Microsoft among targets in online privacy complaint
Technologies used by Microsoft and other online advertising outfits to analyze user behavior threaten privacy and must be curbed, a pair of advocacy groups said Wednesday.
The Washington-based U.S. Public Interest Research Group and the Center for Digital Democracy have asked the Federal Trade Commission to review–and ideally restrict–what they describe as a growing online business [...]
Windows XP Firewall Hack Released
Security researchers say hackers have published code that could let an attacker disable the built-in firewall on computers running Microsoft’s Windows XP operating system.
The code, which has been available on the Internet since Sunday, could be used to disable the firewall on completely up-to-date Windows XP computers running Microsoft’s Internet Connection Service (ICS), allowing malicious [...]
Older Consoles Lift Game Publishers
The buzz in videogames is all about new hardware, including the imminent launch of Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Co.’s Wii consoles, along with the prospects for Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 in its sophomore holiday season.
The biggest money in games, though, is coming from older, less sexy machines such as Sony’s PlayStation 2, which [...]
Microsoft takes legal moves against auction pirates
Microsoft Corp said today it is preparing 55 legal actions worldwide against sellers on auction sites who are hawking illegal copies of the company’s software.
The actions are a mix of lawsuits and criminal complaints, said Jean-Christophe Le Toquin, a Microsoft attorney for Europe, the Middle East and Africa region. Microsoft has or will file 34 [...]
Microsoft is banning 360 firmware modders
After several months of silence it was more or less accepted that Microsoft wasn’t going to do anything about the firmware hacks that allow Xbox 360s to play backups. Rather surprising, considering the ‘inventor’ of the hack confirmed in March already that the mods are easily detectable, and the reports that piracy is running rampant [...]
Arkansas settles anti-trust dispute with Microsoft
Microsoft is paying $38 million to the State of Arkansas to settle anti-trust action.
Any Arkansas resident or business who bought a Microsoft product between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 2004 for use in the state is entitled to a voucher.
The state says Microsoft violated Arkansas laws pertaining to anti-trust, consumer protection, and unfair competition [...]
Microsoft partners fuming over Vista
Microsoft Corp is no stranger to antitrust skirmishes and complaints from competitors about unfair business practices.
But the latest fight over its upcoming Vista operating system pits Microsoft against an unlikely adversary: the security software vendors who are some of its most intimate partners in protecting its notoriously vulnerable systems from attacks.
As Vista’s planned release nears, [...]
Apple iPod Shipped With Viruses
Apple warned customers this past Tuesday of a shipment of iPods, the leading digital music player, has been infected with a Windows virus. A small number of iPods that were created after September 12th, 2006, have a nice surprise for users in the form of the RavMonE virus.
Apple claims that there have only been [...]
Microsoft’s browser gets upgraded
Microsoft has made Internet Explorer 7 (IE 7) available to the general public.
The new version is the first upgrade to the web browsing program for more than five years.
New features include tabbed browsing, the ability to search the net directly and an anti-fraud system to thwart phishing attacks.
The new program is available as a free [...]
Zune now available for pre-order
So unless you were one of the handful of people who woke up at the crack of dawn and pushed aside children and the elderly in order to secure a place near the front of a GameStop line, you probably missed out on the one of the few chances to secure a PS3 before the [...]
