Microsoft highlights the award of $1.5m in software piracy case

Microsoft has published details of a US District Court case regarding software piracy in which it was awarded damages of $1.5m. Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer found that the Chicago-based company Logical Choice Computers had distributed counterfeit copies of Microsoft Office Professional 97 and Windows 95 software, and she ruled (back in 19 January) that its "actions amounted to wilful infringement and ignorance of Microsoft's legal rights". ...more

iTunes more popular than file-sharing - report

The iTunes Music Store is now more popular than most peer-to-peer file sharing networks, according to new research. NPD Group reports that 1.7 million US households downloaded music from Apple's online music store during March, the same number as obtained files using Limewire but more than Kazaa, BearShare, Ares, Morpheus and iMesh. ...more

ATI combines fast video with TV tuner in new graphics cards

One for those who like to watch TV on their PC. ATI has expanded its range of All-In-Wonder video graphics cards. The three new cards from the Canadian graphics company are: the All-In-Wonder 9600XT, 9600 and 9200 (based, as their numbers indicate, on the equivalent Radeon graphics processors). ...more

Dawn breaks for European domain

The .eu top level domain is about to open for business. Specifically, a so-called Sunrise Period begins next week that enables trademark holders and others with certain 'prior rights', to register a . ...more

Microsoft boosts Trustworthy Computing at Leeds Uni

Microsoft is backing a Leeds university course on writing secure code and eliminating vulnerabilities. Starting in January of next year, the module will offer threat modelling and security analysis so that students can pre-empt vulnerabilities such as unchecked buffers - one of the most common of Microsoft security alerts. Microsoft UK Chief Security Officer Stuart Okin said: 'Security is one of the key issues in the IT industry and the wider business world today. ...more