Free Republic

NEW YORK (AP) -- Comcast Corp. on Tuesday acknowledged "delaying" some subscriber Internet traffic, but said any roadblocks it puts up are temporary and intended to improve surfing for other users. The statement was a response to an Associated Press report last week that detailed how the nation's largest cable company was interfering with file sharing by some of its Internet subscribers. The AP also found that Comcast's computers masqueraded as those of its users to interrupt file-sharing connections. Internet watchdog groups denounced Comcast's actions, calling it an example of the kind of abuse that could be curbed with so-called...

Gnutella Developer Gene Kan, 25, Commits SuicideTue Jul 9, 8:00 PM ET SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Gene Kan, one of the key programmers behind the popular file-sharing technology known as Gnutella ( news - web sites), has died in an apparent suicide, officials said on Tuesday. He was 25. Photos AP Photo   San Mateo County Coroner spokeswoman Sue Turner said Kan was found last week at his northern California home. "The cause of death was a perforating gunshot wound to the head," Tuner said. "It was a suicide." A spokeswoman for Kan said he died on June 29 and...

Tech Pioneer's Death Called Suicide Tue Jul 9, 7:48 PM ETBy RON HARRIS, Associated Press Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A pioneer of the technology that took Internet file-sharing far beyond Napster ( news - web sites), Gene Kan became something of an unofficial spokesman for one of the hottest software developments to survive the Internet boom. Photos AP Photo On Tuesday, the 25-year-old Kan was mourned by colleagues after being found dead of what authorities said was an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. Sue Turner of the San Mateo County medical examiner's office said Kan's body was found July 2...

Hollywood vs. the Internet Why entertainment companies want to hack your computer. By Mike Godwin If you have a fast computer and a fast Internet connection, you make Hollywood nervous. Movie and TV studios are worried not because of what you’re doing now, but because of what you might do in the near future: grab digital content with your computer and rebroadcast it online.Which is why the studios, along with other content providers, have begun a campaign to stop you from ever being able to do such a thing. As music software designer Selene Makarios puts it, this effort represents...