A man in a white coat from IBM is warning that data stored on homemade CDs only lasts two years on average. Kurt Gerecke said that if you keep your disks in dark, cool places they might last for five if you are lucky.

Two swashbuckling brigands in the US have begun a political party named The Pirate Party. Inspired by Sweden's Piratpartiet, the would-be politicians say the aim of the party is to "fundamentally reform copyright law, get rid of the patent system, and ensure that citizens' rights to privacy are respected."

Consumer electronics companies such as Apple, Nokia, Siemens and Sony stand to save hundreds of millions of euros every year under plans by the European Commission to slash copyright levies on their iPods, DVD players and mobile phones, the Financial Times reports, citing an internal European Commission document.

Samsung announced the possibility of a dual-format player last year, but later drew back from such plans, saying licensing agreements made such a player "impossible". According to sources, the unit may still see daylight, "if HD DVD proves as successful as Blu-ray disc".

Yahoo is set to allow users to embed in its instant messaging service formerly independent programs that help them collaborate on activities ranging from calendar scheduling to watching videos or even trading commodities.

Atech Flash Technology (AFT) has unveiled the iCarta, a stereo dock for Apple's iPod with a built-in bath tissue holder. The dock features four integrated moisture-free speakers, as well as an audio selector to play an iPod shuffle or another audio device.

A device that could foil movie pirates who covertly record films in cinemas has been developed in the US. The prototype is able to locate the position of a digital camera, before overwhelming it with white light to render any recorded images useless.

Netflix VP of original programming Eric Besner has said Netflix is planning to introduce a proprietary set-top box with an Internet connection that can download movies overnight.

Sony's PlayStation 2 is officially a games console and not a computer, according to an English court judgment that denies the electronics firm a €50m (£34.2m) rebate for import duties.

Counterfeit entry-level DVD burners under various brand names, including BenQ and Plextor, are being sold in the China market.

Microsoft is developing a music and video device to compete with Apple's iPod and creating its own music service to rival Apple's iTunes, sources familiar with the plans have said.

A version of Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store that will serve up feature film downloads should debut by the end of the year at the latest according to Apple sources.

We finally got the official word that Direct X 10 won't find its way to Windows XP. So anyone who plans to buy Direct X 10 hardware and plans to use its full potential will have to buy Vista as well.

US government officials put pressure on the Swedish government shortly before the raids on the Swedish based bittorrent website Pirate Bay took place.

Police have smashed a top level DVD piracy ring following raids in Walthamstow and Chingford. During the raids last week officers arrested ten people believed to be involved in a large criminal network dealing in counterfeit DVDs.

As we originally reported on the 31st May

CMC Magnetics expects the current global shortage of CD-R discs will persist for while and will raise its OEM prices for next quarter by 5-10%, according to company chairman Robert Wong at a press conference following the company's 2006 shareholder meeting.

Lite-On IT will reportedly start volume production of 18x DVD burners in July and plans to start production of 20x DVD burners in the fourth quarter of this year.

Plextor Europe has announced a new version of its PlexTools software. PTP (Plextools Professional) HDD includes new features that will appeal to many users of the Plextor Portable Harddisk devices including secure password protection and extra diagnostic tools.

An innovative american company has come up with a simple but effective solution for destroying the confidential data stored on optical discs. The makers also claim their 'Disc Eraser' is the greenest product on the market.

The UK tabloid The Mail on Sunday has reported that a Chinese factory that manufactures iPods employs 200,000 workers who live in dormitories where visitors are not permitted. Workers toil for 15-hour days for as little as $50 (£27) per month, according to the article.