The Mozilla Corporation plans to rush out a minor update to Firefox, numbered 1.5.0.3, in order to address a denial-of-service vulnerability in the most recent version of the open source Web browser. The move comes despite the flaw being rated "non-critical" by security firm Secunia.

The security issue involves an error in the handling of unexpected "contentWindow.focus()" JavaScript calls. A malicious Web site could be used to "corrupt the memory and cause a crash by calling the "contentWindow.focus()" method on a container with specially crafted content," according to an advisory.

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Yahoo has again been cited as the source of information that put a Chinese Internet writer behind bars for 10 years in 2003 for subversion. According to the New York-based Human Rights In China, Wang Xiaoning was convicted after Yahoo's China arm provided information on his e-mail account and the Yahoo Group that he ran.

However, from the ruling it was unclear if the company had provided Wang's identity to Chinese authorities. Neither the Chinese government nor Yahoo was commenting on the matter.

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Microsoft is bringing its Windows XP Starter Edition operating system to Africa, the company announced Thursday. The lower-priced version of XP drops home networking and limits the number of programs that can be opened simultaneously.

The impetus behind the move is to provide African PC users with cheaper computers, as the high technology costs often force them to run old systems brought in from other continents. But XP Starter Edition will still be only for the rich in Africa, where the majority live off less than one dollar a day.

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Microsoft said Thursday it will sacrifice some of its profit margins to continue ramping up shipments of the Xbox 360. The company hopes to get a head start over competing next-generation consoles, especially Sony's PlayStation 3.

However, short-term issues with profitability may end up paying off in the long term. As the company sells more units, it will in turn sell more accessories and games, for which It receives a small licensing fee.

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With promises of security, stability and tabbed browsing, Web users have been eagerly anticipating Internet Explorer 7. Microsoft released Beta 2 this week with great fanfare and a new Web site, but does IE7 deliver a next-generation browsing experience?

Read on for a selection of reviews from BetaNews readers and tell us what you think.

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Yahoo on Thursday introduced Babel Fish, using the same technologies that have been used by the version hosted on Alta Vista for almost a decade. The page, which looks much like Alta Vista's version, has been updated with some additional features to tie it in with other Yahoo services.

The original Babel Fish premiered on Alta Vista in 1997, making it the first translation service on the Internet. At that time, Babel Fish could translate words, sentences, and Web sites to and from English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian and Russian.

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The Electronic Frontier Foundation warned that proposed legislation now making its way through the Senate might put an end to music webcasts that use MP3 or other non-protected streaming formats. Services like Live365, Shoutcast, and smaller radio stations would be affected, and may be forced to use DRM technogy.

It would also mean an end to the streaming radio stations in iTunes as well. The iTunes stations also use DRM-less formats, the EFF said.

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A new trojan is making its rounds on the Internet, freezing up victims' computers and then demanding a ransom be paid through Western Union. Called "ransomware," the viruses have been around in Russia for several months, but the first English variants appeared in March.

Sophos discovered the trojan and has named it "Troj/Ransom-A." According to the security firm, these types of viruses are fairly new. The company said it does not know at this time how the trojan is being spread, but it is investigating.

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Nintendo has given an official name to its upcoming next-generation game console formerly known by the

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Operators of the Internet2 consortium said they will be able to boost the speed of the ultra-fast research network by as much as 80 times by the fall of next year. To accomplish this, the fiber optic lines will send data using different colors of light.

The Internet2 is a network separate from the Internet that connects some 200 colleges and universities, as well as various corporations and researchers. It currently uses fiber optic cables provided by Qwest, however the new network would have cables all to itself.

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XM Satellite Radio's quarterly loss continues to widen even in the face of rapidly increasing revenues, the company reported Thursday. Additionally, XM is the focus of two separate inquiries by the FCC and Federal Trade Commission.

First quarter losses for XM widened to $149.2 million from $119.9 million a year earlier. However, revenue jumped to $208 million, more than double the $102.6 million in the first quarter of last year. XM added 568,900 subscribers, bringing its total count to 6.5 million.

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A group of Canadian musicians began speaking out Wednesday, saying record labels are not acting in the artists' best interests by suing fans and using digital rights management. The group, called the Canadian Music Creators Coalition, hopes to counter the influence of lobbyists for the labels in the creation of copyright law.

Some of the musicians involved would be recognizable to American music fans: the Barenaked Ladies, Avril Lavigne, Sarah MacLachlan, Sum 41, and Our Lady Peace among others.

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Continuing its tradition of acquiring companies and releasing their software for free, Google on Thursday released Google SketchUp, a version of the popular 3D modeling tool for personal use. SketchUp can be used for creating, viewing and editing 3D designs, and attracted the attention of the search giant with a Google Earth plug-in.

"The new Google SketchUp is for the do-it-yourselfer, the hobbyist — really anyone who wants to build 3D models for use in Google Earth," said Brad Schell, Product Management Director of SketchUp. "Go ahead and model that new kitchen, or deck, landscape your virtual garden, or impress your teacher with a roller coaster or medieval castle."

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Just a week after acquiring the technology assets of television software company Meedio, Yahoo has rolled out a new DVR solution called "Go for TV." The software turns a Windows XP PC with TV tuner card into a digital video recorder, and connects the viewer with Yahoo services such as photos and music.

Yahoo! Go for TV is the latest component of Yahoo's Go platform, which is intended to bring the company's content from the PC to other devices such as mobile phones and televisions. Google and Microsoft have undertaken similar efforts as the PC continues its transition to a full-fledged entertainment device.

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Microsoft squared off with the European Commission in court Wednesday, saying an EU order to force the Redmond company to hand over trade secrets was unfair. Microsoft's rivals countered that the company was trying to avoid the central issue that it had abused its monopoly powers.

The order was the focus of the third day of Microsoft's appeal in the European Union Court of First Instance. Microsoft lawyer Ian Forrester accused the European Union of attempting to permanently handicap the company, and would damage the rights of patent holders in the future.

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