Virgin clamps down on illegal downloaders

The age of illegal music downloads could soon be over. The UK's largest provider of home broadband is to warn Internet users building up vast libraries of music that they could be prosecuted, reports The Independent.

From next week, Virgin Media will send letters to thousands of households where music is either being downloaded or illegally shared. Many of the recipients are likely to be the unsuspecting parents of teenagers who hoard free downloads offered by file-sharing services. Research shows the majority are unaware their children are breaking the law.

The campaign is a joint venture between Virgin Media and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), which represents the major record labels. The BPI ultimately wants Internet companies to implement a "three strikes and out" rule to warn and ultimately disconnect the estimated 6.5 million customers whose accounts are used for regular criminal activity.

T-Mobile USA is suing Starbucks, saying the coffee shop chain secretly colluded with AT&T to offer free WiFi Internet access in its cafes despite an exclusive agreement with T-Mobile, says Reuters.

In the lawsuit, filed in New York state court, T-Mobile alleges AT&T and Starbucks are not living up to an agreement the three companies reached over how Starbucks should transfer from its T-Mobile partnership to a new partnership with AT&T announced earlier this year.

T-Mobile is seeking unspecified damages against Starbucks for breach of its contract and unfair competition.

The next stage of the global mobile phone revolution is about to arrive on British shores and, for some consumers, the experience will be heavily subsidised, reports the Telegraph.co.uk.

The Sunday Telegraph has learned that O2, which has an exclusive agreement to distribute Apple's iPhone in this country, is set to give away the 3G version of the handset to its highest-spending customers when it launches in the UK next month.

Steve Jobs, the boss of Apple, is expected to unveil the 3G iPhone in California tomorrow, signalling a radical change in the distribution model for the world's most sought-after mass-market mobile phone.

Sales of "smart" phones doubled in North America in the first quarter, outstripping the category's growth in the rest of the world, according to a report by research firm Gartner, says Associated Press.

North American growth was propelled by the popularity of Research In Motion's BlackBerry phones and Apple's iPhone, and bodes well for the rumoured introduction of a second-generation iPhone next week.

Apple sold 1.73 million iPhones in the first three months of the year, taking a 5.3% share of the worldwide smart phone market. The iPhone was launched in the US last June, and overseas markets have been added gradually. The phone is still not available in most European countries, or in Japan or China.