Following controversy, Apple has made changes to the end user licence agreement that binds its iBooks Author software. iBooks Author (Credit: Apple) The legal agreement sparked ire following the software's introduction last month for its stipulation that books that were created with the free software would have to be made available only through Apple's iBookstore if authors intended to charge for them

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Apple eases iBooks ownership clause

European Union officials have asked Google to refrain from implementing its plans to share user information across all of its services until the privacy implications can be analysed, but Google is standing its ground.

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Google policy changes irk EU officials

It seems that applications take up a lot of the government's budget, year on year, which makes me wonder why more departments aren't following Queensland's Department of Education. The department has released a tender for a vendor to construct a plan to rationalise 35 Microsoft Access and .NET applications , calling in an external vendor to take a snapshot of what the department's got under its hood. I'm sure it's part of the Department of Human Services consolidation .

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The application nation

You can't run a successful internet service provider in this country without a lot of air travel, and it's no different for Larry Kestelman, founder of Dodo. Larry Kestelman (Credit: Dodo) What tech do you travel with and why

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Travel Tech Q and A: Dodo's Larry Kestelman

Symantec is reporting that it has begun to see Android malware that exhibits similar characteristics to server-side polymorphic malware in the desktop environment. (Pixel Virus image by Surian Soosay , CC BY 2.0 ) The company said that it has come across malicious Android applications hosted outside of the Android marketplace, which automatically change themselves each time they are downloaded . The malware, which Symantec's mobile-security product detects as Android.Opfake, makes changes to variable data, re-orders files in Android packages and/or inserts dummy files in an attempt to avoid detection.

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Android malware finds way to polymorph

Telstra has rejected claims by its competitors that it is milking universal service obligation (USO) payments for extra cash. Under universal service obligation legislation, currently being reviewed by parliament, Telstra will keep its copper network in place for the 7 per cent of Australia not covered by the fibre roll-out of the National Broadband Network and will provide a minimum voice service as it has for years. For this, Telstra will be paid $50 million in the first two years, and $100 million each year after for a period of 20 years by the government.

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Competitors clueless on USO: Telstra

update Apple has slammed a hearing deal proposed by rival litigant Samsung today, saying that splitting the issue into three separate cases would confuse the case and evade the necessary "rigorous analysis" in the courtroom. (My trusty gavel image by Brian Turner , CC2.0 ) Samsung took Apple to court over patents that it has allegedly infringed upon in its iPhone models from the 3GS iPhone onwards. Samsung has been pushing for the case to be heard as quickly as possible, but Apple said in December that it would not be ready for a hearing on the case in March, saying that it needed more time for preparation.

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Samsung hearing plan draws Apple ire

Why is Facebook floating and is it a bad idea for mum and dad investors? Optus won the first round of TV Now, what happens now and how can you get away with petty internet crime? On this week's episode of Technolatte: Facebook finally files its multibillion-dollar IPO We talk about the ramifications of Optus' TV Now win against the football codes Why do companies like Trend Micro let small offenders get away with small crimes online

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The floatcast

Although Microsoft struck a massive blow at the Kelihos/Hlux botnet last year, Microsoft's ally in the strike, Kaspersky Labs, has now found new variants of the Kelihos bots, calling into question whether the operation was effective. (Red Robot 3 image by Splenetic , Royalty Free ) The Kelihos/Hlux botnet was previously dealt a blow through a method called sinkholing. During normal operation, botnets communicate with one or more command-and-control centres.

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Kelihos variants slipped Microsoft's noose

If you ever needed proof that the internet puts power into the hands of the consumer, take a look at the latest electricity prices in New Zealand. Energy prices have now fallen for two consecutive quarters, for the first time in almost 13 years

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NZ energy prices fall, websites thanked