'Flu researchers' turn out to be movie pirates

Movie pirates ran a DVD factory in secret for two years by pretending they were scientists conducting research into highly contagious avian flu, according to Chinese police. The factory, in a quiet farming area in eastern China, sold more than 30 million DVDs before authorities finally noticed the mysterious flow of discs coming from the claimed 'research facility'.

Initially, the warnings about the hazard of deadly bird flu infections had been enough to keep local residents and suspicious officials well away from the factory at the end of a forest road.

High ceilings promote creativity, researchers find

The height of a room's ceiling has a direct impact on the thought processes and mood of people in the room, new research has confirmed.

“When a person is in a space with a 10-foot ceiling, they will tend to think more freely, more abstractly. They might process more abstract connections between objects in a room, whereas a person in a room with an 8-foot ceiling will be more likely to focus on specifics,” says Professor Joan Meyers-Levy of the University of Minnesota.

Sony denies 'Spider-Man 3' pirated

Updated: spider-man Chinese sonyThe movie 'Spider-Man 3' has not been pirated, despite reports of copies being sold on the streets in China, claims Sony Pictures Entertainment. Earlier this week, Reuters reported that copies of the movie were on sale in Beijing.

MySpace loses out on key domain names in China

Updated March 26: MySpace has failed to register its Chinese language domain name, despite being just days away from launching its service in the world's most populous market.

Games crackdown causes virtual inflation in Warcraft

Prices of some virtual items in online games, including World of Warcraft, have leapt more than 30 percent in China as the government prepares to restrict the amount of time gamers are allowed to play.

Sony PS3 price cut expected. Sony has mountain of unsold consoles in supply chain.

Skeptical analysts are still predicting a price cut for the PlayStation 3 this year, even though Sony may be about to reveal encouraging profit forecasts, according to reports from Japan today. Japan's Nikkei newspaper today claimed that Sony is expecting to improve operating profits to $3.35 billion this financial year – the paper did not identify the source of its information.

Farmers' homemade helicopter poised for take off

Updated April 25: Vietnamese farmers who built their own helicopter may take to the air within a week, local press reports say. Officials inspected the craft on Wednesday, and are considering approving a limited flight test.

If official approval comes, it will be the end of a 5 year battle for Tran Quoc Hai and Le Van Danh, who have faced arrest and heavy financial losses in their quest to soar aloft in the boxy red chopper they built in Hai's tractor workshop.

Profit drives flood of Chinese malware

New malware attacks are emerging from China almost daily, as malicious hackers discover increasingly sophisticated methods of generating profit from viruses and trojans, security professionals say.

Based on past cyclic behavior, researchers at US-based FaceTime Communications believe attacks will rise to a peak during the next two months, before falling off slightly during the summer. The company did not offer an explanation for the origin of these cycles, although other researchers have linked the quieter periods to university and high school vacation times.

Free Email is Worth Only $0.0025 per Month

How much income do Microsoft, Yahoo and Google earn from your free email account? Only about one quarter of a cent per month, according to new data from China, the world's largest online market.

The 470 million free email accounts registered by Chinese netizens generated $3.64 million in advertising revenue for service providers like Yahoo and Hotmail during the last three months of 2006, according to data from the Beijing office of research firm Analysys International. This indicates that the average income from a single account was only $0.0025 per month

Ebay still can't catch up in China

Chinese consumers spent more than $1bn buying products from each other in online auctions during last year's Christmas season, according to a recent survey.

The world's leading online consumer auctions firm, eBay, maintained its number 2 position in the market. Ebay handled 29 percent of auctions, leaving it a distant second to local rival Taobao, which brokered more than twice as many. Taobao is a subsidiary of China's leading business-to-business auctions firm, Alibaba.