Bono blamed for U2 songs on Internet

The next time U2 manager Paul McGuinness wants to rant about music piracy on the Internet, he may have to add his own boss to his list of targets, says CNet.

Four songs from the Irish rock band's forthcoming album found themselves on the Internet after U2 front man Bono was caught playing the songs a bit too loudly on his stereo at his villa in the south of France, according to a report in The Sun.

An alert passerby on the beach is credited with recognising the iconic singer's voice and recording what he was hearing. He then supposedly posted the recordings to YouTube, but the tracks don't appear to have stuck around long on the video-sharing site.

The benefits of BT's upgrade to its existing copper network could reach only 17.7% of Britain, depending on the type of connections used, a review commissioned by Ofcom has revealed, reports Computing.co.uk.

The review examined a range of technologies and approaches that could be deployed in the roll-out. It covered the benefits and drawbacks associated with each deployment scenario.

If modems were stored in exchanges, 17.7% of households would receive speeds above 50Mbps, and only 6.1% would receive speeds above 100Mbps.

The two Chinese Newcastle University graduates murdered last weekend could be linked to a complex Web betting scam, Northumbrian police believe, says The Register.

Xi Zhou and Zhen Xing Yang were found dead by police on Saturday. Police said the two were tortured for some time before being killed. Bizarrely, the couple's cat was found dead in a bucket in the bathroom. Detective superintendent Steve Wade said it was one of the worst crime scenes he'd ever seen.

Wade said: "A possible motive for the killing is beginning to emerge... Community intelligence supported by the examination of computer equipment and mobile call data has shown that both of the victims have been involved in fraudulent activity, which has angered and upset a number of people. We are currently investigating this as a possible motive for the killings."

Engineers have unveiled the latest prototypes for a European rover that is due to land on Mars in 2015, says The BBC.

BBC News has had exclusive access to the test vehicles which are being put through their paces by space company UK Astrium at its HQ in Stevenage.

The British team on this European Space Agency project has nicknamed the prototypes Bruno and Bradley.

Facebook has won approval to acquire rival ConnectU, despite an appeal against an agreed settlement, says The BBC.

In 2004, ConnectU's founders sued Facebook claiming creator Mark Zuckerberg took his idea for a social networking site from them.

The lawsuit was settled in early 2008, but ConnectU claims Facebook misrepresented its value during talks.