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Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft hit with $1.52 billion patent suit damag

Submitted by ourcraft
ourcraft writes: Microsoft hit with $1.52 billion patent suit damages.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070222/bs_nm/microsof t_verdict_dc_4

NEW YORK (Reuters) — A U.S. federal jury found that Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT — news) infringed audio patents held by Alcatel-Lucent (ALU.PA) (NYSE:ALU — news) and should pay $1.52 billion in damages, Microsoft said on Thursday.

Microsoft said it plans to first ask the trial judge to knock down the ruling and will appeal if necessary. It said the verdict is unsupported by the law or the facts.

Alcatel-Lucent had accused the world's biggest software maker of infringing patents related to standards used for playing computer music, or MP3, files.

BitTorrent's Bram Cohen against Network Neutrality 269

Posted by CowboyNeal from the agin-it-not-fer-it dept.
wigwamus writes "BitTorrent inventor Bram Cohen warns on potential 'absurdity' of Network Neutrality laws and concedes that his hook-up with Cachelogic is creating a system that might contravene Network Neutrality. He suggests there'd be no difference between big media footing the bill for their own upload costs of their offerings and subsidizing the consumer's download costs of the same."

Microsoft To Construct iPod/DS/PSP Killer 318

Posted by Hemos from the only-a-matter-of-time dept.
Karsten writes "According to The Mercury News Microsoft is developing a PSP/DS/GBA/iPod-killer. J. Allard is leading the project." J. Allard is the man behind the Xbox, and from looking at the article it sounds like it's at least a year before this device, if it hits daylight, would be coming.

Linus on GPL3 In Forbes 316

Posted by Zonk from the rehashing-bad-blood dept.
musicon writes "In an interview via e-mail with Forbes, Torvalds discusses GPLv3, digital rights management and sharks with laser beams. From the article: 'I'm sure changes will be made [to GPLv3]. The fact that the FSF and I have some fundamentally different views of what the GPLv2 was all about makes me worry that we won't find a good agreement on the next version.'"

Google's New Calendar CL2 250

Posted by CowboyNeal from the ajax-in-action dept.
pvt_medic writes "Google is apparently working on its own calendar (CL2) program to integrate with Gmail. The closed beta is ongoing with about 200 participants - people involved are not allowed to invite outsiders to see the calendar and are under strict rules not to share any details with outsiders. Here are some leaked photos of the CL2."

Bacteria Eat Styrofoam 253

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the just-like-a-tasty-steak dept.
chaosmage42 writes "Scientists at the University of Dublin have found a way to break down styrofoam, the bane of recyclers/composters everywhere. This could be a great step towards sustainability, but it does require the styrofoam to be heated first."

OSS Election Systems Desired, but Not Ready 182

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the more-than-ready dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Even though many American voters are ready for open source systems at the polls, Newsforge (a Slashdot sister site) has an interesting story about why open source may not be ready for the polls. From the article: 'The only open source e-voting effort that Rubin [an e-voting expert] noted was the Open Voting Consortium (OVC). "I don't agree with everything they are doing, but they are all about transparency and open source," Rubin said. OVC President and CEO Alan Dechert says it would take a large investment of time and money to provide an alternative to traditional e-voting systems vendors, but he says an effort known as Open Voting Solutions (OVS) is looking to do just that.'"

Financial Responsibility == Terrorism? 1086

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the utterly-speechless dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Capital Hill Blue is reporting that recently a retired Texas schoolteacher and his wife had a little run in with the Department of Homeland Security. The crime? Paying down some debt. From the article: 'The balance on their JCPenney Platinum MasterCard had gotten to an unhealthy level. So they sent in a large payment, a check for $6,522. And an alarm went off. A red flag went up. The Soehnges' behavior was found questionable. [...] They were told, as they moved up the managerial ladder at the call center, that the amount they had sent in was much larger than their normal monthly payment. And if the increase hits a certain percentage higher than that normal payment, Homeland Security has to be notified.'"

No 3G for HP Until 2007 90

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the shy-away-from-the-cutting-edge dept.
An anonymous reader writes to tell us CNet is reporting that HP will not be bringing 3G support to any of their new 'smart phones' until at least 2007. From the article: "[HP] cites the costs associated with the service, coupled with the fact that 3G's killer app -- TV and video streaming -- isn't yet viable on mobile phones as the primary reasons for its decision. '3G is still only occupying 3% of the world pie,' HP's Vice-President for Consumer Products and Mobile Business Group in the Asia-Pacific region, Chin-Teik SEE, told CNET.com.au at the company's 'magical mobility launch' event in Hong Kong last week."

Attorney General Investigates Music Price Fixing 257

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the when-you-get-done-there-go-talk-to-the-oil-companies dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The Guardian is reporting that the US Attorney General has launched an investigation into whether or not record labels are engaged in price fixing of music downloads. From the article: 'The department of justice inquiry centers on the activities of the four largest record labels: EMI, Sony BMG, Universal and Warner Music. Subpoenas are believed to have been issued to all parties, with federal officials understood to be focusing on whether the companies have been colluding to keep the price of downloads artificially high.'"
User Journal

Journal Journal: retardist manifesto 2

Journal by AoT

i regret that i have but one mind to loose for my ART. I feel it now begin to absorb me, to become me. this expansion of ego does not scare me. NO, in fact it drives me HARDER. in the beginning was THE LIE, and the lie shall set us loose. it shall free us from reality and BANALITY and the mundane, drudgingly pathetic thing we call BEAUTY. irony and the birth of the age of the ABSURD will release us, free us, tie us in the knots of FUN, childishness, and novel, retarded happiness. like m
User Journal

Journal Journal: SCO & DefCon 1

Journal by AoT
Since this got rejected I'll just put it here in my nice little journal I never use. SCO is holding a forum in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand for their 25th aniversary. It'll be august 1-3. Conveniently enough this coincides nicely with this years DefCon. Should be interesting.
User Journal

Journal Journal: Hmmmmmm 1

Journal by AoT

I wonder if this will work now?

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I tell them to turn to the study of mathematics, for it is only there that they might escape the lusts of the flesh. -- Thomas Mann, "The Magic Mountain"

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