Brand: MacNews

Apple made several announcements today from their Worldwide Developer Conference.

Vivendi, a company that filed a lawsuit against MP3.com just last year, has agreed to buy the music portal for US$372 million. The New York Times reports that deal is in response to other alliances in the industry.

Reuters is reporting this morning that software piracy in the Middle East declined for the first time in 2000, thanks to the efforts of governments cracking down on illegal copies of software. The Business Software Alliance said in a report total losses for the industry from piracy in the Middle East narrowed to US$240 million in 2000 from $284 million in 1999.

We mentioned a new release of Analog yesterday — the excellent Web log analysis tool — and now Analog Helper has followed suit. Analog Helper 1.2.4 is a graphical tool that will help you configure Analog and avoid dealing with the complex text-based syntax of the program.

Unsolicited email, or SPAM as it is more affectionately known, is an annoyance to just about everyone around the world. Authorities in Germany are looking into the issue with interest, as online access in that country — indeed, most of Europe — costs users a per-minute fee. In essence, consumers are paying to receive unsolicited email. (German language report)