Government & Regulation Most Recent Posts

It's patent-troll time once again, folks. A one-person* company that adds zero economic value is suing a huge laundry list of companies who use the Web. The company claims it invented a common Web page feature, so it should be entitled to licensing fees. What sort of crazy is this? Explanations in today's The Long View...
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When you buy a MP3 from iTunes, do you own it? What if you could resell some of the ton of digital music you don't listen to, but that is taking up hard drive space? You can buy and legally resell "used" MP3s on eMarketplace ReDigi, the brainchild of former MIT programmers. Like the RIAA which refuses to change a broken business model, Capitol Records had a copyright infringement cow and objected in court. However a judge handed the first round victory to ReDigi, not Capitol. It's looking good for music lovers.

Barnes & Noble received a piece of good news today when a staff attorney at the U.S. trade agency recommended that a judge rule against Microsoft's patent infringement case against the NOOK e-reader and tablet. The trial starts today in Washington.

Microsoft has launched an all-out public assault on Google's recent privacy changes, but Google is fighting back, claiming that Microsoft and other critics are spreading untruths about the new policy. It's a fight that's good for users.

Apple has failed in its bid to have Samsung's latest tablet banned in Germany. So Europeans can still buy the Galaxy Tab 10.1N. A Munich court ruled that a key Apple patent was probably invalid, due to prior art. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers count their Euros and run to the stores.

Think the Newt Gingrich-Mitt Romney war of words is nasty? Then wait until you see Microsoft's big-money ad campaign slamming Google over Google's recent changes in its privacy rules.

The Facebook IPO will be official later today, we're told. The rumor-mill sets the price per share at around $45, assuming the $100 billion valuation being bandied about. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers wonder if it'll be (NYSE:FB) or (NASDAQ:FB). Not to mention: 20 Rejected Monopoly Chance Cards...

It's Samsung and not Apple who faces the wrath of EU competition regulators, who today announced a probe into the company over possible patent rights abuses in its smartphone war with the iPhone-maker.

With its new iPhone 4S lottery system in Hong Kong, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is trying to defeat Chinese scalpers. Now you can't just walk into the Central District and pick up the latest pomaceous shiny. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers take a number. Not to mention: The World Isn't Getting Any Better...

[Updated with more comment and analysis] Megaupload is warning that its hosting service providers may be about to destroy evidence. The data is 'important' to the company's defense that 'more than 50 million people' used the service for their legitimate cloud staorage needs -- not just copyrighted songs and movies. The U.S. government has washed its hands of the matter. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers hope that justice is seen to be done. Not to mention: Grammar Nazi's (learning you lesson's of speling & grammar)...

Since Bill Gates left Microsoft, he has become the world's premier philanthropist, but has largely stayed away from politics. But now, in an aside in an interview with the U.K. newspaper The Telegraph, he lightly weighs into U.S. politics, saying that increasing taxes on the rich would be a good way to close the budget deficit.

North Koreans found using cellphones are guilty of 'war crimes.' At least, during the 100-day mourning period for Kim Jong-il, we're told. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers assume that means they'll be executed. Not to mention: Beautiful HD timelapse of Yosemite...

Welcome to Minority Report in real life as police are being increasingly federalized by Homeland Security and taken deeper into the intelligence apparatus to hunt homegrown terrorists. Some police are armed with cutting edge crime detection tools. In New Jersey, cops can shine a red pre-crime spotlight to mark people up to a block away before they might commit a crime. The NYPD are testing a gun-scanning technology called Terahertz Imaging Detection. You could secretly be scanned to see if you are packing heat and not even know it.

Hey! Google! Wake up! Porn spammers are running rampant over your social networking baby. Reporting them seems to have no effect. Please get a grip.

Apple did much better than the rumors predicted for its Q4 results. The pomaceous peddler of fashionable portable-computers-that-sometimes-make-phone-calls (NASDAQ:AAPL) surprised Wall Street with record numbers. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers try to put it all in context.