Businesses fear reporting pornography - IWF survey

More than two-thirds of businesses would not tell the authorities if they found child pornography on their systems, for fear of prosecution, according to the Internet Watch Foundation. The IWF survey reveals that while only 27 per cent of those polled would report such materials to the authorities, those that felt unable to may take confidence from a recent agreement 'between the police and the CPS [that] states that IT managers may preserve such material and records on their systems for the explicit purpose of providing access to law enforcement'. This new understanding is based on increased evidence that malware such as Trojans can infect systems and allow remote attackers to place such material within compromised corporate networks. ...more

Apple confirms iPhone will launch in June

Apple has confirmed that the iPhone will launch in June. In an email sent to prospective buyers (embedded left), it thanked recipients for signing up for more information, and although it didn't name a specific date it did confirm rumours that the launch would be in the same month as WWDC, the Worldwide Developers' Conference. 'Talk to you soon,' said the email. ...more

Adobe to put Photoshop online

Adobe has revealed that it plans to release a Web-based version of Photoshop within six months. CEO Bruce Chizen said in an interview that the service is likely to be free, funded by advertising, and will offer an entry-level toolset without diluting the Photoshop brand. Photoshop will be the first of several online applications that Adobe plans to release, having seen the success Google has had with similar ad-funded offerings. ...more

Yahoo! pushes Panama search advertising into Europe

Following its debut in the States, Yahoo! has announced the UK and European launch of Panama, its new sponsored search advertising platform. According to Yahoo!, it offers advertisers improvements such as the ability to rotate different ads through the system to find the most effective ad mix, ad budgeting based on desired advertising outcomes and a way to test different keyword search terms for advertising effectiveness and geographic targeting. The search marketing software system, known by the code name Panama, has been available since October last year to existing Yahoo! customers in the US, and was expanded to new US customers in December of last year. ...more

Skype signs music deal for ringtones

Internet phone company Skype has signed a deal with some of the world's biggest music publishers for the rights to use their original music for ringtones on its telephony service. The company says the agreement means that it can potentially offer hundreds of thousands of tunes to its customer base with prices starting at around one Euro. The agreements are with three major music publishing companies - EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, and Warner/Chappell Music as well as the UK's collecting society for author/publisher rights, the MCPS-PRS Alliance. ...more