IDN ccTLDs appoved

In today's podcast: IDN ccTLDs; Facebook sues spammer for $700M; and Oracle reassures on Sun software future.

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Speakers of Chinese, Arabic, Japanese or Russian soon won't need to use a keyboard with the Latin alphabet in order to type Internet domain names. Although some countries have already experimented with domain names written using their own scripts or alphabets, Internet users still have to type the last few characters of those names, the top-level domain, using the letters A to Z. But starting next month, countries will be able to create new top-level domain names in their own languages. The new names will only be readable by those with upgraded browser software, but will be backward compatible with the existing Domain Name System. Users without the appropriate browser will see a domain name beginning XN followed by two hyphens and a sequence of digits and Latin letters.

Oracle has provided new details about its plans for certain key Sun Microsystems technologies if it completes its acquisition of the company. Oracle announced plans to buy Sun earlier this year, but the deal is on hold while European authorities conduct an antitrust review. Meanwhile, users have questioned the fate of Sun software and systems under Oracle, with particular concern centering on the MySQL open-source database. Although Oracle didn't say anything about MySQL, it has now said it plans to continue evolving the GlassFish application server, and to align common infrastructure with that of its own WebLogic application server.

Canonical has updated its Linux distribution for netbooks, simplifying the interface and adding new programs that the company says will make it easier for users to access and use Web content. Ubuntu 9.10 Netbook Remix is designed to run basic Web and office applications typically used on netbooks. The OS, codenamed Karmic Koala, centralizes applications and bookmarks under a single interface to quickly access programs and Web sites. Canonical also released final versions of Karmic Koala for desktops and servers on Thursday. Built on the latest Linux 2.6.31.1 kernel, Ubuntu 9.10 offers faster boot times, an improved user interface and programming tools for easier software development.

After releasing its largest-ever group of security patches two weeks ago, Microsoft has done a little cleaning up. Over the past few days, the company has re-released two security updates and issued a workaround for a Windows CryptoAPI patch that caused Microsoft's own instant-messaging server to crash.

Facebook was awarded 711 million dollars in damages in a lawsuit against a convicted spammer on Thursday, but the social networking site is hoping a separate criminal action will eventually send him to jail. Facebook sued Sanford Wallace and two others for allegedly obtaining the login credentials for a number of Facebook users, which were then used to send spam to those users' friends.

And those are the top stories from the IDG Global IT News Update, brought to you by the IDG News Service. I'm Peter Sayer in Paris. Join us again later for more news from the world of technology.