Gates: Beating Asia Piracy to Take 10 Yrs

Microsoft founder Bill Gates said on Friday that beating software piracy in China and India and getting compliance up to US and European levels would take 10 years.

``In India and China it will be a decade before we get that level,'' Gates told business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, reports Reuters in The New York Times (27 January).

Reuters reports that Gates said sales of the company's software in both countries were increasing every year and he was optimistic that China and India would eventually adopt proper licensing practices, just as Taiwan and South Korea had done.

Piracy was previously standard in Taiwan and South Korea but both had come round as they grew richer and produced their own crop of local software firms, he said.

According to Reuters, Microsoft has been achieving more than 30 percent sales growth in China in recent years and has increased its investment in the country substantially, as it has done also in India.

Industry analysts have long dubbed China the world's de facto capital of piracy. Illicit copying is a plague for software vendors and other manufacturers of hi-tech products, such as pharmaceuticals.

Reuters reports that in the long term, Gates said, both China and India would respect intellectual property as they shifted from simply being low-cost manufacturing centers to developing their own technologically advanced products.

The rapid emergence of China and India is a dominant theme of this year's Davos meeting and Gates said it was inevitable hi-tech business would gradually shift to these new economic powerhouses. Reuters reports.

{mospagebreaktitle=Hearing date set for Google - US dispute}Hearing date set for Google - US dispute

A US federal judge has set a 27 Feb. hearing to examine the Google decision to withhold millions of online search records from the US Department of Justice.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (27 January) that the hearing, to be held in US District Court in San Jose, will be the first in the high-profile case. The Justice Department is seeking to force Google to comply with a subpoena seeking 1 million web site addresses reached from Google and one week of search queries.

It hopes to use the information to defend its Child Online Protection Act, designed to keep children from sexually explicit material on the internet. The act has been challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union as a violation of US Constitution's First Amendment right of free speech.

AP reports that Google says the subpoena overreaches and, after conducting lengthy discussions with the Justice Department, decided to resist the subpoena vigorously.

Microsoft New York-based Time Warner unit America Online have already turned over the information sought by the department.

{mospagebreaktitle=Surprisingly strong results at Sony}Surprisingly strong results at Sony

Sony, the struggling electronics giant, reported a surprising 17.5 percent increase in quarterly net profit on Thursday and reversed its fiscal year forecast to a profit from a loss, leading some to wonder if the company was seeing the first glints of a turnaround.

The New York Times reports (27 January) that Robust earnings at joint ventures like the cellphone maker Sony Ericsson and the music unit Sony BMG contributed to a net profit of 168.9 billion yen (US$1.5 billion) in the three months that ended on 31 Dec.

But, says the newspaper, the biggest gains came in Sony's bread-and-butter electronics division, which accounts for 70 percent of the company's revenues. Sales in the electronics unit were lifted by flat-panel televisions and the PlayStation Portable. Operating profits in the division soared 56 percent, outstripping expectations.

The report says that the company, which is based in Tokyo, reported particularly strong sales in the United States of liquid-crystal display and rear-projection televisions. The strong showing in the electronics unit led the company to upgrade its outlook for the fiscal year ending 31 March to a profit of 70 billion yen (US$601 million), from the loss of 10 billion yen (US$86 million) forecast in October. That would have been the company's first annual loss in 11 years.

Sales jumped 10.2 percent, to 2.37 trillion yen (US$20.3 billion), Sony said.

{mospagebreaktitle=Man sentenced for stealing Microsoft code}Man sentenced for stealing Microsoft code

A Connecticut man known on the internet as ''illwill'' was sentenced to two years in prison Friday for stealing the source code to Microsoft's Windows operating software, among the company's most prized products.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (27 January) that William Genovese Jr., 29, was sentenced by US District Judge William H. Pauley, who called Genovese ''a predator who has morphed through various phases of criminal activity in the last few years.''

Genovese pleaded guilty in August to charges related to the sale and attempted sale of the source code for Microsoft's Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0. The code had previously been obtained by other people and unlawfully distributed over the internet, prosecutors said.

The AP report says that source code is the blueprint in which software developers write computer programs. With a software program's source code, someone can replicate the program. Industry experts expressed concern that hackers reviewing the Microsoft software code could discover new ways to attack computers running some versions of Windows.

