Hacker may sue AT&T

Xhead = Hacker may sue AT&T

After having his AT&T wireless account breached and his personal information posted on the Web, famed hacker Kevin Mitnick thought the least the cellular service provider could do was compensate him for his troubles, says CNet.

Instead, the company informed Mitnick it plans to cancel his contract and not pay damages for the breach, he said. Now he may sue.

"AT&T wants me off their network because they can't secure my account and, after being a loyal customer for almost a decade, I find that reprehensible," he told CNet News yesterday. "It apparently is more cost-effective to drop me than to secure their customer's information."

The government is consulting on proposals that could see a smart ticketing system introduced nationwide, reports Computing.co.uk.

The government estimates that a national system, which works in a similar manner to London's popular travel smart card, could save as much as £2.6 billion per year through improved journey times and faster, more convenient purchasing and issue of tickets.

The proposals could also see mobile phones being used as tickets with pre-pay credit loaded onto them, and cards and systems that would allow instant contactless payment from bank cards.

A dedicated Internet and gaming addiction recovery programme has opened shop in Fall City, Washington, and claims to be the first of its kind in the US, says The Register.

The reStart centre is a 45-day anti-Internet detox programme, located at the rural Heavensfield Retreat Centre, located 20 minutes away from Microsoft's Redmond headquarters.

ReStart says the programme is specifically tailored to suit those "addicted" to browsing the Internet, gaming, or even text messaging. Signs a person has become an over-infatuated Facebooker or slave to SMS, according to the Web site, include a "heightened sense of euphoria while involved in computer and Internet activities", "craving for more time on the computer and Internet" and "physical changes, such as weight gain or loss, backaches, headaches, [and] carpal tunnel syndrome".

Video game developers from Iran have exhibited at a Western game convention for the first time, says the BBC.

Representatives from the trade body, the Iran National Foundation of Computer Games, were on hand at a dedicated stand at Gamescom in Cologne.

They were there to showcase the latest games developed in Iran, establish contacts, and see if Western retailers would stock their games.