France to back off forcing open iTunes

French legislators appear to have reached a compromise that will allow Apple to maintain the exclusive link between iPods and iTunes Music Store downloads. Having previously threatened to force Apple and other digital music service operators to remove restrictions on which devices their downloads can be played, France's lower house, the Assembly, is ready to accept a Senate proposal that, the AP reports, will provide a loophole enabling operators to avoid having to license their DRM technologies. According to the report, a new regulatory authority will be given the power to resolve disputes by ordering companies to license their exclusive file formats to rivals, but only if the restrictions they impose are 'additional to, or independent of, those explicitly decided by the copyright holders'. ...more

British government backs software patents

A government Minister yesterday maintained that technology patents must extend to software to protect the industry. At the public debate, Lord Sainsbury, Minister for Science and Innovation answered critics over a proposed European Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions. He told the audience how it would effect patent law in the UK, and what that would mean to software developers and the open source movement. ...more

ISPs see pay as you go broadband as solution to bandwidth hogging

NTL is playing down talks that it is testing pay-as-you-go broadband services. Various newsgroups, including hthell:world, are claiming that the cable provider is testing two potential services: pay-as-you-go (PAYG) and pre-pay. However an NTL spokesperson told us that it is merely an 'infrastructure and technology trial'. ...more

Windows under attack from zero-day exploit

Microsoft has alerted its users to attacks targetting a flaw in the way Windows handles .ani files, the format used to create animated cursors. The company has already posted a security advisory and has updated its OneCare security software for consumers to protect against the attacks. ...more

ITV rejects NTL takeover bid

ITV's board has rejected a cash plus shares offer for the business from NTL Telewest. Following a meeting yesterday, the board voted unanimously not to approve it for three reasons: that, from ITV's perspective there is little, if any, strategic logic for ITV to combine with NTL; that the number of shares that would comprise the share element of an offer would be fixed, so that the value of the proposal would fluctuate as a result of movement in NTL's share price with no guaranteed cash alternative; and that the offer undervalues the company. 'The board is clear that the proposed offer materially undervalues ITV,' it said in a statement. ...more