Intel Itanium gets 32-bit tune-up

Intel has changed course with regard to 32-bit software support on the Itanium processor, planning to help speed up the code in future versions of the chip.

The Register reports that when Itanic first appeared, the support for 32-bit applications was minimal. Intel`s 64-bit chip had been primarily designed to run 64-bit code.

Engineers working on the first Itanium said it would be very difficult to have 32-bit applications on Itanium, because helping such software along would require an already massive chip to grow even larger.

Times change, dies shrink, and Intel now plans to introduce something called the IA-32 Execution Layer - code-named btrans - later this year, most likely when the Madison and Deerfield chips arrive.

A US trade association called Emarketersamerica.org has filed a suit against a dozen prominent anti-spam groups, seeking a jury trial and damages of $75 000. The complaint alleges that anti-spam groups have interfered with contracts between marketers and their Internet service providers by petitioning the ISPs to remove the marketers from their networks.

The move follows several recent suits by ISPs against purported spammers, reports PC World. Congress is also considering legislation to crack down on spam.

"They`re interfering with a contract between the members of our association, the tier-one providers, and the American people," the site quotes Mark Felstein, director of the trade group and the attorney who brought the suit, as saying. "I believe they`re doing it for their own financial gain."

Macrovision, a developer and vendor of content protection and security technologies, has signed a licence agreement with Microsoft, under which Macrovision will provide worldwide record labels with the capability to design and produce "dual session" music CDs. Those are CDs that contain both Red Book audio files, which play on traditional home and car stereos, and "second session" files that can be played and stored on a consumer`s PC and portable devices.

By virtue of this agreement, record labels will have access to a comprehensive copy protection, authentication and digital rights management solution for their music CDs.