The Tech-Talk News. - Page 2

"Our evidence gathering and our subsequent legal actions all were initiated weeks and even months ago," said RIAA spokesman Jonathan Lamy. "We will now, of course, obviously dismiss this case."

But to many, Walton's case underscores fundamental problems with the RIAA's effort to crack down on peer-to-peer piracy. Because online identities are mostly anonymous, industry police utilize IP addresses to track the specific Internet account sharing music. Unfortunately, the process is riddled with inaccuracies and sometimes innocent -- or deceased -- people are fingered as pirates.

"I believe that if music companies are going to set examples they need to do it to appropriate people and not dead people," Chianumba told the Gazette. "I am pretty sure she is not going to leave Greenwood Memorial Park to attend the hearing."

The process doesn't need to be perfect, however. While the RIAA may not have enough hard information to win in court, most named defendants opt to settle for a few thousand dollars and a promise they will cease file sharing activities rather than face recording industry lawyers.

"I don't know if this is a scheme to get money, I just don't know what's going on. I am concerned," said Chianumba.

UMD is a proprietary disc format from Sony, which features the ability to store up to 1.8GB of data in a disk that is 60mm in diameter - roughly a third of the size of a compact disc. It also has what the company calls "robust" copyright protection to prevent illicit duplication of discs.

"PSP will evolve and elevate portable entertainment, giving users the freedom to play full 3D games, watch movies, listen to music and connect wirelessly on their terms, their time and their place," said Kaz Hirai, president and chief executive officer, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.

PSP had a very successful launch in Japan; more than 800,000 units have been shipped, including a 200,000-unit allocation that sold out on the first day.

Spoofing Flaw Found in Non IE Browsers

By Ed Oswald and Nate Mook, BetaNews

February 7, 2005, 12:32 PM

Google's Gmail service may be preparing to leave its beta auspices for the first time since launching in April 2004. Some account holders of the search giant's Web mail have been granted the ability to invite 50 friends to the free service, indicating Google is preparing for an expansion.

Previously, each Gmail beta user was given only a handful of invitations to pass along. Google has been slowly ramping up its Gmail efforts as competition heats up from rivals MSN and Yahoo, which followed Google's strategy to attract customers by removing storage limitations. In November, Gmail was opened so users could retrieve mail using an external client such as Outlook.

As part of its monthly "Patch Tuesday" next week, Microsoft is preparing to issue 13 security fixes, which range in severity from moderate to critical. Nine of the updates pertain to flaws specifically to Windows, while the others cover SharePoint, Microsoft's .NET Framework, Office and Windows Media.

Per its security policy, Microsoft is not releasing any specifics on the vulnerabilities until their release on February 8; however, the company makes some exceptions. Businesses and governments signed up with Redmond programs will receive early access to upcoming security announcements, and Microsoft recently called on external beta testers to help improve the quality of its patching process.

Following the launch of its local search, which provides address information for nearby businesses, Google has gone one step further: telling you how to get there. Google Maps was quietly unveiled in beta form today, further building up the company's ecosystem of search related utilities.

Even in beta, Google Maps offers a few advantages over competitors. Maps can be dragged to view adjacent areas, which means users do not have click and wait for graphics to reload. Zooming is also instantaneous with the help of a slider placed atop the map.

Google Maps is also closely tied with the company's local search. Instead of entering a specific address, users can simply search for a term such a "sushi," which would then show all nearby sushi restaurants directly on the map.

Like current map providers, Google offers step-by-step directions for traveling between two points. Clicking on one of the steps pops up a floating bubble containing a magnified view of the area. For the time being, however, Google Maps is limited to the United States and Canada.

"Google is focused on organizing the world's information and making it universally accessible and useful, and this experiment is another step forward in helping users find the local information they need," the company said in a statement.

Although no official announcement has been made, Google has apparently partnered with TeleAtlas to power its map service.