Web-based services threatened by patent

Not a week goes by these days without one software developer alleging that another has infringed one of its patents and this week is no exception, with Microsoft's .Net strategy now supposedly under threat. Charlie Northrup, CEO of Global Technologies, a software developer from New Jersey, US, owns a patent for diverse computer systems connecting to servers over the Internet to run software on multiple platforms. ...more

iTunes pricing complaint referred to Europe

The Office of Fair Trading has handed a complaint about iTunes Music Store pricing in the UK over to the European Commission. The OFT's investigation was prompted by a complaint from Which? (formerly the Consumers' Association), which pointed out that downloads from iTMS in the UK are more expensive than from the German and French stores. Which? has backed the decision to defer to the EC. ...more

Microsoft set to release disk based back up system

Microsoft says that its first disk-based data backup system will be released to manufacturing within the next 30 days. The Microsoft System Centre Data Protection Manager (DPM) aims to allow IT departments to back up their information on fast hard disk systems rather than the familiar tape based systems. DPM also has the benefit of allowing end users to retrieve lost or corrupted files on from their own desktop without having to bother the IT department. ...more

Microsoft preps Vista defences

As the launch of Vista approaches, Microsoft is gearing up to protect its new investment from the inevitable attention of the pirates. Under the banner of the Software Protection Platform (SP Platform), the company is introducing a battery of new safeguards to identify dodgy copies and encourage customers to buy the genuine article. Microsoft claims it has lost billions of dollars to software pirates over the years. ...more

The tide starts to move in Microsoft's favour

Now that Judge Penfield Jackson is out of the equation - with his barely concealed contempt for the company of the "Napoleonic" Gates - Microsoft is finding a more receptive hearing in the higher appeals court. The legal representative of the US Department of Justice who originally launched the anti-trust case, faced detailed questioning from the seven-judge panel in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. While the sceptical tone of questioning to government representatives does not itself indicate how the judges will rule, commentators have noted that the judges were particularly questioning over whether Microsoft had indeed violated Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act. ...more