Microsoft acknowledged Friday that an exploit has surfaced in the wild to take advantage of a recently uncovered security vulnerability in Internet Explorer. The flaw puts IE users at risk of code execution simply by visiting a malicious Web site, and affects fully patched Windows XP SP2 systems.

A problem exists in how IE interprets the "createTextRange()" method used for radio button controls in HTML forms. From there, the flaw can be exploited to allow program flow to be redirected to the heap. When this occurs, the attacker can then exploit the vulnerability to execute code on an affected computer.

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Lycos announced Monday that it would offer a VoIP product that would combine IM, Video Chat, Video-on-Demand, and an MP3 player. The application will provide free PC-to-PC phone and video calls, and allow the user to receive free incoming calls from landline and mobile phones.

Customers would also receive 100 free PC-to-Phone minutes, with the opportunity to earn more through special promotions, Lycos said. The service is being offered through a partnership with VoIP company Globe7.

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For the third time, Apple Corps, the company that represents the business interests of the Beatles, and Apple Computer will meet in court. Apple Corps is accusing Apple of breaking a 1991 agreement by selling music online, and will argue its case in London this week.

Apple Computer says the agreement allows for the sale of online data transfers. Thus, through the way iTunes works, it can sidestep that provision, it claims.

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Microsoft said on Monday that it had filed an appeal in the Seoul High Court against a decision by the South Korea Fair Trade Commission. In the ruling, the KFTC ordered Microsoft to unbundle both its messaging and media player software from the Windows operating system.

The KFTC also fined Microsoft $33 million USD, and gave the company 30 days to appeal.

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Microsoft over the weekend made available an updated build of Windows Vista, but only to a limited subset of testers in its Technology Adoption Partner (TAP) program. The interim release, numbered 5342, includes minor fixes and user interface tweaks, and is labeled an EDW build.

EDW, or External Developer Workstation, builds are made available more frequently than Community Technology Previews and have not gone through the same level of quality control. Typically such releases are designed to provide partners with changes they have requested during the beta process. The next public Vista release, the "Consumer CTP," is expected in late April or May.

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Microsoft slammed an article by Australian technology publication Smart House on Friday, calling it "speculation." The retort came as a result of a story that cited sources within the company saying as much as 60 percent of Vista code needs to be rewritten.

The article claimed that the Redmond company had to transfer developers from the Xbox team to the Windows division in order to ensure the Vista makes it to a CES 2007 release. Much of the article centered on issues with the Media Center and multimedia functionality, and claimed Intel was assisting Microsoft in rushing out the new code.

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Nintendo President Satoru Iwata told attendees of the Game Developers Conference in San Jose, Calif., that they must break out of the mold Thursday, and challenged them to create bold new games. The company will provide the tools for them to do so as Revolution draws closer to launch, he assured.

Iwata has said previously that game developers were focusing too much on sequels of popular games, rather than creating innovative new games.

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Saying it wanted to focus on businesses "core to its future growth," Yahoo alerted subscribers of its Yahoo Plus service earlier this week that it will be discontinued April 23. The add-on provided extra storage, premium video, commercial free Internet radio, security features, and a broadband portal for a $5.95 USD monthly fee or $47.40 USD yearly. Yahoo claimed that a majority of its users saw such a service was not "essential," likely meaning it failed to generate enough interest among Yahoo users.

The company said it would issue a refund to yearly subscribers, but not to those on a monthly plan. Yahoo stopped billing those customers March 20. All features would revert back to those given to users of the free service. Customers wishing to retain some of the benefits would have to subscribe to them on a per-service basis, the company said.

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The U.S. government lent its support to protests by Apple Computer over a French law that would require the company, along with the digital rights management platforms of others, to interoperate with each other. U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez made the comments as part of an interview on the CNBC cable television network Thursday. While saying he needed more time to look over the law, he felt Apple's intellectual property rights were being violated and the company is right for speaking against the proposal.

Apple has called the law the equivalent of "state-sponsored piracy," however its supporters say it would better protect the rights of artists whose work is sold online. The policy is part of a bigger law designed to combat piracy. "I would compliment [Apple] because we need for companies to also stand up for their intellectual property rights," Gutierrez said in the interview. The law passed the lower house of the French legislature Tuesday by a 2-to-1 margin.

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The high-flying shares of search engine Google are flying even higher Friday following news of its addition to the highly regarded Standard & Poor's 500 stock index. Google is set to replace Burlington Resources, an oil and gas company, at the close of business March 31.

In late morning trading, shares were up $26.11 to $368.00, a 7.64 percent increase. This follows a nine percent rise late Thursday after the news was first announced. The move is sure to also spark a flurry of stock buys in the company, say analysts.

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A day after confirming a delay of Windows Vista until 2007, Microsoft late Thursday said there would be a similar delay in the launch of Office 2007.

While the code for the productivity suite is expected to be completed this year, a consumer launch will occur in conjunction with Windows Vista, expected in January. Members of Microsoft's Volume Licensing Program would be able to get Office code in October, however, a month ahead of Vista's business launch.

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Calling the case the largest intentional breach of Internet privacy ever, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has sued Gratis Internet for selling personal data on millions of consumers who signed up to receive a free iPod music player by referring friends.

Gratis runs a number of such sites, including FreeiPods.com, FreeCDs.com, FreeDVDs.com and FreeVideoGames.com. The company promises not to share user data, but Spitzer says it sold 7 million e-mail addresses to three companies, leading to millions of unsolicited messages. The lawsuit specifically accuses Gratis owners Peter Martin and Robert Jewell of fraud and privacy violations during 2004 and 2005.

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Mere days after announcing a delay in the release of Windows Vista, Microsoft has massively reorganized its Platforms & Services Division (PSD), which will now be made up of eight groups. The idea, the company says, is to better align its Windows and MSN efforts with its new "Live strategy."

As part of the shakeup, Microsoft Office head Steven Sinofsky will now lead the Redmond company's Windows and Windows Live efforts, taking over development of future Windows releases. That effort was previously headed by Jim Allchin, who will be retiring next year.

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Microsoft has confirmed the existence of a critical Internet Explorer flaw that could put millions of IE users at risk of code execution just by visiting a malicious Web site. The flaw was first reported this week by Danish security firm Secunia.

According to the firm's advisory, the flaw exists in how Internet Explorer interprets the "createTextRange()" method used for radio button controls in HTML forms. From there, the flaw can be exploited to allow program flow to be redirected to the heap.

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Following news that Warner Home Video has delayed the release of its initial batch of HD DVD movie titles by three weeks, Toshiba said Thursday it will hold off on launching the first HD DVD players until next month. The company initially targeted a March debut of the high-definition DVD format.

Blaming the delay on technical issues, Warner said its HD DVD discs would not appear until April 18, rather than March 28 as previously announced. Also, its list of launch titles has been scaled back as well to three: "Million Dollar Baby," "The Phantom of the Opera" and "The Last Samurai."

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