iTunes ventures deeper into Europe

Apple has broadened the reach of its iTunes online music store by launching sites specifically for Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

According to NewsFactor, the company already has iTunes stores for Britain, France and Germany. Apple says all European sites feature songs from the major music companies and over 1 000 independent record labels.

In addition to its store launches, Apple announced it has added downloadable music videos that can be played on a Mac or PC.

Since its launch two years ago, the iTunes Music Store has gobbled up more than 70% of the global digital music market.

The company now has online stores in 19 countries, and says more than 400 million songs have been purchased and downloaded worldwide.

More than 900 000 customers of UK Internet service provider Telewest have been blacklisted by one of the most powerful anti-spam groups on the Web.

According to News.com, the Spam Prevention Early Warning System (SPEWS), whose blacklist is referenced by many anti-spam controls, imposed the block in response to the high number of Telewest customers whose machines have become compromised and taken over for the purpose of sending spam.

Last month, Silicon.com revealed that some of Telewest`s Blueyonder.co.uk home subscribers were sending hundreds of thousands of e-mails each day - a sure sign of an open relay that is pumping out spam.

However, a Telewest representative says the company believes SPEWS` actions have been "a little heavy-handed".

The UK`s child porn watchdog has launched a campaign targeting people who download illegal images at work, BBC reports

Recent legislation makes it easier for technology managers to report incidents such as staff downloading child porn. However, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said some managers feared finding themselves caught up in criminal proceedings.

An IWF survey of 200 firms found 74% of managers would not report guilty staff to the police and 40% would not take steps to discipline or dismiss them.

The IWF, which has called its campaign Wipe it Out, said there was a combination of reasons for this, but could not establish how widespread the problem is.