New book range to be sold under 'Open Source' licence

Bruce Perens, one of the founders of the Open Source movement, has taken the concept into the world of e-books. He says he has convinced US publisher Prentice Hall to produce a series of books on technical subjects under the Open Source licence. The idea is that not only can the books be downloaded and read for free, but they can also be modified and 'sold on' in a printed version. ...more

Flash not to AMD's rescue

AMD hits a $184m loss. It sees mobile phone-driven success for Flash memory products, but performs badly when it comes to the microprocessors for PCs. In the wake of its repeated profit warnings, AMD reports a net loss of $184m for its second quarter results (covering the period April to June 2002). ...more

NTL broadband no longer Unlimited

Cable company NTL has angered its subscribers by placing a 1Gb daily limit on its broadband services. The new limits, outlined in its Acceptable Usage Policy, are an attempt to target 'the tiny minority whose downloading is causing congestion on the network,' according to Malcolm Padley, Media Relations Director at NTL. The company will begin monitoring the network over the next 60 days and those customers exceeding the limits on three consecutive days in every two weeks will be contacted. ...more

Bluetooth to go mobile in Far East

Two mobile Internet schemes utilising the wireless Bluetooth system are to be introduced in Japan by Ericsson and Hewlett-Packard. The first scheme is headed by Ericsson and will see Bluetooth services being made available at one of West Japan Railway Company's railway stations and on one of its bullet trains. It is hoped that the commercial version of the service will be made available by April 2002 and technology partners including Marubeni Corp and Handspring will also join Ericsson in the project. ...more

Google attacked for 'hostility to privacy'

Google has an 'entrenched hostility to privacy', according to new report. The Web search leader's commitment to consumer privacy came under fire from Privacy International, a group that has previously singled it out for criticism. The London-based group released a report on Saturday entitled 'A Race to the Bottom - Privacy Ranking of Internet Service Companies'. ...more