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Businesses

Submission + - Blizzard and Activision Announce $18.8bn Merger (bbc.co.uk) 1

Submitted by
Ebon Praetor
Ebon Praetor writes: "The BBC reports that Blizzard and Activision have announced an $18.8bn merger. Activision's CEO, Bobby Kotick, will become the head of the joint company, while Vivendi, Blizzard's current parent company, will become the largest single investor in the new group. Even with the size of the merger, the combined company will still be smaller than the industry giant EA."
KDE

Submission + - KDE 4 to be relelased on Jan 11th

Submitted by
VincenzoRomano
VincenzoRomano writes: "It's official! KDE 4.0 will be released on next January 11th. The release itself doesn't sound very firm, as "the developers are confident to be able to release a more polished and better working KDE" and not the long awaited prime time release.
At the very first Alpha release on march 11th, the release date had been forecasted to October 2007, and then shifted to the end of the year with the second Beta.
Despite this, the promises for the fourth version are quite interesting and maybe deserve a "stay tuned"."
Perl

Submission + - BBC creates 'Perl on Rails' 2

Submitted by Bogtha
Bogtha writes: Long-time users of Perl for their public websites, and having successfully used Ruby on Rails for internal websites, the BBC have fused the two by creating a 'Perl on Rails' that has the advantages of rapid development that Rails brings, while performing well enough to be used for the Beeb's high-traffic public websites. This is already powering one of their websites, and is set to be used in the controversial iPlayer project as well.
Security

Submission + - Russian Hackers Hijack Search Results (techluver.com)

Submitted by
TechLuver
TechLuver writes: "A huge campaign to poison web searches and trick people into visiting malicious websites has been thwarted. "The booby-trapped websites came up in search results for search terms such as "Christmas gifts" and "hospice". Windows users falling for the trick risked having their machine hijacked and personal information plundered. The criminals poisoned search results using thousands of domains set up to convince search index software they were serious sources of information. While computer security researchers have seen small-scale attempts to subvert search results before now, the sheer scale of this attack dwarfed all others. "This was fairly epic," said Alex Eckelberry, head of Sunbelt Software — one of the firms that uncovered the attack. ( http://techluver.com/2007/11/29/russian-hackers-hijack-search-results-in-coordinated-web-attack/ )"
Government

Submission + - Canada's new DMCA considered worst copyright law (theglobeandmail.com)

Submitted by
loconet
loconet writes: "The government of Canada is preparing to attempt to bring a new DMCA-modeled copyright law in Canada in order to comply with the WIPO treaties the country signed in 1997. These treaties were also the base of the American DMCA. The new Canadian law will be even more restrictive in nature than the American version and worse than the last Canadian copyright proposal, the defeated Bill C-60. Amongst the many restrictive clauses, in this new law — as Michael Geist explains — is the total abolishment of the concept of fair use, "No parody exception. No time shifting exception. No device shifting exception. No expanded backup provision. Nothing.". Michael Geist provides a list of 30 things that can be done to address the issue."
Privacy

Submission + - EFF Releases Software to Spot Net NonNeutrality (eff.org)

Submitted by DanielBoz
DanielBoz writes: In the wake of the detection and reporting of Comcast Corporation's controversial interference with Internet traffic, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has published a comprehensive account of Comcast's packet-forging activities and has released software and documentation instructing Internet users on how to test for packet forgery or other forms of interference by their own ISPs.
The Military

Submission + - Wired: How Tech Almost Lost the War 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Blame the geeks for the mess in Iraq? Wired says so. Networked troops were supposed to be so efficient, it'd take just a few of 'em to wipe out their enemies. But the Pentagon got their network theory all wrong, with too few nodes and a closed architecture. Besides, a more efficient killing machine is the last thing you want in an insurgency like Iraq.
Microsoft

Submission + - States slam Google Firefox: no match for Microsoft (computerworld.com.au) 4

