InfoWorld reports that “

[a] consumer advocacy group is blasting RealNetworks for installing adware and other software without properly notifying its users.  In a report published Thursday, StopBadware.org faults the latest version of RealPlayer for secretly installing its Rhapsody Player Engine during the RealPlayer installation.  ‘RealPlayer 11 does not disclose that it installs Rhapsody Player Engine, and does not remove the software when RealPlayer is uninstalled,’ StopBadware says in the report.  Rhapsody Player Engine is required to access RealNetwork’s online music service. But because users are not told that they have installed the product, it could become a liability, using up the computer’s hard-drive space or processing power, or even creating a security risk for consumers if bugs are discovered in Rhapsody, said Maxim Weinstein, StopBadware’s manager.  Both RealPlayer 11 and the older RealPlayer 10.5 software are considered ‘badware,’ the report states.  Real Player 10.5 suffers from a different issue, however. Users who download the software without filling out the RealNetworks product registration page end up with a piece of software called Message Center, which then proceeds to deliver ads to the user’s computer.  ‘It’s installing, essentially, a piece of adware without giving users information about that up front,’ Weinstein said.”

The International Herald Tribune has an interesting article today on last week’s rupture of four undersea communication cables, which raised “questions about the safety of the oceanic network that handles the bulk of the world’s Internet and telephone traffic.”

According to a different the IHT article, “China, which has eased new Internet controls that limited video-sharing to state companies, said Tuesday that private companies in the fast-growing industry would be allowed to continue to operate.  But the government said that any new competitors must comply with the new restrictions, which took effect Thursday.  The rules, announced abruptly in December, appeared to be aimed at extending China’s pervasive Web censorship before the Beijing Olympics and preventing the posting of unflattering videos.”

ITNews writes that, according to Microsoft, “a small group led by a recently jailed Taiwanese man was the source of almost all high quality pirated copies of its software up until his arrest in 2004.  Microsoft announced today that Huang and his associates were responsible for the ‘production and distribution of more than 90 percent of the high-quality counterfeit Microsoft software products either seized by law enforcement or test-purchased around the world.’  Huang was recently sentenced to four years in jail by a Taiwanese court. Three co-defendants received between 18 months and three years in jail.”

Reuters reports that “[t]hree global record companies have launched legal proceedings against China’s top Internet search engine Baidu.com Inc, accusing it of violating copyright by giving access to music files, an international music trade body said.  Universal Music Ltd, Sony BMG Music Entertainment (Hong Kong) Ltd and Warner Music Hong Kong Ltd have asked a court to order Baidu to remove all links on its music delivery service to copyright-infringing tracks that they own the rights to, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said in a statement.”