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Interesting comparison between Microsoft and Google experiences in China. 

Report demonstrating Microsoft Bing is filtering content in some "Arabian" (Arabic speaking?) countries. They are filtering largely sexual content but also non-sexual content relating to homosexuality and other taboo topics. 

Microsoft Corp and I-O Data Device have entered into an agreement that will provide I-O Data's customers with patent coverage for their use of I-O Data's products running Linux and other related open source software.

Find the whole idea vaguely repulsive. See Slashdot: "The Japanese computer manuracturer IO Data is the latest in line to license Microsoft's so-called 'Linux patents,' following the likes of Novell, Samsung, and Amazon. Yes, even the press releases use the word 'Linux' to describe these patents. From the press release: 'Specifically, the patent covenants apply to I-O Data's network-attached storage devices and its routers, which run Linux. Although the details of the agreement have not been disclosed, the parties indicated that Microsoft is being compensated by I-O Data.'" http://bit.ly/bmxIO4

Microsoft shares the same point of view on the limitations of the Flash product as Apple. Again, reliability, security and performance were identified as impediments of supporting the flawed software. Speaking about the mobile era Steve Jobs of Apple says 'low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards...' are areas where Flash is not currently accommodating. It's most interesting to watch powerful market players create pressure for change in the internet space. Adobe can ill afford to ignore these criticisms yet it's now taking opportunity to discredit the motives of the multinationals: "Apple's moves to block Flash and other technologies are designed to protect a business model that locks developers and consumers into a single, proprietary stack," Adobe spokeswoman Holly Campbell said.

Apple's market value has overtaken Microsoft's for the first time ever. Article looks at the impact of Apple and Google on Microsoft in the areas of search, online advertising and music in particular.

This is a surprise... I didn't know Microsoft had their own foundation for open code

Google in the articulation of a 'foreign policy'??? Could Internet companies develop these kinds of policies?? 

Google's position about internet filtering on China reveals the need for internet companies to develop their own foreign policies. Clay Shirky is interviewed on the topic and he shares his view about how the social effects of internet and how different are the mentalities behind microsoft and google

No Office on iPad..... mmm... interesting.... 

Digital Due Process is the name of a new coalition composed among other companies by Google, Microsoft and AT&T advocationg for a new legislation to strenght online privacy laws to prevent government access to private digital information in the US

In the US a coalition consisting of Google, Microsoft, Ebay, AT&T, and Intel is fighting for a change of the Electronics Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) that was enacted in 1986. The coalition stresses the fact that the Internet has changed tremendously since then and the law therefore needs to be adapted. It protects files in the homes of people but law enforcement entities do not need judicial warrant to view files stored with ISPs, in the cloud or get GPS data from mobile phones.\nDefinitely a case worth fighting for - and an opportunity for Google & Co. to get good press. What about the law that allows checking and copying peoples' computer harddrives at airports though?

The internet is running out of web addresses. And here another article: http://news.techworld.com/networking/3218712/google-microsoft-and-yahoo-talk-about-ipv6-whitelist/ Google, Microsoft and Yahoo talk about IPv6 whitelist and plan to create a shared list of customers who can access their websites via IPv6

Global 'Human Rights' Network Initiative founded or funded? by ICT companies increasingly at risk of government intervention. Hmm. So far Microsoft, Yahoo and Google are on the board. It's troublingly necessary to include ICT businesses in this issue, however their role in the interest group makes for a confusing mix of human rights and network rights. Not always the same thing.

In this article, the author stated the new health-care system depends heavily internet technology, this article also listed the main beneficiaries of this reform such as Microsoft, Microsoft.

He admits that "Flash does have some issues, particularly around reliability, security, and performance. But MS works closely with engineers at Adobe, sharing information about the issues in ongoing technical discussions. Despite these issues, Flash remains an important part of delivering a good consumer experience on today's web."

WiFi Alliance including Intel and Microsoft backs standard. The two international short-range wireless industry groups announced an agreement to promote faster Wi-Fi in the 60 GHz frequency band, as well as the two bands where Wi-Fi now operates. With the new standard, a user could send a high definition video across a living room wirelessly from an HD player to an HD television, eliminating the need for a cabled connection.

Ilse Aigner, Germany's minister of food, agriculture and consumer protection, who usually concentrates on issues over rotten meat, genetically engineered corn and imitation cheese, recently took on a different kind of issue: the Internet and data privacy. Suddenly Aigner finds herself facing online giants Amazon, Facebook and, above all, Google. Soon Google plans to send cars equipped with cameras out onto Germany's roads once again for the company's Street View project. Aigner is now insisting that Google should ask permission before violating the privacy of German citizens. The minister's attack and the following discussions reveal just how divided the German government is when it comes to the online world. The debate revolves around questions of national security and individual self-determination on the Internet. But it also concerns the power of the large giants such as Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and MySpace, as well as the question of what these companies are doing with the records of our everyday data, and how they will be able to obtain information from us, influence us or perhaps even control us in the future. It seem like, once again, a German politician is exploiting the popular issue of internet privacy and censorship in a superficial way in the hope of scoring political points.

Opponents of expanding gTLDs have largely based their arguments on the additional cost to business in performing defensive registration on their brands. What is defensive registration? Basically it's an action taken to protect a trademark (in the case of domain names, to protect a word or phrase which identifies the goods or services of a party). This study investigates how valid the defense registration argument, backed by organsiations such as Microsoft, actually is. It assesses the amount of defensive registration already undertaken in varying gTLDs for the top Fortune 100 companies. The conclusion: 'If past behavior is predictive of future actions, we will see a minimal amount of defensive registration activity in new gTLDs by brand owners, and new gTLDs will be largely ignored by cybersquatters.'

Two of the three richest men in the world derive their fortunes, in large part, from the information business: Carlos Slim (king of Mexican telecommunications) and Bill Gates (well, we all know what he does). How much power do these two hold over the architecture, policies and whereabouts of the web?  NOTE: the fact that the richest man in the world comes from a country with 80 million poor people is in itself a worthy discussion topic. 

It would take 31,000 years to read all the web addresses in the world. Google has indexed over 1 trillion web addresses. This is particularly significant considering the internet is only 40 years old.