German duo gaoled over trojan dialler

Two men jailed for their part in infecting 100,000 computers with trojan that dialled premium rate numbers Two German men who infected more than 100,000 computers with a trojan that generated profits exceeding €12 million have been jailed. A court in Osnabr?ck, north-eastern Germany, sentenced one of the men to four years in jail, and the other to a 39 month sentence, for their part in a criminal scheme that installed innocent users' PCs with a trojan that dialled premium rate 0190 phone numbers to contact an adult website. The men, aged 31 and 35 years old, amassed their substantial illegal profits from the premium rate phone calls made via the modems of infected PCs between July 2002 and September 2003. ...more

Nasdaq stock exchange threatens to delist SCO

Controversial Unix company SCO is in the dog house with the Nasdaq stock exchange, which is threatening to delist the company if it doesn't straighten out its finances. The troubles centre on accounting procedures for its employee stock purchase plan that delayed the filing of its 10K annual report - due at the end of January. SCO's PR Director Blake Stowell said that this involved 'an accounting treatment we have to consider before filing our 10K . ...more

Microsoft cracks down on Internet software piracy

Microsoft has released details of a second concerted sweep of the Internet for software piracy and fraud. Following a similar exercise back in August, criminal actions have been brought in 22 countries worldwide. As well as online auctions - an obvious source for pirated software - Microsoft investigated a number of Websites and resellers worldwide. ...more

Palm to buy Be

Palm is to acquire software developer Be for $11 million, conditional on Be stockholders' approval, it announced today. The proposed sale of Be's intellectual property and technology assets has been an open secret for some time and though Sony was seen as the most likely purchaser, Palm was believed to be in the frame along with AOL. Be specialises in developing software for to enable rich media and Web content on PCs and Internet appliances. ...more

US media manufacturers vote for HD DVD

A group of US media manufacturers has voted to back HD DVD over Blu-ray as its preferred next-generation optical disc format. The American Independent Media Manufacturers Association (AIMMA) comprises senior executives from 37 media manufacturing companies. It made its decision following presentations from both camps and a discussion focussing on the economics and efficiencies of transitioning to either format, including equipment costs and installation timing. ...more