Microsoft have agreed to pay Lindows $20million to change its name to Linspire. Can't see Michael Robertson and Bill Gates walking off into the sunset as bosom buddies though.

BT say their new Net filtering system is blocking 23000 attempts per day on average to access child pornography. Meanwhile the prime minister has invited ISPs to one of his summits to encourage them to follow BT's line.

The EU competition authorities have approved the merger between Sony and Bertelsmann's music businesses.

A UK company is suing Apple and Microsoft for patent infringement.

James Grimmelmann has a nice take on yet another Simpsons copyright story.

There is a new UK anticircumvention decision to follow Sony v Owen. It's called Kabushiki Kaisha Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (Also Trading As Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.) v Ball et al. Since Sony v Owen happened before the implentation of the EU copyright directive of 2001, I'm assuming this latest case is now the definitive one, though I haven't yet had the time to puruse the decision in detail.

"The defendants are involved in the design, manufacture, sale and installation of an electronic chip, called Messiah 2. It can be fitted into a PS2 console and works so as to trick the console into believing that the CD or DVD being played has the necessary embedded codes. By this means, the modified PS2 console can be made to play not only authentic PS2 games designed for the geographical area for which the console was intended, but also unauthorised copies and also games from either of the two regions which are "foreign" to the console."

The decision deals (paras 19 to 26) with a possible loophole for exporters of the Messiah 2 mod chips prior to the the implementation of the EUCD but clearly finds in favour of Sony.

Senator Hatch will be falling further out of favour with Larry Lessig with his call for the banning of p2p networks in a Senate hearing on the proposed INDUCE act.