MS not so 'open' after all?

The head of the open source group that will decide whether to certify Microsoft's "shared source" software licences as open source licences said more than half of Redmond's licences appear to automatically fail the group's rules, reports PC World.

Michael Tiemann, president of the non-profit Open Source Initiative (OSI), said provisions in three out of five of Microsoft's shared-source licences that restrict source code to running only on the Windows operating system would contravene a fundamental tenet of open source licences as laid out by the OSI.

By those rules, code must be free for anyone to view, use and modify as they see fit.

In a sign of real-life authorities' increasing interest in the activities in virtual worlds, all forms of gambling in Second Life have been banned, says FOXNews.com.

Linden Labs, the company that runs Second Life, said that, as of this week, its policy on "in-world money wagering" was changing, and that casino games such as black jack, poker, roulette and slot machines would no longer be permitted.

Earlier this year, the company invited the FBI to tour Second Life and ensure activities within it complied with US law.

Adult film-makers in Japan will churn out more Blu-Ray movies, thanks to some technical support from Sony, says TG Daily.

According to an article by IDG News (via PC World), Taiwanese companies have obtained Blu-Ray duplicators - those that can make hundreds of discs at a time - and are getting instructions on how to use them from back channels in Japan.

IDG says the Taiwanese obtained the duplicators with the help of a Japanese adult film distributor, but does not elaborate on whether Sony knew the equipment was going overseas.

Cisco Systems president and CEO John Chambers apparently was speaking ahead of himself last week when he told journalists and analysts at a press briefing in Anaheim that Linksys would eventually be folded into the overall Cisco brand.

Chambers' clear implication was that the familiar and trusted Linksys brand would simply fade away over the next several months as product stock dwindled, reports eWeek.com.

However, a company statement released later said Cisco and Linksys products would continue to co-exist.