Overhaul of Linux license could have broad impact

The rules governing the use of most free software programs will be revised for the first time in 15 years, in an open process that begins today.

The New York Times reports (30 November) that free software, once regarded as a tiny counterculture in computing, has become a mainstream technology in recent years, led by the rising popularity of programs like the GNU Linux operating system.

Industry analysts estimate that the value of hardware and software that use the Linux operating system is US$40 billion. And Linux has become a competitive alternative to Microsoft's Windows, especially in corporate data centres, says the newspaper.

According to the NYT the overhaul of the General Public License, which covers Linux and many other free software programs, is an issue of far greater significance today than before.

"The big boys, corporations and governments, have far more reason to be interested and concerned this time," said Eben Moglen, general counsel to the Free Software Foundation, which holds the license, commonly known as the G.P.L.

The newspaper says that the process will also be closely watched for how the new G.P.L. will take account of software patents, which have exploded among proprietary software developers since 1991, the last time the license was revised.

A document that describes the principles and timeline for updating the G.P.L., as well as the process for public comment and resolving issues, was to be posted today at www.gplv3.fsf.org. A first draft will be presented at a conference at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, scheduled for 16 and 17 January.

A second draft is expected by summer. If a third draft is required, it should be completed by the fall of 2006. The process, Mr. Moglen said, could involve comments from thousands of corporations and individuals, but the Free Software Foundation will make the final judgments.

{mospagebreaktitle=VeriSign, ICANN face antitrust lawsuits}VeriSign, ICANN face antitrust lawsuits

Companies that sell and broker internet domain names have filed two lawsuits against VeriSign and its oversight agency, accusing them of price-fixing and other anti-competitive practices.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (29 November) that the federal antitrust lawsuits are primarily over a proposed extension to a contract VeriSign has with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to run the main database for the ''.com'' suffix, the most popular online.

That renewal, in turn, was part of an accord reached in a longstanding antitrust dispute between VeriSign and ICANN, the Internet's quasi-governmental oversight agency.

AP reports that the lawsuits were filed Monday in the US District Court as ICANN opened weeklong meetings in Vancouver, British Columbia, at which the contract and settlement proposals were to be major topics of discussion.

John Jeffrey, ICANN's general counsel, called the lawsuits an attempt by special interests to hijack public debate.

AP says that even before the lawsuits were filed, many domain name holders and sellers had expressed concerns about giving even more influence to a company that already exerts significant control over traffic on the internet. Web browsers and e-mail programs depend on directories that VeriSign runs to find other computers.

Under the proposed deal, VeriSign could raise prices for ''.com'' names by 7 percent a year beginning in 2007, from the current US$6 per name (what users actually pay may differ because of resellers' subsidies or fees). With more than 40 million ''.com'' names in use, such an increase could generate US$17 million for VeriSign in the first year, reports AP in the NYT.

{mospagebreaktitle=Media deals expected for Intel}Media deals expected for Intel

Intel is expected to announce immediately that it has entered into partnerships with several movie, music, and game providers around the world to introduce content that would work with its new Viiv technology for home media centers.

The New York Times reports (30 November) that with Viiv-enabled PC's and other devices, consumers will be able to download content from the internet that will be automatically configured to provide the best- quality image when viewed on large wide-screen TV's. Movielink, the movie download service in the United States, and British Sky Broadcasting in Britain, are two companies that will offer content compatible with Viiv.

The Viiv technology, first announced in August, provides a set of standards that allows certified televisions, PC's, DVD players and other devices to connect easily and share digital content.

The newspaper reports that Viiv-enabled computers, which will run the Microsoft Windows Media Centre operating system, will be designed to operate like televisions, controlled by a remote and powered on instantly. And Viiv-compliant TV's will be able to download and display movies and TV shows directly from the internet without the use of a PC.

Intel expects Viiv hardware and content to be available during the first quarter of next year, with simultaneous introductions in France, Germany, Italy, Britain, the United States and other countries. The hardware manufacturers have not yet been announced, reports the NYT.

{mospagebreaktitle=Blu - Ray expects to reveal launch details in Jan}Blu - Ray expects to reveal launch details in Jan

The Blu-ray DVD group said on Tuesday it still planned to roll out a high-definition disc format in spring 2006, though members of the consortium led by Sony said they would unveil specific launch plans at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (30 November) that Blu-Ray is vying with a competing format known as HD DVD, championed by a group led by Toshiba.

According to the Reuters report, Sony's Blu-ray disc technology appears to be the front-runner in the multibillion dollar race to develop the next-generation DVDs, which movie studios and consumer electronics manufacturers hope will ignite sales for the home video sector, which has shown signs of a slowdown recently.

Both formats provide high-definition versions of movies as well as interactive features.

The Reuters report says that members of the Blu-ray camp, including executives from Disney, Fox, Sony, Pioneer and Panasonic, attended the press briefing on Tuesday to show off Blu-ray's interactive features, which enable consumers to play games, connect to the internet and select from various functions, such as subtitles and text, while still watching a movie.

Blu-ray has more major movie studios on its side, although some industry watchers have said the format will be more expensive to make. While HD DVD discs can be made with only minor tweaks to the standard DVD manufacturing process, Blu-ray discs require completely different equipment.

{mospagebreaktitle=Seiko Epson to cut exposure to mobile phones}Seiko Epson to cut exposure to mobile phones

Japan's Seiko Epson will significantly cut the exposure of its chip and display businesses to the mobile phone market after heavy price falls pushed those operations into the red, it said on Tuesday.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (29 November) that Seiko Epson expects its electronics devices division, which includes semiconductors, liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, and quartz components, to post an operating loss of 10 billion yen in the business year through March.

