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Software

Submission + - A short history of Microsoft's OOXML ISO campaign (fanaticattack.com)

Submitted by
christian.einfeldt
christian.einfeldt writes: "Russell Ossendryver is the open format advocate whose open letter to the GNOME Foundation touched off a widespread debate about whether and to what extent GNOME is supporting Microsoft's drive for ISO status for its OOXML office productivity data format. Now, Ossendryver has published the first in a concise three-part series aimed at examining Microsoft's strategy in opposing ODF's rapid growth as an open international data standard. It is not news that Microsoft has vigorously lobbied to have its OOXML standard supplant ODF, the current international office productivity data format standard, such as its recent efforts to halt the adoption of ODF by the Dutch Parliament. But Ossendryver's summary gives a bird's eye overview of that history, based on his extensive involvement in those debates as a long-time member of the OpenDocument Fellowship."
KDE

Submission + - KDE takes stand on OOXML; GNOME dithers (itwire.com) 2

Submitted by sproketboy
sproketboy writes: Three cheers for the developers and management of the K Desktop Environment. They have taken a principled stand on the divisive issue of OOXML, the Microsoft Office Open XML document format. And for this the KDE folk deserve a round of applause.
The Courts

Submission + - Verizon Being Sued for GPL Infringement (internetnews.com)

Submitted by darthcamaro
darthcamaro writes: Guess who is infringing on open source code now? According to the SFLC it's none other than Verizon. They filed a law suit in New York yesterday. Today the SFLC spoke to the media to lay out its case.
From the article:
"We sent initial communications to Verizon three weeks ago," SFLC Legal Director Dan Ravicher told InternetNews.com. "They never responded. Thus, there are no negotiations underway with them. That is what forced us to file the lawsuit, because it was our only last option to get Verizon to address our clients' concerns." The SFLC is seeking an injunction against Verizon as well as damages. At this early stage, the SFLC had not yet put a figure on the amount it's seeking.
Media

MLB Fans Who Bought DRM Videos Get Hosed 299

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the digital-restrictions-management dept.
Billosaur writes "Major League Baseball has just strengthened the case against DRM. If you downloaded videos of baseball games from MLB.com before 2006, apparently they no longer work and you are out of luck. MLB.com, sometime during 2006, changed their DRM system. Result: game videos purchased before that time will now no longer work, as the previous DRM system is no longer supported. When the video is played, apparently the MLB.com servers are contacted and a license obtained to verify the authenticity of the video; this is done by a web link. That link no longer exists, and so now the videos will no longer play, even though the MLB FAQ says that a license is only obtained once and will not need to be re-obtained. The blogger who is reporting this contacted MLB technical support, only to be told there are no refunds due to this problem."
Software

Computer Software to Predict the Unpredictable 287

Posted by samzenpus from the zombo-com dept.
Amigan writes "Professor Jerzy Rozenblit at the University of Arizona was awarded $2.2Million to develop software to predict the unpredictable — specifically relating to volatile political and military situations." From the article: "The software will predict the actions of paramilitary groups, ethnic factions, terrorists and criminal groups, while aiding commanders in devising strategies for stabilizing areas before, during and after conflicts. It also will have many civilian applications in finance, law enforcement, epidemiology and the aftermath of natural disasters, such as hurricane Katrina."
The Courts

Class Action Initiated Against RIAA 315

Posted by kdawson from the bandwagon-starting-to-roll dept.
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "Ever since the RIAA's litigation campaign began in 2003, many people have been suggesting a class action against the RIAA. Tanya Andersen, in Oregon, has taken them up on it. The RIAA's case against this disabled single mother, Atlantic v. Andersen, has received attention in the past, for her counterclaims against the RIAA including claims under Oregon's RICO statute, the RIAA's hounding of her young daughter for a face-to-face deposition, the RIAA's eventual dropping of the case 'with prejudice,' and her lawsuit against the RIAA for malicious prosecution, captioned Andersen v. Atlantic. Now she's turned that lawsuit into a class action. The amended complaint seeking class action status (PDF) sues for negligence, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, federal and state RICO, abuse of process, malicious prosecution, intentional infliction of emotional distress, violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, trespass, invasion of privacy, libel and slander, deceptive business practices, misuse of copyright law, and civil conspiracy."
Security

