14th August 2002 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

Idiobots: an apology

Corrections and Carrionification

It's the policy of The Register to correct errors as soon as possible. In a story we published yesterday we linked to an online article on the InfoWorld website entitled Sun shows Linux server, Solaris on Intel written by Ashlee Vance. Our story implied that the InfoWorld article was free from the rampaging InfoWorld idiobot …

Bootnotes 14 Aug 2002, 00:34
Sun makes licensing peace offering to OpenOffice.org

We don't want to own everything after all...

Sun yesterday unveiled licensing relaxations designed to placate critics and boost contributions to OpenOffice.org, the open source office suite project. Sun, no stranger to abuse from the open source community over its licensing terms and conditions, has come under fire because contributors to OpenOffice.org had to sign an …

Software 14 Aug 2002, 08:41
Compaq.com surfers in random redirection mystery

No Satisfaction for internal staff

Compaq and HP staff visiting the Compaq.com Web site this morning were thrown a wild card. Instead of getting redirected to the new.hp.com they found themselves surfing either a Rolling Stones Fan Club site or thrown onto a site flogging software for adult entertainment sites. Surfers outside the company were redirected to the …

Bootnotes 14 Aug 2002, 09:10
Incumbents own Europe's DSL market

Stranglehold

Despite a 20% sequential rise in digital subscriber line (DSL) installation in the last quarter, Europe's new carriers have warned again that incumbent operators are on course to take a stranglehold on the emerging market. Publishing its latest "DSL Scorecard", the European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA …

Telecoms 14 Aug 2002, 09:17
WiFi hotspots pose threat to US 3G – US Bancorp

Disruptive technology

The success in the US of public wireless local area network (PWLAN) "hotspot" services is causing a rethink among wireless network operators, which are beginning to see hotspot growth as another reason to delay the roll-out of 3G services. According to "The Wireless LAN Report, 802.11 - Disruptive Technology", a new report …

Telecoms 14 Aug 2002, 09:18
Orange joins UK MMS fray

Phone 'Cheese'

Orange SA has joined the multimedia messaging service (MMS) club, launching a Nokia Oyj-supplied picture messaging system over its UK network yesterday, and promising to roll-out service to five other European markets "in the coming months". The Paris, France-based subsidiary of France Telecom SA is now set to go head to …

Telecoms 14 Aug 2002, 09:18
NAI ups offer for McAfee.com

Again

Network Associates Inc blinked in its stand-off with McAfee.com yesterday, upping its offer for the company to a 20% premium over its current share price just as its previous offer was about to expire. Santa Clara, California-based NAI's offer for the 25% of McAfee it does not already own now stands at $15.43 per share, …

Mobile 14 Aug 2002, 09:20
Siebel barter deals carry on rising

One CRM system = how many toilet rolls?

Enterprise CRM player Siebel Systems Inc caused disquiet in the market last quarter when it disclosed a sharp increase in the revenue it gained as a result of concurrent transactions and is repeating the exercise this quarter, with its SEC filings showing a further increase in the value of these types of sales. During the …

Mobile 14 Aug 2002, 09:20
BT Broadband accuses P2P users of copyright abuse

EU Copyright Directive to spawn wider bans?

BT is threatening to kick users of P2P applications off its broadband service, citing copyright abuse. This is a new development at the monster telco which has already shown its commercial antipathy to file-sharing sites (Last year it introduced a policy of restricting bandwidth to P2P sites from its ADSL service.) Last week, …

Music and Media 14 Aug 2002, 11:04
Thus attacks ‘unsustainable pricing’

Cuts losses, increases revenues

Thus, the alternative telco, has accused rivals of adopting "unsustainable pricing", contributing to an uncertain future for the telecoms industry. The result of such pricing pressures means that Thus is unlikely to hit its expected revenue growth for the year. This assessment comes as Thus reported its latest figures for the …

Business 14 Aug 2002, 12:20
Computer virus threats on the decline?

Not a bumper crop

Many security analysts agree that there has been an apparent fall in virus attacks in 2002, but they still warn potential victims to keep their guard up. In July UK-based anti-virus company Sophos said that it had detected and protected against 3,279 new viruses in the first six months of 2002. And during this period, the …

Anti-Virus 14 Aug 2002, 12:53
Get your MS licences – 2% below cost!

Trade-only offer

The UK arm of Enta, the Taiwanese OEM distie, has provoked a furious response from rivals for selling Microsoft OEM licences at two per cent below cost. For cash, presumably upfront, of course. 'Commercial suicide', says Ideal Hardware: "...shooting themselves in the foot," says Bytes Technology Group. Enta denies it's selling …

Channel 14 Aug 2002, 15:01
Tiscali apologises for forum slurs

Private comments made public

Tiscali UK has apologised to a Merseyside man after he became the victim of ridicule among some of the ISP's forum moderators. The comments came to light last month when a software glitch meant that posts - which should only have been seen by Tiscali's authorised forum moderators - became accessible to all users. Although …

Channel 14 Aug 2002, 15:02
Brightview acquires XO UK ISPs

'Probably the UK's largest independent ISP'

Brightview - the privately funded UK-based outfit that includes IC24, Madasafish and Totalise among its stable of service providers - has bought the UK-based consumer ISP business that previously belonged to US telco XO Communications. As part of the deal Brightview has acquired three ISPs, Globalnet.co.uk, Freenetname.co.uk, …

Music and Media 14 Aug 2002, 15:07
Apple chip breakthrough confounds physicists

Updated They've fixed it - Einstein has left the building!

: Note - Averting further ridicule, Apple changed the offending text following publication of this article. See end for details. A remarkable achievement by Motorola in the new PowerMac computers promises to set the scientific world alight. Apple claims that "the faster-than-light processor speed gets an additional boost with …

Mac Channel 14 Aug 2002, 15:09
DoS risk from Oracle9i debugging bug

Breakable

A flaw in the debugging mechanism of Oracle9i supplies a mechanism for crackers to crash vulnerable servers. All Oracle9i installations are vulnerable to this attack, according to security tools firm ISS, which discovered the problem. The flaw could be used to launch denial of service attacks, it warns. Oracle9i has a …

Security 14 Aug 2002, 15:13
NTL makes ‘steady progress’

Best keep an eye out for icebergs

NTL - which filed for US Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May - says that it made "steady progress" during Q2 against what it described as a "challenging backdrop". The UK's biggest cableco reported increased revenues of £627m ($915m) compared to £608 million ($857m) during the same quarter last year. Earnings before …

Business 14 Aug 2002, 16:02
IBM launches Linux counterblast at Sun

Battle of the Bulging Wallets

IBM has launched a counter-offensive against Sun Microsystems's march into the Linux market. On Monday, Sun intro'd the LX50, its first general purpose x86 server, which will run either Sun's version of Linux or a Lazarus-style reincarnation of Solaris on x86. In response IBM has created a SWAT team of migration experts to …

Servers 14 Aug 2002, 20:48
The MeatSpace Mailbag

Letters Up the Constitution! No, Up Yours!

Damn the Constitution: Europe must take back the Web "Meatspace rules rule" will someday be a famous quote and I will be able to tell my grand children that I was there to read it from its original source," writes one correspondent about Bill Thompson's call for a secure European net. It created a lot of mail, so much so, that …

Letters 14 Aug 2002, 23:59