Companies urged to copy pirates

According to experts speaking at the Thinking Digital conference, in Gateshead, companies should try to copy pirates rather than waste time trying to beat them, reports Computing.co.uk.

The latest figures from the Business Software Alliance suggest a quarter of all software installations in the UK are illegal.

Writer and consultant Matt Mason argued at the conference that, far from undermining legitimate industries such as music, fashion and software, piracy actually adds value by "finding gaps outside the market", and sparking innovation in unpredictable ways.

The UK government plans to push ahead with the next phase of a controversial child protection database, despite ongoing concerns about the security of data held on the system, says The Register.

The delayed ContactPoint system, which is due to include names and addresses on every child under 18 in England, will be accessed by frontline care workers in real-life trials for the first time from today.

Security experts contacted by The Register remain concerned that information housed on the database might leak out, despite ministerial assurances on security provisions that will accompany the roll-out of the directory system.

Flight simulator site Avsim has been "destroyed" by malicious hackers, reports the BBC.

The site, which opened in 1996, covered all aspects of flight simulation, although its main focus was on Microsoft's Flight Simulator.

The attack took down the site's two servers and the owners had not established an external backup system.

The attorney general of South Carolina is ready to commence a criminal investigation of Craigslist in connection with erotic ads appearing on the classified ads Web site, says CNet.

Attorney general Henry McMaster had given Craigslist until Friday afternoon to remove erotically charged material from its South Carolina listings.

The AG's Web site now has this statement posted: “As of 5pm this afternoon, the craigslist South Carolina site continues to display advertisements for prostitution and graphic pornographic material. This content was not removed as we requested. We have no alternative but to move forward with criminal investigation and potential prosecution.”