NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 14 August
14-08-2009
by Emmet Cole
Twitter being used by botnets: expert | Gala Networks unveils new game
Budget airline Ryanair has revealed that four more German websites have signed "legally binding" declarations to stop selling Ryanair's flights to German consumers. The sites -- travelgreen.de, titanic.de, flycall.de and atr24.de -- are the latest of a growing number of so-called 'screenscraper' websites that have agreed to stop including Ryanair in their listings. Ryanair recently launched proceedings in the Dublin High Court against other screenscrapers, claiming they breached the Ryanair.com 'terms of use' and property rights. In May 2009, a court in Hamburg found that screenscraping to resell Ryanair's flights is unlawful. Ryanair only allows price comparison websites to access its timetable and pricing information, for an annual charitable donation of EUR100.
Micro-blogging site Twitter is being used for botnet command and control purposes, according to research from IT security firm Arbor Networks. On Arbor Networks' blog, senior security researcher Jose Nazario claims he discovered a botnet that uses a Twitter account to send out status updates containing what appears to be a single line of indecipherable text. The text actually points to links where the infected botnet machines can download more malicious code. Although the account in question has been shut down by Twitter, Nazario is warning that it was just one of a handful of Twitter accounts being used for this purpose.
Dublin-based Gala Networks Europe, the free-to-play games publisher, has joined forces with XPEC Entertainment to announce the launch of 'Canaan Online', a browser-based flash MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) which will be released across Europe in early 2010. Available in French, English, and German, the manga-style game will available to play on the gPotato.eu games portal.
Apple's directors plan to meet next Tuesday to discuss possible replacements for the board seat recently vacated by Google chief Eric Schmidt, according to US reports. Schmidt left Apple's board late last month, as Apple grew increasingly concerned over potential conflicts of interest between Apple and Google. Schmidt's membership on the two companies' boards is also being investigated by the Federal Trade Commission. Schmidt had been an Apple board member since 2006.
Meanwhile, watch out Apple: rival Microsoft is launching a new digital music player, the Zune HD. The digital video/music player will cost USD219.99 dollars for a 16 GB version and USD289.99 dollars for the 32 GB version. Apple's 16 and 32 GB iPod Touch players are priced at USD299 dollars and USD399, respectively. The Zune HD is available now for pre-order in the United States but will not hit the shelves there until 15 September. It is not yet known when the Zune HD will be available in Ireland.
Chorus NTL and US sports television channel ESPN have signed a deal that will make the new ESPN sports channel part of Chorus NTL offering to Irish customers. ESPN is set to broadcast 46 English Premier League games live and 30 Scottish Premier League football games this year. Customers will also be able to watch a wide range of additional football coverage on ESPN, including Live Serie A, German Bundesliga, Dutch Eredivisie, Portuguese Liga, Russian Premier League and Major League Soccer from the US. Chorus NTL subscribers will also be able to view ESPN Classic and ESPN America. Viewers who already subscribe to a combination of either Sky Sports or Setanta through Chorus NTL will get ESPN and ESPN America for an additional EUR10 per month or from EUR15 per month for new customers.
In more football-related news, mobile operator Three has launched its Premiership football package for the 2009/10 season. Planet 3's 'My Team' application will keep fans updated on every result, fixture and Premier League position for their favourite team. Meanwhile, Sky Sports video alerts will enable users to know when a video clip update of their team is available. Three customers can browse news of their team for free on 'My Team' and gain access to Sky Sports News and Sky Sports 1, 2 & 3 for EUR0.99 per day/EUR1.99 per week.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 