bth - Slashdot User

Submission + - FCC allows blocking of set-top box outputs - Yahoo (yahoo.com)

Submitted by bth on Friday May 07, 2010 @07:21PM

bth writes: Federal regulators are endorsing Hollywood's efforts to let cable and satellite TV companies turn off output connections on the back of set-top boxes to prevent illegal copying of movies.

In its decision Friday, the agency stressed that its waiver includes several important conditions, including limits on how long studios can use the blocking technology. The FCC said the technology cannot be used on a particular movie once it is out on DVD or Blu-Ray, or after 90 days from the time it is first used on that movie, whichever comes first.

Submission + - IBM takes a (feline) step toward thinking machine (yahoo.com) 1

Submitted by bth on Wednesday November 18, 2009 @08:41AM

bth writes: A computer with the power of a human brain is not yet near. But this week researchers from IBM Corp. are reporting that they've simulated a cat's cerebral cortex, the thinking part of the brain, using a massive supercomputer. The computer has 147,456 processors (most modern PCs have just one or two processors) and 144 terabytes of main memory — 100,000 times as much as your computer has.

Submission + - Barnes and Noble sued over Nook intellectual prope (macworld.com)

Submitted by bth on Tuesday November 03, 2009 @01:15PM

bth writes: Book-seller Barnes & Noble has been sued by a company called Spring Design, which alleges that the recently announced Nook e-book reader infringes on its intellectual property.

Submission + - Apple, others hit with lawsuit on Ethernet patents (appleinsider.com)

Submitted by bth on Monday October 19, 2009 @03:59PM

bth writes: A Texas company has targeted a number of technology companies, including Apple, in a new lawsuit regarding a handful of computer networking patents issued in the 1990s. 3Com Corporation was granted four patents from 1994 to 1998 pertaining to network adapters. Two deal with the automatic initiation of data transmission, and one addresses "host indication optimization."

The company's Web site states that U.S. Ethernet Innovations was founded "to continue 3Com Corporation's successful licensing program related to a portfolio of foundational patents in Ethernet technology." A press release from the company states that it is the "owner of the fundamental Ethernet technology developed and sold by 3Com Corporation in the 1990s."

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