Hacker takes bite out of Apple’s iTunes

The Norwegian who became a hacker hero for developing software to crack DVD encryption has posted a program to break the lock on Google’s brand-new video viewer.

Jon Lech Johansen has revealed the public key that Apple AirPort Express, a wireless networking protocol, uses to encrypt music sent between iTunes and a wireless base station.

AirPort Express was released in June 2004 as a small wireless bridge from a personal computer to a stereo. Details of the AirPort Express codes were also published on Johansen’s weblog, which is called So Sue Me.

In a double whammy for Apple, Johansen also wrote a program called JustePort, allowing software other than Apple iTunes to stream music to AirPort Express. As a result of Johansen’s work, it’s now only a matter of time before other popular software is capable of streaming music to the AirPort Express. Until now, a copy of iTunes 4.6 was required.

Johansen shot to fame over his controversial program that bypassed DeCSS encryption schemes on DVDs.

In 2003, he narrowly escaped criminal charges, brought by Hollywood, after a Norwegian court found him justified in developing the program to view legally bought DVDs on his Linux machine.

Jon Lech Johansen’s latest program was posted on his “so sue me” web site yesterday. That was just one day after Google, the internet-leading search engine, launched free software allowing users to watch videos.

However, the company modified Google video player, which uses the VLC multimedia player program, to only play videos hosted on the mountain view, California-based company’s own servers.

The 21-year-old Johansen, also known as DVD-Jon, posted a small ‘’patch'’ program on his home page that modifies Google’s program, allowing it to play videos hosted on any server.

Google’s shares have more than tripled to over USD 300 in the 10 months since their debut. Most of the company’s income is from online advertising, although it could boost revenues by charging for some videos in the future.

The company has been stockpiling amateur and professional videos since April, when it asked users to submit their images, and the new viewer allows them to sample the collection for free.

Johansen became a hero to hackers at age 15, when he posted software to unlock the codes the film industry used on DVD movies to prevent illegal copying. He was charged in Norway ITH data break-ins, but was acquitted twice.

The Norwegian, an open source advocate, has also repeatedly posted programs that circumvent Apple Itunes’ music copy-protection technologies this year.

Gates targets global health crisis

Some of the world’s most pressing health problems may be a little closer to being solved following the award of USD 450 million to 43 innovative projects aimed at fighting diseases in the developing world.

The Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative, a major effort to achieve scientific breakthroughs against diseases that kill millions of people each year in the world’s poorest countries, today offered 43 grants totaling USD 436.6 million for a broad range of innovative research projects involving scientists in 33 countries. The ultimate goal of the initiative is to create “deliverable technologies” - health tools that are not only effective, but also inexpensive to produce, easy to distribute, and simple to use in developing countries.

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Price of the entry level handset is pegged at Rs 2,749

THE RELIANCE Infocomm has taken one more step forward in the telecom indutry. With it’s logo “Kar lo Duniya Muthi Mai”. THE RELIANCE Infocomm has launched a new advanced and slim Samsung handset with Long Messaging Service (LMS) and Quick Messaging Service (QMS). The price of the entry level handset is pegged at Rs 2,749.

The LMS facility allows the customer to send messages containing up to 400 characters at a time as against 140 characters for the normal SMS. The set has large phonebook memory that stores 2,000 entries apart from 12 polyphony ring tones and PC sync to facilitate connection to a computer for phonebook download.

The handset has many other features which makes it more superior from other handsets. Featuring three-way conferencing, call waiting, call forwarding etc.

Taunted the people of Wichita, Kansas, for three decades

A serial killer who taunted the people of Wichita, Kansas, for three decades has pleaded guilty to 10 murders, calmly and politely recounting his crimes in horrific detail in an hour-long court hearing, as victims’ relatives stoically absorbed the sordid story.

Dennis Rader, 60, a former Boy Scout leader and church volunteer who in poems and packages sent to news outlets nicknamed himself BTK - for bind, torture, kill - referred to his victims as “projects” as he answered questions from a judge on Monday. Strangling them was part of a sexual fantasy, he said.

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