SanDisk shuts MP3 stand at IFA show over patent spat

SanDisk has been forced to shut down its stall at a Berlin consumer electronics fair by a court injunction granted to an Italian patent management company. Societa Italiana per lo Sviluppo Dell' Elettronica (Sisvel) persuaded a court in the German capital that SanDisk was in breach of patents on MP3 technology that it manages on behalf of the patents' owners: France Telecom, TDF, US Philips, Philips Electronics NV, Institut fur Rundfunktechnik and Bayerische Rundfunkwerbung. SanDisk declined to comment, but complied with the court ruling and removed its portable music players, including the recently unveiled e280, from the stall at IFA, leaving it distinctly bare. ...more

US copyright body calls for priority monitoring of IP rights in 16 countries

A US coalition of intellectual property organisations has called on the US Government to place on its Priority Watch List 16 nations that it closely monitors for 'the adequacy and effectiveness of intellectual property rights'. The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) wants US Trade Representative Susan Schwab to list Argentina, Canada, Chile, China Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, India, Israel, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine and Venezuela when she issues her annual Special 301 Report later this year. Although this will not necessarily result in action against the listed countries, it does mean that they will be more closely monitored for failures to implement IP rights that could restrict those countries' freedom to trade with the US. ...more

HP offers to buy old printers

Hewlett-Packard (HP) is offering up to ?1,100 for your old printer if you buy one of a selection of new HP colour printers. Once you have bought your new printer, you can apply, either online or by fax, for the trade-in, which is paid directly into your, or your company's, bank account. The amount payable depends upon the technology and brand of the old printer, which HP will collect from you. ...more

Sun preps Java Desktop 2 for May release

As Sun prepares a new version of its Java Desktop system, vendors are queuing up to sell it. The latest is US supermarket Walmart, which is to sell it loaded onto Microtel computers at prices from $298 to $698. Sun says it has signed agreements with 21 computer makers in the last four months to ship the system. ...more

FTC presses Passport

Microsoft and the FTC reach a 20-year agreement that will see the company face security audits every two years. Following complaints about Microsoft's single sign-in Passport account, the Federal Trade Commission and Microsoft yesterday agreed an order that will result in changes to the way Passport is described, changes within SP1 for XP and the adoption of a 'comprehensive information security program', which will undergo a third-party security audit within a year, and bi-annually thereafter. Brad Smith, general counsel for Microsoft, said in the conference call yesterday that the new measures, 'raise the bar for Microsoft and the entire industry,' and that 'the industry will need to keep pace with the precedent this case sets. ...more