Apple iTunes hacked again
Two days ago, a hacker known as DVD Jon cracked the digital rights management (DRM) code of the Apple iTunes music service and released a tool to allow users to strip the DRM data, reports Newsfactor.com.
Apple responded by requiring all users to upgrade to the newer iTunes 4.7 that fixes the hole before downloading any additional songs.
DVD Jon has now cracked the new code and released a Linux version of the tool.
"DRM is a technology that allows a rights holder to control access to the content and build a business model on top of that," says Ted Shadler of Forrester Research.
In order for the business model to work, users must find it more convenient to use the legitimate channel to acquire music than the illegal one.
In the case of iTunes, songs cost 99c apiece. The hassle factor of finding the same songs elsewhere on the Internet and downloading them with third-party software is enough, in many cases, to prevent people from pursuing the illegal option, adds Shadler.
Europe to get own domain name
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has approved the .eu extension for European Web sites from next year, reports AFP.
The ICANN green light paves the way for the launch of a technical service for the extension, which is expected to be activated in about 10 days.
With only one candidate able to snare a particular domain name, competition is expected to be fierce, especially for names such as television.eu, media.eu, press.eu, business.eu and sex.eu.
Australia to get hi-tech pay phones
Australian telecommunications company Telstra is to launch pay phones with colour touch-screens and high-speed Internet connections for sending text, photo and video messages, reports Associated Press.
It will outfit 10 phones for a 10-week trial period in the central business district of Sydney.
E-mail and other Internet access will cost about $1.60 for 20 minutes, text messages are 23c each and video messages cost $1.20. Local calls are the same as those at conventional pay phones: 32c.
The company owns about half of Australia`s 65 000 pay phones, from which about one million calls are made each day.
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