The Newspaper Shop -- Monday edition

[walktalker]

'MyParty' worm goes global
An e-mail attachment that poses as a Web link but is actually a mass-mailing computer worm spread slowly over the weekend, but it managed to infect systems in more than 50 countries. Known within the antivirus industry as W32.MyParty@MM or W32/MyParty-A, the worm appears to be a link to a Web site, www.myparty.yahoo.com -- which doesn't actually exist. If the link is clicked, the worm sends itself out to every entry in the Windows address book, used by Outlook and Outlook Express. The worm affects all variants of Windows, from 95 to XP.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-824601.html

Public debate nears end in Microsoft case
Monday marks the end for public comment about the Microsoft antitrust settlement, setting the stage for the final showdown between opponents and supporters of the deal. A wide range of groups and individuals have chimed in on the proposed settlement, with a vocal portion contending that the deal does not serve the public interest. The Justice Department has 30 days to respond to the comments and publish them in the Federal Register.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-824132.html

U.S. source of most cyberattacks
More cyberattacks originate in the United States than in any other country, but the number of attacks that appear to come from Israel is nearly double that of any other nation based on the number of Internet users, according to a study released on Monday. High-tech, financial services, media and energy companies showed the highest intensity of attacks per company, each averaging more than 700 attacks per company over the six-month period.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-824448.html

Pressplay tunes up music service
Pressplay, the joint online music venture of Sony and Vivendi Universal, on Monday announced content and technology deals to bolster its new music-subscription service. The venture reached a deal with privately held MediaUnbound, founded by Harvard University students in January 2000. MediaUnbound will provide its customization software to Pressplay, enabling it to provide personal recommendations to subscribers based on their musical tastes.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-824416.html

BMG to offer tunes on the go
BMG Entertainment on Monday sealed a music distribution deal with digital audio company RioPort that will allow music fans to transfer its tunes to portable devices. Under the deal, RioPort said it secured rights to distribute BMG songs via its upcoming music subscription service, dubbed PulseOne. The distribution license also includes the right to transfer songs to portable devices and other consumer electronics products such as music phones, digital stereos and set-top boxes.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-824668.html

Listen.com sings solo tune
Like a junkie pulling through rehab, Listen.com is glad to be alive. Echoes of wilder days still ring through the company's hip, brick- and glass-walled offices here in San Francisco's once hot multimedia gulch. Black-and-white photos of snarling punk and new wave musicians still hang on the lobby wall. Music still floats through the air, and a trio of framed Fillmore concert posters hangs on the office walls of the company's 33-year-old chief executive.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-824502.html

Olympics tickets are hot auction items
The Salt Lake Organizing Committee, which is putting on the 2002 Winter Games, paved the way for games-related auctions last year when it auctioned on eBay front-row seats to events such as figure skating and ice hockey. This year, the committee is offering bronze sculptures and paving bricks through eBay. Several people who participated in the Olympic torch relay have been selling their torches and official relay jackets on the online auction site and fetching bids of more than $2,000 for the torches alone.
http://news.com.com/2100-1017-824733.html

Austin Powers' new enemy: MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has two purring words for AOL Time Warner's New Line Cinema studios: "Oh, behave." New Line has been recalling posters, commercials and even online links to the trailer for its upcoming film "Austin Powers in Goldmember" after an industry panel determined the title infringed on copyrights held by MGM, the home of the long-running James Bond spymaster series.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-824759.html

When screensavers are a crime
The next time you install software on your computer at work, you could be facing criminal charges. This is what happened to computer technician David McOwen, when he installed a program on the PCs at DeKalb Technical College in Atlanta, Georgia, US, without first asking permission. Mr McOwen loaded a distributed-computing program, similar to the Seti@home screensaver, on the college's PCs so that spare computing capacity could help in a volunteer code-breaking challenge.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci...00/1782050.stm

Linux on mainframes enters phase 2
Out with the new, in with the old. In an inversion of the usually cutting-edge world of Linux, many of the announcements coming out of the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo this week will have a retro flavor, as companies that specialize in software for the oldfangled mainframe move to embrace the comparatively new operating system. Linux, a Unix clone that Linus Torvalds started as a student hobby 10 years ago, now has drawn support from companies far older than Linux itself -- such as BMC Software and Computer Associates International -- that sell software for IBM's decades-old line of mainframes.
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-823787.html

Microsoft, AOL end document scuffle
AOL Time Warner and Microsoft on Monday resolved their differences over which documents will be released as part of the ongoing litigation in the software giant's antitrust trial. On Wednesday, Microsoft filed a brief with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, asserting that AOL Time Warner had not released all of the documents requested as part of a discovery process. AOL Time Warner charged that Microsoft filed its Wednesday brief in response to a different lawsuit that Netscape Communications -- a unit of AOL -- had filed the previous day.
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-824373.html?tag=cd_mh

Capitol Hill Web sites average a C-minus
Most congressional Web sites have plenty of room for improvement, with nine out of 10 providing paltry information and few services to their constituents, according to a report released Monday. Although some lawmakers and committees have set up innovative Web sites that allow citizens to easily get in touch or find out about issues, the Congress Online Project found that most emphasize rhetoric over content and don't keep information up-to-date. The report gave roughly 10 percent of the 605 sites it surveyed a grade of A or B, with Capitol Hill getting a C-minus average.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-824551.html?tag=cd_mh

W3C publishes patent proposal
The World Wide Web Consortium has published a new proposal for handling patent issues in its standards. The W3C develops industry standards for Web technologies, working with software developers and others. It first broached the idea last year of allowing patented technologies to be used in standards. The initial proposal met with significant criticism, especially from supporters of open-source and free software. The main complaint was that allowing patented technologies to be used in what are intended to be global standards could stifle development and create significant legal barriers for innovation.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-824334.html?tag=cd_mh

Nintendo strikes first in price war
Japan's Nintendo fired a first salvo Monday in an expected global price war between makers of home game consoles by announcing it will launch its GameCube system in Europe on May 3 for around $216 (250 euros). The gaming giant also announced a worldwide price cut of about 20 percent for its market-leading Game Boy Advance portable system. The European price of the GameCube comes in well below the $414 price tag Microsoft has set for its Xbox game machine, which is set to debut in Europe on March 14, and also beats industry leader Sony's PlayStation 2.
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-824192.html?tag=cd_mh

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