Creators suspend Scrabble knockoff game

NEW YORK (AP) -- The creators of a Scrabble knockoff responsible for countless hours at the online hangout Facebook suspended their word game Tuesday after being hit with a lawsuit, disappointing fans who logged on expecting to make their next moves.

The game still works at the developers' Web site, Scrabulous.com, but users must start new games.

Hasbro Inc., the company that owns the North American rights to the word game, last week sued the brothers in Calcutta, India, who created the Scrabulous program.

Separately, Hasbro asked Facebook to block the program, something the site resisted despite risks of losing immunity protection from copyright lawsuits.

In a statement, creators Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla said they agreed to block Scrabulous in the United States and Canada in deference to Facebook's concerns, while continuing to pursue their legal defense. Rajat Agarwalla, describing the measures as "unfortunate," declined further comment.

Facebook said the Agarwalla brothers, not the company, made the decision.

In the year since Facebook began letting outside developers write Web programs that Facebook members can plug into their personal profile pages, Scrabulous has become one of the most popular applications, despite efforts by Scrabble's owners to end it.

Earlier this month, video game maker Electronic Arts Inc. released an official version for American and Canadian Facebook users under a licensing deal with Hasbro. But the authorized Scrabble has been attracting only 15,000 daily users, compared with some half-million for Scrabulous. That authorized version is actually still in a "beta" test mode, and encountered technical problems Tuesday.

After EA's release, Hasbro sued the Agarwalla brothers and their company in U.S. District Court in New York, accusing them of violating Hasbro's copyright and trademarks. The lawsuit seeks an end to Scrabulous and unspecified damages.

Facebook users who tried to access Scrabulous on Tuesday were simply told the game was disabled "until further notice," and many Facebook users updated their one-line status messages on the site to mourn the suspension.

Laura Chefer, an Atlanta Facebook user who logs on about 20 times a day to check on Scrabulous, said she had no sympathy for Hasbro despite its rights to the game.

"I was definitely shocked and annoyed," she said. "These two guys went to all the trouble to make this interface, and now the big company is suing them, and we're no longer able to play."

The game continues to work at the developers' Web site, Scrabulous.com, but users must sign up and start games afresh.

High-tech monitors help safe drivers save on insurance

TRENTON, New Jersey (AP) -- A high-tech monitoring device makes it possible to reduce insurance premiums for drivers who avoid jackrabbit starts and slam-on-the-brakes stops, an insurance company says.

One insurance company is installing high-tech monitoring devices in cars to help gentle drivers cut premiums.

The catch? Bad drivers who take a chance on the program may wind up paying a surcharge instead.

Auto insurer Progressive Corp. has begun offering its drivers the chance to cut their costs based on how they actually drive, not only on their age, credit score and number of tickets or accidents on their record.

The monitoring device -- sort of like a black box for cars -- tells Progressive what time people drive, how many miles they've driven, how fast they accelerate and how often they hit the brakes. It does not track where people go.

Under Progressive's program, customers can earn a first-term discount of up to 10 percent just for signing up. When they renew their policy, their rate could decrease by up to 60 percent based on their driving habits. But it could also increase by up to 9 percent.

Richard Hutchinson, a Progressive general manager, said the program is designed for drivers who are consistent and safe.

"We want people to know that the program is not right for everyone," Hutchinson said.

"It's for people who drive at low-risk times of day and who keep alert for others on the road," he said. "They don't make fast lane changes or follow too closely behind other drivers so they don't have to overreact or slam on the brakes."

Hacker loses extradition appeal

A Briton accused of hacking into top secret military computers has lost a Law Lords appeal against being extradited to stand trial in the US.

Glasgow-born Gary McKinnon could face life in jail if convicted of accessing 97 US military and Nasa computers.

He has admitted breaking into the computers from his London home but said he was seeking information on UFOs.

The 42-year-old's lawyers said they would apply to the European Court of Human Rights to prevent his removal.

Mr McKinnon first lost his case at the High Court in 2006 before taking it to the highest court in the UK, the House of Lords.

American officials involved in this case have stated that they want to see him 'fry' Gary McKinnon's lawyers

He was arrested in 2002 but never charged in the UK.

The US government claims he committed a malicious crime - the biggest military computer hack ever.

