ZDNet UK Intellectual property Toolkit

Pro-Linux group snaps up Microsoft patents

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Ina Fried) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:29:02 +0100

The Open Invention Network says it has acquired 22 Linux-focused patents sold recently by Microsoft, which has long loomed over the open-source sector

The importance of copyleft

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:34:00 +0000

Copyleft is one of the 20th century's most important technological achievements, on a par with computers and the World Wide Web. There, I've said it. Copyleft is the principle whereby the...

Reports: Mandelson to create file-sharing offence

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:01:31 +0000

The government intends to create a new offence of downloading copyrighted material without consent, according to reports that refer to a letter sent by business secretary Lord Mandelson to the...

Judge rules for Apple in Psystar case

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Natalie Weinstein) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:51:02 +0000

A summary judgement says Psystar's creation of Mac clones running OS X violate 'Apple's exclusive reproduction right, distribution right, and right to create derivative works'

Verizon to trial campaign of 'copyright notices'

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Marguerite Reardon and Greg Sandoval) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:12:02 +0000

The US company, known for its reluctance to intervene in anti-piracy cases, will forward copyright notices on behalf of the music industry to those suspected of illegal downloading

Steorn renews perpetual promise to show free energy machine

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:31:35 +0100

Welcome back my friends to the magnetic machine story that never ends, courtesy of Dublin-based perpetual motion mongers Steorn. One of my two favourite miraculous organisations in the...

Judge asks to be shown live BitTorrent demo

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Liam Tung) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:14:02 +0100

A judge presiding over a copyright-infringement hearing in Australia has asked to see a live demonstration of how BitTorrent is used to download movies

Google, Apple, others hit by Eolas patent lawsuit

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Stephen Shankland) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:26:01 +0100

In a bigger sequel to its years-long patent-infringement case against Microsoft, Eolas has sued Apple, Google, Amazon, Yahoo, Playboy and many other corporate giants

Microsoft controlling Australian Gov't 2.0 funds

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Chris Duckett) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:33:02 +0100

Australia's Government 2.0 Taskforce has revealed that any contracts for its Project Fund will be between successful bidders and Microsoft, not the Commonwealth

Court reverses Microsoft patent-infringement ruling

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Ina Fried) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 08:22:02 +0100

A US district court has reversed an April ruling that would have seen Microsoft being forced to pay $388m in a patent-infringement case

Pirate Party makes waves in Australia

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Suzanne Tindal) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:37:02 +0100

The Pirate Party, which champions issues such as intellectual-property rights, free speech and data privacy, is on its way to becoming an official party in Australia

Android modders to cut Google Apps out of ROM

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:25:30 +0100

The maker of CyanogenMod, a modified version of Google's Android mobile operating system, is to distribute the product without proprietary Google Apps included. The shift in strategy follows a...

Microsoft infringed patent, says appeals court

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Elinor Mills) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 08:42:01 +0100

A US court also said the $358m jury award against Microsoft was disproportionate to the small feature in Alcatel-Lucent's patent that appeared to be little-used

Google offers rivals ability to resell e-books

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Stephen Shankland) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 08:47:02 +0100

The search giant has offered competitors a reseller programme that would let them share some rights and revenue, but Amazon has turned this down

Google fleshes out Book Search privacy policy

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Tom Krazit) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:55:01 +0100

Privacy advocates had criticised Google's Book Search settlement as incomplete regarding its privacy policy, and the search giant has responded with additional commitments

Microsoft granted stay of Word injunction

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Steven Musil) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:15:02 +0100

The landmark injunction would have required the software giant to stop selling its popular Word in its current form by next month

Google Books deal: Amazon calls in the lawyers

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Tom Krazit) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:24:02 +0100

Google's digital book settlement with publishers and authors is to be challenged in the courts by Amazon

Microsoft files appeal in Word injunction case

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Ina Fried) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 08:29:01 +0100

