RealNetworks unleashes Helix DNA Server code

RealNetworks has made the source code to its Helix DNA Server available. Helix DNA Server is the core source code of RealNetworks' Helix Universal Server, the commercial media server announced in July. The DNA Server is the third component of source code released into the Helix community of developers, adding to the DNA client (player) and producer (encoder) source codes announced last year. ...more

UK poised to take lead in tackling online child abuse

A new organisation has been formed to tackle the growing problem of child abuse. The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre will tap into a range of resources, including information from the likes of Microsoft, AOL and VISA, as well as law enforcement agencies and children's charities to tackle child abuse in all its forms, including the Internet. CEO of the new CEOP Centre, Jim Gamble, former Deputy Director General of the National Crime Squad, said: 'The CEOP Centre is the most significant development in child protection in recent years and is a direct response to the explosion in online child abuse. ...more

Mystery surrounds Watford Electronics buy out

Watford Electronics - the company behind Savastore.com and 'free PC' ISP Redten Internet - has been taken over by a group of unnamed backers. A statement released this afternoon reads: 'Globally Ltd announced today the purchase of the business of Watford Electronics Ltd, including leading online etail website, Savastore. ...more

mp3PRO ready to go

Back at the CES in Las Vegas, Thomson and the Fraunhofer Institute, together with an unnamed Swedish company, unveiled an improved MP3 codec - mp3PRO - to take on the likes of WMA, which is fast gaining popularity. mp3PRO is designed to deliver the near CD-quality audio of mp3 encoded at 12Kb/sec, at only 64Kb/sec, thus allowing greater volumes of material to be stored on players as well as making broadcasting Web radio cheaper, as a smaller bandwidth is used. Martin Dietz, President of Coding Technologies, the subsidiary company formed to develop the codec, said: "The new mp3PRO format offers significantly increased performance while maintaining the well-established mp3 format. ...more

Music downloading pumps up the volume, again

Unauthorised P2P music downloads are on the up again, after six months of steady decline, according to the latest figures from the NPD Group. The news will undoubtedly disappoint the record industry, which welcomed the effect that the RIAA's legal pursuit of file sharers had on the volume of swapped MP3s. The RIAA has certainly succeeded in widening public awareness, particularly in the US, that sharing copyrighted content could result in prosecution and fines, and it would seem that the total number of people sharing music has declined. ...more