Articles by Jay Lyman

Pointing to the growing number of movie downloaders worldwide, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is complaining that the practice is harming the movie industry significantly. Through a commissioned study of moviegoers and downloaders, the MPAA reported that about one in four Internet users has downloaded a movie. Of those, 17 percen...

Budget issues, authority and a more international approach highlight the agenda for an upcoming meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in Malaysia later this month. While the Internet domain name oversight body has been busy dealing with controversial new services and the growing number of nations and country co...

Following issues such as world hunger and global warming, the rising volume of unwanted e-mail is now among the problems that are being dealt with on an international level as officials with the United Nations and International Telecommunications Union (ITU) called spam "an epidemic" at a conference in Geneva, Switzerland this week. Echoing the wa...

A U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling involving an ISP's ability to scan and use the content of customer e-mails equates to "free rein to invade the privacy of users" for ISPs, according to privacy advocates Others downplayed the impact of the ruling in U.S. v. Councilman, which involves a defendant who configured software to copy and compile cert...

Microsoft has hit the news once again by invoking its next major update to Windows XP -- called Service Pack 2 (SP2) -- in response to the significant security risks that have emerged over the past couple weeks. This time, the company has gone beyond its vague time-frame for releasing SP2 "later this summer." Microsoft product manager Tony Goodhew told attendees of the TechEd 2004 conference in Amsterdam that SP2 will ship within the next two months -- guaranteed...

In the second ruling to limit the legal ammunition of Canadian copyright holders looking to sue file-sharers and hold ISPs accountable for peer-to-peer (P2P) piracy, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled that ISPs are not subject to royalty fees Canada's high court ruled that the creation of a cache copy by Internet providers is part of their business t...

In one of the last settlements with states that sued it over antitrust allegations, Microsoft settled with Arizona, agreeing to US$104.6 million in vouchers for the state's consumers, who will each get up to $15 for purchasing Microsoft's operating system or applications The Arizona settlement, which coincides with settlements with North Dakota and...

Security advisories and reports typically include preventive measures that computer users can take to avoid malicious Internet attacks, but one piece of advice is on the rise: Use a Web browser other than Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Security experts themselves have indicated that their own use of Mozilla, Netscape or Opera -- some of the most popular alternative Web browsers -- suggests that non-Microsoft browsers are more safe than IE...

Known to some in the space community as "the last battlestar," the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft this week is on the verge of finishing its 2.2-billion-mile trip to Saturn as it prepares to get closer to the ringed planet than any other craft in history Cassini-Huygens is set to slip between two of Saturn's rings and then thrust into the planet's fiel...

Microsoft chief software architect Bill Gates claimed this week that his company has made great security strides, responding quickly enough to the increasing threat of attackers who are now using automated techniques to strike more quickly at exposed Windows systems Gates pointed to improvements in the time it has taken Microsoft to respond to sign...

Fujitsu and Microsoft have announced a collaborative agreement to develop Fujitsu's next-generation, Itanium-based server, which will be optimized for Microsoft's Windows Server 2003 and next-gen Longhorn server. The deal -- a new Memorandum of Understanding announced in Japan that builds on the two companies' existing partnership -- gives Fujitsu...

Computer and Internet security experts were closely watching the development of a mysterious outbreak that appears to have used a new tactic against an old vulnerability to infect thousands, possibly millions, of Web servers, Internet sites and Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser users The widespread attacks began as early as June 20th, but secur...

While event organizers have called it a postponement and vowed to bring it back stronger and better in 2005, the cancellation of the Comdex IT trade show in Las Vegas this November marks the official end to an era MediaLive -- which bought what was the premier trade show in IT last year despite sagging attendance by vendors, buyers and others -- sa...

A Utah District Court judge has put a hold on a state law that targets spyware -- quiet computer programs that can creep onto people's computers as they navigate the Internet and download seemingly innocuous applications that then track their online behavior The ruling from Utah Third Judicial District Court Judge Joseph Fratto Jr. was hailed as a ...

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) this week continued its legal campaign against online file-traders who use peer-to-peer (P2P) song-swapping networks. In the latest move to stem the flow of pirated music, the RIAA has taken legal action against another 482 individuals across the country The RIAA, which now has taken legal action...

Delivering what it called capabilities previously limited to high-end, specialty computers -- including high-definition video, surround sound and file protection -- Intel released new products based on its new Grantsdale and Alderwood chipset designs The Santa Clara, California-based chip giant said its 915 G/P and 925 X chipsets, formerly codename...

In an effort to expand its horizons both geographically and in terms of digital content, business-to-business digital media solutions provider Loudeye has purchased European digital music leader On Demand Distribution (OD2) for US$20.7 million Seattle-based Loudeye said the acquisition would double its pro forma revenues and create "the largest bus...

A 62-year-old pilot flew a craft 62 miles from Earth to the edge of space, becoming the world's first privately backed, civilian astronaut and edging a team funded by Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen closer to the X Prize, the cup of the modern space race Pilot Mike Melvill's flight to suborbital space and safely back to the ground marks perhaps th...

After failing to cut into the deluge of spam sent to Internet users with the Can-Spam Act, the U.S. government might now be aiming legislation at spyware -- silent software programs that identify and often track users and their online behaviors -- with bills in the House and Senate A bill from Mary Bono (R-California) and Ed Towns (D-New York) that...

This week, a Paris conference on Internet hate sites and the fight against online racism is drawing attention to what European officials call a "growing problem" in the form of hate speech and racist propaganda on the Web Although there is agreement that the Internet industry -- ISPs, Web hosts and others -- has made strides in working with law enf...