5th July 2005 Archive

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Lufthansa online activist found guilty

€900 will be fine

A German activist who launched a short attack against Lufthansa's website, in protest at the company allowing police to use its planes for forced deportations of asylum seekers, has been found guilty by a Frankfurt court. Andreas-Thomas Vogel has been ordered to pay a fine of €900, or as the court put it "the equivalent of 90 …

Music and Media 5 Jul 2005, 02:02
Online food shopping getting better

Every little helps

Posh supermarket Waitrose chain continues to be best place to shop for groceries online, according to research carried out by Computing Which?. Ocado and WaitroseDeliver were both voted top e-supermarket because they were easy to use and had some top features including "excellent" search engines which even found items that were …

Financial News 5 Jul 2005, 03:02
GSM Association promotes cheapo phones for developing world

$30 a pop is the aim of the game

The GSM Association is extending its effort to get low-priced mobile phones into the hands of people in developing countries. The industry group, comprising operators, phone makers and developers, is moving into the second phase of its Ultra-Low Cost Handset initiative, which aims to get handsets costing less than $30 onto the …

Mobile 5 Jul 2005, 07:52
Brit nicked for hacking Xbox

Cambridge grad convicted

A 22-year old British man has been convicted for modding an Xbox. The Cambridge graduate was tracked down by an investigator for the trade body Electronic & Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA). Elspa tipped off Caerphilly trading standards and Gwent police. He was sentenced to 140 hours of community service at …

Music and Media 5 Jul 2005, 09:03
Project Gizmo challenges Skype

Michael Robertson pops up again

IP Telephony is on the brink of becoming mainstream in both the business sector and for "personal" communications. Indeed, when it comes to "personal" usage — by which I mean a small number of people talking together using relatively simple systems rather than corporate solutions — IP telephony has already made an impressive …

VoIP 5 Jul 2005, 09:14
Russia and Europe tout new space plane

The start of the post-Shuttle era?

Russia and Europe are in talks to build a new a space plane that will fly missions to the International Space Station once Shuttle's final flight is over in 2010. The new plane would have a lot of new ideas in its design, explains RKK Energuya engineer Vladimir Daneev. "Since the construction of the Shuttle and Buran, a lot of …

Science 5 Jul 2005, 09:25
Pakistan cable break still not found

Rough weather hampers work

Attempts to repair an undersea cable linking Pakistan to the rest of the world are being hampered by rough weather, according to the head of the country's telco. Difficult conditions in the Arabian Sea just ten miles off the coast of Karachi have made detecting the fault extremely difficult for engineers as they struggle to …

Telecoms 5 Jul 2005, 09:29
Sasser author admits guilt

Updated German court expected to go easy on teen perp

The German teenager accused of creating the infamous Sasser worm is due to stand trial for computer sabotage offences later today (Tuesday, 5 July). Sven Jaschan, 19, was arrested in the village of Waffensen near Rotenburg, in northern Germany, on suspicion of writing and distributing the Sasser worm in May 2004. He later …

Anti-Virus 5 Jul 2005, 09:37
Martha Lane Fox back in business

Nah...no more websites...let's open a bar...

The poster-child for dotcom madness, Martha Lane Fox, has recovered from the car crash which nearly killed her and is back to launch her latest business - a chain of upmarket karaoke bars. Fox, who co-founded lastminute.com with Brent Hoberman, has spent a year recovering from horrendous injuries she suffered while on holiday …

Financial News 5 Jul 2005, 09:47
Clarke's ID card cost laundry starts to break surface

Analysis Hide the billions, levy transaction fees and voila! It only costs £30

Growing public concern over the cost of ID cards forced price concessions of sorts from Home Secretary Charles Clarke last week, but these leave the Home Office facing the prospect of an ever-widening money hole as the total cost of the scheme climbs. On the basis of the current cost estimates of £93 for passport and card, …

