The Newspaper Shop -- Thursday edition

[walktalker]

I never get away from my shop for long

Novell: We offered trade-off to Microsoft
A Novell executive once offered to help Microsoft fend off the government's antitrust case if Microsoft would help Novell's networking software work better with the Windows operating system, a federal court heard on Thursday. Novell Chief Technology Officer Carl Ledbetter, under questioning by a Microsoft attorney, said he told a Microsoft official in February 2000 that Novell would "make sure that it was well-known" to government officials that Microsoft had reformed if Microsoft would help fix Novell's interoperability problems with Windows.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-870594.html

Sun wants you in its StarOffice
Sun Microsystems' StarOffice software package -- a competitor of Microsoft Office -- is moving more toward the mainstream with the coming release of version 6, Sun Chief Operating Officer Ed Zander said Wednesday. StarOffice, which Sun acquired in 1999, has thus far failed to grow much beyond the fringes of the computing world. Sun hopes to change that with the next version by securing customers in big business and outside the United States, Zander said.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-870368.html

Europe falters on Echelon spy network
Nearly seven months after the European Parliament adopted a report recognizing the existence of Echelon, an international spy system designed to listen in on private and commercial communications, experts say that little has been accomplished in dealing with the network. Privacy experts want to see limits placed on systems like Echelon or at least have them made accountable -- a need only strengthened by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 and the advent of the international "war on terror."
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-870713.html

Yahoo updates privacy policy
Web portal Yahoo has revised its privacy policy to more clearly describe how personal data will be treated in certain circumstances, company executives said. The new policy states that Yahoo will share information to investigate circumstances involving illegal activity such as fraud, violations of its terms of service agreement, and the use of its service for potential threats. The revision also said Yahoo will transfer user information if it is acquired by another company and abide by the acquiring company's privacy policy.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-870581.html

Hewlett claims HP vote was manipulated
Dissident Hewlett-Packard director Walter Hewlett filed a lawsuit Thursday claiming that HP improperly garnered votes for its proposed merger with Compaq Computer from one of HP's largest shareholders, Deutsche Asset Management. Hewlett is asking the Delaware Chancery Court to invalidate votes cast by HP shareholders in favor of the proposed $20 billion merger. After the March 19 shareholders meeting, HP said preliminary figures indicated it had won the necessary majority of shares cast.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-11-870509.html

Mac gets Mandrake Linux upgrade
MandrakeSoft has released the second beta-test version of Mandrake Linux 8.2 for the PowerPC platform, the first update of Mandrake for Macintosh hardware since version 8.0 in August 2001. The operating system features support for both older and newer Mac chips, and several other features specific to Mac hardware. The release on Wednesday follows on from the first beta late last month, and the final version of Mandrake 8.2 for Intel processors earlier this month. MandrakeSoft said the final PowerPC software should arrive "soon".
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-870555.html

Stallman: Patents victimize developers
To Richard Stallman, software patents are a sort of lottery, bringing benefits to people only rarely. Stallman is well known among free software fans as the writer of the GNU Public License, the licensing model used by most open-source software writers to ensure that their software remains in the public domain. Speaking here earlier this week at the Cambridge University Computer Lab on the issue of software patents, Stallman began by explaining that he doesn't have a problem with patenting individual programs -- "that would be harmless" -- but with patenting ideas.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-870390.html

Dutch court clears Web music swapping
In a setback for efforts to halt copyright abuse, a Dutch appeals court on Thursday told a technology company it could distribute a software program that is designed to let people share music and films on the Internet. The ruling in the case between Internet software company Kazaa and Dutch music rights organization Buma Stemra overturned a decision in November in favor of the music industry. The music industry says rampant online piracy has severely damaged recording sales, and the movie industry fears the same could happen to it as computers become more powerful.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-870551.html

Dial N for numbers
The ongoing issue of running out of phone numbers in the face of burgeoning demand is back in front of federal regulators. A dwindling supply of 10-digit phone numbers and customer complaints about being forced to switch numbers have already prompted the Federal Communications Commission to require telecom carriers by late November to allow cell phone users to keep their numbers if they switch service providers. But carriers have balked at the cost, which they put at $1 billion for the industry, and the FCC has already granted several deadline extensions to allow the carriers to make more pressing changes.
http://news.com.com/2100-1033-870832.html

Bertelsmann puts Napster buy on hold
Bertelsmann, a major investor in Napster, has suspended talks to buy the rest of the once high-flying song-swap service pending the resolution of a dispute among other Napster investors. The bid, estimated at between $15 million and $30 million, has been put on hold until this other legal matter has been sorted out, said one source familiar with the situation. Both Bertelsmann and Napster declined to comment.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-870723.html

