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Submission Summary: 0 pending, 43 declined, 9 accepted (52 total, 17.31% accepted)

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The Courts

Submission + - Lego loses its unique right to make lego blocks (blikopnieuws.nl)

Submitted by
tsa
tsa writes: "The European Department of Justice has decided that the Danish company Lego does not have exclusive rights to the lego building block anymore (sorry, it's in Dutch). Lego went to court after a Canadian firm had made blocks that were so like lego blocks that they even fitted the real blocks made by Lego. The European judge decided that the design of the lego blocks is not protected by European trade marks and so anyone can make the blocks."
The Courts

Submission + - Telco appeals city's fiber-optic win (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by
tsa
tsa writes: "In a predictable move, TDS Telecom filed an appeal after its complaint against Monticello, Minnesota's new fiber network was tossed by a county judge in early October. As you may remember, the city decided to build its own fibre optic network after the telco made it clear they wouldn't build it because it wouldn't be economically feasible for them. TDS Telecom then changed its mind and sued the city for unfair competition."
Real Time Strategy (Games)

Submission + - Dutch court punishes theft of virtual property (pcworld.com)

Submitted by
tsa
tsa writes: "Last week, the Dutch court subjected two kids of ages 15 and 14 to 160 hours of unpaid work or 80 days in jail, because they stole virtual property from a 13 year old boy. The boy was kicked and beaten and threatened with a knife while forced to log into Runescape and giving his assets to the two perpetrators. This ruling is the first of its kind for the Netherlands. Ars Technica has som more background information."
The Courts

Submission + - Judge tosses telco suit over city-owned network (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by
tsa
tsa writes: "The city of Monticello, Minnesota, was sued by their local telco Bridgewater Telephone Company because the city chose to build a fibre optics network of their own. The judge dismissed their complaint of competition by a governmental organization. From the article: The judge's ruling is noteworthy for two things: (1) the judge's complete dismissal of Bridgewater Telephone Company's complaint and (2) his obvious anger at the underfunding of Minnesota's state courts. Indeed, the longest footnote in the opinion is an extended jeremiad about how much work judges are under and why it took so long to decide this case."
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Norwegian standards body members resign over OOXML (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by
tsa
tsa writes: "Arstechnica tells us that 13 of the 23 members of the technical committee of the Norwegian standards body Standards Norway, the organization that manages technical standards for the Scandinavian country, have resigned because of the way the OOXML standardization was handled. From the article: The standardization process for Microsoft's office format has been plagued with controversy. Critics have challenged the validity of its ISO approval and allege that procedural irregularities and outright misconduct marred the voting process in national standards bodies around the world. Norway has faced particularly close scrutiny because the country reversed its vote against approval despite strong opposition to the format by a majority of the members who participated in the technical committee."
Portables (Apple)

Submission + - Apple wants you to use Nike exclusively (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by
tsa
tsa writes: "Arstechnica writes about Apple, who apparently wants to tie your shoes to your clothes with DRM. From the fine article: If you're a Nike+iPod Sport Kit fan, you may eventually find yourself being restricted to using it with Nike-branded sportswear, thanks to a recently-published Apple patent. The patent, filed for in March of 2007 and published last week, describes a "Smart Garment" that would allow a gadget to authenticate to a specific garment--whether that garment is shoes, pants, or a jacket. When the garment is authenticated, however, unapproved garments would be blocked from being able to use the device."
Software

Submission + - T-Mobile USA seen cloning iPhone's App Store (appleinsider.com)

Submitted by
tsa
tsa writes: "T-mobile USA is copying Apples App store for their mobile phones. They have a German App store as well, in which they also sell PC software. I'm not sure I like this development. On the one hand, you get guaranteed spyware- and virusfree applications. On the other hand we're moving towards total control of your devices by the provider."
Networking

Submission + - City sued by telco over fibre network (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by
tsa
tsa writes: "The small town of Monticello, Minnesota, wants to build its own fibre network. The town held a referendum; 74 percent of voters agreed to fund the $25 million scheme. The city sought the needed municipal bonds, but the day before it closed on them, the local telco, Bridgewater Telephone, filed suit to stop the plan. Its claim: taking out bonds to build a fiber network is illegal."
Google

Submission + - Google Earth takes you inside refugee camps

Submitted by
tsa
tsa writes: "A beautiful blend of technology and humanitarian aid is described in this article at ArsTechnica. From the article: "Refugee camps almost by definition have limited visibility. Often located in places that are hot, flooded, or at war, such camps go unseen by most of the world except for the occasional crisis segment on the evening news. Now, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) hopes to give more visibility to the work that it does in such camps around the world, bringing the reality of refugee life into the laptops and living rooms of web surfers thanks to the power of Google mapping tools.""
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - Poltergeists explained by quantum physics (newscientist.com)

Submitted by
tsa
tsa writes: "I know it's a bit late but New Scientist has a nice April fools prank about poltergeists being explained by quantum physics. From the article: Children generate poltergeist activity by channelling energy into the quantum mechanical vacuum. These disturbances would be similar in character to the quantum mechanical fluctuations that physicists believe occur in the vacuum, in which "virtual" particle and antiparticle pairs pop up for a fleeting moment, before they annihilate each other and disappear again. The extra fluctuations triggered by the pubescent brain would substantially enhance the presence of the virtual particles surrounding the person. This could slowly increase the pressure of air around them, moving objects and even sending them hurtling across the room."
Government

Submission + - Dutch government moves to open standards (www.fnl.nl)

Submitted by
tsa
tsa writes: "A motion (PDF) to start using open standards (ODF is mentioned in particular) as soon as April 2008 was accepted last Wednesday by a large mayority of the Dutch parliament. Government institutions will have to start using open standards, as well as open source software wherever and whenever possible from then on. Theo Rinsema, director of Microsoft Nederland, said in an interview that he feels Microsoft is discriminated against. The use of open standards as defined in the motion prevents people from using Microsoft's products. Reitsema wants the government to be able to use standards that are controlled by companies, like GSM, MP3 and PDF. In the Netherlands, 177.000 people work for MS, and Reitsema wonders if they will still have a license to operate after April 2008. He was largely ignored during the parliament's discussion."
Microsoft

Submission + - MS gives in to Kroes (teletekst.nos.nl)

Submitted by
tsa
tsa writes: "On Dutch teletekst there is a short news item about MS finally giving in to the European Union. They will pay the fine of nearly 500 million euros Neelie Kroes had imposed on them, and everyone can buy the necessary data to make their programs interact with MS Windows for 10000 euros."

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