France's government is policing cyberspace as well as rundown suburbs in the battle to end two weeks of rioting.
Young rioters are using blog messages to incite violence and cell phones to organize attacks in guerrilla-like tactics they have copied from anti-globalization protesters.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has diverted resources to monitoring blogs in an effort to anticipate the movements of the protesters, who have set fire to thousands of cars since the unrest began on October 27.
Two youths were placed under official investigation, one step short of pressing charges under French law, on suspicion of inciting violence over the internet after urging people to riot in blogs.
"To do the tracking on the internet to identify the people involved is without doubt possible. But it requires considerable surveillance and analysis resources," said internet security expert Solange Ghernaouti-Helie.
Youths are also using cell phones to coordinate the violence, mainly blamed on frustration over racism and unemployment, and to evade the police once the riots are underway.
"Text messages and mobile phones ... help small groups of rioters," said criminologist Alain Bauer. "They can connect easily. It's not only a way to avoid the police, it's a way to organize the fires."
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MSAP: Microsoft is teaming with the Associated Press to offer an advertising-supported online video news network in the first quarter of 2006.
Microsoft (MSFT) will supply the technology, video player and advertising support to the network, while AP's broadcast division will provide the video, which will feature about 50 different stories per day.
Jim Kathman, the head of strategy for the AP's broadcast division, said the network would be offered free of charge to AP's 3,500 newspaper and broadcast members, who would share in the revenues generated by the network based on how much traffic they generate.
Kathman said AP member organizations will be encouraged to contribute video to the network by the end of next year. They could then sell advertising against and receive compensation if their video is used elsewhere on the network.
Each news clip will run about a minute, preceded by a video ad of 15 to 30 seconds, Kathman said.
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Code red, again: Microsoft warned users of a new "critical"-rated flaw in recent versions of Windows that could allow attackers to take control of a system by embedding malicious software code into digital images.
Users of Windows XP, Windows Server and an updated version of Windows 2000 were vulnerable to an attack unless they installed a software patch.
The flaw affects imaging technology used in Windows that could potentially allow an attacker to take control of a system simply by having the user view a digital image that contains software code that exploits the flaw.
The top two providers of security software and services, Symantec (SYMC) and McAfee (MFE) recommended that users install the patch and avoid opening suspicious e-mail attachments or clicking on any unfamiliar links.
Microsoft issued the patches as part of its monthly security bulletin, which it adopted in 2003 to make it easier for users and computer system administrators to install patches and keep track of vulnerabilities in Microsoft's software.
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Time suckers: A federal judge said he would review a disputed settlement in the patent infringement case against the maker of the BlackBerry e-mail device but said it was "highly unlikely" that he would delay the case pending a review by the U.S. Patent Office.
U.S. District Judge James Spencer told a hearing he would decide whether to go ahead with an injunction against Research in Motion (RIMM) after deciding whether a contested $450 million settlement deal with patent holding company NTP is enforceable.
"I intend to move swiftly in this," Spencer said. "I've spent enough of my life and time on NTP and RIM."
RIM and NTP reached a settlement in March, but the deal fell apart in June in a dispute over how to interpret its terms. RIM wants the settlement enforced.
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Compiled by Keith Axline. AP and Reuters contributed to this report.
