BT announces latest batch of broadband upgrades

BT has named the next 83 exchanges to be be ADSL broadband enabled. The exchanges and service dates are as follows. ? 3rd September 2003: Sharnbrook. ...more

Macrovision backs calls for Apple to license iTunes DRM

The CEO of copy protection-specialist Macrovision has joined the clamour of voices calling for Apple to license its FairPlay DRM technology. In an open letter on the Macrovision website, Fred Amoroso thanks Steve Jobs, his opposite number at Apple, for 'offering his provocative perspective on the role of digital rights management', before setting out four key points that arise from Jobs' call for the major record companies to drop their insistence on DRM for music downloads. He starts by saying that the DRM debate should encompass all content provision, not just music. ...more

Music industry canvasses mobile makers for iTunes rival

Record label bosses are pinning their hopes on mobile phones to weaken Apple's dominance of the music downloads market. Executives are concerned that they have yielded too much power to Apple, which has about 70 per cent of the worldwide market. Apple CEO Steve Jobs has used his position of strength to resist the labels' desire to maximise revenues, by charging more for some downloads and less for archive material. ...more

DoJ eyes online music pricing

The world of online music pricing could come under investigation from the US Department of Justice. The DOJ examination would follow in the footsteps of a similar investigation into music downloads by New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, according to Reuters. Quoting unnamed sources, the news agency reports that some subpoenas may have already been issued. ...more

Hackers could get life sentence under US bill

An eleventh-hour addendum to the Homeland Security bill was approved late on Wednesday evening which includes the potential of life imprisonment for hackers who 'recklessly' put lives at risk. The Cyber Security Enhancement Act (CSEA) was added to the bill as a last bid to push it through before the Congress breaks for the winter. If the bill passes into US national law it would also give US authorities permission to use methods of surveillance without a court order during times of threats to national interest or, when there is an 'ongoing attack', to track telephone numbers, IP addresses, URLs and email header information of suspects. ...more