Submission + - Find Out What Car Anyone Owns With Progressive.com

Submitted by I Ride A Segway
I Ride A Segway writes: Thanks to Progressive.com, all you need is a name and an address, and you can find out what car(s) that person owns. Sounds amusing at first, until you realize that what amounts to convenience for Progressive's potential customers could also be considered a rather big privacy concern for others. Innocently looking up your friends and neighbors and that guy you hated in High School is one thing; Using it to stalk politicians, celebrities, and other people in the public eye is quite another. Either for criminal intent or just plain embarassment, information as simple as that (public record not withstanding) can be easilly misused....Incidentally, Al Gore apparently still drives a hybrid. :)
Communications

Submission + - 9th Circuit Very Skeptical of NSA Surveillance (mercurynews.com)

Submitted by iluvcapra
iluvcapra writes: Yesterday before a three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, the US government argued that two class action lawsuits against the government and AT&T should be dismissed, because to litigate them in open court would cause the revelation of state secrets. The lawsuits allege that the government has installed a vast system of electronic surveillance gear at internet gateways along the US west coast to monitor all internet traffic, and that this information is monitored without a warrant, even when both endpoints are domestic. The panel was extremely skeptical of the governments argument:

"Is it the government's position that when the country is engaged in a war, that the power of the executive when it comes to wiretapping is unchecked?" asked 83-year-old Judge Harry Pregerson, one of the court's staunchest liberals, of a Bush administration lawyer. "The king can do no wrong, is that what it comes down to?"


The government was unwilling to even provide a sworn affadavit that the eavesdropping was only of foreign correspondence. If the 9th Circuit allows the lawsuits to proceed, the government will appeal to the US Supreme Court.
Google

Submission + - Google Distributing Sun Office Software (physorg.com)

Submitted by
Billosaur
Billosaur writes: "According to an article on PhysOrg.com, over the weekend Google and Sun began their assault on Microsoft Office's stranglehold on the market by including StarOffice as part of the Google Pack download. The two companies had announced a partnership in this regard a couple of years ago, but this is the first sign that the collaboration is bearing fruit. StarOffice normally costs $70 when purchased from Sun, but Google is giving it away free, though Sun will apparently not provide technical support for the package. In turn, Sun announced Wednesday that "Sun has also added Internet search capabilities to all of its StarOffice products," using Google."
Patents

Submission + - USPTO wants to stop bad patents from issuing (linux.com)

Submitted by Down-with-the-patents
Down-with-the-patents writes: As reported by Slashdot earlier, the US Patent and Trademark Office is collaborating with the Peer-to-Patent program to stop bad patents from issuing. Brigid Quinn, spokesperson for the USPTO explains the motivation of the USPTO to open a behind-closed-doors process to public. Groklaw's Pamela Jones admits "that when it comes to software, there is more knowledge outside of USPTO than inside it." While some of Jones' readers are stayong away away from the pilot program, to let the patent system collapse, Jones says that's a goal she understands but don't view as realistic. The project seems to doing pretty well with over a 1,000 active contributors and plans to replicate it in other Patent Offices starting with the UK Patent Office next year.
User Journal

Journal Journal: Why the FSF Misses the Point 5

Journal by einhverfr

This is intended as a rebuttle to the document at http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html. My own thinking, as a FOSS developer, is that the FSF has always been a fairly coercive organization for one which advocates freedom and while their goals are noble I have grown increasingly concerned with their methods. I don't beieve that my criticism amounts to a mere legitimate disagreement over p

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