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The Courts

Submission + - LANCOR v. OLPC Update (groklaw.net)

Submitted by drewmoney
drewmoney writes: According to an article on Groklaw: It's begun in a Nigerian court. LANCOR has actually done it. Guess what the Nigerian keyboard makers want from the One Laptop Per Child charitable organization trying to make the world a better place?

$20 million dollars in "damages", and an injunction blocking OLPC from distribution in Nigeria.
The Courts

Submission + - Xterasys GPL Violation Lawsuit Settled (groklaw.net)

Submitted by
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes: "Xterasys has settled the GPL breech lawsuit brought by the BusyBox developers. In short, they've agreed to comply with the GPL, notify all previous customers as to where they can get source code, appoint an "Open Source Compliance Officer," and to pay undisclosed damages to the plaintiffs. Once the SFLC verifies their compliance with these terms, their right to distribute BusyBox under the GPL's terms will be reinstated."
KDE

Submission + - Original KDE3 vs. KDE4 Memory Comparison Debunked (jarzebski.pl)

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: The author of the original KDE 3.5 vs KDE 4.0 memory comparison, which indicated that KDE 4.0 used less memory than the KDE 3.5 series, has come out with a more accurate benchmark. In reality, KDE 4.0 uses 110 MB more memory than KDE 3.5.8. This was no surprise to many KDE developers, who saw many mistakes in the way the original results were obtained. However, given the new composite window manager, Plasma/Oxygen bling, and numerous new features, the extra memory consumption is probably well worth it!
Microsoft

Submission + - Dell: You cannot use MS Vol Lic. on Open Source PC (dell.com) 2

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Dell says you can't use your existing Microsoft Volume Licensing on its line of Open Source notebook computers. They go on to say, "Customers interested in a Microsoft® Windows® solution should purchase a Dell notebook pre-loaded with Windows XP Professional."

What good is volume licensing if you have to buy a computer that already has a license?
Cellphones

Submission + - T-Mobile Blocking Twitter? (alternageek.com)

Submitted by
bblboy54
bblboy54 writes: "While there isn't any (published) official word from T-Mobile or from Twitter, it appears that T-Mobile has begun blocking users from sending SMS messages to the Twitter service. There are a few blog posts popping up regarding this including one over at Alternageek. I personally called T-Mobile last night and spoke with 3 different representatives before finally being told that "T-Mobile does not support third party message providers and while you were able to use the Twitter service previously, this was the result of a bug in their system which has now been corrected." When I specifically asked if I could expect to ever be able to use Twitter with T-Mobile again I was told that it wouldn't occur until Twitter made a contract with T-Mobile (the same mentality that ISPs are using to destroy net neutrality). This can be confirmed by asking anyone on T-Mobile to send an SMS to the Twitter short code (40404) and they will most likely receive a service is unavailable message which has been the result for the last 3 days."
Privacy

Submission + - Can Blockbuster be sued over Facebook/Beacon? (computerworld.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A professor at the New York Law School is arguing that Blockbuster violated the Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988 (Bork law) when movie choices that Facebook members made on its Web site were made available to other members of the social network via Beacon. The law basically prohibits video rental outfits from disclosing rental choice of their customers to anyone else without specific writtine consent. Facebook's legal liability in all of this is unclear though with Blockbuster it's a straightforward case of not complying with the VPPA, the law professor says. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9053002&intsrc=hm_list
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft's OOXML claims its first scalp! (theopensourcerer.com)

Submitted by
The Open Sourcerer
The Open Sourcerer writes: "In what is an astonishingly outspoken report, Martin Bryan, Convenor, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC34 WG1 has given insight into the total mess that Microsoft/ECMA has caused during their scandalous, underhand and unremitting attempts to get — what is a very poorly written specification — approved as an ISO standard. "The disparity of rules for PAS, Fast-Track and ISO committee generated standards is fast making ISO a laughing stock in IT circles. The days of open standards development are fast disappearing. Instead we are getting "standardization by corporation", something I have been fighting against for the 20 years I have served on ISO committees. I am glad to be retiring before the situation becomes impossible. I wish my colleagues every success for their future efforts, which I sincerely hope will not prove to be as wasted as I fear they could be." The Open Sourcerer"
Education

Submission + - Survey shows colleges serious about copyright (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: According to survey results published yesterday, colleges and universities take copyright issues and P2P traffic very seriously, despite claims to the contrary.

