Worm spreading via Skype chat ... eBay to close China site

HIGHLIGHTS
News: Worm may be spreading via Skype chat
News: Tech lobby to renew visa reform push
Reports: eBay to close China site, Tom to take over
News: CD maker will pay Microsoft for counterfeit software
Opinion: RFID Chips: Not in my arm!
Podcast: Today's IT news audio update
ITwhirled: How to spend $250 on Christmas games


NEWS UPDATES

Worm may be spreading via Skype chat
Computer security analysts are studying reports of a worm that may be circulating via a feature in Skype Ltd.'s popular VOIP (voice over Internet protocol) service.

Tech lobby to renew visa reform push
As Democrats take over leadership of both houses of the U.S. Congress from Republicans, technology industry lobbyists will try again to push for worker visa reform.

Reports: eBay to close China site, Tom to take over
EBay Inc. will close its China site and begin a relationship with Tom Online Inc. to create a replacement, news reports indicated Tuesday.

CD maker will pay Microsoft for counterfeit software
A French CD duplicator has agreed to compensate Microsoft Corp. after producing discs with unauthorized copies of Microsoft software, the companies said Tuesday.

Falco memo confirms AOL senior exec departures
AOL LLC on Monday confirmed to its employees the rumored departure of several senior executives and announced a reshuffling of top-tier management duties in a memo penned by Randy Falco, the new chief executive officer.

Oracle software revenue shows signs of weakness in Q2
Oracle Corp. reported another strong financial quarter on Monday, posting $4.2 billion in revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2007, results that beat analysts estimates by 1 percent. However, there were signs in its software revenue results that the company's growth spurt on the strength of acquisitions of PeopleSoft and Siebel Systems could be coming to a halt.

Vista could sap notebook PC battery life
Notebook PC users who upgrade to Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Vista may have to disable some of the new operating system's flashy graphics features to avoid seeing a decrease in battery life compared to Windows XP.

Opera updates browser with phishing filter
Opera Software ASA has added a filter that blocks phishing sites to its Web browser software, following the example set by rivals Microsoft Corp. and Mozilla Corp.

Trend Micro: Vista zero-day exploit for sale
An online criminal has offered to sell software that exploits an unpatched bug in Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Vista operating system, according to security vendor Trend Micro Inc.

Yahoo resumes Messenger upgrade prompts
Yahoo Inc. resumed promoting a Yahoo Messenger upgrade on Monday after fixing a bug in the program that altered users' e-mail preferences without their consent.

Myspace goes mobile with Cingular
MySpace went mobile in a big way on Monday, launching a service that lets Cingular Wireless LLC subscribers use many features of the social networking portal on their cell phones.


OPINION

RFID Chips: Not in my arm!
By Dan Blacharski

RFID technology is here to stay, and in its most benign form, brings a
lot of advantages. But there are two things to make clear: First,
despite industry claims to the contrary, RFID is not a secure
technology, and it should never be used to track anything sensitive.
Second, it should never be used on people, or in personal
identification of any type. But regrettably, our government is moving
away from being one which values the privacy of its citizenry, and
seems bound to push this technology into places where it has no
business being.


PODCAST

Daily IT News Audio Update
Hackers allegedly offer Vista exploit for sale ... Sharp ramps up production of blue diodes ... Linksys, not Apple, offers iPhone


ITWHIRLED

How to spend $250 on Christmas games
The average Brit spends £125 (about $250) on computer games at Christmas time. For some, that might seem like nothing; to others, a crazy amount of money. One Web site dares to show both sides how it's done.