Oftel makes BT pay for local loop fiasco

Oftel will force BT to pay compensation to operators if it doesn't meet agreed service levels in its unbundling of the local loop, the regulatory body announced today. The new directive from Oftel will see BT pay out up to ?20m a year if it breaks its contract, and operators will receive immediate compensation if service levels drop. Oftel has also given operators the right to bring in an independent expert to intercede in disputes with BT, as well as being able to refer problems to Oftel itself. ...more

BT to buy PlusNet for ?67m

BT has made a cash offer for the UK ISP Plusnet The deal, based on a cash offer of 210p per share, will add 200,000 broadband subscribers to BT's own broadband customer base. The offer has been unanimously recommended by the PlusNet directors. PlusNet revealed it was being wooed by a potential buyer more than a month ago, prompting its stock to surge some 30 per cent towards the 200p range. ...more

F-Secure defends itself against email virus campaign

F-Secure says an email virus campaign has been launched with the goal of besmirching its name. The Finnish company says that thousands of emails have been sent out with spoofed 'from' addresses from F-Secure domains and infected with a new variant of the Breplibot worm. The email claims to come from one non-existent F-Secure employee 'David Adams, Dept. ...more

WebKit opens a Web Inspector palette

The WebKit Open Source Project has added a new Web Inspector palette to developer builds of WebKit, the system framework used by Apple's Safari as well as other browsers and applications. The inspector lets you browse the live DOM hierarchy in a compact window. It highlights the node on the page as it is selected in the hierarchy and lets users search for nodes by node name, id and CSS class name. ...more

Kodak gadget is versatility cubed

Kodak has demonstrated its mc3 player at Demo 2001, which offers MP3, digital stills and movies from one pocket-sized device. Retailing for $299, the player boasts 64Mb of memory and handy USB connectivity. A cheaper 16Mb version will also be available. ...more