Information, Knowledge, Science & Technology

By KEN RITTER DirecTV Inc. has promised to reimburse unhappy customers and to make its advertised offers clearer, according to a settlement the satellite broadcaster reached Monday with 22 states over deceptive marketing complaints. Montana is among the states. The California-based company admitted no wrongdoing in agreeing to repay Nevada and 21 other states $5 million for the costs of a task force that has tracked consumer complaints about DirecTV contract fees and small print provisions since 2000. The payment does not represent a fine, officials on both sides said." Read More...

By Bary Alyssa Johnson PC Magazine "Network Live, a digital entertainment venture that delivers programming via Internet, satellite and other media, announced Thursday that it has reached an agreement with DirecTV as its newest distribution partner. Network Live founders America Online Inc., XM Satellite Radio and AEG Live had been looking to expand their joint broadcast platform through digital television. The companies recently agreed to invite DirecTV on-board. Under terms of the agreement, DirecTV will stand in as Network Live's first-window television partner. Network Live will act as entertainment programming partner and will offer DirecTV customers access to live broadcasts at no additional cost, as part of their existing subscription service". Read More...

"Dasher.B is a network worm that has the potential to open a back door on computers with the MSDTC flaw, security experts said. The infected systems are then prompted to connect to a remote computer for instructions. Once connected, it downloads a malicious program that tracks keystrokes. 'This new worm aims (to) install software that tries to infect other vulnerable systems, and that also can be used to log keystrokes and turn the computer into a remotely controlled 'bot' system,' James Rendell, a technical product manager at Internet Security Systems, said in a statement." Read More...

"TMobile is launching Samsung’s T809 thin slider phone that we spied last month. We mentioned its fine 262K-color, 320x240 pixel screen last time, along with its 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, and “T-Flash” slot, but it’s also sporting EDGE data, MP3 playback, 70MB of internal memory, and an included 32MB TransFlash card. At 0.61-inches thick it’s right on the RAZR’s tail for slimness, and though we don’t know the price yet, it’ll be in stores December 12th, so we’ll know soon enough." Read More...