Basically, Audible Magic filters content based on an audio fingerprinting service that checks against a database of copyrighted works. Installed in a piece of P2P software, it prevents copyrighted works from being transmitted in the first place, which is what the article above discussed. However, Audible Magic is now attempting to sell its technology to schools and universities. In such cases, Audible Magic's technology will listen in to the data transfers (aka sniff packets) in the network and attempt to terminate those virtual circuits it believes are violating copyright.

Session encryption for file transfers based on ephemeral keys represents a cheap, easily implemented countermeasure that would effectively frustrate Audible Magic's filtering technology. Based on publicly available information, it does not appear that this vulnerability can be easily remedied. Should Audible Magic's technology be widely adopted, it is likely that P2P file-sharing applications would be revised to implement encryption. Accordingly, network administrators will want to ask Audible Magic tough questions before investing in the company's technology, lest the investment be rendered worthless by the next P2P "upgrade."

Microsoft says a U.S. antitrust court victory last week has a lot to teach Europeans at a time when the software giant faces a major antitrust case here, but experts differ over whether the U.S. decision will make a difference.

The two courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington and the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg, have different procedures, different precedents, interpret different laws and have different cases at issue.

In the United States, both Microsoft and the government applauded the Washington decision because both had been in the same corner, which had been challenged by the state of Massachusetts and two anti-Microsoft trade groups.

"This is a resounding victory for the Justice Department and American consumers," said the head of the antitrust division, Assistant Attorney General R. Hewitt Pate.

Microsoft's top legal counsel said Thursday that the software giant needs further details from the European Union before it will be able to comply with an order to remove its Media Player from Windows.

Shortly before that deadline expired, Microsoft appealed to the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg to suspend the commission's order until the case is completed. This could take years.

RealNetworks, which makes a rival media player, demonstrated at a closed hearing in the case a method for removing the Windows Media Player files. It said the method would not damage the Windows operating system.

The commission also ordered the removal of Media Player and the disclosure of information that would help level the playing field for rival makers of work group server software for printing documents in offices.

The European Commission has temporarily suspended an order requiring Microsoft to sell a version of Windows without media player software, just before it would have taken effect, a source familiar with the situation said Sunday.

Microsoft on Friday asked for a suspension of the sanctions for as long the case was before European courts, which could be three years or more. All filings before the court are confidential and not available to the public.

The Commission ruled in March that Microsoft had violated the law by using its dominant Windows operating system to compete unfairly against rivals.

"All the risk in suspension is to consumers and competitors, not Microsoft," the Computer & Communications Industry Association said when it made a filing with the court last week.

It said the suspension would give Microsoft time to tip the market in its favor while the case was being heard.

Gutierrez disagreed.

"Our position is that these remedies are not necessary today or in the future," he said.

Yahoo altered its instant messaging language to stop third-party programs, such as Trillian and the slightly-less-popular Miranda from working with Yahoo's service – Yahoo says the move is meant to prevent spamming on the network.

Trillian's often under flak from the major instant messaging groups – not too long ago, Microsoft blocked Trillian access to the MSN network, however Trillian got around that block.

On the Trillian forums, "Pneumatic" was quoted as saying: "This is a known issue and the developers are working on it. When an update is available we will post it in the announcements section." Considering Trillian's ability to get around blocks in the past, it looks like the Yahoo block may not be so successful after all.

A new Beastie Boys' CD called "To the Five Boroughs" (Capitol Records), is raising hackles around the Web for reputedly infecting computers with a virus.

According to a recent thread at BugTraq, an executable file is automatically and silently installed on the user's machine when the CD is loaded. The file is said to be a driver that prevents users from ripping the CD (and perhaps others), and attacks both Windows boxen and Macs.

But assuming that the unconfirmed reports are accurate, we have here a media company infecting users' machines silently with a file that affects a computer's functionality, without first obtaining informed consent: a likely violation of pretty much every jurisdiction's anti-hacking laws. It's possible to foresee criminal charges being brought at some point: after all, having a good reason for spreading malware has never been much of a defence in court. And a file that alters a computer's functioning without the owner's informed consent is the very definition of malware.

Faced with a new set of lawsuits, prominent DVD and game copying software company 321 Studios may be nearing the end of its short and tumultuous life, Chief Executive Robert Moore said Wednesday.

Moore's company was sued by a trio of large video game companies on Tuesday. The companies contend that 321 Studios' recently released Games X Copy software violated copyright law. Previously, a San Francisco judge had ruled that 321's popular DVD X Copy was illegal, because it was able to circumvent copyright protection programs. The judge ordered it removed from the market.

The St. Louis company has been a standard-bearer for the idea of fair use of entertainment--essentially the idea that consumers should be able to make personal backup copies of products they have purchased, such as CDs, DVDs or video games.

Software firm Microsoft has announced that it is giving away free software licences.

The free licence only applies to computers that remain switched off.

The offer only applies to cold servers that stay switched off until they are needed and are only available if you are signed up to Microsoft's Software Assurance licensing programme.

We wonder if Microsoft's next cunning plan will be to extend its radical free licence program to computers and servers that haven't been built yet.

Security technology company Symantec reported Thursday that it has analyzed what it believes to be the first known threat to 64-bit Windows systems, a virus labeled W64.Rugrat.3344.

Symantec said it was not expecting widespread copycats of W64.Rugrat.3344, since the affected assembly code requires fairly advanced technical knowledge. Symantec said W64.Rugrat.3344 was created in IA64 (Intel Architecture) assembly code and infects IA64 executable files, excluding .dll files. The security specialists reported that W64.Rugrat.3344 also infects files that are in the same folder as the virus, as well as all files within related subfolders.

Microsoft has launched an effort to produce a version of Windows for high-performance computing, a move seen as a direct attack on a Linux stronghold.

High-performance computing once required massive, expensive, exotic machines from companies such as Cray, but the field is being remade by the arrival of clusters of low-end machines. While the trend could be considered an opportunity for Microsoft, which has long been the leading operating-system company, Linux has actually become the favored software used on these clusters.

"The majority of people doing high-performance computing are a lot more comfortable and efficient inside a Unix environment," a category that includes Linux, the SDSC's Papadopoulos said. To convince people to invest the time and money to switch, Microsoft will have to offer something much better, he said.

Dozens of machines in a list of the 500 fastest supercomputers run Linux, including five of the top 10. Only two on the list are identified as Windows machines.