Microsoft loses Diva court battle

What happens when you run a website only to have a large corporation come along with a similarly named site? Do you roll over and play dead or do you take them on in the courts? This was the dilemma faced by Dana Whitmire who had run an online business for three years in the shape of her Digital Divas site. The site is aimed squarely at women who use the Internet for their businesses and is a source for practical advice and offers many other services. However, Microsoft has begun a Digital Diva site of its own, offering mobile computer advice in an attempt to end the digital divide. ...more

Credit card companies not responsible for content on websites

Credit card companies are not liable for damages if they process transactions from a website in breach of copyright a Californian court has ruled. An adult website 'Perfect 10' had sued Mastercard and Visa because they provided credit card services for websites which, it claimed, had stolen and reproduced its copyrighted material. In dismissing the case, Judge James Ware, ruled that whilst the credit card companies assisted in the business they weren't helping the site to infringe copyright in any way. ...more

Novell maintains Linux momentum

Today sees Novell unveil its new Linux persona in full at LinuxWorld in New York. With the $210mn SUSE deal now all tied up, the company will be eager to shout about its latest announcements and keep the renewed momentum in the company at full pelt. Now the company has received a boost in its bid to get SUSE systems into government offices with the news that it has received certification that it meets government specifications, such as security requirements. ...more

Rivals Sun and Microsoft reach ?2bn settlement

Sun and Microsoft have decided to bury the hatchet. The two warring companies - who have clashed over anti-trust and Java issues - have decided to reach a settlement outside of the US courts and the EU anti-trust process. The surprising development involves entering 'into a broad technology collaboration arrangement to enable their products to work better together and to settle all pending litigation between the two companies'. ...more

IBM and Philips play tag

The spread of micro-processing technology into our everyday lives has increased: IBM and Philips have announced a joint agreement to develop systems using RFID (radio frequency identification) tags and smart card technology. Gillette and Tesco are among the companies that have used radio chips to encode information on customer packaging, for tracking the inventory of goods. Now, Philips is looking to increase the scale of the management systems. ...more