Submitted by Bergkamp10
Bergkamp10 writes: State antitrust regulators have dismissed companies such as Google and Mozilla Corp, and software technologies such as AJAX and SaaS as "piddling players that pose no threat to Microsoft's monopoly in the operating system and browser markets". According to the report ten US states, including California, New York and the District of Columbia have called for an extension of monitoring of Microsoft's business practices until November 2012. They claim that little has changed in the OS and browser spaces since the 2002 antitrust case ruled against Microsoft. In their most recent brief, the states countered Microsoft's contention that Web-based companies — Google, Salesforce.com, Yahoo, eBay and others — and new Web-centric technologies constitute what Microsoft dubbed a "competitive alternative to Windows." Not even close, said the states, claiming that while these companies' products provide functionality for users they still rely on Operating Systems and browsers — the two spaces where Microsoft dominates. Experts were apparently even more damning, claiming competition in the market has not been restored since 2002 and that the collective powers of Google, Firefox and Web 2.0 are about as effective as a one legged man in a butt-kicking contest when it comes to unsettling Microsoft's monopoly of the market. Ronald Alepin, a technical adviser at law firm Morrison & Foerster LLP, and a frequent expert witness for parties facing Microsoft in court, even claimed Apple is too weak to capitalize on its successes, and ultimately no threat to Microsoft.
Music

Submission + - EMI may cut funding to IFPI, RIAA (arstechnica.com) 1

Submitted by Teen Bainwolf
Teen Bainwolf writes: Big Four record label EMI is reportedly considering a big cut in its funding for the IFPI and RIAA. Each of the labels reportedly contributed over $130 million per year to fund industry trade groups, and EMI apparently believes that money could be better spent elsewhere. 'One of the chief activities of the RIAA is coordinating the Big Four labels' legal campaign, and those thousands of lawsuits have done nothing but generate ill will from record fans, while costing the labels millions of dollars and doing little (if anything) to actually reduce the amount of file-sharing going on. In fact, the RIAA freely admits that the legal campaign is a real money pit, and EMI's new ownership may be very leery of continuing to pour money down that particular rat hole.
Music

Submission + - Canadian DMCA To Be Introduced Within Weeks

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Canadian law prof Michael Geist reports that the Canadian government is about to introduce Canadian DMCA-style legislation. Within the next two or three weeks, Canadians will be treated to new anti-circumvention laws that match those found in the U.S., while the government does nothing to address the blank media tax or fair use.
Censorship

Submission + - Linux Users Can't Sell On eBay (ubuntuforums.org) 2

Submitted by bobintetley
bobintetley writes: Many Linux/Firefox users are reporting problems uploading images to eBay. Having tested this myself, it is indeed completely broken. Why eBay would break standard HTTP uploads by using IE specific javascript to "check the file exists" boggles the mind. This problem has been reported to eBay since late October, but so far with no resolution. eBay have since stated that only IE is supported. I guess when you have no real competition you can pull stunts like this.
The Courts

Submission + - RIAA ordered to divulge expenses-per-download

Submitted by NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: The Court has ordered UMG Recordings, Warner Bros. Records, Interscope Records, Motown, and SONY BMG to disclose their expenses-per-download to the defendant's lawyers, in UMG v. Lindor, a case pending in Brooklyn. The Court held that the expense figures are relevant to the issue of whether the RIAA's attempt to recover damages of $750 or more per 99-cent song file, is an unconstitutional violation of due process.
Software

Submission + - Software Piracy Fight Makes Enemies (ap.org) 1

Submitted by
Ron Paul Dennis Kucinich
Ron Paul Dennis Kucinich writes: "A BSA raid on musical-instrument maker Ernie Ball Inc. cost the company $90,000 in a settlement. Soon after, Microsoft sent other businesses in his region a flyer offering discounts on software licenses, along with a reminder not to wind up like Ernie Ball. Enraged, CEO Sterling Ball vowed never to use Microsoft software again, even if "we have to buy 10,000 abacuses." He shifted to open-source software, which lacks such legal entanglements because its underlying code is freely distributed."

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