Danes charge pirates, BT to test 'Midband', broadband Q&A

A Danish anti-piracy organisation has started sending bills to people it says have illegally downloaded music, movies and games. According to the Associated Press, the AntiPiratGruppen, funded by Danish entertainment companies, has billed 150 individual, schools and businesses. Bills ranged from around ?83 to ?8,450 and so far half have been paid, despite concerns that billing process may have violated Danish anti-piracy law. ...more

Microsoft sets launch date for Visual Studio, SQL Server and BizTalk Server

Microsoft has set the date for its long awaited release of Visual Studio and SQL Server, the week beginning 7 November. This confirms an announcement from earlier in the year - Microsoft delays major developer tools and database releases. As well as its flagship software development suite, the venerable Visual Studio, and the next-generation version of its enterprise-scale database system, SQL Server, Microsoft will also release its business process management software, BizTalk Server 2006. ...more

Firefox 1.5 reaches release candidate 1

The first release candidate version of Firefox 1.5 is now available from the Mozilla Organisation. The release adds nothing bar bug fixes to previous beta releases. ...more

Toshiba and NEC launch High Definition DVD showcase

Toshiba, NEC and disc manufacturer Memory-Tech have highlighted their HD DVD format at a three day showcase in Tokyo. The companies are hoping High Definition DVD will become the de facto standard as the successor to today's DVD. Its rival is Blu-Ray, being developed by the likes of Sony, Philips, Samsung, HP and Dell. ...more

AMD settles patent dispute with Intergraph

AMD has settled its patent dispute with Intergraph Corporation concerning the alleged infringement of Intergraph's 'Clipper' cacheing technologies. Under the terms of the agreement, AMD will pay up to $25 million over the next three years. The company will pay Intergraph $10 million, plus 2 per cent of profits from its microprocessor sales between 2005-2007 up to $5 million per year up to a total of $25 million. ...more