Articles by Keith Regan

The New Year may bring yet another threat from the Sober family of worms, according to security researchers who say a recently discovered variant of the worm contains code that could unleash a new round of attacks on Jan. 5, 2006 Security firm iDefense, which is owned by VeriSign, said a variant of Sober found in November contains encrypted code th...

In a move that signals the growing importance of gaming on hand-held devices, Electronic Arts (EA) said it was buying mobile game developer Jamdat Mobile Inc. for US$680 million in cash The agreement calls for Redwood City, Calif.-based EA to pay $27 in cash for all outstanding shares of Los Angeles-based Jamdat stock, about a 15 percent premium ov...

Even those who sell them for a living acknowledge that the day may never come when electronic greeting cards replace paper cards. But eCards are already far more than just a time-wasting diversion or a low-cost alternative to the real thing ECard companies are increasingly finding users willing to pay for the privilege of sending their cards and ar...

Sony is spinning off its Internet subsidiary and the initial public offering is drawing strong interest from Japanese investors, suggesting that interest in Web-focused stocks has international reach Sony Communication Network, which operates the So-Net Internet service in Japan and other Web interests, priced its offering above expected levels tod...

Taking aim at VoIP leader and new eBay acquisition Skype -- and to a lesser extent at established phone companies -- Yahoo is poised to roll out an Internet calling service that will enable low-cost calls between computers and traditional phones The service, set to launch in the next few days, according to various reports, would add Voice over Inte...

Time Warner has apparently decided not to sell off part or all of America Online, but instead is looking for a new search and advertising partner and may be putting the finishing touches on a deal to switch its search provider from Google to Microsoft's MSN Despite months of reports and rumors that all or part of AOL would be sold, with suitors inc...

Liberty Media, parent company of the QVC home shopping network, became the latest traditional media company to make a strong push into the Internet space, buying food-based e-tailer Provide Commerce, Inc. in a deal worth US$477 million The all-cash deal gives Liberty Media control of Provide's family of perishable-goods e-commerce sites, which incl...

In a bid to boost the profile of its subscription streaming music offering by making it available to all computer users, RealNetworks said it is testing a Web-based version of its Rhapsody service Making a version of Rhapsody work with most Web browsers would make the service more mobile -- users could access it from any PC with an Internet connect...

Raising the possibility that it will change course once again on a hotly debated move meant to give adult content Web sites their own Internet realm, the net's governing body has decided to shelve a plan to discuss how to create a ".xxx" domain The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) had intended to discuss how to proceed wi...

Sales of mobile phones that double as digital cameras have soared during 2005, with nearly 300 million such handsets expected to be sold before year's end, according to new projections from Gartner Camera phone sales will reach 295.5 million units this year and represent 38 percent of overall mobile phone sales, compared to 14 percent a year ago....

Raising the possibility that it will change course once again on a hotly debated move meant to give adult content Web sites their own Internet realm, the net's governing body has decided to shelve a plan to discuss how to create a ".xxx" domain The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) had intended to discuss how to proceed wi...

Two domain name registration trade groups are suing the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and VeriSign, alleging that a recently reached settlement between the two parties violate anti-trust laws The legal action is just the latest example of dissent within the domain registration community about the way ICANN conducts bus...

Research in Motion is facing added pressure to strike a new settlement agreement to end a patent infringement lawsuit that could lead to the suspension of the firm's popular BlackBerry mobile e-mail service in the United States A judge yesterday refused to enforce an earlier agreement between RIM and NTP Inc. that called for the case to be closed w...

Microsoft is testing a service that would enable people to place classified ads and store a host of other information, a service that would follow in the footsteps of Google Base and underscores how online classifieds and related forms of Web-based information organization are rapidly emerging as the next big Internet battle front Microsoft confirm...

Young people in Europe are three times more likely to illegally swap songs than they are to download them from legitimate sites such as Apple's iTunes Music Store, according to new data that suggests the music industry has yet to solve its lingering digital conundrum Jupiter Research said file-sharers outnumbered those who paid to download music by...

Young people in Europe are three times more likely to illegally swap songs than they are to download them from legitimate sites such as Apple's iTunes Music Store, according to new data that suggests the music industry has yet to solve its lingering digital conundrum Jupiter Research said file-sharers outnumbered those who paid to download music by...

In what's become an annual event known as Cyber Monday, millions of shoppers logged onto the Internet from their jobs yesterday for holiday shopping While not the biggest online shopping day of the season -- in terms of total shopping volume, that often occurs before Thanksgiving, though for some retailers, the busiest hours are yet to come -- the ...

Providing evidence that the Internet is fast becoming the global bazaar many have long imagined -- one with the power to smash traditional barriers to commerce -- a new report says one of every six online Americans has sold something on the Web The Pew Internet & American Life Project said about 17 percent of online American adults have used the In...

TiVo, the personal digital recorder company whose value proposition has long included the ability to let users fast-forward through commercials, said today it was working with several advertising and media companies to make it possible for users to search for specific TV ads they actually want to see alongside their favorite programs The project is...

Not long ago, it sometimes took Web pages 30 seconds to load, thanks to slow, dial-up connections over-burdened servers and inexperienced Web design Now, with high-speed connections and rapidly evolving technology, the days of slow-loading pages are gone. However, users might want to get used to waiting 30 -- or 15, or 10 -- seconds to see their ch...