Music and Media 5 Jul 2005, 09:53
Irish distie claims top spot

Commtech buys Sentryst

Commtech is claiming to be Ireland's top security distributor following its purchase of Sentryst for an undisclosed amount. Sentryst was spun off from reseller Entropy in 1999 and has some shareholders in common. Conall Lavery, MD of Entropy and the largest minority shareholder in Sentryst, said: "Sentryst has operated very …

Channel Register 5 Jul 2005, 10:11
Chips hurt as DRAM goes down

May day, may day

Tanking DRAM prices dragged down worldwide chip sales in May, latest Semiconductor Industry Association figures show. Total sales hit $18.05bn in May, down 0.5 per cent on the previous month, but up 4 per cent on the year. While surging cellphone sales boosted shipments of related chips, DRAM prices dropped 6 per cent …

Financial News 5 Jul 2005, 10:41
ICANN's man in Europe bows out

Paul Verhoef gives us an exit interview

Internet overseeing organisation ICANN still has problems but it will come out of the UN's upcoming review into Internet governance with flying colours, the organisation's man in Europe, Paul Verhoef has predicted on the eve of his departure. As the first staff member located outside of California, Verhoef has played a vital …

Music and Media 5 Jul 2005, 11:16
MPs want openness on government IT

The truth? You can't handle the truth

Government IT projects are missing crucial stages of feasibility studies and 70 individual Whitehall projects have been warned they are likely to fail. But despite the problems, the Office of Government Commerce, the watchdog for government spending, is resisting pressure to make the relevant reports public. Perhaps the reports …

Public Sector 5 Jul 2005, 11:23
Offshoring jobs threat 'exaggerated' - WTO

What do they know?

The threat of offshoring IT jobs overseas is overblown, according to boffins at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Its annual World Trade Report finds that people's fears about losing jobs overseas to countries such as India and the Philippines are greatly exaggerated and based on unfounded concerns rather than hard facts. …

IT Director 5 Jul 2005, 12:44
China opens net addiction clinic

Acupuncture and Winnie the Pooh aid web junkies

Proof that China continues to wholeheartedly embrace all that is good about Western capitalism comes with the news that the nascent economic superpower now has a clinic where net-frazzled comrades can tackle their web addiction. The state-run facility in Beijing currently has 12 inmates who rise at 6am for a programme of sports …

Music and Media 5 Jul 2005, 12:53
Man fakes heart attack with electric underpants

Judge unplugs shock damages claim

A Lincolnshire man who allegedly used a pair of "electric underpants" to fake the symptoms of a heart attack has had his £300,000 damages claim against electric iron manufacturer Morphy Richards unplugged by a judge. According to the Guardian, 41-year-old Marcus Danquah had pursued Morphy Richards since 1999 after his wife …

Bootnotes 5 Jul 2005, 12:59
GPS tech to rein in UK's speeding motorists

Ultimate back seat driver

Plans are underway to use a satellite-based system to stop motorists from speeding following the conclusion of government-backed trials of the technology in Leeds. The speed limiting technology works by applying brakes or cutting out the accelerator in modified cars whenever a driver tries to exceed to limit for a particular …

Science 5 Jul 2005, 13:10
Oz watchdog bans mobile porn

No blue for you, blue

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) - as of 1 July the newly formed face of the Australian Broadcasting Authority and the Australian Communications Authority - has banned hard-core porn from mobile phones. According to various media reports, mobile operators will not be allowed to punt X18+ content or …

Mobile 5 Jul 2005, 13:18
Does your urine smell of maple syrup?

Click here for an online diagnosis

Do you get seborrhoeic dermatitis around your nose and an acne like rash? Do you produce excess ear wax? Do you have a swollen tongue with lateral teeth indentations? Do you ever wonder why you feel absolutely bloody awful? Fear not, help may at hand in the form of Body Language - a new "online diagnostic tool" designed to get …

Bootnotes 5 Jul 2005, 13:32
Thousands sign No2ID pledge

Feel like joining in?

