Romanian virus suspect arrested

Romanian anti-virus company BitDefender says it has helped police identify a 24-year-old technical university student arrested in connection with a new version of the MSBlast Internet worm. This was the second arrest of a copycat-virus writer in the past week. Last week, US authorities arrested an 18-year-old for allegedly creating and distributing the first variant of MSBlast.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that the culprit behind the original MSBlast remains at large. The original worm, which also goes by the names Blaster and Lovsan, surfaced last month, infecting hundreds of thousands of computers running Microsoft`s Windows operating system.

The day after a Forrester Research report suggested the CD and DVDs are on their way out as consumers turn to downloaded entertainment, the world`s largest music label conglomerate has promised a steep cut in music CD pricing. Universal Music Group has announced it will slash its wholesale prices and reduce its suggested retail pricing for music CDs to $13, from between $17 and $19.

The company, a subsidiary of Vivendi Universal, is home to a number of record labels, including Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Island Def Jam Music Group and Philips.

Meanwhile, a French court has ruled that music compact discs which include functions to prevent copying amount to faulty goods and that buyers must be reimbursed. The court made its decision this week, on the basis of a CD produced by EMI France of a song by the French singer Alain Suchon entitled "J`veux du live" (I want it live).

French consumer group UFC-Que Choisir is campaigning against the use of technical devices by manufacturers to prevent their CDs from being read by, or played on, computers, car radios or even some hi-fi audio systems.

As techies keenly await the launch of fuel cells that can run laptops for over 10 hours without plug power, backers of the technology must first prove that the cells are safe for flying with. Japanese companies are pushing ahead with prototypes of miniaturised fuel cell technology that use methanol to create power, even though experts say limited-life batteries are here to stay for several more years.

Methanol is flammable, but fuel cells typically use less than 24% methanol in water, said John Goodman, president of the fuel cell division at Entegris, which makes fuel cell components. Goodman predicts that, in a matter of years, fuel cell batteries no bigger than a cigarette lighter will run for 10 hours or more before being replaced. Developers must prove they are as safe to fly with as a cigarette lighter or a duty-free bottle of vodka.