Prosecutors said in an indictment in February 2004 that Genovese posted a message on his Web site offering the code for sale on the same day that Microsoft learned significant portions of its source code were stolen.

According to AP., Genovese was arrested when an investigator for an online security company hired by Microsoft and an undercover FBI agent downloaded the stolen source code from his Web site after sending him electronic payments for it.

Microsoft had previously shared parts of its source code with some companies, US agencies, foreign governments and universities under tight restrictions that prevented them from making it publicly available.

{mospagebreaktitle=US man pleads guilty in online pornography case}US man pleads guilty in online pornography case

In the US., a Virginia man arrested in a national investigation of child pornography on the internet pleaded guilty to multiple charges involving the sexual exploitation of boys and the operation of illegal web sites, the Justice Department said Friday.

The New York Times reports (29 January) that the man, Gregory J. Mitchel, 38, was an administrator of several illegal web sites and admitted in his plea to producing and distributing child pornography through the internet. In that role, the Justice Department said, Mr. Mitchel filmed boys engaging in sex acts and received money from web site subscribers who paid monthly fees for viewing live and recorded videos.

Mr. Mitchel was arrested after being implicated by Justin Berry, a 19-year-old who was featured in a December article in The New York Times about teenagers who operate for-pay pornography sites that show images of themselves transmitted by Webcams. Mr. Mitchel has since begun naming other adult men who were actively involved in the sexual exploitation of children, court records show.

According to the NYT., Mr. Berry, who beginning at 13 was enticed by adults he met online into performing sex acts in front of his webcam, operated pornography sites featuring his own image for five years. In discussions with a Times reporter in July, Mr. Berry agreed to abandon his business and tell law enforcement about adult men who he knew were sexually exploiting and abusing children. Mr. Berry was granted immunity and is now a federal witness.

The newspaper says that at the time of his arrest, Mr. Mitchel was days away from escorting an under-age boy to a Las Vegas hotel, according to records of his online conversations. Law enforcement officials said they had recovered more than 600 pornographic images of children on Mr. Mitchel's computers, which were seized at the time of his arrest in September.

Through evidence provided to the government, Mr. Berry has identified as many as 1,500 adult men who gave him money and gifts over several years for his sexual performances on camera. Mr. Mitchel was among a number of adults identified by Mr. Berry as having assisted minors in the establishment, operation and marketing of illegal Webcam pornography sites.

{mospagebreaktitle=3 US phone companies to offer AOL's broadband services}3 US phone companies to offer AOL's broadband services

In the US., in an effort to curtail the steady loss of dial-up customers, AOL announced yesterday that it would sell high-speed internet services through AT&T, BellSouth and Qwest Communications.

The New York Times reports (28 January) that in the arrangement, AOL will provide the software and the phone companies provide the connection, similar to deals AOL has with Time Warner Cable and Verizon Communications.

Since AOL does not operate phone networks, it has had to work with other companies to provide broadband access, which is many times faster than dial-up lines. Though AOL is likely to generate less income per subscriber by selling a rival's broadband connections, it wants to avoid the alternative: losing customers entirely to the phone and cable companies that dominate the nternet access business, according to the NYT.

The newspaper reports that AOL, a unit of Time Warner, has lost more than six million customers since March 2003. But it still has a powerful brand, and it offers a substantial package of news, music and other entertainment on its portal. Many of its customers also want to keep their AOL e-mail address.

Yet, says the NYT., the need to work with the Bell companies has become particularly acute because they have been cutting prices. AT&T and Verizon sell broadband lines for as low as US$14.95 a month, compared with US$23.90 for AOL's slower dial-up service.

AOL will charge US$25.90 for a broadband connection from AT&T, Verizon and Qwest, and US$29.90 for a high-speed line from BellSouth. Some Bell companies will offer modems free, after rebates. In some cases, customers will have to sign one-year contracts.

The newspaper reports that AOL will also raise the price of its dial-up service to US$25.90, from US$23.90, to encourage customers to upgrade to a broadband service.

AOL said it would make other offers to customers who want to keep their dial-up service or cheaper plan. The Bell companies have deals with other portals, including Yahoo and MSN.

