John Lister

Real Network's 'legal' DVD ripping software has already prompted legal action from the movie industry. And to confuse matters, Real has somehow filed what's effectively a pre-emptive countersuit. As we reported recently , Real claimed its new ... product, RealDVD, did not breach copyright laws because it allowed users to copy an entire disc, including the copy protection system which most ripping software removes. The Motion Picture Association of America has now launched a lawsuit to coincide with the software's official release, accusing the firm of breaching copyright laws. In an unusual legal ... (view more)

SanDisk has teamed up with the four major record labels to offer legal music sales in a new format: memory cards. The scheme, dubbed SlotMusic, uses the MicroSD format, meaning many buyers will be able to listen to the music directly through their ... cell phones. There'll also be a USB adaptor for plugging the card into a computer. The main selling point of the system is that the music files will have no digital rights management (the copy protection system which heavily restricts usage of many downloadable albums) and that it will be encoded at 320 kilobytes per second. That's a better quality ... (view more)

The Large Hadron Collider, the machine tipped to revolutionize our understanding of physics, could be out of action for the rest of the year. Scientists had planned to use the machine to create a near light-speed collision between particles so they ... could answer fundamental questions like "what makes up black holes?" and "why is gravity so weak compared with other forces?" However, after an earlier delay with a power failure, the project is on hold thanks to a suspected melted electrical connection between two of the giant magnets which steer the protons (a type of particle ... (view more)

For those of you who hated the Seinfeld Microsoft adverts -- and your responses tell us there are quite a few of you -- there's good news. The tales of Jerry and Bill are done for now, replaced by a relatively direct response to Apple's ... long-standing campaign, "I'm a Mac, and I'm a PC." According to Microsoft, this was the plan all along: a spokesman says the two Gates and Seinfeld ads were simply a teaser and the firm hasn't cut the series short. That makes the ads -- short on either plot or message -- even more baffling, as well as making Seinfeld's $10 million payoff seem even more ... (view more)

Electronics Arts is facing an angry backlash from gamers for putting DRM restrictions on its popular game 'Spore'. The game, based on evolution, has been generally well-reviewed and early sales were strong. It doesn't allow online game-play as such, ... but there are many official online features, including the ability to upload clips of your character in action directly to YouTube. Hoping to crack down on piracy, EA set up a system where the game has to be authorised over the Internet, both the first time it is used and the first time a player uses the online features. The firm allowed players ... (view more)

Although Microsoft is trying to keep Windows 7 under wraps, around three-dozen screenshots have leaked on to the Internet. It appears the operating system has had some usability tweaks but doesn't have any fundamental changes. The shots appeared on ... the ThinkNext blog and almost certainly come from one of the people testing the software. Windows 7 is currently in its third (and likely) final 'in-progress' edition. The first beta edition (a complete version of the system ready for testing) is expected out before the end of the year. The biggest functional changes appear to be to the User ... (view more)

A study of teenage leisure habits says video games, rather than inciting violence actually promotes social interaction. The study also found that almost as many girls play games as boys. Perhaps the most surprising finding in the survey, carried out ... by the Pew Internet ... (view more)

In a stunning turn of events, hackers have broken into vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin's Yahoo email account, brazenly publishing several critical messages. The chaos isn't just limited to the Republican party, however; according to reports, ... the son of a prominent Democrat is under suspicion following an FBI raid. Serious questions are being raised this morning about the security of Palin's account, and whether the Alaskan senator should admit some responsibility for using Yahoo Mail for official business. The hacker, from a group calling itself Anonymous, published some of the stolen ... (view more)

Apple has raised more controversy among iPhone users after refusing to 'stock' a podcast utility in the iTunes Apps store. Apple says the feature simply duplicates iTunes itself, but critics say the firm is embarrassed that an outside programmer has ... produced a better service. Alex Sokirynsky developed 'Podcaster' as a feature to help people download and listen to podcasts on their iPhones. He submitted it for distribution through the iTunes store in mid-August but Apple has now rejected the product. According to Sokirynsky, Apple told him "Since Podcaster assists in the distribution of ... (view more)

Tim Berners-Lee, the man who created the World Wide Web, says there may be a need for independent labelling of websites to distinguish between reliable and bogus scientific information. He told the BBC such a system could be useful in combating the ... unchecked spreading of rumours which have plagued both the Large Hadron Collider scheme and the distribution of the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine to children. He added that it's probably not appropriate to score sites for credibility; rather that sites with a proven record of accuracy could get a seal of approval. The interview came as ... (view more)