This article in the Washington Post tells us about the plans to reform the U.S. patent system, because it is now felt that the system is suffering from too many patents awarded, and too few are not being awarded. There are those who want Europe to go the way of Read more…
In an article in Nature (Marris E, “Free genome databases finally defeat Celera”, Nature 435, 6 available only under subscription), it is reported that Celera is finally giving up some of its proprietary database practices, and will make available all of its genetic data through the U.S. National Center for Read more…
Data still seems to indicate that P2P networks are gathering more and more people. For example, Slyck.com has been monitoring P2P network since 2003 and the chart shows a steady increase in numbers (the data does not include torrent statistics): At least the music industry has stopped claiming that P2P Read more…
Star Wars fandom has always been sophisticated. Does anybody remember Troops? Then there are other great ones, such as Jedi Hunter (Crikey!) and many, many others. Now there is a new and sophisticated kid on the block, Star Wars Revelations, a fan movie produced with $20,000 telling the story of Read more…
It was meant to happen sooner or later. Creative Commons is now a target of Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD). The Register has this interesting comment on a panel debate discussing CC licences. According to the report, the ex-chairman of the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), Fran Nevrkla, described CC licences Read more…
The case reported two days ago about the GPL has been settled, and Fortinet has agreed to comply with the GPL. This means that Fortinet’s software will be distributed with the GPL, the standard terms of agreement will be changed, and the source code will be offered upon request for Read more…
The Paris Court of Appeals has ruled against the copy protection mechanisms included in DVDs, called Content Scrambling System (CSS). Not too long ago the same mechanism was being enforced in American and Norwegian courts, and now they are declaring that the technology is a bit dodgy. The case was Read more…
German courts continue to give credence to the GPL. A software company called Fortinet developed several security products, including firewall and anti-virus software. This was supposed to run on something they called “FortiOS”, which they claimed was their own operating system. The problem is that this operating system was actually Read more…
Sony is about to open Station Exchange, a shop for virtual goods in Everquest, one of its most popular online computer games. The idea behind the website is that users will have a sanctioned site where users can exchange their game goods. For example, if you buy a level 50 Read more…
When did Google join the Dark Side? It is difficult to say. One could argue that they took the first step with GMail, but I think that it happened when it became the de-facto internet search engine and obliterated its competition. Now Google has a new service that should send Read more…