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Reversing a course that had it on track to cede control of the Internet's main pipelines, the U.S. government now says it will not cede oversight of the computers that control most Web traffic The U.S. had been weighing whether to turn over control of the 13 so-called "root" servers, the source where top-level domains are maintained and traffic is ...

As virus writing is increasing, average time to infection is decreasing, according to a Danish Internet security firm. Sophos' chart of activity for the first six months of 2005 reports there is now a 50 percent chance of being infected by an Internet worm in just 12 minutes of being online using an unprotected, unpatched Windows PC Patrick Hinojos...

The National Cyber Alert System warned yesterday of active exploits of a security flaw in Veritas Backup Exec Software. The system is part of the U.S. Homeland Security's Computer Emergency Readiness Team (U.S.-CERT). The alert said a buffer overflow could allow hackers to take over a computer and remotely execute malicious code "The vulnerability...

Pop-up advertising on the Web might be annoying, but not as annoying as what would happen if trademark law were used to squash them, according to a federal appellate court in New York The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals this week upended a decision by a lower court that used trademark law to block the ads of one pop-up purveyor....

It's been a busy week at Opera Software. The Norwegian browser maker said yesterday it has inked a three-year deal with Motorola. The contract is an expansion of an existing deal with the mobile mammoth and assures that the Opera Web browser will be available on all Motorola mobile phones Jupiter Research analyst Joe Wilcox told TechNewsWorld that,...

Microsoft's MSN and Vodafone this week announced plans to launch an instant messaging (IM) service between PCs and mobile phones. The new service will bring together MSN Messenger's 165 million customers with Vodafone's nearly 155 million customers The service will allow customers to see the "presence" of their contacts and exchange instant message...

Watching an otherwise relaxed executive from a CRM vendor nearly jump out of his chair this week over lunch when his BlackBerry went off instantly reminded me of one of my neighbor's boys bouncing with excitement after unwrapping a Sony Personal PlayStation (PSP) for his birthday. Then it dawned on me: BlackBerries are a baby boomer's PSP with business justification and reimbursable charges. Perfect!...

The United States Supreme Court this week ruled against Brand X, a small California company that sells Internet access. This ruling is good for consumers and marks the beginning of what could be much-needed reform in broadband policy In a 6-3 decision written by Justice Clarence Thomas, the high court overturned a decision that would have forced ca...

Microsoft's MSN and Vodafone yesterday announced plans to launch an instant messaging (IM) service between PCs and mobile phones. The new service will bring together MSN Messenger's 165 million customers with Vodafone's nearly 155 million customers The service will allow customers to see the "presence" of their contacts and exchange instant message...

A Norwegian programmer who calls himself DVD Jon has tweaked Google's new Video Viewer application to make it play clips that are not on Google's servers Google launched the new tool on Monday as part of a Web-based video search service to let consumers use keywords to search its indexed video database....

A recent investor report has highlighted expected losses for PlayStation 3 maker Sony, which will take an estimated hit of US$100 per sold next-gen gaming console when the devices go on sale next year However, industry analysts said the negative margin is nothing new in gaming, pointing out that Microsoft, which will roll out its Xbox 360 sooner an...

Sony BMG has come roaring out of the gate, two days after the Supreme Court ruling that file-sharing programs can be held liable for copyright infringements, announcing a deal with Mashboxx for a legal music-swapping service The service will charge 99 cents per song and be populated by Sony BMG artists. The application allows individuals to search ...

Hard on the heels of a partial victory for music and movie studios before the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this week, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has continued to pressure consumers who it says illegally swap music, filing a new batch of more than 700 copyright infringement lawsuits The lawsuits come just three days after the...

Apple is turning podcasting into an everyday activity for the average person. The iPod maker said it plans to program everything users need to discover, subscribe, manage and listen to podcasts into iTunes 4.9, the latest version of its digital music software and online music store "Apple is taking podcasting mainstream by building it right into iT...

Now that summer has finally arrived, you can start to train your thoughts on vacation -- and what to bring with you when you take it What do you consider essential carry-alongs? A good book? How about a laptop? Better yet, a laptop with wireless networking so you can plug into the Internet whenever you hit a WiFi hotspot in your travels....

Danish security firm SophosLabs is warning users to beware a new e-mail virus that poses as breaking news stories about the supposed arrest of the author of the MyDoom worm, the capture of Osama bin Laden or conspiracy theories about the death of the late Pope John Paul II. Analysts said social engineering worms like this one are not going away The...

The next-generation computer chip known as "Cell" isn't just about fun and games any more. With the announcement of the first major Cell applications effort, the chip will be used to enhance data-intensive apps such as sonar and digital X-ray by Mercury Computer Systems Jointly developed by IBM, Sony and Toshiba, the Cell processor represents an en...

Hoping to lay claim to search dominance in a fast-growing area, Blinkx has launched a tool that will search personal-radio-style podcasts and video blogs for certain content Blinkx said its upgrades make podcasts and video blogs "fully searchable for the first time," and let users search thousands of hours of content....

Damage to the undersea telecommunications cable SEA-ME-WE3 (SMW3) Monday initially disrupted most of Pakistan's international telephone and Internet connections, but the outage spread to India, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Djibouti as repairs were started yesterday Call centers in India using connections through the Reliance Group, India's la...

British telephone company BT Group yesterday said it would begin testing Microsoft's TV Internet Protocol Edition software platform to deliver TV over broadband in the United Kingdom early next year BT plans to offer its customers interactive features such as video games, voting, gambling, and online chat services. Commercial service delivery is ex...