13th February 2003 Archive

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French online cheese vendor hit by boycott over NATO

Brie-eating liberals lining up behind Bush?

As American legislators propose sanctions against France and Germany over their position on NATO, French online cheese vendor Marc Refabert is already experiencing the wrath of the American public, reports Reuters. France, Germany and Belgium are blocking proposed NATO deployments in Turkey, so, "Pam and I" won't be buying any …

Music and Media 13 Feb 2003, 09:08
BT racks up 650k BB punters

Pre-tax profit jumps

BT notched up record sales of broadband in January helping to push the number of ADSL customers to more than 650,000. In the first five weeks of the year total broadband sales grew by 25,000 a week, with 7,500 a week signing up to the telco's no-frills access-only BT Broadband product. Keen to press ahead, the UK's dominant …

Telecoms 13 Feb 2003, 09:09
Mitnick banned from security group

'We don't just take anybody off the street'

By all accounts ex-hacker Kevin Mitnick created only a modest stir when he sauntered into the December meeting of the Los Angeles chapter of the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA). He sat quietly, paid attention, and at the conclusion of the meeting joined with some of the other 60-odd attendees swapping business …

Security 13 Feb 2003, 09:36
MS takes a stab at security bulletin for the masses

Damned if you don't, damned if you do, do-be-do-be-do...

Microsoft has several problems with security, in addition to the obvious. The company has a lot of security alerts, yes, and if it's serious about security it has to keep people informed. But security bulletins in their unvarnished form are desperately techie, and will only serve to confuse/scare most users. So don't send them …

Security 13 Feb 2003, 09:44
EC urges regulators to get tough with mobile networks

Cash Cow Cull

In a bid designed to ratchet up telecom regulation from Brussels, the European Commission encouraged national regulators to impose new rules on mobile operators. Of the 18 market segments named by the European Commission where national regulators have been encouraged to intervene, a suggestion to further regulate the mobile …

Mobile 13 Feb 2003, 10:23
BTo adds 40k BB subs

Hmmmmm

BT Openworld added around 40,000 new broadband punters to its service in the three months to December, the company (kinda) confirmed today. At the end of September it had 213,000 broadband subscribers. That figure rose to around 250,000 (BT declined to be more specific) at the end of December - a weekly increase of around 3,100 …

Telecoms 13 Feb 2003, 10:25
TV channel buys $150 ID for FBI ‘most wanted’ suspect

Get your licence, then drive in from Canada or Mexico, apparently...

Using a fake driver's licence bought via a web site, US TV's NewsChannel 4* fooled ID checking software and got confirmation that the licence could probably be used safely to fly on any commercial airline, rent a car, or cross the border into the US. Although they seem to have wimped out of trying any of these things. Oh, and …

Music and Media 13 Feb 2003, 11:03
Bulldog intros 4Mbps DSL

If that's what you want...

Bulldog Communications has unveiled a 4Mbps DSL broadband service for residential punters. Called Primetime 4000, it costs £79.99 a month and is available at some 35 unbundled exchanges in central London. Said Bulldog chief exec, Richard Greco: "Through the successful implementation of local loop unbundling in a competitive …

Telecoms 13 Feb 2003, 12:58
UK broadband users follow ‘communist doctrine’

Jumping Juniper

UK broadband users are following "communist doctrine" over fast Net access, according to a top exec at networking equipment vendor Juniper Networks. In a statement supporting NTL's decision to cap its users, Juniper marketing director Richard Brandon claims ISPs the world over must be "thanking NTL for taking a stand against …

Telecoms 13 Feb 2003, 13:04
DMCA invoked in DirecTV hack

17 charged

Seventeen people have been charged with creating satellite TV piracy tools that cost US operators DirecTV and Dish Network millions of dollars in lost revenues. Half a dozen defendants have been charged under copyright circumvention measures contained in the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The other accused face …

Security 13 Feb 2003, 13:06
BSA piracy audit deadline looms for business

Happy Valentines...

Some 43,000 companies have until tomorrow complete a Software Audit Return (SAR) form that is designed to reveal if companies are running software without the necessary licences. The Business Software Alliance (BSA) scheme isn't mandatory but is designed to raise awareness of the importance of good software asset management. …

Business 13 Feb 2003, 17:50
P2P virus fakes nude Zeta Jones pics

Violated again - where's my lawyer?

A virus posing as racy pictures of Oscar-nominee Catherine Zeta Jones, or other well-known celebs, is doing the rounds on the Net. Users of file sharing networks are been lured into opening a file that promises compromising pictures of Catherine Zeta Jones, Britney Spears, Sandra Bullock and Sarah Michelle Gellar. Users who …

Anti-Virus 13 Feb 2003, 18:07
US.gov warns script kiddies to stay out of cyberwar

Patriotic hacking could backfire

US script kiddies were warned this week that "patriotic" hacking attacks against America's enemies are not to be condoned, and might even backfire. An alert by the National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) this week warns that "global hacking activities are likely to increase" as a result of heightened tensions between …

Music and Media 13 Feb 2003, 18:28
Boffins outline 24Mbps mobile phone chip design

Not due until 2006

Boffins at Lucent Technologies' Bell Labs has come up a blueprint for a mobile chip, designed with 3G mobiles in mind, which works at a blistering fast 24Mbps. The chip, which is 10 times faster than anything available today, is unlikely to be deployed anytime before 2006. Nonetheless the technology behind Lucent's chip merits …

Mobile 13 Feb 2003, 18:31