Brit on trial for website scams

A 23-year-old man stood trial yesterday, alleged to have netted ?1.6m from bogus website registration scams, reports the Times. The court heard that for five years, Peter Francis-Macrae operated spam email and junk mail-based deceptions to either fool victims into believing he was registering the upcoming . ...more

European Commission seeks to bolster IT and media industries

The European Commission has announced a new initiative to foster growth and jobs in the information and media industries. 'i2010: European Information Society 2010' is a strategy designed to encourage the development of the digital economy by modernising and deploying relevant EU policies on regulation, research and partnerships with industry. In particular it will aim to promote high-speed and secure broadband networks across the EU. ...more

Europe warms to globalisation

Europe 'should not look at globalisation in the way the rabbit looks to the snake' and should embrace the changes to media and information wrought by technologies like the Internet. The remarks were made by Viviane Reding, the European Commission commissioner responsible for Information Society and Media at yesterday's European Forum. In her speech, Reding admitted that the freedom afforded by the Internet can be abused to distribute child pornography around the world and that satellite TV can be abused to circulate hate speech and terrorist propaganda. ...more

Bank turns to idle PCs for computing power

A French bank has come up with a cheap and easy way of boosting its total computing capability. BNP Paribas is using off-the-shelf grid software to harness the power of all the PCs that sit idle on its desks overnight. From 700 machines it is getting an extra 6,000 computing hours and the cost amounts to little more than the price of licensing Symphony grid software from Platform Computing. ...more

Government denies climbdown over workplace snooping

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) claims that it always intended to give employers the right to monitor their workers' correspondence, despite reports earlier this week that it buckled under the weight of industry pressure. The statement came as the DTI announced that it would be extending the consultation period on regulations giving firms the right to intercept employees' e-mail. These regulations are an adjunct to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Act, which received the Royal Assent in July. ...more