Artist cops backlash over Sony DRM

The ripples caused by the recent revelations over SonyBMG shipping copy-protected CDs that install 'rootkit' code have reached the publisher's artists, resulting in a slew of negative reviews based on consumer reaction to the technology alone. Get Right with the Man by Van Zant is currently wallowing under a one-and-half star rating on Amazon.com, based purely on negative user reviews of the copy-protection technology. ...more

Cash rewards for grassing spammers could be up for grabs

The US Federal and Trade Commission is to consider a report on whether cash rewards for grassing spammers would be effective. The report says that although cyber sleuths may have the technical skills to garner a lot of information about where spam comes from, the evidence needed to identify several streams of spam to a particular source is often not at their disposal. Clearly spammers practice their art for money, and the banks that look after that money and have information such as addresses and so on simply aren't legally able to give it. ...more

Samsung named world's fastest growing brand

Samsung has been named the 'Fastest Growing Global Brand' by Interbrand, a global brand consultancy. For a second year in a row the South Korean electronics giant has taken this particular marketing garland. Interbrand calculates that Samsung's brand value has more than doubled from $5. ...more

Microsoft mobile honeypots invite online attacks

Microsoft is making mobile honeypots in a bid to attract malicious code before it is developed into full-blown exploits, reports New Scientist. Traditionally, honeypots are poorly protected systems hooked up to the Internet to tempt attacks from hackers. But rather than taking this passive approach, Microsoft has developed a mobile version - in the sense that the honeypots are themselves virtual PCs. ...more

Java further embeds itself in Linux

Sun is emphasising its commitment to Linux with the delivery of a Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) profile geared for the popular GNU-based version of UNIX. The J2ME Connected Device Configuration (CDC) and Foundation profile will be used to target next-generation consumer electronics devices, such as advanced set-top boxes and residential gateways, as well as other mobile systems. With a Linux-oriented version of the profile, that OS is not excluded from the party. ...more