Some in Congress have accused schools of turning a blind eye "to the theft of the creative works of others," but only one of the respondents said his or her school didn't have a bandwidth policy in place and all of the schools said that they had someone designated to handle DMCA complaints. The results also chip away at the logic behind legislation such as last month's education bill that would require schools to develop education plans warning students about the dangers of infringement and to evaluate technological countermeasures. It appears that schools are doing exactly that.

The raw survey data is also available.
NASA

Submission + - NASA to scientists: Reveal sex history or lose job 1

Submitted by
Markmarkmark
Markmarkmark writes: "Wired is reporting that all NASA JPL scientists must 'voluntarily' (or be fired) sign a document giving the government the right to investigate their personal lives and history 'without limit'. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists this includes snooping into sexual orientation, mental & physical health as well as credit history and 'personality conflict'. 28 senior NASA scientists and engineers, including Mars Rover team members, refused to sign by the deadline and are now subject to being fired despite a decade or more of exemplary service. None of them even work on anything classified or defense related. They are suing the government and documenting their fight for their jobs and right to personal privacy."
Privacy

Submission + - FBI slammed as Amazon wins customer privacy battle

Submitted by Stony Stevenson
Stony Stevenson writes: The FBI has been slammed in a court ruling after attempting to get Amazon to hand over details on its customers and their reading habits. The agency had taken Amazon to court after the company refused to hand over customer records.

"The [subpoena's] chilling effect on expressive e-commerce would frost keyboards across America," US magistrate Judge Stephen Crocker wrote in an August 2006 ruling which he has just unsealed. "Well-founded or not, rumours of an Orwellian federal criminal investigation into the reading habits of Amazon's customers could frighten countless potential customers into cancelling planned online book purchases."
Government

Submission + - Connect Arkansas Broadband Act signed into law (connect-arkansas.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: On March 28, 2007, Governor Mike Beebe signed the Connect Arkansas Broadband Act into law to expand broadband infrastructure throughout Arkansas. The legislation paved the way to make internet access and usage available to all Arkansans. Connect Arkansas, a 501(c)(3) private, non-profit organization, was formed to implement this plan and progress is actively underway. Words such as "delivery platform neutral" may sound unusual, but the concept is clear. Connect Arkansas will work with all internet service providers to accomplish its two initial objectives Prepare the people and businesses of Arkansas to secure the economic, educational, health, social and other benefits available via broadband use. Facilitate the availability of broadband service to every home and business in Arkansas.
The Internet

Submission + - EFF fires an upper-cut at Internet traffic futzers (networkworld.com) 1

Submitted by
coondoggie
coondoggie writes: "Looking to keep the pressure on Comcast and any other ISPs who might be messing with Internet traffic, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today has released software and documentation instructing 'Net users on how to test for packet forgery or other forms of interference by their own service providers.The EFF also published what it calls a comprehensive account of Comcast's packet-forging activities. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/22375"
Space

Submission + - Organic Building Blocks Seen in Titan's Atmosphere (eurekalert.org)

Submitted by
Invisible Pink Unicorn
Invisible Pink Unicorn writes: "Scientists analyzing data gathered by the Cassini spacecraft have confirmed the presence of heavy negative ions in the upper regions of Titan's atmosphere. These particles may act as organic building blocks for even more complicated molecules. This discovery was completely unexpected because of the chemical composition of the atmosphere, mainly consisting of nitrogen and methane. According to the lead researcher at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, "Additional rings of carbon can build up on these ions, forming molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which may act as a basis for the earliest forms of life." The article abstract is available from Geophysical Research Letters."

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