Open source to power US patent review

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is looking to the open source community to help improve the quality of patents issued in the US. Quality issues have landed the USPTO with something of a reputation as an over-liberal system that one should try to avoid - particularly in relation to efforts in Europe to come up with a harmonised patent legislation for the EU. The successful patenting of what some might consider trivial or obvious inventions, such as 'one-click shopping' has made software patents tricky terrain for the tech industry. ...more

French court rules against fair use for DVD copies

French consumers are no longer entitled to make personal copies of DVDs after France's highest court overturned an earlier ruling. Last April, the Paris Court of Appeal ruled that copy protection on DVDs infringed consumer rights because it prevented fait usage. The court gave DVD distributors one month to remove the DRM from their discs. ...more

Half-Life 2 to be bundled with Radeon 9900 Pro?

According to a recent, unconfirmed, report appearing in the German online press, ATi's upcoming graphics card, the Radeon 9900 Pro, will come bundled with Half-Life 2. Endeavouring to discover whether truth lies behind the unconfirmed report, we contacted ATi to seek clarification. ATi's rapid response unit got back to us sharpish, but. ...more

South Pole gets wired

Plans have been announced to connect the South Pole to the internet. The only inhabited place on Earth without access to geosynchronous communications satellites is to be linked to the Web via a 1070 mile fibre optic cable. The American National Science Foundation expects the link to be ready by 2009. ...more

Pioneer begins shipping Blu-ray drives

Pioneer has begun shipping the first Blu-ray drive units for computers. The BDR-101A is bundled with Sonic Solutions Roxio Blu-ray Disc software and blank media from TDK that will store up to 25GB of data and recorded content. The unit doubles as a DVD read/write drive (DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/+RW). ...more