More than 8,000 people have signed No2ID's Pledgebank promise that they will refuse to register for an ID card. The Pledgebank premise is that no one should have to take a stand alone. People can make pledges that they promise to honour if they get enough support from like-minded people. The site's founder, Tom Steinberg, …

ID 5 Jul 2005, 13:35
Orange kills Wildfire - finally

Ashes to ashes

Orange yesterday pulled the plug on its Wildfire voice recognition service. The cellco had planned to terminate Wildfire at the end of May but delayed closure, in response to a barrage of complaints. It had underestimated the strength of feeling from loyal Wildfire fans - in particular blind and visually impaired users who …

Mobile 5 Jul 2005, 13:39
Email critical to business shocker

Reg Reader Studies Survey results in, report available right now

Thanks very much to those 1,826 Reg readers who took the time to complete our recent survey on email, or more precisely, "Email Criticality, Support and Migration". The findings demonstrate how central email has become to modern business. For example, two thirds of respondents - including 1,102 SMBs - said that email was …

Reg Technology Panel 5 Jul 2005, 13:42
Ingram Micro adds five firms

Europe-wide additions

Ingram Micro Europe is bolstering its software product line with the addition of five new vendors. Actual availability will vary from country to country as the rollout continues. Ingram will sell products from Phoenix Technologies which offers security and data recovery software, especially for laptops. Also signed up for the …

Channel Register 5 Jul 2005, 14:01
Computacenter reorganises

End of customer units

Britain's biggest reseller is hoping a total reorganisation of its business will help it back to bigger profits. Computacenter boss Mike Norris spent today talking to analysts in the City. George O'Connor, an analyst at Shore Capital, who was at the meeting, said: "As expected he unveiled a new organisation model, moving away …

Financial News 5 Jul 2005, 14:29
eBay pulls illegal Live 8 DVDs

BPI gets involved

eBay is busy trying to remove illegal copies of last weekend's Live 8 gig from its auction site after the record industry complained pirated material was being flogged less than 24 hours after the event. The BPI (British Phonographic Industry) urged eBay to get tough on music pirates looking to cash in on the poverty awareness …

Financial News 5 Jul 2005, 14:32
HP, Expansys waiting on the judge

End of grey market dispute in sight?

Expansys and Hewlett Packard are awaiting a High Court judge’s ruling on their grey marketing court spat. HP sued Manchester-based Expansys earlier this year for importing iPaqs from outside Europe. HP claims, amongst other things, that this infringes its trademarks. HP has been on the warpath over so-called grey marketing …

Channel Register 5 Jul 2005, 15:07
Vendors warn Euro patents bill won't add up

Abort? Cancel? Retry?

Corporate support for the European Directive on Software patents is fading fast ahead of the parliamentary vote tomorrow, with big technology companies saying no directive would be better than one muddled by too many amendments. Telecoms equipment maker, Alcatel, says that a departure from the Common Position would be dangerous …

Software 5 Jul 2005, 15:21
VIA delays crucial meeting on Claranet acquisition

More votes needed

VIA NET.WORKS has postponed a crucial shareholder meeting to approve the sale of its business to UK ISP Claranet. Although VIA, a business-focused telco operating in Europe and the US, has received the thumbs-up for the deal from those shareholders who have voted so far, it hasn't secured enough votes to give it the go-ahead. …

Telecoms 5 Jul 2005, 16:00
Dell customers offered McData meal with their blades

The not Brocade option

Dell has added some networking variety to its blade server line by selling McData Fibre Channel switches as a networking option alongside the compact systems. Customers can fit up to 2 of McData's 4314 switches in Dell's blade server chassis - aka the Dell Modular Server Enclosure. The McData product joins other Fibre Channel …

Storage 5 Jul 2005, 17:23
Broadcom finds an antitrust suit for Qualcomm

Ready to sue

Not satisfied with a mere patent lawsuit against its rival, Broadcom has thumped Qualcomm with a round of antitrust charges. The networking chip maker today announced the antitrust suit against Qualcomm, claiming its rival used unfair licensing practices in the cellular communications market. In the complaint, filed in the US …

Mobile 5 Jul 2005, 18:44