A Hong Kong man was sentenced to three months in prison in what local officials say is the world's first successful prosecution of copyright violation using the popular file-sharing software BitTorrent.
Chan Nai-ming, 38, who called himself "Big Crook" on the internet, was earlier convicted of illegally uploading three Hollywood films, Daredevil, Red Planet and Miss Congeniality, onto a website so that others could obtain them.
Chan is the first person in the world to be convicted and jailed for illegal online sharing of copyrighted material using the BitTorrent software, said customs spokeswoman Glenis Liong.
Chan was found guilty last month of three counts of attempting to distribute copyrighted material without authorization.
Magistrate Colin Mackintosh said Chan's act greatly hurt the interest of the copyrighted material's owner although he did not make any profit from uploading the movies onto the internet.
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All in one place: Yahoo and TiVo are teaming up to blend some of their services, a move that further fades the lines between offices and living rooms, TVs and PCs.
Under a partnership, the two will collaborate to offer Yahoo's (YHOO) internet-based content and services through TiVo's digital video recording devices.
Users of Yahoo's TV page will be able to click on a record-to-TiVo button directly from a television program listing to remotely schedule recordings.
And in the coming months, possibly before the end of the year, Yahoo's traffic and weather content, as well as its users' photos will be viewable on televisions via TiVo's broadband service and easy-to-use screen menu.
TiVo subscribers already have the ability to remotely schedule recordings from the TiVo website, but this will give the DVR pioneer a way to potentially tap Yahoo's large user base and gain some much-needed new customers.
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Take it with you: Yahoo and Google are set to roll out new wireless services, taking advantage of advanced networks and cell phones to provide features similar to those available on computers.
Yahoo (YHOO) soon will introduce a cell phone it will sell through a partnership with SBC (SBC). The phone will take Yahoo a step closer to linking music, photos and e-mail with consumers' existing online accounts, address books and preferences.
Google (GOOG) is tailoring some internet services for use on wireless devices. Consumers using some types of cell phones will be able to access satellite maps wirelessly as they can on the Google Maps service.
The moves will mark a further step in the evolution of cell phones from communications devices to minicomputers that can be used for email, web browsing, music downloading and even watching TV, in addition to calls. Handset manufacturers have already started to produce single devices that combine cell phones, web surfing, wireless email and MP3 players.
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Oracle foresees rocky future: Microsoft launched its corporate database software program aimed at taking market share from Oracle.
Microsoft's SQL Server 2005, delayed several times as engineers sought to make the software more reliable and secure, is a corporate database program designed to store and retrieve business data.
Apart from databases, both Microsoft (MSFT) and Oracle (ORCL) are investing in business software, which allows companies to track customer accounts, manage payroll, finances and human resources.
Along with SQL (pronounced "sequel") Server, Microsoft also launched Visual Studio 2005, a software tools program used to create applications, and said it would launch a program for tracking business processes, called BizTalk Server 2006, next year.
In order to promote the use of SQL Server and Visual Studio, Microsoft also said that it would offer free versions of the two programs for personal use so that individuals can create their own databases, websites and software programs.
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Compiled by Keith Axline. AP and Reuters contributed to this report.
