Microsoft selling technology to start-ups

Microsoft said on Tuesday it has joined research-intensive organisations to sell its non-core technology to start-up companies in an attempt to earn money from discoveries that would otherwise gather dust.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (30 January) that the world's largest software maker said it was already working with government agencies in Ireland and Finland to reach young companies that may be interested in technology from Microsoft's multi-billion dollar research arm.

``We provided three Irish companies with source code to test and subsequently licensed it to one, Softedge Systems. Since then we've taken another three technologies to Entreprise Ireland and expect at least another two deals before July,'' said David Harnett, senior director at Microsoft IP Ventures, reports AP.

AP says that Enterprise Ireland is a government-backed incubator program for start-up companies. Microsoft is also working with a similar organisation in Finland called Sitra.

Microsoft said it was also in touch with government institutions in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore and has listed available technologies at www.microsoftipventures.com, reports AP.

{mospagebreaktitle=Deal places limits on '.com' price hikes}Deal places limits on '.com' price hikes

In the US., VeriSign must meet certain conditions in order to fully raise fees for ''.com'' domain names under a new tentative settlement reached with the internet's main oversight agency.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (30 January) that the new deal also would prevent VeriSign from ultimately passing on to domain name holders separate surcharges that help fund the agency, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN.

The revised accord would end a longstanding legal dispute between the two powerhouses behind the computer servers that, as the internet's core address books, help people find Web sites and send e-mail, reports AP.

According to AP., the new deal follows months of public input and, ICANN general counsel John Jeffrey said Monday, requires final approval by the boards of both ICANN and VeriSign after another public-comment period.

If approved, both sides would drop lawsuits filed against each other over, among other things, the introduction by VeriSign of a controversial search service called Site Finder.

The most direct change for internet users involves domain name fees.

AP says that currently, VeriSign charges domain name resellers, called registrars, US$6 per ''.com'' name; registrars can then charge domain name buyers whatever they like, incorporating that US$6 annual fee into the basic price. If the deal is approved, VeriSign would be allowed to raise that fee, which registrars could then pass along to customers.

The new settlement would limit those increases.

The AP report adds that in any two of the next six years, VeriSign could raise fees by up to 7 percent a year only in response to a security threat or to comply with an ICANN mandate. But that leaves four years in which Verisign could raise rates by 7 percent annually without having to justify the increases, objects Network Solutions, a registrar that VeriSign sold in 2003.

With more than 40 million ''.com'' names in use, a 7 percent increase could generate as much as US$17 million for VeriSign in the first year alone, says AP.

{mospagebreaktitle=RIM rivals cash in as BlackBerry hearing looms}RIM rivals cash in as BlackBerry hearing looms

Competitors are muscling into the wireless e-mail market dominated by Research in Motion, as the maker of the BlackBerry e-mail device grapples with a patent battle that could shut down its US service, according to a Reuters report in The New York Times (30 January).

Reuters says that while few analysts and none of RIM's competitors believe there will be a BlackBerry blackout, the uncertainty has put the spotlight on alternatives to its e-mail system.

The timing is perfect, says Clyde Foster, chief operating officer of Intellisync, the wireless e-mail management firm bought by Nokia to boost the mobile giant's position in a market dominated by RIM.

According to Reuters, a year ago, there were few alternatives to the BlackBerry, which packaged its device with its own e-mail system, but which now licenses its systems to mobile phone makers too.

The rest of the market is not only catching up with RIM, but also offering more cost-effective choices on a wider range of phones, Foster said.

Reuters reports that RIM is back in a US court on 24 February for a hearing that could be the final legal step before District Judge James Spencer decides whether to impose an injunction that would halt RIM's US services.

RIM, which lost a patent infringement suit to US patent holding company NTP., insists it has ``workaround'' software that would let BlackBerrys stay up and running, and avoid infringing NTP's patents.

{mospagebreaktitle=Japan's Elpida fined in US for chip price-fixing}Japan's Elpida fined in US for chip price-fixing

Japanese computer memory chip maker Elpida Memory has agreed to plead guilty and pay a fine of US$84 million for participating in an international conspiracy to fix prices in the memory chip market, the US Justice Department said.

Reeuters reports in The New York Times 30 January) that according to the two-count felony charge filed in the US District Court in San Francisco, Elpida conspired from 1 April, 1999 to 15 June, 2002 with unnamed manufacturers to fix the prices of dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, sold to certain computer and server manufacturers.

The customers directly affected by the price-fixing conspiracy were Dell, Compaq Computer, Hewlett-Packard, Apple Computer,IBM and Gateway, the Justice Department said on Monday.

