The Newspaper Shop -- Thursday edition

[walktalker]

Life goes on, news too...
I'm back from my usual news hunt; help yourself

2GHz PCs ready for launch
For the computing maniac who thought he had everything, PCs with 2GHz chips will land Monday. Nearly every major PC manufacturer will release new models sporting Pentium 4 chips running at 2GHz and 1.9GHz, according to several sources. The chips will appear in high-end consumer PCs as well as in corporate desktops and workstations. While the new PCs will increase the performance standards for desktop computers, they also will be fairly cheap, the result of a slow market for computers. Compaq Computer, for instance, will slide under the limbo pole with a Presario 7000T desktop for $1,499. The computer will come with a 2GHz Pentium 4 processor, 128MB of RDRAM, a 20GB hard drive, a CD-ROM and a 17-inch monitor.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp01

Microsoft judge could be picked Friday
With a lottery to select a new judge for the Microsoft Corp. antitrust case set for as early as Friday, some judges in the federal court say they don't want the case. A lottery will randomly select one judge from a pool of up to 18 judges in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to preside over the next phase of the long-running Microsoft case. Several judges have already privately said they hope their number doesn't come up. "They've expressed concern about the amount of work it will be," says Washington antitrust attorney Marc Fleischaker, chairman of the law firm Arent Fox, who has talked with several judges about the case. That workload, the judges fear, could wreak havoc with the schedule for other cases on their docket.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

Sklyarov's lawyers push for plea bargain
As Russian computer programmer Dmitry Sklyarov was due yesterday to be indicted for circumventing the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), the prosecution and defense lawyers revealed plans to negotiate a possible plea bargain. In a case that has sparked off global protests, Sklyarov could today face a five-year prison sentence for creating software that circumvented the copyright protection mechanism in Adobe's eBook reader. But on the morning of the hearing, both sides confirmed that they will be asking the federal judge to postpone the proceedings for a week. "We're talking about whether or not there are any potential ways to dispose of the case," lead defence attorney Joseph Burton told the Associated Press on Wednesday. "We've been talking to them for a while."
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/ne...kpt=zdnnp1tp02

Open source Java going strong
The open source and free software communities have embraced Java, and the fruits of that relationship are starting to show. On the server, projects like Jigsaw, JBoss, Enhydra and Apache's Jakarta are flagship efforts with mature and stable products. Java client applications are showing strong promise with projects like JEdit, Jext, LimeWire, NetBeans, BlueJ, ArgoUML, and many others. And many open source XML tools are often developed in Java only or Java first. It is critical that the Java platform continue to attract open source developers. Open source Java development provides a wealth of tools, applications, and components that keep Java development cost-effective and Java developers productive.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/co...pt=zdnn_nbs_hl

Overseas groups battle their own Net piracy
At the height of Napster's court battles, some committed file swappers had an idea: We'll set up shop overseas, outside the reach of U.S. courts and copyright organizations. That vision is beginning to take shape, as international versions of Napster spring up around the world. But they're already meeting their own legal resistance -- led in many areas by the International Federation of Phonographic Industries (IFPI), an organization that is slowly gaining new prominence in the industry's global fight to quash Net piracy. IFPI is an umbrella group that oversees record companies' interests around the world, an international counterpart to the Recording Industry Association of America. Until recently, U.S. residents had little or no reason even to have heard of the group, as most of its actions take place outside U.S. borders.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200...html?tag=tp_pr

Microsoft releases new security tool
Hoping to reduce the impact of security threats such as the "Code Red" worm, Microsoft on Thursday released a tool designed to help less technically sophisticated users eliminate vulnerabilities in their servers. The free, downloadable security tool helps users disable functions and settings that could leave their servers open to an attack, said Scott Culp, Microsoft's security program manager. These include Internet printing, advanced search functions and certain scripting technologies that enable viruses and worms to spread, Culp said. The tool is designed for Internet Information Server (IIS), Windows NT and Windows 2000 software for publishing Web pages. A flaw in IIS was exploited by Code Red, launching potentially crippling attacks on some Web sites.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200...html?tag=mn_hd

Microsoft accuses Brit companies of piracy
Two British companies are facing the wrath of Microsoft's ongoing anti-piracy campaign for allegedly selling counterfeit Microsoft products. Microsoft has commenced legal proceedings against the directors of two Basingstoke-based companies -- Pacific Computers and Taran Microsystems -- for allegedly infringing its copyright and the Microsoft trademark. The claims forms were filed on Aug. 2. Two directors of Pacific Computers, Marc Roach and Richard Donaldson, as well as two former directors and shareholders, Andrew Miles and Simon Miles, stand charged with allegedly selling counterfeit products, including Microsoft Windows 98 OEM packs. Microsoft is investigating the full details of the company's dealings, but claims that the sales took place between July 2000 and February 2001.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200...html?tag=ch_mh

Nintendo delays U.S. launch of GameCube
Nintendo has pushed back the U.S. arrival of its new GameCube video game console by nearly two weeks, with executives saying they intend to avoid the shortages and frustrated consumers that marked the debut of Sony's PlayStation 2 last fall. "The (change) really was to make sure we avoided somebody else's misstep," Peter Main, vice president of sales and marketing for Nintendo of America, said during a press conference from Space World, Nintendo's annual fan fair and media event in Tokyo. "We're noting the misfire that occurred one year ago when somebody came to market with 400,000 units."
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200...html?tag=cd_mh

Lobbyists Tied to Microsoft Wrote Citizens' Letters
Letters purportedly written by at least two dead people landed on the desk of Utah Atty. Gen. Mark Shurtleff earlier this year, imploring him to go easy on Microsoft Corp. for its conduct as a monopoly. The pleas, along with about 400 others from Utah citizens, are part of a carefully orchestrated nationwide campaign to create the impression of a surging grass-roots movement. But it may be backfiring. The targets of the campaign, attorneys general of some of the 18 states that have joined the Justice Department in suing Microsoft, have figured out the campaign's origins, and they're fuming.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-082301micro.story

Remotely Interesting
Welcome to the new era of cheap, easy, and not always reliable remote home surveillance. Using a variety of personal computer-based controllers, cameras, and sensors that communicate over the Internet, anxious homeowners can keep an eye on the house from anywhere in the world. The Xanboo system is still a bit buggy and therefore cannot be recommended as a home security system, but it is a fascinating first peek at the possibilities of smart-home management made possible by broadband Internet connections. It consists of a central control unit about the size of a portable CD player, a fist-sized Xanboo color videocamera with a built-in motion detector, a 60-foot video connector, and Xanboo controller software for Windows-based computers. Although it works with dial-up connections to the Internet, you'll have better success with PCs that have a persistent link to the Net through a DSL or cable modem connection.
http://www.fortune.com/indexw.jhtml?...artcol.jh tml

More news later on