Microsoft guards access to interfaces against Free Software

Microsoft is taking a clever slant on its obligations under the EU ruling. While it is publishing its software interfaces - the information developers need to ensure their products interoperate properly with Microsoft's - it is doing so under a licence that bans the subsequent publishing of that information as Free Software. It is making it even more troublesome for companies that release software under Free Software licences, such as the GNU General Public Licence used for the Linux kernel, by fixing a 'per user' royalty payment within the agreement. ...more

Cutting the cost of ASDL installation

ISPs quick to pass on the savings to consumers. From 1 October, for three months, BT Wholesale is to halve the setup costs for IPStream, the broadband service it makes available to ISPs. The installation fee for its USB modem version of ADSL will be cut from ?150 to ?75, enabling ISPs to provide cheaper broadband offerings to the public. ...more

Mozilla 1.5 goes beta

The Mozilla organisation has released a beta version of its eponymous Web browser, email client and IRC chat software. The accompanying release notes for both this version and the previous alpha version detail the changes, most of which concern the email and chat components, though users will be pleased to note that, 'Mozilla has improved performance, stability, standards support and Web compatibility'. Needless to say, Mozilla was already one of the fastest and most standard-compliant browsers. ...more

Firefox 0.9 released

The Mozilla Organisation has released the latest version of its standalone Web browser. Firefox now includes: easier migration, importing data like favourites, history, settings, cookies and passwords from Internet Explorer and settings from Mozilla 1.x, Netscape and Opera; automatic updating; a new online help system; and new tools for managing both extensions and themes. ...more

PlusNet begins screening test for Internet traffic

The Internet service provider PlusNet has begun testing a system for providing real-time screening of Internet traffic for viruses, spyware, adware and inappropriate content. StreamShield's combined software and hardware platforms are designed to scan up to 250,000 Web page requests and 5,000 emails each second without diminishing network performance. Unlike firewalls and IDS/IPS products, which operate on packets, the StreamScan scanning engine analyses the entire content stream in real-time allowing it to detect more complex threats. ...more