Computer Associates Warns Of Afeto Virus
Computer Associates has warned PC users to be on
the lookout for a new virus called Afeto.
Like many of the latest crop of viruses, WM97/Afeto spreads via
e-mail, changing its appearance to avoid detection. Once executed on
a host PC, the virus violates user's privacy by searching for JPEG
format files, and sending the first one found to other PCs.
Trend Micro Warns Over New Shockwave Virus
NEC To Recall Notebook PCs With Transmeta Chips
Japanese electronics giant NEC Corp. is to recall and exchange hundreds of NEC-brand notebook computers containing Transmeta Corp's Crusoe chip. Transmeta said today it was working with NEC in the recall, which it says involves less than 300 computers. Problems, says Transmeta, could occur if notebook owners try to reinstall an operating system. "The exchange is being undertaken due to the possibility that a failure might occur ...," said the company, in a statement. "The potential issue is contained to a limited number of Crusoe microprocessors."
Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Others Form Huge Standards Consortium
Some of the world's biggest high-tech companies -
and some of the largest corporate egos - today said they are forming a
consortium designed to arrive at a set of unified technology and
business standards for e-commerce.
Microsoft Corp., Intel, IBM, Compaq, Dell and about two dozen other
companies all are members of the new industry group, dubbed the
"Business Internet Consortium." The group, which has held unpublicized
steering committee meetings over the past several months, will address
such issues as security; use of extensible markup language (XML) by
traditional businesses; integration of existing business systems with
new e-commerce systems; addressing network latency, and the like.
FTC: No Comment On Reported AOL-TW Vote Delay
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
would not comment today on reports that the agency had postponed a
planned vote on the pending America Online-Time Warner merger, in
response to recent progress made in the ongoing negotiations surrounding
the massive deal.
Citing unnamed sources, the Wall Street Journal today reported that the
FTC had delayed the vote - originally scheduled to take place Thursday -
in
order to review recent moves made by Time Warner.
Music Industry Groups Move To Recoup Net Royalties
The powerful Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) today said it is launching "SoundExchange," a system that the
group says will help recoup royalties from Internet broadcasters and
distribute them to recording artists.
Representing more than 2,000 record labels and 270 recording companies,
SoundExchange will "be collecting and distributing royalties for those
eligible for statutory licenses. They include cable and satellite
subscription
music services and non-interactive 'Webcasters,'" the RIAA wrote in a
release today.
Nokia's Third-Generation Smartphone
The Nokia 9210 smartphone, Nokia's [NASDAQ:NOK] third-generation PDA-
style handset, has now been unveiled - but
don't hold your breath. The company says the 4096-color
multimedia phone, which tips the scales at a fairly chunky 244 grams,
won't ship much before the summer. And, even then, it will be "premium
priced."
"Shipment is scheduled for some time in the first half of next year,"
said a spokesperson, who added that pricing is equally vague.
Snapshield Intros Encrypted Phone Call Service
Intel Intros Pentium 4
Intel Corp. today unveiled its Pentium 4 processor
as a chip fast enough to meet the needs of the most demanding
computer user.
Intel has priced the 1.5 gigahertz (GHz) and 1.4 GHz models at $819 and
$644 each, respectively, in 1,000-unit lots. Intel says its new
architecture,
NetBurst, gives the Pentium 4 higher clock speed to power a performance
package designed to support the latest Internet technologies.
Denial of Service Attacks Planned For Christmas - ISS
X-Force, the research and development (R&D) team of
Internet Security Systems [NASDAQ:ISSX] (ISS), has warned that hackers
are planning an online attack-fest this coming Christmas.
The attacks, if they occur, will take the form of distributed denial of
service (DDOS) invasions, a hacker flooding technique used earlier this
year - and since - to effectively flood out a major Web site and prevent
normal users from gaining access, ISS said.
FBI Releases More Documents On Carnivore
The FBI released another batch of previously classified
documents on its now infamous e-mail surveillance system,
also known as "Carnivore."
Among the 362 pages released today are documents that appear
to indicate the FBI's surveillance device could trap more
data than necessary, a suspicion widely held by a number of
consumer and privacy groups since news of Carnivore broke
earlier this year.
Navidad & Hybris Are Low Threat - Sophos
Sophos has "called for calm" over Navidad and Hybris, two new viruses
that have been reported on over the last week.
In an advisory sent to customers late Wednesday, the antivirus firm
said that, provided PC users follow "safe computing" guidelines, the
risk from these two new viruses is relatively low.
ICANN Set To Approve New Domains
The top decision making body of the powerful
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) probably
won't include full representation from the worldwide Internet user
community until the end of next year at earliest under a proposal
submitted today.
The ICANN staff today recommended at its meeting at the Marriott Hotel
here that its board of directors commission a study into the at-large
constituency, which is designed to serve as the voice of the Internet
public
within ICANN.
Scour Pulls Plug On File-Swapping Service
Scour Inc. will shut downs its peer-to-peer file sharing
network by the end of the day Thursday, hoping to avoid worsening
its situation on the legal front at the same time that it gets its
financial affairs in order.
Los Angeles-based Scour, a multimedia-search service that became a
peer-to-peer file swapper with the launch earlier this year of its
Scour Exchange, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in
October. The move suspended a copyright-infringement lawsuit
launched by both the recording industry and the major motion
picture studios - a legal pickle that the company said scared away
new sources of funding.
Oracle's Ellison Scoffs At Microsoft Server Technology
Ratcheting up the rhetoric in the geek cold war
over who will dominate the hugely valuable Internet server market,
Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison on Monday night lambasted Microsoft over
the software giant's claim that it now offers the fastest servers on the
market.
"There's a reason they (Microsoft) don't run any large Web sites," Ellison
said in his one-hour keynote address to cap off the first full day of the
Comdex convention here.
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