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| | | May 25, 2003
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Sunday, May 25, 2003 |
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Microsoft spurs UNIX brouhaha
Microsoft put more oil in the raging fire after the software giant licensed UNIX's source code and patents from the SCO Group. The move comes on the heels of a billion-dollar lawsuit filed against IBM by SCO, claiming misappropriation of its UNIX intellectual property. The Utah-based software solutions provider outraged the open source community with notifications sent to large corporations, explaining the Linux operating system included illegally incorporated copyrighted technology.
Microsoft's purchase of a license from SCO eliminates any possibility of its involvement in the suit, but it also clearly puts the software maker at one side of the growing debate. The company is now widely seen as backing SCO's efforts and analysts view the deal as a loss for IBM, a vocal Linux proponent.
According to news reports, however, IBM representatives claim the company is unyielding and SCO's claims are unsubstantiated. They also noted SCO will be unable to revoke the computer maker's UNIX license, a threat issued earlier by the Utah company, without a court decision -- a measure IBM will certainly fight.
In another development, SCO continued to sever its ties with the Linux community. After the group ceased selling its own version of Linux earlier this month, SCO has now resigned from a German Linux association after a request to detail the reasons behind its IBM lawsuit.
More from: CNET News.com 1 2 | ComputerWorld | InternetNews.com | VNUNET.com 1 2
Worm purports to be Microsoft message
Appreciating the fact that most computer viruses are targeting Microsoft-made products, the software giant has teamed with two major antivirus product vendors, Network Associates and Trend Micro, to create the Virus Information Alliance (VIA). VIA has been integrated into Microsoft TechNet, the company's information zone for IT professionals. The new web site will be providing extensive technical details on newly discovered worms and other viral threats.
Meanwhile, security software makers warned on Monday of a new worm purporting to be originating from Microsoft. Palyh, a variant of the Sobig-A worm, appears to come from support@microsoft.com. Although the worm does not carry destructive payload, it creates substantial e-mail traffic. According to Symantec, Palyh has a built-in deactivation mechanism, which triggers at the end of May.
More from: InfoWorld | InternetNews.com | Reuters | The Register | VNUNET.com
Roxio to revive Napster with Pressplay
After buying the remains of Napster last year and luring its founder, Sean Fanning, to join the company, Roxio made its boldest move to date, acquiring online music service Pressplay. The deal, estimated at about $39.5 million in cash and stock, will provide Roxio, a maker of CD-burning software, with both the technology and the wide-ranging music catalog of Pressplay.
In a statement, the company claimed the acquisition was the 'foundation' of the upcoming relaunch of Napster. With five major record labels on board and experienced staff at hand, Roxio puts most leverage behind the Napster brand, once the symbol of online music. But many analysts believe that despite the tempting name, a fee-based Napster service may turn out to be not as successful as the company expects. At its heyday, Napster had over 13 million users, freely sharing and downloading music and today, most of them have turned to other peer-to-peer (P2P) alternatives like Kazaa, Grokster, Morpheus and others.
Roxio warned that the acquisition will likely hurt the financial standing of the California-based company, but its management remained hopeful the efforts around Napster's reincarnation will be rewarded.
More from: CNET News.com | InternetNews.com | PC World | Reuters | The Washington Post
In Other News...
 Hewlett-Packard posted a healthy quarterly profit of $659 million for the three months ended April 30. California-based HP's sales soared to $18 billion, helped by strong performance of the company's printer and enterprise divisions.
Yahoo! launched a new advertising campaign on Monday, aimed at recapturing the positions lost to Google on the Internet search market. The media giant's ads will appear on TV networks, Internet web sites and even interactive billboards, displaying live queries typed by Yahoo! users. Yahoo!, which once began as a web directory, continues to heavily rely on its search features, and in recent years, suffered from Google's rapid expansion and growing popularity.
Opera squashed rumors on Thursday the company is planning to abandon browser development on the Macintosh platform. The Norway-based software maker launched Opera 6.02 amid growing competition from Microsoft, the Mozilla open source group and Apple itself, with its newly unveiled Safari browser suite.
Ronald Scelson, a confessed spammer, urged U.S. lawmakers at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee to urgently pass spam legislation. Scelson said he was forced to either use bullying tacticts or go out of business due to unfair competition from other junk mailers.
The Kazaa peer-to-peer file-sharing program is set to become the most downloaded software on CNET Download.com's chart. Kazaa is expected break ICQ's record of 230 million downloads in the coming days. But Sharman Networks' product is gaining popularity as the music, movie and software industry are stepping up their efforts to combat illicit file-swapping on the Internet.
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