In Netflix vs Lovefilm, the winner (probably) takes nowt
It isn't exactly your cliche of two bald men fighting over a comb, but victory in the battle royale between Netflix and Amazon's Lovefilm might not mean much to the eventual 'winner'.
Both of these video-on-demand offerings have their roots in the DVD-by-post business; in fact, that's the service that Netflix pioneered in the US, and which LoveFilm copied in the UK. Both will stream to your laptop, fondleslab or games console. Both are also members of DECE, the consortium behind UltraViolet, and hope to piggyback onto the aforementioned anti-piracy system in the long-term. Their prices are similar, too. LoveFilm has cut its fee to £5 a month, while Netflix launches at £5.99 with the first month free. Read more...
Yahoo awarded $610 million in spam case
Yahoo has won a lawsuit against spammers, a legal victory that also includes a default judgment of $610 million.
In the lawsuit, filed in May 2008, Yahoo targeted a variety of individuals and companies, accusing them of trying to scam people via a spam campaign that falsely informed email recipients that they had won prizes in a non-existent Yahoo-sponsored lottery.
Yahoo alleged that the defendants' goal was to trick email recipients into providing them with personal and financial information that could be used to commit fraud by raiding victims' bank accounts, using their credit cards and applying for loans on their behalf. Read more...
Apple wins German court ruling on Samsung tablets
Apple Inc scored a symbolic legal victory in efforts to keep its lead spot in the tablet computer market when a German court upheld a ban barring Samsung's local unit from selling its Galaxy 10.1 tablets in Europe's biggest economy.
Samsung, which said it will appeal the decision, and Apple have been locked in a global battle over smartphone and tablet patents since April.
Samsung's Galaxy devices are seen as among the biggest challengers to Apple's mobile products, which have achieved runaway success.
Samsung said it was disappointed by the ruling and that it believed the ruling restricts design innovation and progress in the industry. Read more...
U.S. shuts down massive cyber theft ring
U.S. authorities claimed one of their biggest victories against cyber crime as they shut down a ring they said used malicious software to take control of more than 2 million PCs around the world, and may have led to theft of more than $100 million.
A computer virus, dubbed Coreflood, infected more than 2 million PCs, enslaving them into a "botnet" that grabbed banking credentials and other sensitive data its masters used to steal funds via fraudulent banking and wire transactions, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Wednesday. Read more...