Microsoft guru: Stamp out HTTP
Now that IPv4 is slowly being replaced by version 6 as a way of increasing the Internet's address space, it appears that another bedrock of the Internet, HTTP, is also reaching its limitations. Delivering the keynote at European DevWeek in London on Tuesday, Don Box, an architect for Microsoft's .NET Developer Platform team, said HTTP presents a major challenge for Web services, for peer-to-peer applications and even for security. A replacement will eventually have to be found, he said, but it is not at all clear who will provide this replacement.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-845220.html
Open your wallets for next StarOffice 
In a move that could undercut its anti-Microsoft campaign, Sun Microsystems plans to start charging for the next version of its StarOffice software, a suite of programs that competes with Microsoft Office but runs on Linux and Solaris as well as on Windows. Sun has been offering StarOffice as a free download since acquiring the German company Star Division in 1999. But Sun plans to start charging for version 6.0, due to arrive in the second half of May, a source familiar with the plan said. Sun declined to comment on the matter. "We aren't announcing any pricing changes for StarOffice," said spokesman Russ Castronovo.
W3C backs away from royalty policy
W3C backs away from royalty policy
An Internet standards body has retreated from a proposal that would have allowed companies to claim patent rights and demand royalties for technologies used in its standards. The World Wide Web Consortium works with developers, software makers and others to come up with standards for the Web. Generally those standards either use publicly available technology or get the agreement of patent holders not to enforce their patents.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-11-845178.html
Yahoo case taken to criminal court
French criminal court said Tuesday it would try Internet giant Yahoo and its former chief executive for allegedly condoning war crimes by allowing the sale of Nazi memorabilia on Yahoo sites. Former Yahoo CEO Timothy Koogle faces a maximum sentence of five years and a $39,800 fine if found guilty -- a verdict that could have broad implications for international free-speech rights in the Internet age. France ordered the California-based company in November 2000 to stop people in France from accessing the sites, but a U.S. federal judge ruled last November that Yahoo was not bound to comply with French laws governing Internet content on U.S.-based sites.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-845698.html
High-speed access debate goes to D.C.
Hotly contested legislation that would give regional telephone giants a boost in the high-speed Internet market is set to be considered in the U.S. House of Representatives this week. Dominant local phone companies, seeking the lucrative customer paying $50 a month for fast Internet service known as broadband, have been battling cable television companies and other telephone carriers for nearly three years over the bill. Even if it clears the House, it faces opposition in the U.S. Senate.
http://news.com.com/2100-1033-844916.html?tag=cd_mh
Did AOL send bogus bills?
America Online's sales tactics have landed it in federal court, where it stands accused of billing customers for unordered merchandise hawked in aggressive pop-up advertisements on its Internet service. A lawsuit filed Friday in San Francisco by former subscribers alleges that the AOL Time Warner subsidiary "unlawfully charged" and withdrew funds for unordered merchandise from subscribers' credit cards, debit cards and checking accounts. The suit also claims AOL collected fees for shipping and handling costs.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-845785.html?tag=cd_mh
Who let the NeoPets out?
They're irresistibly cute and, perhaps most importantly, housebroken. But the harbingers of the latest pet craze are anything but low-maintenance. Meet the NeoPet, an addictive Web phenomenon spreading among children from Atlanta to Argentina. A cross between "The Sims," "Dungeons and Dragons" and that junior high exercise where students try to cart around eggs for a week without breaking them, NeoPets require frequent attention from their owners, who must feed the critters, educate them, and keep them out of harm's way.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-844994.html?tag=cd_mh
Site reads Web surfers their rights
A technology civil liberties group and a set of law school clinics on Monday launched a Web site aimed at telling people how their online rights stack up against corporations intent on protecting trademarks. ChillingEffects.org serves as an educational hub where Internet surfers can learn about their legal rights related to cease-and-desists letters. Such a notice, for example, could ask the recipient to remove information from a Web site or refrain from engaging in an online activity that allegedly violates any copyright or trademark
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-844902.html?tag=cd_mh
MPAA's Valenti pushes for copy-control PCs
Motion Picture Ass. of America (MPAA) President Jack Valenti has made a veiled pitch for copy-control PCs in a letter to the editor published by the Washington Post. While much of the letter is devoted to incoherent ranting about some dastardly cabal of "professors" who are trying to rip the guts out of Hollywood, and hysterical claims such as "some 350,000-plus films are being downloaded illegally every day," we do get an interesting wrap-up where the industry Ass. President alludes to the need for the PC to be transformed into a secure content-distrbution device along the lines of a set-top box.
http://www.theregus.com/content/6/24151.html
Scientists plan Pluto flyby
Many scientists are keen to plan for a Pluto encounter as the planet and its large moon, Charon, represent one of the true frontiers in the solar system that no spacecraft has ever visited. This is despite the fact that the money for a mission to Pluto is in jeopardy as Nasa contemplates its future spending plans. If scientists do not make plans now and be ready to act swiftly if the money becomes available, they may miss a golden opportunity to study the planet at the end of the Solar System.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci...00/1842484.stm
High-tech hits the road
The Gunthers are the kind of consumers that automakers and high-tech companies prize as they rev up on "telematics" -- automobile versions of the communication and entertainment staples of the home and office. Telematics gear is fast expanding past navigation devices and rear-seat DVDs, as new technology such as satellite radios gain traction. Within two years, motorists can expect to get traffic reports specific to their location or commute. Advanced vehicle diagnostics would let cars automatically transmit performance data to dealerships.
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/ptech/0....ap/index.html
Witness From Space
Authorities know roughly when Amanda VanScyoc was strangled and when her body was dropped into the Ohio River. They also think they know who did it. But no one was around to witness the crime or to affirm the main suspect's alibi. Still, investigators in Boonville, Ind., are hoping something was watching — from space. Likely? Not really, say experts, but it could be worth a try. And while searching for satellite images to support forensic cases may be a controversial stretch now, other satellite-related technology is poised to bolster investigators' efforts in the future.
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scite...ths020226.html
More news later on