The company has found fault with rulings that led to a jury's patent-infringement ruling that threatens to halt sales of the current form of Word

Microsoft signs confidential IP deal over NTFS

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Rupert Goodwins) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:38:02 +0100

Tuxera, an open-source NTFS company, has signed a confidential deal with Microsoft to co-operate on exFAT, a proprietary alternative to the NTFS file system

SCO group wins Unix copyright appeal

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Stephen Shankland) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:27:01 +0100

An appeals court has ruled that a judge was hasty in deciding Novell did not sell Unix copyrights to SCO Group

Even the BSA attacking Mandy over P2P crackdown

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:16:11 +0100

Peter Mandelson's proposals for cutting off file-sharers have kicked up an almighty ruckus. Technical and legal experts, as well and ISPs and the Open Rights Group, are lining up to give the...

The Elephant In The Room

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:00:14 +0100

... is, of course, that actual financial loss to the industry from file sharing is negligible. Groups such as the RIAA and MPAA count each and every download as a 'loss', which is as utterly...

ISPs, rights groups react to gov't P2P proposals

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (David Meyer) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:18:02 +0100

Lord Mandelson's proposals to disconnect the internet service of illegal file-sharers have come under criticism as disproportionate and worrying for businesses

Gov't proposes disconnecting file-sharers

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (David Meyer) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:46:01 +0100

Internet users suspected of illicit file-sharing could be disconnected under proposals by Lord Mandelson's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Swedish court orders ISP to shut Pirate Bay

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Greg Sandoval) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 08:53:02 +0100

A Swedish ISP has said it was ordered by a district court to shut down the BitTorrent tracking site or face penalties

Coalition to oppose Google Books settlement

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Steven Musil) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:38:02 +0100

The Internet Archive is reportedly forming a coalition of tech giants to be led by veteran Silicon Valley attorney Gary Reback

US Justice Dept defends $1.92m file-sharing fine

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Declan McCullagh) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:45:02 +0100

In move that echoes Bush administration arguments, Obama's Justice Department says Jammie Thomas's $1.92m fine for infringement of 24 songs is constitutional

Microsoft patents XML word processing documents

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 12:22:16 +0100

The US patent office has granted a Microsoft patent application, 7,571,169, which "... is directed at providing a word-processing document in a native XML file format that may be understood by an...

Microsoft adopts GPL for Hyper-V Linux components

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:03:01 +0100

Mark this day in your diary: Microsoft has decided to use the GPL for some of its software. This is according to Matt Asay over on our American sister site CNet News, who reports that the...

Software patents, and how to route around them

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:22:32 +0100

Microsoft recently used its patents on some aspects of the FAT filesystem to beat TomTom into submission, with the latter ending up having to change its products, pay Microsoft and license some of...

Government attitude to open source improving?

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:28:52 +0100

Last year a Government project called Timely information to citizens was announced, which provided funding to local authorities for projects that gets information out to people faster and more...

FAT replacement licensing must be pragmatic

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:38:29 +0100

The settlement between TomTom and Microsoft may not be the outcome that everyone wanted, but it ends the uncertainty over the company's future, and as Rupert Goodwins noted, Microsoft's statement...

TomTom agrees to pay MS for patents, settles suit

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:17:51 +0100

CNET US reporter Ina Fried has just reported that MS and TomTom have come to terms on their suit-countersuit. It looks like TomTom caved: "Microsoft and TomTom announced on Monday that they have...

TomTom joins Linux protection group

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:45:44 +0000

TomTom has joined the Open Invention Network, a company that was formed to protect Linux, as a licensee. The satnav maker announced it had signed up to the OIN on Monday. By joining, it gained...

Microsoft's open source side-step

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 13:15:45 +0000

Microsoft has announced the release of a plug-in for Eclipse which adds Silverlight development capabilities to the open source IDE. The plug in, Eclipse4SL, is itself available under the Eclipse...

