Your secret PIN may not be so secret
An unprecedented theft of personal identification numbers from thousands of consumers across the country is calling into question the basic safety of paying with debit cards. The debit card breach, which the trade publication American Banker says could have allowed thieves to gain access to as many as 600,000 bank accounts, has raised larger questions about whether merchants are improperly storing customers' personal data. . . . .

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Spyware-killing Vista could take out rivals
Updated OS toughens its tools to fight sneaky programs--which could spell trouble for other anti-spyware makers. . . . .

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Microsoft's new DRM Plays For Sh... Shorter
Microsoft's "PlaysForSure" DRM knocks as much as 25 per cent off the battery life of a portable music jukebox, according to tests. The CNET testers discovered that playback of encrypted files suffers compared to unencrypted MP3 files. That's not so surprising, and even Apple's own iPod turns in a shorter battery life when playing locked-down AAC files purchased through Apple's iTunes. . . . .

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DRM Gets A French Kiss-Off
Digital rights management -- essentially, the technology to control where, when, and how customers access digital content -- is a peculiar creature. It is a "product" no one wants; as others have pointed out in the past, its main job is to make a customer's life harder and less convenient than it would otherwise be. . . . .

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Windows Live parental controls due this summer
Microsoft expects to release a first version of new, no cost parental control software for Windows XP by the end of June, the company said Monday. As reported earlier, Windows Live Family Safety Settings software is designed to help keep Web content that parents deem inappropriate from reaching their children. A preview version of the tool is currently available to testers. . . . .

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No Internet Bubble?
Another Internet Bubble? Not according to John Battelle writing in The New York Times Friday. John believes that we are in a new era of internet opportunity ... a grounded, stable and vibrant opportunity ... called Web 2.0. He gives these four reasons: . . . .

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Windows Live offers Microsoft a quicker turnaround
Although it has taken Microsoft five years to develop the next version of Windows, the software maker seems to crank out a new Windows Live service every five minutes. And, to some degree, that's the point. . . . .

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Microsoft allies with antispam group
Microsoft has joined the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group, the organization announced Tuesday. The move brings the software giant's Outlook, Exchange Server and MSN Hotmail products and services into the effort, which is dedicated to combating spam . . . .

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Adobe Systems has issued a patch for critical security flaws in its Macromedia Flash Player
he vulnerabilities in the application affect Flash Player versions 8.0.22 or earlier, as well as Breeze Meeting add-in version 5.0 or earlier, according to an advisory from the software maker. The player software enables people to view Flash movies or animations on Web sites, while Macromedia's Breeze Meeting is a Web conferencing tool that uses Flash Player. . . . .

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AOL said it plans to launch on Wednesday one of the biggest free video services on the Internet
The service, called In2TV, will launch with four advertisers--Intel, Kia Motors, Kraft Foods and Hershey. "It's from the strength of the online advertising market that we can bring free on demand (videos)," Kevin Conroy, executive vice president of AOL Media Networks said in an interview. . . . .

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