Virus writer loses appeal

Jan de Wit, author of the Anna Kournikova worm, has lost his appeal against his sentence for creating and distributing the prolific worm. According to TheRegister, De Wit, who goes by the name OnTheFly, yesterday lost his appeal in a Dutch court, which upheld the earlier decision to sentence him to 150 hours of community service. The 22-year-old De Wit appealed against his sentence on the grounds that it "could hamper his career".

His lawyer expressed disappointment at losing the appeal, saying: "I hoped that he would be acquitted. My client never had the intention to do any damage." The Kournikova virus, released in February last year, was one of the most prolific worms ever produced. While it promised racy pictures of the tennis star, it in fact swamped business mail servers as it spread.

Days after its release, De Wit came forward to the authorities, saying he created the worm with a virus toolkit. He maintains he posted the virus to a newsgroup without thinking and had not intended to cause damage. [TheRegister]

SuSE is pitching for the mainstream office desktop market with today`s announcement of SuSE Linux Desktop, which it describes as the "first element of SuSE`s product campaign for the utilisation of Linux on workstations". The product, which will ship from January, is aimed at existing Windows users, companies and individuals with no previous Linux experience.

The key elements of the new SuSE Linux Desktop are CodeWeavers Crossover Office and Acronis OS Selector. CodeWeavers allows users to install and run Microsoft Office 97 and 2000, and Lotus Notes, on Linux. It`s been available separately for a while, but by bundling it SuSE is making a particularly aggressive move.

Acronis OS Selector, as its name suggests, is a multi-operating system manager. It allows you to load more than one operating system onto a single machine and then selectively choose which one to use. The combination of YasT2 (SuSE`s own installer) and Acronis is meant to ease the process of installing Linux onto a machine with Windows already installed, without trashing everything in its path. Which is not a bad idea considering the number of users scared off by the prospect of losing everything.

Wireless technology developer Innovi Technologies has released a Bluetooth headset, which the company says is compatible with all Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones. The Bluetrek is also available bundled with a Bluetooth adaptor for non-Bluetooth-enabled phones.

The Bluetrek weighs in at a fairly light 27 grams and runs for up to 150 minutes of talk time. Innovi MD Nicolas Gontard says: "Bluetrek fills an important void in the mobile market. Customers can now enjoy the freedom to use our products with any mobile phone. They do not have to invest in an expensive Bluetooth handset." Other players in this market include Ericsson, which has long touted its Bluetooth headset, although it has failed to set the market alight.

This week`s TechNiche:
New Palm, Dell plans PDA
Sun joins WS-I board