Internet phone fees spark FCC debate

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is soon expected to rule that AT&T cannot avoid paying hefty fees to local phone companies to connect long-distance calls by carrying big chunks of the calls on the Internet.

The expected decision is sparking a debate at the FCC about regulation of Internet phone calls, reports USA Today. It could eventually spell higher fees for new retail Internet phone services, such as those offered by Vonage and cable companies, and for their customers.

A Slashdot reader observes that SCO licences are now available at the SCO Web site, "genuine licences permitting you to use SCO IP that is `necessary for you to run Linux`. And they take Visa."

According to the posting, the site states what "Unix-based code" means. Be prepared for a long read. ITWeb could not access SCO`s site, which has been targeted by recent viruses, at the time of publishing.

We may soon be able to smell the contents of our inboxes, reports ITVibe.

The idea of generating scents artificially to stimulate some form of response hits the Net and specifically e-mail with the arrival of a device known as a "scent dome". The dome will release odours based on the content of the mail.

Atrua Technologies, a start-up backed by some of the top names in technology and telecoms, has unveiled its first product, a cellphone touchpad with built-in fingerprint recognition as a security feature.

Reuters reports that Atrua, funded by the venture capital arms of Ericsson, Nokia and Intel, said its "Atrua Wings" product worked like the touchpad on many laptops, allowing users to scroll through menus and choose items with the touch of a finger.