Microsoft faces Netscape's communication

Former Netscape CEO James L Barksdale was given the opportunity to blast Microsoft from the witness box today, as the final phase of the antitrust case entered its second day. The New York Times reports Mr Barksdale submitted a testimony to the effect that the current proposed measures to punish Microsoft and reach a settlement would not have prevented Microsoft using anticompetitive behaviour to crush Netscape in the 1990s and therefore would not stop Microsoft from doing it again. Indeed, the crux of the current situation is whether Microsoft is currently pursuing anti-competitive behaviour in other areas, such as mobile devices and instant messaging, and how far the settlement should go to prevent Microsoft from repeating its actions. ...more

Deepnet Explorer browser alerts for phishing scams

A new UK browser, which has gone into public beta, detects phishing scams and alerts users should they stumble across one. Version 1.3 of the Deepnet Explorer browser checks blacklists and analyses whether URLs and sites are up to date with security features such as certificates and so on. ...more

Analyst puts Apple rumours in perspective

Ultra-portable Macs, in-flight iTunes and touch-screen iPods are among the least likely rumoured Apple product releases, according to Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster. In a report to investors, the analyst ranked recent Apple rumours from the most likely through to the utterly spurious. 'Almost certain' are OS X 10. ...more

Microsoft forces Lindows to withdraw from Benelux countries with threats of €100,000 a day fines

Microsoft has forced Linux distie Lindows to withdraw from the Benelux countries after asking a Dutch court to levy a 100,000 Euro a day fine. The move by Lindows is the latest twist in a saga where Microsoft has pursued the company around the world alleging 'trademark infringement', even though Microsoft recently lost the opening rounds of its battle in the US courts. Having lost that opening round where the judge rulled that the word Windows was non-trademarkable, Microsoft has gone to courts around the world trying to get an injunction blocking access to the Lindows. ...more

Microsoft opens appeal against Eolas ruling

Microsoft was back in court again yesterday in an attempt to overturn a $565 million damages award. The software giant is appealing in a Federal Court against a ruling in a lower court in Chicago that Internet Explorer infringed patents held by developer Eolas, a spin-off of the University of California. The central issue is whether the 1998 Eolas patent - which covers imbedding small programs within browser and purports to cover plug-ins and applets - is valid. ...more