According to Reuters, while it has also been hit hard by falling profit margins at its ink jet printer division, the sluggish performance of its devices unit is the main reason Seiko Epson expects its group net profit to slump 60 percent to 22 billion yen this year.

The company said unit sales of devices would be solid through the year-end shopping season, but suggested that profits would be hard to come by as key clients such as Nokia pressure it to lower prices for small LCD panels and LCD driver chips.

{mospagebreaktitle=TiVo plans new service in Taiwan}TiVo plans new service in Taiwan

TiVo on Tuesday said that it will launch its digital video-recording service in Taiwan within the next few months, its second venture outside the United States.

The Associated TiVo is now only sold in the United States, though the subscription service is being delivered to customers in Britain who purchased satellite boxes equipped with the DVR through a now-defunct partnership with a satellite company.

TGC Inc., a closely held Chinese company, will sell TiVo boxes and distribute the electronic guide and video recording service in Taiwan.

TiVo is a minority shareholder in TGC, which also has the right to sell TiVo service in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Macao.

{mospagebreaktitle=US Judge to rule on Samsung plea}US Judge to rule on Samsung plea

A US District Court judge is this week to decide whether to accept a plea agreement in which Samsung Electronics admits to conspiring with other firms to fix the prices of computer memory chips that use technology from Rambus, court records show.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (29 November) that under the plea, Samsung would pay a US$300 million fine over five years, according to court documents. Judge Phyllis Hamilton, for the US District Court will rule whether to accept the plea, agreed upon by Samsung and the US Department of Justice, which went after Samsung.

In the plea agreement, Samsung said it conspired in 2001 and 2002 to raise prices or limit price declines on dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chips, according to the court documents.

DRAM chips are among the most widely used memory chips in personal computers and server computers.

{mospagebreaktitle=Intel to partner TiVo on PC platform}Intel to partner TiVo on PC platform

Looking to boost the number of computers whirring away in living rooms, Intel on Wednesday unveiled its first list of companies whose products are expected to work with the chip maker's upcoming Viiv entertainment PC platform.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (30 November) that, so far, about 40 companies that develop TV, movie, music, gaming and photo-editing products are testing and verifying services, programs and gadgets that will interact with the Intel technology, said Kevin Corbett, an Intel vice president in charge of content services.

The goal of the Viiv label, he said, is to avoid consumer confusion and questions over interoperability. It also will ensure the products will work when the PC is being controlled from a distance via a remote control.

AP says that Intel, which is best known for its Pentium microprocessor, followed a similar strategy in 2003, when it launched its Centrino technology for laptops. Along with a big marketing push, it worked to ensure that gear carrying the Centrino logo worked with laptops branded the same way.

{mospagebreaktitle=Yahoo introduces e-mail folder}Yahoo introduces e-mail folder

Looking to gain another edge on its rivals, internet powerhouse Yahoo is to begin testing a new e-mail folder designed to make it easier for people to track the latest information posted on their favorite web sites.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (30 November) that the free feature relies on Really Simple Syndication, an increasingly popular technology that can compile content from a wide array of Web sites catering to a user's personal tastes.

AP says that millions of people have signed up to receive automatic feeds on everything from the international news to family recipes since Yahoo first began providing its RSS service last year, said Scott Gatz, the company's senior director of personalisation products.

Until Wednesday, Yahoo relied on web pages as its RSS hub. RSS feeds will still be accessible through Yahoo's web site.

Creating an e-mail folder for RSS seemed like a logical way for Yahoo to educate more people about the technology because e-mail remains the most popular application online, Gatz said. ''This is really taking RSS to another level.''

Initially, the latest RSS feature will be available to less than half of Yahoo's e-mail accountholders as the company tests the new format, company officials said. Yahoo has been gradually moving its e-mail users to a more dynamic version of the service since introducing a series of upgrades in September.

Although Yahoo doesn't charge people for its RSS service, the company has a financial motive to widen the audience using the technology. As RSS has become more prevalent, it is emerging as a new channel for online advertising -- a business that accounts for most of Yahoo's profits.

Yahoo also is aggressively rolling out new products to give people more reasons to return to its Web site instead of using the services of rivals like Google Inc., Microsoft Corp.'s MSN and Time Warner's AOL.

{mospagebreaktitle=US regulators propose internet "e-proxy" postings}US regulators propose internet "e-proxy" postings

In the US., corporations would be allowed to post proxy statements and annual reports on Web sites, instead of sending the bulky documents through the mail, under a plan proposed on Tuesday by federal regulators.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (29 November) that the US Securities and Exchange Commission voted 5-0 to put the plan out for a 60-day public comment period, with a final vote by the commission expected to follow later.

Aimed at saving postage and printing costs, the so-called ''e-proxy'' measure is also seen as a way to possibly cut the costs to shareholders of mounting proxy contests and giving them more power to challenge corporate managers, reports Reuters.

The news agency reports that, under the proposed rule, investors would still have to get a postcard notice in the mail telling them a proxy statement and annual report had been made available online. In addition, investors wishing to continue receiving printed matter could request it.

{mospagebreaktitle=Sony, Idemitsu to co-develop OLED materials}Sony, Idemitsu to co-develop OLED materials

Japan's Sony and unlisted oil company Idemitsu Kosan said on Tuesday they will jointly develop materials used in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays.

Reuters reports in The New York Tmes (29 November) that OLED screens are seen as a promising next-generation display because they produce bright, colorful images and, unlike liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, do not require a backlight, making it possible to make thinner screens.

Sony already makes 3.8-inch OLED panels for personal digital assistants (PDA) on a commercial basis, and Idemitsu, Japan's third-largest refiner, is a leading developer of light-emitting organic materials used in OLED displays.