Stopping just short of accusing Microsoft of stalling, the US Justice Department has asked an appeals court to deny the company's request to re-examine whether the software maker illegally mixed software code for two products. Microsoft's challenge is "clearly erroneous, repeating the same arguments it made in its principal brief on appeal," the Justice Department told the court last Thursday.
"Microsoft also treats its petition for rehearing as an occasion to expound upon a variety of topics, most of them irrelevant to the issue at hand." The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled last month that Microsoft had operated as an illegal monopoly and lessened consumer choice. But it also reversed the trial judge's order breaking up the company and said a different judge would be asked to decide on a new penalty.
Looking for advice: Anyone using email last week will probably have been confronted with the latest virus to break through the Net. The virus is capable of sending random chunks of word documents to those listed in the infected parties address book and, in a worst case scenario, could send confidential or embarrassing documents to unsuspecting users. It was first noted by anti-virus companies two weeks ago and has the added trick of changing the message in the email subject line every time it attacks a new machine. Instead it uses the name of the file that has been taken from the computer's hard disk. The body of the mail reads "Hi! How are you I send this file in order to have your advice. See you later. Thanks"
Product placement: AOL Time Warner has won an early victory in its battle with Microsoft for prominent placement of its icons on computer screens. Compaq has decided to feature AOL on its desktop screen, considered to be the prime piece of real estate on a computer. Microsoft's MSN is to be relegated to the "start" menu, where a user will have to click and drag the cursor through at least two steps to get to the service. "They (Microsoft) made proposals to us and those proposals didn't take shape," says Compaq Computer spokesman Roger Frizzell. "At this point MSN is embedded in the start menu, and that could change, but that's how we are going forward."
Driving Traffic: Applications for driving tests can now be made online as part of the Government efforts to reduce waiting time for tests. The driving test website operates through English and Irish and can be accessed from www.drivingtest.ie or www.tastailtiomana.ie The site also provides testing information on preparation for driving tests; rules of the road; driving test centre locations; and frequently asked questions. Like why did I fail my test, again? Perhaps not.
Digital Dawn: RT╔ are to launch four new digital television channels with annual running costs of about £40 million, according to its new director of digital media. Eugene Murray, who was appointed head of digital media in May, says RT╔ is preparing detailed proposals for a 24- hour news channel, an education channel and a youth channel. A fourth channel based on coverage of the Oireachtas is also planned.
No Prosecution: In the face of protests from Net activists, a US company has backed down from its push to prosecute a Russian hacker for violating digital copyright laws. Russian programmer Dmitry Skylarov was arrested in Las Vegas for allegedly violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a 1998 US law that prohibits many forms of digital copying. Mr Skylarov is accused of breaking the "E-Book" code, a format used by the Adobe Systems company to distribute digital books. This would allow PC users to make unauthorised copies of the books. Adobe had claimed the format could not be deciphered, and had complained to US officials about Mr Skylarov's actions.
Attractive Advertising: In an effort to make online advertising more attractive, eircom and adculture.net have launched an interactive game, designed to be played within a banner ad. The mouse controls the key elements of the game, that is, a starfighter and lasers. The ad is part of eircom's latest campaign that will be running on a range of sites, targeting Irish only traffic.
Porn Again: A free-speech challenge to a US federal law designed to protect children from pornography on the Internet is headed for trial next February after an appeals court panel refused to dismiss the case. A three-judge panel rejected a government motion to dismiss the challenge to the Children's Internet Protection Act of 2000 that cuts off federal funding to schools and libraries that do not install software designed to block access to pornographic material on personal computers. Three dozen plaintiffs, headed by the American Library Association and the American Civil Liberties Union, filed the challenge to the law in March, alleging it violated free-speech rights enshrined in the US Constitution.
Diary
Thursday: The Irish Internet Association's Annual BBQ takes place in the Hilton Dublin Hotel, Charlemont Place, Dublin 2 from 7.00pm.Registration is required and can done from mail to: events@iia.ie.
Modem World
www.fizzycherry.com Site offering completely free design services on the Net. The service is available worldwide to both individuals and businesses, and has been up and running for a year.
www.dangerhere.com Excellent football site which has amassed a wonderful collection of George Hamilton quotes for us to enjoy time and time again. "And Hyypia rises like a giraffe to head the ball clear," for example has George alluding to the giant African mammal renowned for its mighty leaps and bounds.
Text Bites
"Economies around the world continue to weaken as we move through the quarter. Our consumer business is being particularly hard hit." - Carly Fiorina, HP chairman and chief executive in a statement announcing the company's plans to cut about 6,000 jobs due to deteriorating global economic conditions and related weakness in technology spending. The company employs 2,100 people at its plants in Leixlip and Dublin.
"This is a negative surprise. Bad factors mounted - the costly recalls of cellular phone handsets, worsening electronics products sales, slow video game machine sales. But the figures were beyond our imagination." - Yukikiko Shimada, an analyst at Credit Lyonnais commenting on poor figures from Sony, which reported a 90 per cent slide in earnings for the quarter just past.