The Reuters report says that Elpida also conspired with an unnamed DRAM manufacturer to rig a bid for a lot sold to Sun Microsystems in March 2002, the Justice Department said.

Under the plea agreement, which must be approved by the court, Elpida has agreed to cooperate with the government in its ongoing investigation of other DRAM producers.

According to Reuters, as part of the agreement with Elpida, the Justice Department said it would enter into cooperation and non-prosecution agreements with Elpida's corporate predecessors -- NEC Corp and Hitachi.

Elpida said in a statement issued in Tokyo that it would pay US$9.5 million of the US$84 million fine. The NEC group will pay US$46.75 million while Hitachi will pay the other US$27.75 million.

{mospagebreaktitle=Warner music to sell ringtones for Skype}Warner music to sell ringtones for Skype

Warner Music Group said on Monday that it agreed to make its music available as ringtones to the more than 74 million users of Skype's internet telephone service.

Skype is owned by eBay.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (30 January) that according to the global music trade body, the International Federation of Phonographic Industries (IFPI), ringtone sales accounted for around US$400 million, or 36 percent, of total digital music revenues of US$1.10 billion.

{mospagebreaktitle=Italian telco testing Korean alternative to WiMax}Italian telco testing Korean alternative to WiMax

Telecom Italia will consider extending WiBro wireless technology across Italy if tests at the Turin Winter Olympics next month are successful.

Reuters reports that the Italian telco said that in the first large-scale demonstration outside Korea, Telecom Italia will equip some 50 people with WiBro, the South Korean version of wireless broadband service WiMax, at the February 10-26 Winter Games.

The company told Reuters that it would then consider rolling WiBro out across Italy.

According to Reuters, WiBro is a broadband wireless Internet technology being developed by the Korean telecoms industry, but it has so far failed to be taken up elsewhere in the world

{mospagebreaktitle=Time Inc. cutting more jobs, focusing on web Business}Time Inc. cutting more jobs, focusing on web Business

In the US., Time Inc., after eliminating 105 management jobs just before Christmas, is moving to cut about 100 more, including up to 10 at its flagship, Time magazine.

The New York Times reports (31 January) that both editorial and business-side employees are being cut at several of the company's domestic magazines. About 40 business-side employees were notified yesterday that they were losing their jobs, as were 26 editorial employees who are not in the Newspaper Guild.

The newspaper says that about three dozen other editorial employees who are protected by the Guild are being offered buyouts and will have until 13 Feb. to decide whether to accept them. If not enough Guild-protected people take the buyouts, there will be layoffs, executives said. The company employs about 13,400 people.

Two of the titles most affected will be Time and Money magazines. But there will be cuts across the board, including at other Time Inc. brand names like Fortune, Sports Illustrated and Real Simple, reports the NYT.

{mospagebreaktitle=US: FCC proposes fines on telcos over privacy}US: FCC proposes fines on telcos over privacy

US communications regulators on Monday proposed fining AT&T and Alltel US$100,000 each for failing to properly certify that they have safeguarded their customers' personal call information.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (30 January) that amid concerns that data brokers may be selling subscriber call records, the Federal Communications Commission said it demanded several carriers submit their most recent certifications proving they had complied with federal regulations requiring them to protect customer data.

The FCC's enforcement bureau accused the two telecommunications companies of failing to fully certify that a company officer had personal knowledge that procedures were in place to safeguard customer information.

Reuters says that AT&T, the largest US telephone company which was recently formed when SBC Communications bought AT&T Corp., only submitted a certification for SBC but not for the old AT&T, the FCC said.

The FCC accused Alltel, the No. 5 US wireless carrier and a rural telephone service provider, of only sending the agency a statement about how it uses customer data but did not provide the certification.

According to Reuters, FCC enforcement bureau chief Kris Monteith proposed that each company be fined US$100,000 for the apparent violations. AT&T and Alltel can offer more information to prove that a fine is not warranted or that the amount should be reduced, the agency said.

The report says that State attorneys general, the FCC and lawmakers have been looking into whether any laws were broken by companies that obtain and sell phone records or carriers that maintain the records.

{mospagebreaktitle=EarthLink finalises wireless deal in Philadelphia}EarthLink finalises wireless deal in Philadelphia

EarthLink has finalised a 10-year contract to provide wireless internet service across Philadelphia in the US., a city official said Monday.

The Associated Press reports (30 January) that Philadelphia was the first large city to announce plans to build a wireless internet network and provide low-cost access to residents as a way to span the digital divide. Smaller cities already have networks in operation.

In Philadelphia, EarthLink will own the network and charge a wholesale rate of US$9 a month to internet service providers that would then resell access to the public, according to Dianah Neff, the city's chief information officer.

