Apple Computer says it has closed the hole that let people buy iTunes songs without any copy-protection technology attached. According to the company, anybody who wants to buy music from the store now will have to upgrade at least to the 4.7 version of iTunes.

Microsoft will be doing a lot to make developers and customers happy with its pending Internet Explorer release, if partner sources with inside information on the IE 7.0 browser are right.

The company will continue to drag its feet by refusing to provide full support for the CSS2 (Cascading Style Sheets Level 2) W3C (Worldwide Web Consortium) standard, Microsoft partners say.

Sources claiming familiarity with Microsoft's IE 7.0 plans said the company will add some additional CSS2 support to its new standalone browser.

But Microsoft isn't planning to go the whole way and make IE 7.0 fully CSS2 compliant, sources said.

One partner said that Microsoft considers CSS2 to be a "flawed" standard and that the company is waiting for a later point release, such as CSS2.1 or CSS3, before throwing its complete support behind it.

America Online, Inc. has quietly updated the terms of service for its AIM instant messaging application, making several changes that is sure to raise the hackles of Internet privacy advocates.

The revamped terms of service, which apply only to users who downloaded the free AIM software on or after Feb. 5, 2004, gives AOL the right to "reproduce, display, perform, distribute, adapt and promote" all content distributed across the chat network by users.

"You waive any right to privacy. You waive any right to inspect or approve uses of the content or to be compensated for any such uses," according to the AIM terms-of-service.

Although the user will retain ownership of the content passed through the AIM network, the terms give AOL ownership of "all right, title and interest in any compilation, collective work or other derivative work created by AOL using or incorporating this [user] content."

"In addition, by posting content on an AIM Product, you grant AOL, its parent, affiliates, subsidiaries, assigns, agents and licensees the irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide right to reproduce, display, perform, distribute, adapt and promote this content in any medium," it added.

The vulnerability is caused due to improper handling of IP packets with the same destination and source IP and the SYN flag set. This causes a system to consume all available CPU resources for a certain period of time.

This kind of attack was first reported in 1997 and became known as LAND attacks.

Microsoft Windows XP with SP2 and Microsoft Windows 2003 have been reported vulnerable.

Microsoft's plan to halt some Net activation for Windows kicked in Monday, with the software maker assuring customers that the antipiracy measure will not prove a problem for legitimate users.

As reported earlier, the updated program calls for the top 20 PC makers to activate Windows XP on every system before it ships. If a customer has to reinstall the operating system, as long as they use the restore disks from the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), activation will be automatic, said Keith Beeman, director of worldwide license compliance for Microsoft.

The company has a plan to check that people's operating systems are properly licensed before allowing them to download certain updates. The plan, known as the Windows Genuine Advantage initiative, was introduced in January.

Ending speculation about whether it was shifting to a paid model, Microsoft said on Tuesday that it will provide customers with its new anti-spyware software for free.

"Just as spyware is something that we have to nip down today, we have decided that all licensed Windows users should have that protection at no charge," Gates said.

While Microsoft turned its attention to general software security three years ago with its Trustworthy Computing Initiative, the spotlight on consumers began a year and a half ago, after the MSBlast worm infected millions of home PCs. The worm taunted Microsoft's founder with the message, "billy gates why do you make this possible? Stop making money and fix your software!"

A Silicon Valley company unveiled Tuesday a new technology that it claims to be able to block 97 percent of the DVD-copying software used by Internet pirates, without interfering with a DVD's paly ability or picture quality.

Macrovision Corp. said its RipGuard system, which can be included in personal computers, DVD players and DVD recorders, would plug the digital hole through which unauthorized versions of DVD films can be easily copied on a computer and then "burned" to other discs or put online for downloading.

"Macrovision RipGuard DVD is designed to dramatically reduce DVD ripping," Steve Weinstein, head of the company's entertainment technologies unit, said in a statement Tuesday.

In the first case of its kind, a California video game maker is suing an entire community of software tinkerers for reverse engineering and modifying Xbox games that they legally purchased.

According to the complaint, Greiling and Glynn were webmasters of ninjahacker.net, an online forum dedicated to creating custom content and modifications for certain video games.

The lawsuit claims the ninjahacker.net users decompiled the code to several Tecmo titles, including Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive 3, and Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, and figured out how to create their own "skins" that change the appearance of game characters.

"Most of the skins posted on the Message Board by defendants show Tecmo Characters with appearances that are different from the original Tecmo designs," the complaint notes. "Several... are designed to make Tecmo Characters appear naked."

"Hackers, if they're allowed to do this kind of thing, will be allowed to hack into any game, anywhere," Pfeiffer warns. "We spent millions of dollars to develop these games, and people are coming in and changing the code to their liking, and that's illegal."

Tecmo's Pfeiffer says the company is seeking $1,000 to $100,000 in damages for every custom skin swapped over the website.

The first piece of malware to attack Microsoft's new prototype anti-spyware product has emerged. The BankAsh-A Trojan disables Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta in an attempt to suppress any warning messages the package might display. It also deletes files within the program's folder. Unlike other items of malware, BankAsh-A makes no attempt to turn off anti-virus apps.

The main function of BankAsh-A is to steal online banking passwords from unsuspecting Windows users. The Trojan targets users of UK online banks such as Barclays, Cahoot, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Nationwide, NatWest, and Smile. The malware records passwords and keystrokes once users of infected machines visit targeted websites.

According to Detroit News, politicians are starting to listen to groups who are terrified about the effect of selling games such as Grand Theft Auto series, Halo 2 and Mortal Kombat have on children. They think that there is a direct line between video games as Grand Theft Auto and crime.

So far legislation that banned sales of the games to minors has been struck down in the courts on free-speech and other grounds.

Other problems with such a law is if a store refuses to sell a game, the kids often come back with their parents to buy it.