DOJ opposes revised Google book deal

In today's podcast: DOJ opposes revised Google book deal; National Science Foundation signs computing deal with Microsoft; and Intel rolls out new vPro platform for Core chips.

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In a big blow to Google's efforts to build a massive digital-books marketplace and library, the U.S. Department of Justice has come out against the revised agreement to settle copyright lawsuits brought against Google by authors and publishers. While the DOJ commended the parties for substantially revising the complex settlement agreement in good faith, it was unequivocal in stating that the revision falls way short of addressing the problems the DOJ had identified in the original document.

Researchers selected by the U.S. National Science Foundation will have free access to Microsoft's Windows Azure cloud computing platform under a deal announced Thursday. Research projects focused on cloud computing will have access to Windows Azure for three years as part of the deal. The agreement will allow the U.S. scientific community "the opportunity to leverage highly scalable cloud computing services, especially for data-intensive applications," said Jeannette Wing, NSF's assistant director for computer and information science and engineering.

Intel on Thursday announced a new vPro platform for its Core processors to make remote maintenance and management of PCs easier in an enterprise. Laptops and desktops with vPro technology enable IT administrators to use hardware-based technologies to manage and secure PCs through a wired or wireless network. The new vPro technologies will be in systems with Intel's Core i5 and Core i7 processors, which were announced earlier this year.

Sybase announced Thursday that it has purchased the assets of complex event processing vendor Aleri, in a move that highlights the increasing competitive stakes in the space and shores up Sybase's position in real-time analytics. Terms were not disclosed, but Sybase said the deal would not have a material impact on its finances. CEP software monitors the torrent of transactions that occur in a company's IT landscape in real time, looking for patterns and correlations and triggering alerts or corrective actions if needed.

...And those are the top stories from the IDG Global IT News Update, brought to you by the IDG News Service. I'm Sumner Lemon in Singapore. Join us again later for more news from the world of technology.