AP says that the contract doesn't specify the monthly rate that would be charged to consumers, but Neff said the wholesale price is low enough to enable ISPs to offer low-cost services. City officials had been trying to keep the monthly price to US$20 or less.

EarthLink will build the network initially over a 15-square-mile area in Northeast Philadelphia to prove the system will work, Neff said. If successful, citywide access could be turned on by spring 2007.

AP reports that under the terms of the agreement, which can be renewed, Atlanta-based EarthLink will carry the cost to build the Wi-Fi network to cover 135 square miles. EarthLink also will pay the city and Wireless Philadelphia, the nonprofit handling the project, a fee to mount equipment on city infrastructure, such as lamp posts.

{mospagebreaktitle=Balloons for cellular service: US testing}Balloons for cellular service: US testing

In the US state of North Dakota, a former governor of the State, Ed Schafer, is backing a plan to loft wireless network repeaters on balloons high above the state to fill gaps in cellular coverage.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (30 January) that the former governor, now heading up Extend America, a wireless telecommunications company, says the company and Space Data Corp. are developing the technology, which is believed to be the first to use disposable balloons to provide cellular coverage.

The AP report says that a trial balloon will be launched in the next few weeks to test the idea, said Schafer.

''To cover every square mile of North Dakota, it would take 1,100 cell towers,'' Schafer said. ''We can do the whole state with three balloons.''

AP says that, if successful, the hydrogen-filled balloons could be drifting across the stratosphere above North Dakota this summer, providing cellular coverage at a tiny fraction of the cost of building cellular towers.

Up to 20 miles above the earth, well above commercial airliner pathways, steady stratospheric winds would push the latex balloons across the state at about 30 mph. Each balloon would deliver voice and data service to an area hundreds of miles in diameter, reports AP>

{mospagebreaktitle=Security vendors open another front against spyware}Security vendors open another front against spyware

The three biggest anti-virus vendors have teamed up with testing labs to develop standards for spyware detection.

The Register reports (30 November) that Trend Micro, Symantec and McAfee are joining forces with ICSA Labs and Thompson Cyber Security Labs in a bid to standardise methods for sharing spyware samples and testing anti-spyware products and services.

The effort is aimed at curtailing a possible source of user confusion before it becomes a problem, as well as driving up standards for detection across the anti-spyware industry.

According to The Register, the initiative is one of a number of cross industry efforts aimed at co-ordinating the fight against spyware - the invasive programs that track user's surfing habits or, in the worst cases, steal their personal information, such as credit card or Social Security numbers.

Last week Google and others agreed to back a scheme to put pressure on purveyors of unsavoury programs through a name and shame initiative, called StopBadware.org (https://www.stopbadware.org).

And, says The Register, earlier this month, the Anti-Spyware Coalition (ASC), an alliance of software companies, security firms and consumer organisations, agreed on a set of guidelines for detecting invasive finalised spyware.

{mospagebreaktitle=Microsoft to omit anti-virus from Vista}Microsoft to omit anti-virus from Vista

Microsoft will omit anti-virus protection in Vista, the next version of Windows, which it plans to ship late this year, according to a report in The Register (30 January).

The Register says that as with previous versions of Windows dating back to Windows 2000 at least, Microsoft is promoting Vista as a landmark improvement in Windows security.

The publication reports that Jim Allchin, co-president of Microsoft's platform products and services division, told reseller magazine CRN that safety and security, improved user experience, and mobility features will be key additions in Vista. But there will be no anti-virus software, the Windows development supremo said during a questions and answers session.

The Register says, however, that for unspecified business (not technical) reasons, Microsoft will sell anti-virus protection to consumers through its OneCare online backup and security service.

{mospagebreaktitle=Sony admits Connect Player 1.0 music software 'problems'}Sony admits Connect Player 1.0 music software 'problems'

Sony has apologised for problems some users have experienced with its Connect Player utility when the jukebox software is used with the firm's NW-A1000, NW-A3000 and NW-A608 digital music players, launched last November.

The Register reports (30 January) that quite a few UK-based Walkman owners have complained on bulletin boards and to Sony directly that running the bundled Connect Player 1.0 can result in very slow system performance. Sometimes it crashes when transferring music files across to the devices, they say.

The publication reports that last week Sony posted a notice saying there are some issues and it is now investigating. "These issues arise as a result of aspects of some system environments and usage conditions," the company said.

According to the publication, the consumer electronics giant said it "apologises for any inconvenience caused", and suggested users who've found that either reinstalling the software or re-initialising their Walkman's hard drive hasn't helped should download its older digital music jukebox application, SonicStage, until a fix for Connect Player is posted.