. Advertising resellers are not included in the class. Google files four motions for partial summary judgment in the matter, then chose the settlement route -- admitting no liability or guilt, but apparently deciding that a $20,000,000 settlement was less of a nuisance than continued litigation. (The $20 million was put into an escrow account at the end of March.) Much of the payout will be offered in the form of ad credits for marketers.
'Pre-Father' Jon Rubenstein takes over Palm CEO spot
Palm on Wednesday announced that Jon Rubenstein, the former Apple exec who was lured out of a hammock on a Puerto Vallarta beach to helm the development and launch of the Pre, will step into the CEO role on Friday. Ed Colligan, who led the company for 16 years, will take some time off before joining Elevation Partners, the venture-cap firm instrumental in bringing Rubenstein in.
Mr. Rubenstein got his start at HP, has long been credited with helping to invent the iPod and served as the first head of the company's iPod division. Now known as Apple's "pod-father," he has been aboard Palm since July, but only official as executive chairman since October. Before that, teams of Elevation and Palm execs were making pilgrimages to Mexico to coax him off that beach, as he famously told the crowd at the CES Pre unveiling back in January.
Mozilla and Google add the personal touch to add-on hunting
Widgets and add-ons have been a huge success for computing in general and open standards in particular -- so much so that it can frankly be hard to wade through one's options. (Have you ever clicked clear through the Vista gallery?) Both Mozilla and, more fancifully, Google have a new tactic for addressing the problem.
Mozilla on Wednesday announced Add-On Collections, which allow users to showcase the apps they like best. You can even add comments about why you've chosen what you have.
New Google Toolbar wants to be your next 'Start' button
The latest version of the Google Toolbar, now on version 6 for Microsoft Internet Explorer, remains the most convenient way to expedite searches through the Internet's most versatile search engine. But with each successive version, this one being no exception, Google tries to be a little more "in your face."
With changes coming to the taskbar in Windows 7, users are likely to arrange their running applications differently. Google appears to be taking advantage of this fact with the introduction of its own taskbar button that appears after you install Google Toolbar 6 for IE8. On many Win7 setups, including ours where we've tilted the taskbar vertically, the Google logo now situates itself right alongside Microsoft's, as if to say, "I'm here too."
Constitutional Council strikes down key portion of HADOPI law
France's Constitutional Council has thrown out the controversial HADOPI Création et Internet law, even as Minister of Cultural Affairs and Communication Christine Albanel spoke in Washington on Wednesday claiming that anyone who opposed the aggressive new access-control law was "in the wrong century."
The Constitutional Council reviewed HADOPI at the request of France's Socialist Party, which lobbied hard against the law. Had the Council not agreed to review HADOPI, a French representative to the European Parliament had already committed to taking the matter before the EU, which in turn had already spoken against the legislation. for now, though, it appears that France itself may take responsibility for rethinking the law.
T-Mobile: No, we did not say our security was breached
After an amended statement to the press yesterday regarding an apparent security incident, which appeared to confirm that an unauthorized entity had taken possession of its valuable customer information, T-Mobile now says in a statement to Betanews this afternoon that not only does the entity not possess customer information, but that no breach of security took place at all.
"Following a recent online posting that someone allegedly accessed T-Mobile servers, the company is conducting a thorough investigation and at this time has found no evidence that customer information, or other company information, has been compromised," the T-Mobile spokesperson told Betanews. "Reports to the contrary are inaccurate and should be corrected. T-Mobile continues to monitor this situation and as a precaution has taken additional measures to further ensure our customers' information and our systems are protected. As is our standard practice, customers can be assured if there is any evidence that customer or system information has been compromised, we would inform those affected as quickly as possible."
Recording artists claim their music is being boycotted over royalties
The fight over whether US terrestrial radio broadcasters should pay the same performers' royalties that Internet streaming radio broadcasters are paying, is getting extremely nasty. In a Facebook post this morning, the musicFIRST Coalition -- a group of recording artists who actively lobby in favor of equal royalties on all platforms -- stated it has filed a formal complaint with the Federal Communications Commission. In that complaint, the Coalition alleges that terrestrial broadcasters are actively boycotting airplay for its members' music.
As the Facebook post states, "According to the musicFIRST filing [with the FCC], one major radio group dropped a top selling artist's record after he spoke in support of performance rights legislation. The program director of a Florida radio station declined to add an artist's recordings to his station's playlist because the artist is listed as a member of the musicFIRST Coalition. Another director of programming told a representative of two prominent artists that the artist's support for the Performance Rights Act would have a 'chilling effect' on their relationship. And a Delaware radio station boycotted all artists affiliated with musicFIRST for an entire month."
Trillian Astra 4.0 beta goes public
Download Trillian Astra 4.0.0.109 beta for Windows from Fileforum now.
Last April, we profiled the initial beta release of Trillian Astra, the latest and most long-awaited version of one of the most popular multi-protocol instant messaging clients currently available for Windows. The new version is light years ahead of its predecessor with respect to its feature set, which now includes integration with Twitter, Skype chat, and e-mail in an effort to become a central console for online communication.
Confirmed: Computer use breeds klutzes
A study released Tuesday in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine appears to indicate that mere proximity to computers makes people incredibly clumsy. The report claims that over the past 13 years, in-home computer-related injuries involving bumping into, tripping over, or standing under falling computers are up sevenfold -- sending over 78,000 people, presumably not all of whom are Wile E. Coyote or one of the Three Stooges, to the emergency room.
Monitors are the main culprits, pouncing on innocent humans more often than any other piece of gear. When the survey began in 1994, 11.6% of acute injuries could be lain at the round plastic pedestal of the monitor; by 2003 -- around the era of the largest, heaviest CRT monitors -- that percentage was up to 37.1%. By the end of 2006, the percentage was back down to 25.1%. Injuries to the extremities were most common (57.4%).
Up front: Google Books copyright battle reheats
When is a settlement not a settlement? Yesterday we learned from the Twitter kerfuffle that no deal is certain until it's in writing; today we learn that even getting it in writing sometimes isn't enough. Several outlets have reported that the Justice Department has been sending out a number of civil investigative demands (CIDs) inquiring as to the terms of the agreement Google reached last year with the Authors Guild and assorted publishers.
Google's copyright battles continue
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