Next-gen SCSI prototype shown
Three tech allies demonstrated a new storage technology they believe will keep a venerable hard drive standard safe from extinction. Hewlett-Packard, Seagate and Adaptec demonstrated prototype versions of Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) at the CeBit America trade show here this week. The companies, combined with a host of other allies, are betting that the technology will stay a step ahead of a lower-end but increasingly powerful standard, Serial ATA (SATA). SATA has its roots in ATA, the technology used to plug hard drives into desktop computers. SAS, on the other hand, is the sequel for SCSI drives used for jobs such as servers where every whit of performance matters.
http://news.com.com/2100-1095_3-1019845.html?tag=fd_top
Reports wrong on Xbox successor
A Japanese newspaper on Friday retracted statements attributed to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer regarding a new version of the Xbox. Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported Friday that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, speaking during a press event, said a next-generation version of the Xbox video game console would arrive in 2006, later than many industry figures had expected. The newspaper later said the statement was incorrectly attributed to Ballmer and instead was meant to reflect general expectations by industry analysts on the timing of next-generation video game consoles. The year was also listed incorrectly, the newspaper said -- analysts expect new consoles will hit the market in 2005.
http://news.com.com/2100-1043_3-1019181.html?tag=fd_top
New bill injects FBI into P2P battle
A bill introduced in Congress on Thursday would put federal agents in the business of investigating and prosecuting copyright violations, including online swapping of copyrighted works. HR-2517, the Piracy Deterrence and Education Act of 2003, instructs the FBI to develop a program to deter online traffic of copyrighted material. The bureau would also develop a warning, with the FBI seal, that copyright holders could issue to suspected violators. And the bureau would encourage sharing of information on suspected copyright violations among law enforcement, copyright owners and ISPs (Internet service providers).
http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-1019811.html?tag=fd_top
Mysterious Net traffic spurs code hunt
Worm? Trojan? Attack tool? Network administrators and security experts continue to search for the cause of an increasing amount of odd data that has been detected on the Internet. Security software firm Internet Security Systems (ISS) on Thursday declared victory, saying that a new hacker tool that scans for paths into public networks was responsible. But many other security professionals --i ncluding those at Intrusec, the company that originally tracked down the hard-to-find code -- believe that ISS jumped the gun. The real culprit likely is still out there, said David J. Meltzer, founder and chief technology officer of Roswell, Ga.-based Intrusec.
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RIAA warns individual swappers
The Recording Industry Association of America said it has sent cease-and-desist letters to five people whom it suspects of illegally offering massive amounts of copyrighted music through peer-to-peer networks. The RIAA learned of the swappers' identities after a protracted legal battle with Verizon Communications, which unsuccessfully fought attempts to unmask its subscribers, citing concerns about privacy and legal liability. Four of the five persons whom the letters targeted are the Verizon subscribers involved in the legal case. An RIAA representative said on Thursday that the fifth recipient is a subscriber of Internet service provider EarthLink, which agreed to turn over the individual's name after an appeals court panel ordered Verizon to unveil the identities of its piracy-suspected subscribers earlier this month.
http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-1019184.html?tag=cd_mh
Hatch Site Hides X-Rated Link
Sen. Orrin Hatch's Web woes just won't go away. Until Friday, a link on the conservative Republican's website led to a pornographic site. As previously reported, Hatch's website used unlicensed software for its menu system. Earlier in the week, Hatch (R-Utah) suggested in Congress that people who steal copyright works off the Internet should have their computers automatically destroyed. Under such a scheme, Hatch's own website servers probably would have qualified for the punishment. While his staff scrambled to fix that problem, Web surfers discovered his site had a link to a pornographic website.
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