Ed Sutherland

Microsoft headed into two days of closed-door hearings with European regulators, facing $2.4 million in daily fines over what the EU feel is noncompliance with a 2004 antitrust ruling. This is a case the software giant just can’t win, according to analysts. In late 2005, European regulators warned Microsoft it could be fined for every […]

The release of two third-party patches to fix serious security holes in the Internet Explorer browser is a “side-effect of Microsoft not being able to protect its users,” according to Marc Maiffret, an executive of one of the companies releasing free security software this week. EEye says its free patch has been downloaded more than […]

UPDATED: European regulators are warning Microsoft to remove several features from the upcoming Windows Vista operating system or face being barred from the European market. The latest threats come a day before EU regulators meet to decide whether Microsoft is complying with a 2004 antitrust ruling. At tomorrow’s hearing, Microsoft could also face an additional […]

StreamCast Networks, maker of the Morpheus file-swapping software, filed charges against the founders of Skype and developers of Kazaa, alleging the defendants engaged in numerous violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. The company also claims it owns the software used by the peer-to-peer Internet phone service. StreamCast is asking a jury […]

Microsoft filed a formal appeal of South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) antitrust ruling that, like the European Union, demands two versions of Windows for consumers. The move follows a preliminary government edict from last February, which finalized an earlier ruling imposing a nearly $32 million fine, plus demands the software giant offer two versions […]

Microsoft is denying a report that it has begun rewriting its Windows Vista operating system. The report is “speculation with no demonstrable basis in fact,” a spokesperson told internetnews.com. An Australian trade publication, SmartHouse.com, published the report, quoting an unnamed Microsoft source. It said the software maker has pulled employees from its Xbox gaming division […]

UPDATED: The on-again, off-again merger talks between Alcatel and its troubled U.S. rival Lucent Technologies seems to have awoken from a five-year slumber. After lawsuits, federal investigations and lowered earnings, the Murray Hill, N.J. Lucent has a chance that won’t likely come again, according to analysts. In hiatus since 2001 when another proposed merger between […]

Attackers and security experts are in a race against time, as new, more dangerous, Internet Explorer exploits are made public. The latest, found by researchers this morning, reportedly overcomes a fix released yesterday by Microsoft. “I will virtually guarantee someone is looking to turn PCs into spam zombies,” Scott Carpenter, director of security at Secure […]

Microsoft is responding to what one security firm terms a “highly critical” flaw in Internet Explorer. The software giant said it is planning to release a pre-patch advisory with instructions on avoiding the security problem. Attackers could exploit a flaw in the “createTextRange()” method used by IE to control radio buttons, according to Copenhagen, Denmark-based […]

UPDATED: Microsoft is refusing to comment on reports it plans to shake up the Windows group following yesterday’s bombshell that the consumer version of Windows Vista won’t be available until after the crucial Christmas shopping period. Meanwhile experts are assessing the fallout for consumers and companies faced with another delay in the world’s most popular […]

Microsoft today announced its largest European Internet TV contract. Deutsche Telekom said it will use Microsoft TV IPTV Edition software to bring television to 50 German towns by the end of 2007. While the two companies didn’t release terms of the contract, the agreement is the software giant’s second largest IPTV pact next to a […]

If its Monday, VeriSign must be buying another mobile media company. A week after acquiring Kontiki, VeriSign has agreed to pay $250 million for m-Qube, a privately-held wireless content delivery firm with customers including CBS, major league baseball and Sony Pictures. The deal is gives m-Qube an exit strategy with the domain name registrar. mCube […]