Ten internet service providers have been ordered to hand over the details of 150 UK customers accused of illegally sharing software.

Microsoft have released an official update to the Xbox 360, patching in improvements to a number of different facets of the console.

An "extremely critical" security vulnerability has been discovered in AOL's Winamp digital media player, relating to the way the software handles filenames that include a computer name. An exploit has already surfaced for the flaw, which affects version 5 of the software.

RiDisc, under the Risafe brand, have introduced a novel, efficient and highly cost effective way of storing all your discs.

DVD dynamo Flash has posted his latest review for Plextor 16x DVD+R which he has put through all the usual and highly rigourous tests. Of the disc he concludes, "This disc looks nice with its gold finish making it look the part of another quality disc". You can read his review here.

Western Digital (WD) has upped the capacity of its Caviar Serial ATA desktop hard drive range to 500GB, pitching not only the part's storage but also its low power consumption and low operational noise level - features it also highlighted for its new 120GB Scorpio 2.5in notebook drive.

The English High Court has ordered two men to pay a combined £6,500 in damages after deciding they illegally distributed music through P2P file-sharing networks.

The successor of the popular DVR-110 series, the DVR-111 / DVR-111D DVD burners from Pioneer will be released in Europe soon after mid-March. The device writes a full DVD disc in less than six minutes.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates said on Friday that beating software piracy in China and India and getting compliance up to U.S. and European levels would take 10 years.

Taiwanese DVD maker Ritek released a warning advising consumers that faked DVD-R media have appeared in Japan under the Ritek label.

The new low-budget film from director Steven Soderbergh promises to shake things up in the movie industry. In the US, Bubble opens in theatres on Friday, Jan. 27, the same day it is broadcast in HDTV. Four days later, it comes out on DVD, effectively obsoleting the traditional 'window' between a film's cinema and DVD releases.

Citing sources inside Microsoft, it has been claimed that the software giant is working on plans to develop its own portable digital media device to rival Apple's iPod.

Ritek, one of the top two makers of optical discs in Taiwan, on January 24 announced it obtained certification for 8x DVD+R DL (single-sided double-layer) discs from Royal Philips Electronics last week, becoming the only the third company to receive such certification.

It's been a fairly tough start to the year for both Sony's PS3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360, but it looks like Sony's woe may be a touch worse.

Postech, a second-tier producer of optical discs, has decided to stop production of DVD+R/-R discs in the first half of this year and shift to other products, according to industry sources. Postech declined to comment on the report.

The Motion Picture Ass. of America, the leader in the global fight against movie piracy, is being accused of unlawfully making a bootleg copy of a documentary that takes a critical look at the MPAA's film ratings system.

Consumer spending on DVDs fell last year, despite more being sold than ever, according to a report.

It seems that ZoneAlarm Security Suite has been phoning home, even when told not to. Last autumn, James Borck discovered ZA 6.0 was surreptitiously sending encrypted data back to four different servers, despite disabling all of the suite’s communications options.

Toshiba may be far from giving up its battle with Sony to establish the successor of the DVD. But just in case Blu-ray may come out on top, Toshiba has an ace in its backhand: A joint-venture the company has founded with Samsung will be producing Blu-ray drives for delivery in the second quarter.

Those in the market for a new computer probably have a checklist worked out : It has to have the right monitor size, be able to handle all the right tasks and come installed with the right software. But shoppers might want to consider one more potentially crucial sticking point : Is it Vistaready?