iTMS blocked to older iTunes version

Apple has closed its iTunes Music Store to all versions of iTunes prior to v4.5, having announced plans to do so last month. According to Apple, fewer then five per cent of iTMS customers are using 4. ...more

Web 2.0 participation appeals to tiny minority, report shows

Participation in Web 2.0, the latest generation of websites where users contribute their own text, pictures and video content, is much lower than commonly assumed, a study has found. A tiny 0. ...more

Publishers find technology agreement with search engines

A coalition of international media associations has announced a new initiative designed to avoid future clashes between Internet search engines and newspaper, periodical, magazine and book publishers that make their content available online. The World Association of Newspapers, European Publishers Council, International Publishers Association and European Newspaper Publishers' Association are backing ACAP (Automated Content Access Protocol), an automated system that allows online publishers to provide information about access to and use of their content. The information is provided in a form that can be recognised and interpreted by search engine crawlers and details the terms under which content can be used. ...more

Non-EU businesses to pay VAT on electronic services

As of yesterday, electronic services supplied by non-EU based businesses to EU customers will have to pay VAT. Previously EU businesses had to charge VAT on electronic services, whereas non-EU businesses could provide the same service to EU customers free of VAT. Many companies - most notably Freeserve, complained that this gave US ISPs like AOL an unfair competitive advantage. ...more

Halo 2 up on eBay ahead of launch

Its official release date is 12.01am Tuesday 9 November but advance copies of the long-awaited Halo 2 first-person-shooter game have sparked bidding wars on e-Bay. It is Microsoft's flagship Xbox game. ...more