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| | | July 27, 2003
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Sunday, July 27, 2003 |
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SCO seeks to license Linux use
The SCO Group announced on Monday it has received U.S. copyright registrations for its UNIX System V and UnixWare source code and plans to issue licenses to Linux users, who, according to the company, want to come clean on the intellectual property (IP) infringement problems with the operating system. Utah-based SCO has on numerous occasions claimed parts of UNIX have been illegally included in Linux. The group has also filed a multibillion lawsuit against the world's largest computer corporation, IBM, alleging misappropriation with trade secrets, breach of contract and violation of UNIX IP.
Broadening its fight, SCO says it will legally pursue enterprise Linux users, unless they participate in the company's licensing program, set to be unveiled in the coming weeks. Analysts noted that if the pricing was low enough, the strategy could turn into a steady stream of income for the financially struggling software maker as companies attempt to leave the issue behind and avoid more expensive litigation costs.
IBM, meanwhile, remains unrelenting in its stance. Reuters reported an internal memo sent to sales representatives calls for employees to reassure customers SCO's claims are completely unsubstantiated. A new survey released by research firm Netcraft points out corporate Linux customers do, in fact, appear to be undaunted by SCO's threats as Linux's share of the enterprise OS market continues to grow.
More from: CNET News.com 1 2 3 4 | ComputerWorld | CRN 1 2 | InternetNews.com 1 2 | Linux Today | The Mercury News | Reuters 1 2 | VNUNET.com 1 2 3 | The Washington Post
RIAA poised to clash with file-swappers
After the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) turned its June threat of suing individual file traders into action by filing hundreds of subpoenas to Internet Service Providers (ISPs), some users of file-swapping networks across the United States learned this week they were on RIAA's hit list.
Several web sites have now posted the usernames on the Kazaa network of those targeted by the music industry as ISPs process subpoenas and inform customers themselves. According to a number of news reports, parents and grandparents of 12- and 13-year-old file-swappers have now been served official notices. The amount of RIAA subpoenas ranges from ISP to ISP. On Monday, EarthLink had received only 14, while Verizon Communications nearly 150.
The RIAA, however, hit a snag when Boston College and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) opposed the subpoena process on procedural grounds. The two institutions said they were barred from giving the requested names by the U.S. Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, which required the universities to inform the students before releasing their personal information. Chicago's Loyola University, however, reportedly handed the names of two students without contesting the subpoenas.
In the mean time, a new bill was introduced in the U.S. Congress on Thursday. The bipartisan-sponsored Protecting Children from Peer-to-Peer Pornography Act seeks to require file-sharing companies to get parental permission before allowing minors to use their networks. P2P networks have for long been inundated with pornographic images and video files.
More from: CNET News.com 1 2 3 | E-Commerce Times | ExtremeTech | MTV | Svetlozar Online |
USA Today 1 2 | VNUNET.com 1 2 3 4 5 | Wired News 1 2
Oracle bids $7.5 billion for post-merger PeopleSoft
Oracle officially reaffirmed its commitment to acquiring PeopleSoft, after PeopleSoft announced last week it had completed its own acquisition of J.D. Edwards & Co. For the post-merger business software maker, Larry Ellison's company now bids $7.5 billion -- a substantially higher figure than the $5.1 billion it initially offered.
The hostile takeover offer launched in June is currently under review by the U.S. Department of Justice and state attorney generals across the United States. But this week, the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), a conservative nonprofit group, urged U.S. authorities to block Oracle from snapping PeopleSoft up, saying such a merger "clearly violates federal antitrust laws."
More from: AP | Baseline | CNET News.com 1 2 3 | CRN | eWeek | VNUNET.com | The Washington Post
Security watch
 Microsoft warned of a critical security vulnerability in its DirectX multimedia package. A buffer overrun flaw exists in DirectX versions from 5.2 to the current 9.0a, which can lead to execution of arbitrary code included in a specifically malformed MIDI file.
More from: CNET News.com | PC World | Reuters | Svetlozar Online | VNUNET.com
Oracle released patches fixing four security holes in its products, including Oracle Database Server and Oracle E-Business Suite. Buffer overflows and a problem with unsecured Java server pages may allow hackers to successfully attack Oracle servers. The company deems the issues exploitable and urges customers to apply the updates provided.
More from: CNET News.com | eWeek
In Other News...
The Cryptography and Security Laboratory of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne released a paper explaining how to crack Windows alphanumeric passwords in mere seconds. The two students who devised the technique have also created a web site demonstrating the effectiveness of the method.
The founder of online retail site Buy.com launched BuyMusic, a new Internet music download service, offering a catalog of 300,000 songs for as low as 79¢ each. The advent of BuyMusic comes as Microsoft is mulling over its own online music shop based on the Windows Media Player, which would challenge Apple's extraordinarily popular iTunes Music Store.
Internet search giant Google struck a deal with weather.com, the web site of The Weather Channel and one of the largest online providers of weather-related information, to provide targeted-advertising and web search to the users of the site.
A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Internet advertising company DoubleClick for serving deceptive ads resembling computer-warning messages.
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