Technology & Society
Below is my summary of last week’s Microsoft hearing at the CFI in Luxembourg. You can read the entire column here. The European Court of First Instance (CFI) buzzed with energy this week as Microsoft and the European Commission squared
On the last day of the MS hearing at the European Court of First Instance, the topic du jour was the record fine the EC charged MS. Not surprisingly, MS wanted the fine dropped and the EC wanted to keep
It’s day 4 of the Microsoft hearing and today the Judges asked some really great questions about interoperability. Judge Cooke, whose Irish accent comes and goes, really cut through the blather on both sides of the argument and got to
Today was day 3 of the Microsoft hearing in Luxembourg and, as I noted in my last post, the focus switched to MS’s intellectual property and whether or not the company should be forced to share it with rivals. When
Yesterday, the CFI wrapped up its examination of the EC’s order to force Microsoft to remove 200 files from Windows to create the wildly unpopular Windows XPN. Now that the Court is done looking at the EC’s attempt to design
Today, everyone at the Court of First Instance noticed something that I think is a really huge difference between this Microsoft hearing and the original trial that occurred in the US. That is, the judges today are VERY familiar with
Today’s hearing at the European Court of First Instance (CFI) focused on the Windows Media Player. Below are some key ideas that came up during the arguments. On RealPlayer: Some groups like ECIS – the European Committee for Interoperable Systems
This afternoon, the European Commission’s (EC) attorney made his case. One of the things he said was that Microsoft put its unbundled version of windows on the market and contrary to their claims, there is no evidence that it is
This morning, Microsoft’s attorney said that the company is under the gun for what he called an “efficiency offense.†That is, because MS kept improving their operating system to work well with media products for the consumer, somehow that is
The Court of First Instance (CFI) just finished its first morning session where the lordships (really – that’s what they call the judges) heard Microsoft attorneys and supporters discuss why the company shouldn’t be forced to remove code from its
I’m in Luxembourg today to watch the Microsoft hearing before the Court of First Instance. Two years ago, the European Commission found Microsoft guilty of abusing its dominant market position and imposed a record €497m ($613m) fine and ordered it
Last year, Congress passed the Real ID Act, a law that calls for standardization of drivers’ licenses across the country by 2008. The current reaction from states like California and New Hampshire raises questions about how a national ID system
Below is the press release announcing a study I just co-authored on cable franchise issues. I’m reproducing the entire release below b/c it’s a good summary of the paper and why you should read it. New Study says Consumers are
Despite national legislation, spam remains a menace that clogs e-mail inboxes and costs Internet Service Providers millions of dollars. One California company is trying to stem the flow of unwanted mail, but California legislators are threatening to stand in the
Scientists have figured out how to rebuild bladders, a sign that more complex organs can be grown in the future. This is great news for those of us who are still healthy and hoping that when we’re old, it will
This week, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) voted to exempt much political communication on the Internet from the provisions of the McCain-Feingold finance law. This action is a partial win on free-speech rights, but bad news on government control of
French legislators recently approved a bill that will force technology companies such as Apple Computer to share proprietary technology with rivals. Such a move is not only a recipe for disaster but completely unnecessary. The digital music market has always
About a month ago, a bi-partisan group of senators released a statement supporting cable franchise reform. Now key members of the House of Representatives appear to agree. At this rate, consumers might actually see national reform that will slash cable
This bot is meant to help the elderly, but I think it might actually cause a few heart attacks. I’d be freaked out if this thing picked me up.
The recent news that AT&T made a deal to acquire BellSouth has elicited two reactions: one, an assumption that communications prices will go up; and the other, an assumption that prices will go down. It’s always tough to predict exactly