A Sony BMG CD has secretly installed DRM software and used "rootkit" cloaking methods to hide it. With the story sweeping across the Net, Sony is attempting to clean up its mess. Using technology developed by British software company First 4 Internet, the CDs limit the number of copy-protected backups that can be made. To enforce the restriction, software and drivers are installed without a user’s knowledge when the CD is accessed. The company has decided to issue a patch to eliminate the cloaking and "allay any unnecessary concerns." The DRM software will not be removed, however, only uncovered; that means users will still be unable to delete it without risk of rendering their CD drive inoperable. Customers must contact Sony BMG support for removal instructions.

Maxtor has announced a new storage solution for PCs that can be purchased with apacities up to 1TB (terabyte). The company said the new Maxtor OneTouch III Turbo Edition will ship in either a 600GB or 1TB capacity point, at $549.95 and $899.95, respectively, beginning in December. There is a small catch, however; the OneTouch storage solution is a small array of two drives, which can be striped in either a RAID 0 array or mirrored in a RAID 1 array. Striping the data across the two disks essentially doubles the capacity, although it leaves both drives vulnerable to lost data should one drive fail.

Microsoft has fitted an anti-virus and PC clean-up utility into the new Windows Live initiative as part of a larger plan to shuttle customers to its Internet security offerings. A beta version of the new Safety Center lets customers run free Web-based computer scans to detect and remove viruses and other known malware. The Safety Center, which currently works only on Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser, uses an ActiveX Control to scan for and remove viruses. It is also capable of detecting vulnerabilities on Internet connections.

Two Microsoft security updates for Internet Explorer can break the functionality of Web sites that use certain custom applications. The problems occur after installing the patches Microsoft delivered with security bulletins MS05-038 and MS05-052, Microsoft said in two advisories posted on its Web site Wednesday. The bulletins were issued in August and October, respectively. Both patches can cause problems with ActiveX controls, small programs designed to perform simple tasks that can make a Web site more interactive. The MS05-038 patch can also hinder Java applications.

A test version of a new Firefox browser is now available. New features include improved pop-up advertisement blocking and faster back and forward Web navigation features, and added support for Mac OS X. The new release comes at a time when the Firefox browser is gaining more share of the browser market, and thereby proving its mettle against Microsoft and other deep-pocketed competitors and their proprietary Internet browsers.

Microsoft partner ODS Software rolled out a .Net Framework-enabled supply chain application first created for Fortune 100 customer Weyerhaeuser as a commercial product for small and midsize businesses. The new edition of ODS’ software brings Microsoft’s Web Services and Smart Client architecture to wholesale building suppliers, an industry still dominated mainly by old-fashioned, text-based "green screen" applications. Capabilities of the XML-based software include inventory management, logistics, sales, operations and procurement.

SGI announced that it has been advised by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) that its common stock, and its 6.5% Senior Secured Convertible Notes due June 1, 2009, will no longer be traded on the NYSE beginning with the opening of business on Monday, November 7, 2005. SGI received notice from the NYSE on May 9, 2005 that its common stock had fallen below the NYSE’s minimum share price standard for continued listing. The NYSE’s standard requires that a company’s common stock trade at a minimum average closing share price of $1.00 during a consecutive 30-day trading period. SGI’s common stock has not returned to compliance with this standard.

A British teenager has been cleared of launching a denial-of-service attack against his former employer, in a ruling that delivers another blow to the U.K’s Computer Misuse Act. At Wimbledon Magistrates Court in London, District Judge Kenneth Grant ruled Wednesday that the teenager had not broken the CMA, under which he was charged. The defendant, who can’t be named for legal reasons, was accused of sending 5 million email messages to his ex-employer that caused the company’s email server to crash. The CMA, which was introduced in 1990, does not specifically include a denial-of-service attack as a criminal offense, something some members of the U.K. parliament want changed. However, it does explicitly outlaw the "unauthorized access" and "unauthorized modification" of computer material. Section 3 of the act, under which the defendant was charged, concerns unauthorized data modification and tampering with systems.

Two days after a Senate oversight committee in Massachusetts questioned the authority of the state’s IT department to standardize on formats for storing public documents and demanded that state officials take more time to study the potential impact of setting the OpenDocument Format (ODF) as a standard, an economic stimulus bill that goes before the Massachusetts Senate has been suddenly amended with text that, if passed, would essentially subjugate all IT procurements and IT department decisions including standard setting to a special task force. Based on the way the amended text makes specific reference to document formats and technology selections for state workers with disabilities, it turns the stimulus bill into a bomb that could easily blow up ODF’s already weakened chances of becoming a statewide document standard.

Chip makers are making clear that they intend to continue to explore advanced technologies such as virtualization and multicore processors to help solve thermal problems and push the performance envelope. At the Fall Processor Forum last week, Fujitsu and Advanced Micro Devices shed some light on technology that will appear in their respective chips next year. In addition, Intel, which is expected to launch its dual-core Xeon MP chip, said it is delaying the release of "Montecito," its first dual-core Itanium processor, until mid-2006 and revamping its Xeon road map.