Code Red II hits Hong Kong government
The Code Red II computer worm has attacked some of the Hong Kong government's internal servers, causing temporary suspension of access, a government representative said Wednesday. "The first signs of infection appeared shortly after 6 p.m. (local time) on Monday, and access to the intranet was suspended soon afterwards," a representative with the Information Technology Services Department told Reuters. It is expected that access to the government intranet will resume later on Wednesday, the representative said. The intranet system is for the distribution of information within government departments and bureaus. The government's public Web site is unaffected.
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Film giants team for video-on-demand
In the biggest effort to date by Hollywood to beam movies to viewers via the Internet, five major movie studios on Thursday announced plans for a joint on-demand movie service, offering a broad selection of films available for digital delivery to broadband Internet users in the United States. The studios involved in the service are Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Viacom's Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Vivendi Universal's Universal Studios, and Warner Bros., a unit of AOL Time Warner. Don Levy, a spokesman for Sony, said the launch of the service is at least several months away. He declined to elaborate. A name for the service will be announced at a later time.
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U.S. sites fail EU privacy test
A survey of 75 corporate Web sites released Thursday found that none measured up to a set of international standards for ensuring the privacy of customers' personal information. Although many of the Web sites surveyed were found to provide adequate data privacy in one or two areas, the Andersen study found that none met all six privacy guidelines developed between the United States and the European Union last year. The guidelines were developed last year to ensure that U.S. companies that do business in the European Union abide by tougher EU standards for electronic consumer privacy.
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Privacy group attacks Windows XP, Passport
A group of privacy organizations on Wednesday renewed their attacks on Microsoft's Passport authentification service and Windows XP, asking the Federal Trade Commission to mandate changes in Microsoft's new operating system. The loose affiliation of 14 groups amended an existing complaint filed in late July with the FTC. During a media event here, Marc Rotenberg, executive director for the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), said the groups had filed a 12-page supplemental complaint "alleging that Microsoft by offering Passport (authentication) and associated services is engaging in unfair and deceptive trade practices in violation of Section 5 of the FTC act."
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IE upgrade cuts off QuickTime
Apple Computer this week said it is trying to fix a problem that prevents its QuickTime media player from working with the most recent versions of Microsoft's browser. The problem cropped up July 31, when Microsoft released a service pack upgrade for Internet Explorer 5.5, dubbed SP2. Microsoft routinely issues service packs to patch security problems with its browser. In this case, however, Web surfers who installed the product were unable to view QuickTime video. The same problem affects a test release of Microsoft's new Internet Explorer 6 browser. "Apple is aware of the compatibility issue between QuickTime and the beta of Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 5.5 SP2, and we are working with Microsoft to resolve the issue," an Apple representative said in a statement. "There will be a fix for which more information will be made available shortly."
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Web sites find homes for TV ads
Web surfers could mistake their PCs for televisions as sites peddle conventional advertising -- even made-for-TV commercials. In the latest example, CBS MarketWatch started airing a commercial Monday that re-purposes American Airlines' upcoming TV ad campaign. To see the ad, consumers can click a large square beside articles on the MarketWatch site, which publishes financial news and information. Other major Web publishers also are pushing formats that resemble offline ads. Microsoft last week started running full-page ads that imitate movie trailers, forcing visitors to view a 10-second promotion before a requested page is shown.
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Korean song-swap creators indicted 
Internet song-sharing software is downloaded and enjoyed by millions of music fans and becomes the talk of the nation. Record labels complain and seek to punish the program's creators for allegedly encouraging music piracy. So it goes for Soribada, or "Sea of Sound," South Korea's answer to Napster. Except instead of facing a lawsuit, the two U.S.-educated brothers who authored the file-swapping program are in deeper trouble. Yang Jung-hwan, 28, and his 32-year-old brother Yang Il-hwan were indicted Sunday on criminal charges of copyright violation. The Yang brothers, who face up to five years in jail and up to $38,500 in fines if convicted, are fighting the charges.
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