US retail group advises retailers SCO lawsuit appears 'unfounded'

US retail group the National Retail Federation has advised its members to ignore SCO threats, saying it expects retailers that use Linux will survive any litigation from the Unix company. In a statement NRF CIO Dave Hogan said he believed the SCO's claims 'are without merit' and that it has so far failed to specify 'which parts of Unix System V have been copied into Linux'. Recently, SCO has filed lawsuits against car companies AutoZone and DaimlerChrysler for what SCO contends is an illegal use of its intellectual property in Unix and Linux. ...more

UPDATED: McAfee highlights danger of sponsored search results

Sponsored search engine results are twice as likely to be a security risk as an ordinary listing, according to a McAfee report. Citing the statistic that four out of five website visits start with a search engine query, the security company has examined the trustworthiness of paid-for entries. While 4% of all search results link to suspect websites, sponsored results contain 2. ...more

BPI pressures ISPs to suspend filesharing accounts

The UK record industry has asked two ISPs to suspend 59 Internet accounts that they allege are being used for p2p filesharing. The industry's main umbrella group, the BPI, has written to Tiscali and Cable & Wireless, owner of Bulldog, in what it describes as a 'significant development' in its campaign against 'illegal filesharing', allowing it to deal with a greater volume of cases more quickly and efficiently. Previously it has pursued alleged file sharers individually, with some success. ...more

BT denies claims it is planning free 'dial-up' broadband

BT has denied claims by a Sunday newspaper that it is planning to introduce free 'dial-up' broadband when it switches on its 21st Century Network (21CN) in 2008, a year earlier than planned. The Mail on Sunday had claimed that a 'senior company source' within BT said that 21CN will provide for a broadband dialtone that will allow broadband users to connect simply by plugging into a phone line. This could remove the need for new users to cough up the ?58 activation fee and would allow occasional Internet users - those who dial-up to check their email - to upgrade to broadband on a true pay-as-you-go basis and without the additional expense. ...more

EU states approve multi-million fine for Microsoft

EU member states have approved the amount that Microsoft will be fined for anti-trust violations by its Windows operating system. Competition commissioner Mario Monti's presented his findings to representatives from the 15 governments and got backing for a fine that will run into hundreds of millions of dollars. The exact amount will not be revealed until Wednesday. ...more