EMI and Time Warner merger hits the rocks

It looks like the European Commission (EC) has scuppered plans over the proposed merger of publishing giant Time Warner and UK music group EMI. The two companies have called off the deal. The EC was to meet today to discuss concerns that the merger will create a monopoly for music distribution in Europe, especially music distributed over the Net. ...more

AOL joins broadband ranks

AOL joins competitive Broadband Britain as the problems of Telewest and NTL worsen. AOL has launched a broadband service in the UK with a monthly rate of ?34.99 but free of any installation or activation charge. ...more

Well clank my shackles!

Microsoft has just released the Dungeon Siege Fan Site Kit which contains a number of goodies to help fans build there own Web site for the much-anticipated role-playing-game title from Gas Powered Games. The kit contains ten in-game screen shots, four screens of game concept art, 12 rendered character images, biographies of the development team, and logos. If you're looking forward to this game and fancy giving HTML a turn, then you can grab the necessary stuff here. ...more

Sony questions success of file sharing attacks

A Sony executive has conceded that the music industry is making little headway in curbing file sharing, despite its high-profile legal campaigns against alleged file sharers. Albhy Galuten, vice president, Digital Media Technology Strategy at Sony America, told the Digital Media Summit in Los Angeles that the industry is not 'winning the battle against pirating'. Galuten was taking part in a debate with legal experts to discuss whether the US record and movie industries' 'get tough' policies are effective against the scofflaws who use p2p networks to share music files without authorisation, a practice that the two industries regard as theft. ...more

Linux upgrades drives Red Hat profits

Red Hat has reported a net income of $16.7m, up 42 per cent year on year for its second quarter. The leading Linux vendor reported revenues up 42 per cent year on year to $65. ...more