{mospagebreaktitle=Apple offers US college lectures via podcasts}Apple offers US college lectures via podcasts

In its latest move to broaden its iPod and iTunes franchises, Apple Computer has introduced ''iTunes U,'' a US nationwide expansion of a service that makes course lectures and other educational materials accessible via Apple's iTunes software.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (28 January) that the company behind the iPod portable players, the iTunes online music store and Macintosh computers had been working with six US universities on the pilot project for more than a year and expanded the educational program this week, inviting other universities to sign up.

Internet access to college lectures is nothing new, says AP., but listening to them on portable gadgets is a more recent phenomenon of the digital age, spurred in part by the popularity of podcasts, or downloadable audio files.

The report says that the University of Missouri offered podcasts of lectures through its school network before it signed up with Apple last summer as a pilot school. But ''iTunes U'' offered a software and service package for free, said Keith Politte, the development officer at the university's School of Journalism.

AP reports that Apple's service offers universities a customised version of the iTunes software, allowing schools to post podcasts, audio books or video content on their iTunes-affiliated Web sites. The iTunes-based material will be accessible on Windows-based or Macintosh computers and transferable to portable devices, including Apple's iPods.

The service lets institutions decide if they want to limit access to certain groups or open the material to the public. For instance, Stanford University, which joined the pilot program last fall, gives the public free access not only to some lectures but also audio broadcasts of sporting events through its iTunes-affiliated site.

{mospagebreaktitle=AOL wins judgment against spammer}AOL wins judgment against spammer

America Online won a US$5.6 million award against a Minnesota man who sent billions of spam e-mails over the service in 2003 and whose case helped lead to legislation to control spam.

Bloomberg News reports in The New York Times (28 January) that the Minnesota man, Christopher William Smith, 25, was ordered to pay US$5.3 million, or US$25,000 for every day he sent out spam e-mails, plus US$287,059 for America Online's legal fees.

Judge Claude M. Hilton of United States District Court made the ruling on Thursday.

Bloomberg reports that Mr. Smith, who dropped out of high school in 1998 and lived in a US$1.1 million house until he was arrested, sent e-mail messages offering digital cable TV descramblers, sexually explicit sites, "generic Viagra" and online college degrees, according to the lawsuit.

Mr. Smith is in jail awaiting an October trial in Minneapolis on federal charges that he operated an illegal online pharmacy in 2004 and 2005.

mospagebreaktitle=Auction planned for 1,000 patents}Auction planned for 1,000 patents

An estimated 1,000 patents spanning software, hardware and networking are destined to be sold to the highest bidder in San Francisco by a merchant bank this spring.

The Register reports (27 January) that Ocean Tomo is hosting the first in a series of two planned patent auctions this year, in a move the company believes will help - not hurt - innovation in IT.

According to The Register, the bank expects 300 attendees to attend its April auction, with patents being donated by a mixture of Fortune 500 companies, universities and venture capitalists who own defunct portfolios. Eight hundred patents have so far been submitted with the final tally expected to reach 1,000, according to Ocean Tomo.

Ocean Tomo president and chief executive James Malackowski told The Register the auction would help innovation and that the industry has been calling for such an event. "Patents are a constitutionally protected right and they have been an engine of innovation and economic development in this country."

However, says The Register, news of the auction is likely to unsettle open source advocates and anti-patents campaigners, who believe that the existence of patents in software, in particular, hurts innovation because they lead to costly and frivolous patent litigation.

For example, open source risk assessment and compliance service Open Source Risk Management (OSRM) last year claimed there are 15,000 patent issues in the popular Linux, Apache, MySQL and Perl/Python software stack. Defending against patent claims - either genuine or frivolous - typically costs US$2m, according to the US American Intellectual Property Lawyers' Association.

mospagebreaktitle=Authorities search German anti-piracy group}Authorities search German anti-piracy group

German authorities searched the offices of the German Federation Against Copyright Theft (GVU) last following a world-wide series of raids on warez operations.

The Register reports (27 January), however,that the group, a federation commissioned by the film and entertainment software industry, has rejected claims it is being investigated for bribing administrators of warez release groups to facilitate the raids.

German local and federal police, along with Interpol, raided over 300 homes and offices in Germany, Austria, Holland, Poland, Israel, the Czech Republic, Canada and USA and arrested 35 individuals, some of whom were responsible for releasing King Kong hours before it was released in European cinemas.