BT forces ISPs to stump up activation fee

BT Wholesale's halving of its ADSL activation fee comes to an end this month, much to the disappointment of ISPs and indeed consumers, to whom the promotional discount has been passed on. BT Wholesale introduced a promotional offer earlier this year that halved the ?50 fee the company charges to activate an ADSL connection. It comes to an end on 31 March and although BT has not returned requests for comment, Tiscali tells us that the charge is to be re-instated. ...more

Durons cut by quarter as AMD revisits pricing

AMD has shaken up the pricing for its range of processors, including cuts of a quarter for its budget offerings for notebooks, the Mobile AMD Duron. The 1.2GHz Mobile AMD Duron leads the way with a 26 per cent price cut from $120 to $89. ...more

British Library shouts out against unfair DRM

The British Library is continuing its campaign against the threat of digital rights management (DRM) technology to the management of UK cultural data. The organisation used the opening of the Labour Party Conference to launch an Intellectual Property (IP) Manifesto, highlighting the threat posed to the current copyright rules enjoyed by libraries. The British Library is tackling the undefined nature of IP rights in the digital age, as embodied in UK law, with DRM implementations being increasingly unforgiving for libraries and public bodies. ...more

Website bids to reduce volume of junk mail

An environmental campaigning website is trying to reduce the volume of unwanted postal mail by highlighting the role of the Mailing Preference Service (MPS). It is backed by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA). And we are happy to highlight Planet Ark's effort, too (not forgetting the equivalent Telephone Preference Service, also). ...more

French court rules against fair use for DVD copies

French consumers are no longer entitled to make personal copies of DVDs after France's highest court overturned an earlier ruling. Last April, the Paris Court of Appeal ruled that copy protection on DVDs infringed consumer rights because it prevented fait usage. The court gave DVD distributors one month to remove the DRM from their discs. ...more