A statement by solicitors for McKinnon, who was not at the Lords to hear the judgement, said: "Gary McKinnon is neither a terrorist nor a terrorist sympathiser.

"His case could have been properly dealt with by our own prosecuting authorities. We believe that the British government declined to prosecute him to enable the US government to make an example of him.

"American officials involved in this case have stated that they want to see him 'fry'.

"The consequences he faces if extradited are both disproportionate and intolerable."

BY-BBC NEWS

UK team take top pro-gaming prize

British pro-gaming team Birmingham Salvo have been crowned winners of the 2008 Championship Gaming Series (CGS).

The ten-strong team share the top prize of $500,000 (£252,000) for coming out top of the eight teams who made it to the grand final.

Birmingham Salvo dominated rival San Francisco Optx in the battle for the title winning four out of five events.

The win marks the first time that the CGS trophy has been awarded to a British team.

"I'm extremely proud of my team right now," said Michael O'Dell, manager of Birmingham Salvo in a statement.

BIRMINGHAM SALVO PLAYERS Michael Barrett (Fifa 08) Sarah Harrison (Dead or Alive) Mingzhi Deng (Dead or Alive) Dean Sutton (Forza Motorsport) David Kelly (Forza Motorsport) James Wilson (Counter Strike) Elliot Welsh (Counter Strike) Sam Gawn (Counter Strike) Pete Wright (Counter Strike) Marc Mangiacapra (Counter Strike) Behind the scenes at the CGS

"We faced a lot of tough competition throughout the season," he said, "but when our backs were against the wall, every player demonstrated the skills and the poise to step up when it mattered the most."

The CGS season started in March when players competed for a slot in a CGS team. Each player winning a place on a team got a contract and a monthly wage to support them as they took part in the various CGS competitions.

The 18 teams that emerged from this first stage then went forward to regional competitions to find the eight that competed in the grand final.

BY-BBC NEWS

Web curbs for Olympic journalists

Chinese officials say foreign journalists covering the Beijing Olympic Games will not have completely uncensored access to the internet.

A top spokesman said sites relating to spiritual movement Falun Gong would be blocked. Another said other unspecified sites would also be unavailable.

China enforces tough internet controls, but said when it bid for the Games that journalists would be free to report.

Journalists have complained they cannot access some news or human rights sites.

A senior International Olympic Committee (IOC) member confirmed that while journalists would have free range to cover the Games, the IOC was aware some sites would be blocked.

BY-BBC NEWS

Remoulding Microsoft for the web

• Darren Waters

What is Microsoft for? I ask the question, because I think it's one that the company has been asking itself a lot recently.

Is it a software company? Producing an operating system, and tools like Office.

Or is it a hardware company? Producing games consoles and peripherals.

Perhaps it's a web company? Producing an online ecosystem, such as Live Mesh.

Or is it a server company? Producing Microsoft's Internet Information Server (IIS).

The answer, according to Microsoft, is all four.

Yesterday two of Microsoft's leading executives, Jean Philippe Courtois, head of all Microsoft outside North America, and Gordon Frazer, head of Microsoft UK visited BBC News' Business Unit, as part of a series of lunchtime talks we arrange with leading businesses.

Mr Courtois has been with Microsoft 24 years, and Mr Frazer 13 years; long enough to see the firm reinvent itself over and over again.

BY-BBC NEWS

Going for online gold

Regular columnist Bill Thompson is fascinated by everything about the Olympics except the sport.

Web visitors to the games may put a strain on servers

I won't be going to Beijing for the Olympic Games next month, and in fact I probably won't even be going to London in 2012 when it's our turn to host the festivities.

I don't watch athletics or any of the other events that will be taking place. I don't support a football team either, or have much interest in cricket despite being an English male. Sport just doesn't excite me at all.

But even though I don't care which country wins most gold medals or whether world records are broken for running, jumping or throwing odd-shaped objects, I'll be watching what goes on at the Olympic Games with keen interest, because this world-wide sporting event offers a fascinating perspective on the state of the internet today.

Back in 2000 the Sydney games generated an astonishing amount of traffic to Olympics websites, and in the last four years the number of net users has almost doubled from around 750 million to 1.4 billion.

That is going to place a massive strain on the official Olympics website and the associated infrastructure, and it will be interesting to see how it stands up.

By-BBC NEWS