Unbundling IE would create problems for ISVs

In today's podcast: Unbundling IE would create problems for ISVs; Facebook access blocked by Iran; and Chinese man jailed for extorting virtual items.

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The European Commission claims it is acting in the interests of consumers in pursuing an antitrust ruling against Microsoft for bundling its Internet Explorer into the Windows OS, but unbundling them would be a nightmare for independent software developers, said Jonathan Zuck, president of the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT), on Monday. Zuck was planning to make his argument in person next week at an antitrust hearing, but Microsoft canceled the hearing because key European Commission officials involved in the case wouldn't be able to attend. The ACT is one of several trade groups that have been accepted as interested third parties in the European antitrust case against Microsoft.

Social networking site Facebook has been blocked in Iran since Saturday, according to the country's opposition, as opposition voters increasingly turn to online tools like social networking to promote their candidates. Iran will hold elections in June for a new president. Lacking other suitable media, youth in Iran were using Facebook to promote opposition candidates, and to convince people to participate in the elections, Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a former vice president of Iran and a reformist politician, said in a post on his blog. Abtahi blamed supporters of current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for blocking Facebook.

A Chinese man who extorted virtual items and currency from a fellow Internet cafe user to improve his performance in online games was sentenced over the weekend. With three friends, the man beat up the victim and forced him to turn over virtual currency worth 100,000 yuan (US$14,700), China's official Xinhua news agency reported late Sunday. The men were each fined and the main attacker sentenced to three years in prison by a court in northeastern Liaoning province. Selling in-game weapons, armor and other items to players for real-world cash is a common way for China's online gaming companies to a turn a profit. Internet cafes in China are often packed with chain-smoking teenagers who play World of Warcraft or similar Chinese games for long hours.

In an attempt to upset the netbook applecart, Lenovo on Monday planned to introduced a small and affordable laptop that can deliver full PC functionality without compromising features. The IdeaPad U350 is the first in Lenovo's new line of inexpensive ultraportable laptops, which will include low-power processors Intel has designed for small and affordable laptops. The laptops will be as light as netbooks but include larger screens and offer more functionality. Priced starting at US$649, the U350 weighs about 3.5 pounds and includes a 13.3-inch screen. It comes with a four-cell battery that can run for around four hours. Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system comes pre-loaded with the laptop, and Lenovo officials declined comment on potential upgrade options to Microsoft's upcoming Windows 7 OS.

...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.