Piracy pair ordered to pay back ?600,000

A husband and wife piracy team are paying the price for counterfeiting computer and video games. The pair have been ordered to pay back more than ?600,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) following their original conviction for counterfeiting offences back in 2005. The couple were investigated by Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council, and found to have benefited from their criminality to the tune of ?635,000. ...more

Hackers face jail

Two US hackers are facing two years in jail after targeting a number of top Internet providers in an e-mail scam. Steve Shklovskiy and Yan Shtok, both 23 and from Los Angeles, pleaded guilty to fraud charges and were jailed for two years for their role in the scam. They were also ordered to pay ?69,000 in compensation and to reveal to the Internet providers they affected, which included AOL, AT&T and Mindspring, how they pulled   off their scheme. ...more

Microsoft faces challenge over Linux licensing

Linux community activists are preparing to counter the recent deal between Microsoft and Novell. Microsoft signed a deal with Novell, one of the providers of Linux, in which Novell paid it a lump sum in return for a guarantee that Microsoft would not sue Novell's clients for what it calls a violation of its own patents in the Linux program. The prospect of a drawn-out legal battle with Microsoft, an experienced litigator, could push users of Linux into the hands of Novell and away from dominant Linux provider, Red Hat, which does not have such a deal with Microsoft. ...more

Disney set to use Windows Media DRM technology

Microsoft has gained a major foothold in the film industry with the announcement that Disney is to use its Windows Media digital rights management (DRM) technology to deliver digital media to homes and portable devices. The agreement will see Disney films and TV programmes available for PCs, set-top boxes and portable devices, whether mobile phones, PDAs or even a new-generation of media players. The two companies have emphasised the importance of both secure delivery and the 'seamless flow' of content between devices, which has also been one of the major problems with DRM systems. ...more

Microsoft warns of new critical flaw in Windows

Microsoft has admitted there is another 'critical' flaw in Windows which could allow a hacker to take control of a vulnerable machine. The flaw is the result of an unchecked buffer in the ASN.1 Library in many versions of Windows. ...more