:: ADSL : Anti-competitive behaviour squeezes broadband ISP’s & consumers :: MyADSL: Technology and Broadband News

:: ADSL : Anti-competitive behaviour squeezes broadband ISP’s & consumers :: MyADSL: Technology and Broadband News

Margin squeeze and uncompetitive behaviour is nothing new to any ISP dealing in the South African broadband arena.ISPA (Internet Service Providers Association) has been very vocal on this issue. In their recent submission to the Competition Commission this organization, which officially represents South African ISP’s, asked the authority to look into Telkom’s wholesale ADSL pricing models and service provisioning.

South Africa has traditionally been a very tough market in which to address possible anticompetitive behaviour by the local telecoms giant, but in Europe the situation is very different.

Financial Times recently reported that the Spanish telecommunications group Telefónica was officially charged for anti-competitive behaviour by the European Union’s top competition regulator.

These antitrust charges revolved around the undermining of competition from broadband rivals through margin squeeze.

SA gets tech support site

SA gets tech support site

A small group of professionals has created a Web site dedicated to providing technical help in IT.The site, Techsupport.za.net, is a forum monitored by around nine operators, and allows users to register and then seek advice on technology issues ranging from hardware problems to programming questions.

“We want to inspire younger people [interested in IT], and help them get up-and-running, but also make help available to IT professionals,” says spokesperson Inarie Dreyer.

First Mac OS X worm detected

First Mac OS X worm detected

Global cyber security experts this week discovered the first virus, called Leap-A, for the Apple Mac OS X platform, which spreads via the iChat instant messaging system.advertisement
Click here
SophosLabs explains that the worm forwards itself as a file called latestpics.tgz to contacts on an infected user’s “buddy” list. When opened on a computer, the file disguises itself with a JPEG graphic icon in an attempt to fool users that it’s harmless.

The worm, says SophosLabs, uses the text “oompa” as an infection marker in the resource forks of infected programs to prevent it from re-infecting the same files.

Brett Myroff, CEO of local Sophos distributor Netxactics, says the increased uptake of the Mac OS X platform has prompted it to be targeted by malware, and urges users of all operating systems not to be complacent.

“Leap-A shows that the malware threat on Mac OS X is real,” he says.

Pffft, it is not a true virus. Bloody stoopid South African journalists.

RIAA aims to ban CD ripping – vnunet.com

RIAA aims to ban CD ripping – vnunet.com

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has reversed its position on CD ripping and now wants the practice outlawed.In a filing to the US government concerning digital rights management the RIAA and other copyright industry associations said the fact that CD ripping is widespread does not make it legal.

“Nor does the fact that permission to make a copy in particular circumstances is often or even routinely granted necessarily establish that the copying is a fair use when the copyright owner withholds that authorisation,” the filing stated.

“In this regard, the statement attributed to counsel for copyright owners in the MGM v. Grokster case is simply a statement about authorisation, not about fair use.”

This is a complete reversal of the RIAA’s previous policy. In last year’s Supreme Court MGM v. Grokster case a representative of the RIAA described ripping a CD and putting it on an iPod as “perfectly lawful”.

“It is no secret that the entertainment ‘oligopolists’ are not happy about space-shifting and format-shifting,” said the Electronic Frontier Foundation in a statement. “But surely ripping your own CDs to your own iPod passes muster. “