国内大事记编辑本段回目录
国外大事记编辑本段回目录
In a complex series of deals, America Online (AOL) announces that it intends to sell ANS Communications to WorldCom in exchange for control of the Interactive Services Division of CompuServe, the oldest U.S. Online Services firm, and US$175 million in cash. As part of the deal, Bertlesmann AG will jointly operate CompuServe Europe. WorldCom, Inc. retains the CompuServe Network Services (CNS) global division. AOL, meanwhile, signs a five-year service contract with Worldcom, Inc. The deal will provide AOL with a much-needed capital infusion for the development of new online content and the expansion of its nine million subscriber user base.
Apple Computer expands the capacity of its third-generation iPods. The 15GB model, which retails for US$399, is expanded to 20GB, and the 30GB model, which retails for US$499, is expanded to 40GB. The company also announces that it has sold its ten millionth song through its iTunes Music Store. By September 2004, iTunes will have sold 125 million songs. Visit the official iTunes website.
Google announces that it has hired Vinton Cerf away from MCI, Inc. as the company’s “Chief Internet Evangelist.”
Kurt M. Brink, age 25, of Portland, Maine, pleads guilty to conspiring to commit criminal copyright infringement in U.S. District Court in the first case of its kind prosecuted in Maine. According to documents filed with the court, Brink was a participant in the “warez scene,” an underground online community comprised of individuals and organized groups who use the Internet to engage in the large-scale, illegal distribution of copyrighted software. The felony is punishable by up to five years in prison, but because Brink has no criminal background, the guidelines recommend a term of thirty to thirty-seven months. He also faces a fine of up to US$250,000 and three years of probation. On December 12, Brink will be sentenced to three years of probation, three hundred hours of community service, and US$6,000 in fines. Brink was arrested as part of Operation Safehaven, a fifteen-month investigation conducted by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut and the Department of Justiceagainst those affiliated with the warez scene.
2006
Shuji Nakamura of the University of California, Santa Barbara is awarded the secondMillennium Technology Prize, the world’s largest technology award, for his inventions of blue, green, and white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and the blue laser diode. The first recipient of the prize, which is worth one million Euros, went to Tim Berners-Leefor the development of the World Wide Web. The prize is awarded every two years at a ceremony in Helsinki, Finland. Visit the official website of The Millennium Technology Prize.
2010
Google launches Instant Search. Rather than waiting for users to complete their query, displays suggested results as the user types. With the introduction of the feature, Google disables the option of displaying more than ten results per page and the ability to disable the autocomplete search form.