ANALYSIS: Software patents - divide and rule

Can the Open Source community protect itself against the threat of software patents? The Open Source community is at the vanguard of the movement in opposition of software patents. It sees the current drafting of a European directive on computer-related patents as an opportunity to outlaw software patents and add fresh momentum to campaigns for a change in the US system. Opponents of software patents say they are too broad in definition and therefore open to abuse; that they allow companies to hoard software patents while they may not themselves have invented anything, and use those patents to block out smaller competitors; and that they stifle innovation among developers too afraid to create new products for fear of treading accidentally on one of a myriad patents owned by others. ...more

Sky Sports goes WAP

British Sky Broadcasting has announced an upgraded version of its WAP sports service. The new service gives real-time Sky Sports news and analysis with 24-hour updates from Sky News. It will work only on the Siemens C35i handset using the Vodafone network. ...more

Seagate ships 160GB notebook drive

Seagate has begun shipping its 160GB notebook drive using perpendicular recording technology. The drive, the first in its Momentus family using perpendicular recording, was first announced in June of last year. Six months later it has now hit the channel and Seagate still claims it's an industry first. ...more

Appeals court sets date for DOJ-Microsoft case

Favouring neither one side nor the other, the federal appellate court has ruled down the middle for the Microsoft anti-trust case, setting the date for oral arguments as 26-27 February. The schedule that has now been issued accelerates the process compared to Microsoft's proposal, but not as quickly as the government had wanted. Microsoft appealed for the case not to be heard before March while the DoJ favoured December. ...more

New computer game violence warning

A new game depicting violence and football hooliganism has caused outrage before it has even reached our shores. The game, by Dutch software group The Thirteenth Production, shows skinhead hooligans battling against each other at football matches, and some scenes depict their beaten victims, bruised and bloody after an ambush, outside a train station. Jason Gerber, director of the software company responsible for Hooligans: Storm Over Europe, is adamant that the game does not encourage violence. ...more