Poles Apart

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:02:44 +0000

The Polish government appears to have watered down a law currently passing through the country's parliament, dropping a requirement for public sector IT projects to conform to open standards....

Microsoft gets stuck in to Visual Studio patent woes

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:16:01 +0000

In a move likely to be symbolic of future conflict, Microsoft has filed suit to invalidate several patents held by WebXChange, an online services provider. WebXchange has previously sued three...

Software Jihad part 2

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:29:10 +0000

I guess the point of my previous post (read rant if you want) was that Microsoft makes a lot of noise of "protecting" their IP but in reality they are only paying lip-service to it and the...

PM's website fingered for IP infringement

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:24:18 +0100

Ha! And so the great defenders of intellectual property fall. First it was Microsoft, with its splendidly misconceived Iconic Britain competition, and now it's 10 Downing Street itself. ...

Microsoft in Flickr rights shockr

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:49:49 +0100

Microsoft has always been rather strident on the topic of copyright infringement, as you may have noticed. Which makes the tale of its Iconic Britain competition all the more astonishing. The...

Making a better day from the Dark Knight's lesson in IP

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:00:40 +0100

Although there are some areas of geekhood where I test very positive indeed perhaps obvious to anyone who saw me lugging a £10 eBay win iMac G3 home on the 253 bus up the Camden Road last night -...

UK P2P user? Hope you like US prison food

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:19:08 +0100

This is one of the most frightening things I've learned in a long time. Over in the US, a bill has passed the House of Representatives and is heading to Congress with a huge amount of support. ...

BBC threatens iPlayer hackers with mild annoyance

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 11:42:03 +0100

With the tedious inevitability of an unloved season, the BBC's iPlayer has provoked a chain of events with as much predictability as a Bond movie. The plot is simple: the BBC wants to do its...

Google's CoreAVC shows how easy copyright is to get right

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Tue, 06 May 2008 21:12:39 +0100

Are high-profile copyright claims putting you off open source? If so, here's a story to reassure you. A video utility, which disappeared from Google Code in a puff of threatened litigation, is back...

The pertinence of programmers patents

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:33:16 +0100

Patent considerations for software programmers occupy something of a unique place within the hallowed halls of the be-suited bureaucrats who pad the halls of the European Patent Office. Really?...

Red Hat stands up against software patents

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:03:24 +0100

It's refreshing to see a big player in the software game make a stand for improving the rules, instead of just playing by them. We've been watching the controversy over software patents for a...

Of Qtrax and broken dreams

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 08:40:26 +0000

Last thing last night - around 2am, Goodwins Mean Time - I was preparing to turn in. A last look around the news, and an outfit called QTrax was making some waves. Free music downloads,...

A video summary of some of the projects

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 22:06:51 +0000

Here's a video I've put together about some of my projects. Sorry about the wobblyness and wonkyness - I'm not sure where I've put my tripod. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrr2XKAB0L0

Breaking news: Novell tries to get back its open source glow

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Wed, 23 May 2007 18:13:41 +0100

In a furious piece of image-management, Novell seems to be trying to undo some of the damage it has done itself in the eyes of the open source community through its partnership with Microsoft, by...

Six thousand pages, one month, no chance...

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 14:41:11 +0000

Weary of cynicism, I've tried to believe that Microsoft's approach to international open document standards really does have the user in mind. I want to believe: there's enough nonsense to worry...

iPhone war breaks out - Cisco sues Apple

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 23:35:06 +0000

This just in: Cisco IS suing Apple over unauthorised use of the iPhone trademark. ""Cisco entered into negotiations with Apple in good faith after Apple repeatedly asked permission to use...

Rupert Goodwins' Diary

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 19:35:06 +0100

Tuesday 10/10/2006 It was rumoured last week and it's true today: Google's bought YouTube. GooTube or is it Yougle? has achieved something unusual. No two people agree on how good an...