Microsoft makes a college try
Spooked by the growing popularity of Linux and Java software, Microsoft is opening up its source code to up-and-coming programmers on college campuses. Microsoft said Wednesday that it will share with students more than a million lines of source code -- the underlying software blueprint -- for its .Net Internet initiative, including the code for its Shared Source CLI implementation, which takes aim at rival programming language Java. The code will be available on the Windows and FreeBSD operating systems.
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-869465.html?tag=cd_mh

Biometrics may scan air travelers
Before he starts work every morning, Oscar Carranza waves to a guard, swipes a magnetized card through a computer, and places his hand in a biometric scanner that traces the contours of his palm and compares them to digital records in the airport's central office database. The high-security ritual contrasts starkly with Carranza's low-tech job loading and unloading luggage from United planes at San Francisco International Airport. But Carranza, who has been a baggage service operator for two years, is happy to jump through extra security hoops.
http://news.com.com/2100-1017-869622.html

D.C. anti-piracy plans fuel culture clash
It's not quite open warfare between Hollywood and Silicon Valley, but the peace talks aren't looking good. Entertainment executives are accusing big technology companies of turning a blind eye to rampant online piracy. High-tech executives say that's ridiculous. But in an effort to prove their good faith, some are now scrambling to show public support for new anti-piracy plans that would have a significant effect on the way consumers watch and share movies, music and TV shows.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-869902.html

FBI to divulge more Carnivore details
Privacy advocates have won another round in their fight to gain access to more information about the FBI's Carnivore e-mail surveillance system. A federal judge this week ordered the FBI to expand its search for records about Carnivore, also known as DCS1000, technology that is installed at Internet service providers to monitor e-mail from criminal suspects. The court denied a motion for summary judgment and ordered the FBI to produce within 60 days "a further search" of its records pertaining to Carnivore as well as a device called EtherPeek, which manages network traffic.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-870028.html?tag=cd_mh

Study: Big sites improving privacy
Large Web sites are getting better about respecting consumers' privacy online, collecting less data, using fewer tracking devices, and posting more information about their practices, according to a report issued Wednesday. The Progress & Freedom Foundation, which studies digital technologies and their implications for public policy, had accounting firm Ernst & Young begin surveying the Web pages of the top 100 e-commerce sites, plus a random sample of approximately 300 smaller sites, in December. The Federal Trade Commission and Georgetown University conducted similar "Web sweeps" in 2000, 1999 and 1998.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-869668.html?tag=cd_mh

Napster's refrain: Still not ready
Song-swapping company Napster says it is delaying the launch of its subscription service yet again, after running into serious snags in its settlement talks with the big record labels. Originally slated to open its doors at the end of 2001, and then by the end of March, the new Napster is now indefinitely on hold. In a message posted on its Web site, Napster said it is fighting not only for the simple right to use major label music in its new service but for the ability to let consumers do what they want with it.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-869491.html?tag=cd_mh

IE 6 garners one-third of browser market
The latest version of Microsoft's Internet Explorer has grabbed nearly one-third of the worldwide browser market, according to a study released Wednesday. IE 6 was unveiled last August, and in its first week on the market grabbed a 2.4 percent share, according to StatMarket, a division of audience measurement service WebSideStory. StatMarket said Wednesday that that figure has risen to 30.4 percent, making it the second most popular browser behind its predecessor, Microsoft's IE 5.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-869412.html?tag=cd_mh

Tech group backs MPEG-4 audio license
An Internet streaming group on Tuesday endorsed a licensing plan for MPEG-4 audio compression, sidestepping controversy that has erupted around a highly anticipated sister video technology put forward as part of a proposed digital media standard. The Internet Streaming Media Alliance (ISMA) signed off on the audio licensing program, set by Dolby Laboratories, Nokia, AT&T, Sony and Fraunhofer IIS. Licensees who use MPEG-4 audio encoders or decoders in consumer products would pay up to 50 cents for each "channel," or path, used to stream music. Those using the products for professional purposes would pay $2 per channel. Fees for PC-based software would be capped at $250,000 annually for encoders and $25,000 for decoders.
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-869087.html?tag=cd_mh

Pioneer cuts recordable DVD disc prices
High prices and compatibility issues loom large as makers of recordable and rewritable DVD discs and players shoot for the kind of mainstream acceptance enjoyed by non-recordable DVD-ROM products. Pioneer Electronics aggressively addressed the pricing situation Tuesday, cutting the cost of its recordable and rewritable DVD discs nearly in half. The company's DVD-R discs now go for around $6, down from $10, and its DVD-RW discs run around $10, down from $20. Gartner analyst Mary Craig said the price move will help sales, but it won't help explain which DVD format is best for consumers.
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-869005.html?tag=cd_mh

More news later on