Sebastian Rupley

Microsoft and Disney are now kissing cousins in a multiyear agreement to cooperate on digital-media initiatives. The news arrived only days after Apple Computer announced plans to sever long-standing ties with Disney. Under the deal, Disney will license Windows Media digital rights management (DRM) technology, and Microsoft will get Disney content. “Its not surprising that […]

Few examples of technology-related federal legislation have stirred up more controversy in recent years than the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and now the European Union is considering a similar, yet far more sweeping act—one that could extend to virtually all kinds of intellectual property protections—which critics describe as “nuclear weapons of IP law enforcement.” […]

Many people believe the real solutions to tackling growing spam and online fraud problems lie in more ambitious forms of message authentication. But such ambitious approaches would require, most observers agree, the participation of many arms of the high-tech community. This week, Sendmail, a global provider of open-source and commercial secure message management solutions for […]

Lindows.com has announced a new version of its Linux operating system with support for portable computers based on the Intel Centrino platform. Although few observers see an immediate threat to Microsofts operating system franchise, according to Lindows.com officials, making Linux available on cost-effective notebooks has been a big request from PC manufacturers. The first Centrino […]

Cell phone manufacturer Nokia recently admitted that several of its Bluetooth-enabled phones are vulnerable to attack, which could result in a hacker gaining access to personal data stored on a targeted phone. Meanwhile, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), which, unlike the Wi-Fi Alliance, doesnt test products for compliance with the Bluetooth standard, said the […]

Microsoft Corp. is facing some questions about political correctness and fonts this week following the release of a critical Windows update that also happens to include a previously released font removal tool. At issue is Microsofts decision to remove two swastikas and the Star of David from its Bookshelf Symbol 7 font. Microsoft officials characterized […]

Peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing networks are having more problems than just dramatic declines in download numbers. Security company TruSecure, through its division ICSA Labs, warned in January that there has been a significant surge in malicious code posted on P2P networks. ICSA Labs officials claim that 45 percent of thousands of free files they collected via […]

Should ubiquitous wireless access be free? An Atlanta company, 3rd Wave, believes it should be as commonplace in many kinds of businesses as water and bathrooms. The company is already putting its money where its mouth is by installing free hotspots in Atlanta. The company provides free, wireless 802.11b Internet access points to retail businesses […]

In a move that has big implications for both the distribution and sharing of entertainment content and freedom of speech online, a group of entertainment and technology companies called DVD CCA (http://www.dvdcca.org/) filed on Thursday for dismissal of a key lawsuit pertaining to descrambling movie content on DVDs. The lawsuit had been brought in 1999 […]

T-Mobile USA and iPass have announced a distribution agreement that will let business users have access to T-Mobiles HotSpot network through iPasss virtual network. Many IT managers already cater to their users roaming needs by giving them iPass software clients; users then access online services through a mixture of wireless and dial-up links. The new […]

The anti-spam war is gathering momentum. Hardly a week goes by without a major technology company or various arms of the government creating a new way to attack unsolicited e-mail. But the past week has seen some of the most significant efforts yet. Yahoo! has announced ambitious plans to launch an e-mail authentication system that […]

Phishing, e-mail and Web-based efforts by online scammers to hijack personal information from unsuspecting users, faces a new obstacle. A group of global banks and technology companies have joined forces to fight the scams. The group is running a Web site, Anti-Phishing.Org (www.antiphishing.org), where those who have received phishing messages can report them, and personnel […]