European Ombudsman accuses EC of maladministation in Intel case

In today's podcast: European Ombudsman accuses EC of maladministation in Intel case; Sony e-reader won't arrive in time for holidays; and Chinese defense ministry's Web site gets attacked too.

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The European Ombudsman accused the European Commission on Thursday of "maladministration" during its antitrust investigation of Intel, which resulted in a hefty fine earlier this year, as well as an order to desist from its anti-competitive practices. The Ombudsman, was responding to a complaint lodged by Intel following the ruling in May. Intel then took its complaint to the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg. That appeal, which carries greater legal weight than the opinion of the Ombudsman, is expected to be heard during the fist half of 2010. The ombudsman's decision is not legally binding and cannot undo the Commission’s antitrust finding in May, which fined the company €1.06 billion. However, it could influence the Court of First Instance’s assessment of Intel’s appeal.

When Sony unveiled the Reader Daily Edition, its first e-reader with a wireless connection, it said it would be available in December in time for the holidays. But it looks like customers won't be able to count on getting one before the end of the year. Sony announced Wednesday that its new reader is now available for preorder. But while the press release says it will ship next month, Sony's e-commerce site says pre-orders will ship Dec. 18 through Jan. 8. "Actual delivery date cannot be guaranteed," according to the site.

The Web site of China's defense ministry was attacked 2.3 million times in its first month online, Chinese state media said Wednesday. The report is a reminder that Chinese government and military bodies, often accused of cyberespionage against the U.S. and other countries, are also frequently attacked online. The Chinese defense ministry Web sitehas been under "non-stop" attack since it launched in August as a gesture of transparency, said the People's Daily, the official paper of China's ruling Communist party, citing the Web site's head editor. None of the attacks have succeeded against the Web site

British police said Wednesday they've made the first arrests in Europe of two people for using Zeus, a sophisticated malicious software program that can scoop up any sensitive information on a PC. A man and woman, both 20 years old, were arrested in Manchester, England, on Nov. 3, said the Metropolitan Police's Central e-Crime Unit. The pair, who have been released on bail, will face charges under the 1990 Computer Misuse Act and the 2006 Fraud Act. Zeus is an advanced piece of malicious software. If installed on a PC, it can send spam, steal financial or other data or conduct a distributed denial-of-service attack against other computers. Machines infected with Zeus are essentially a botnet.

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