Court rejects MS anti-trust appeal

The US Supreme Court has denied a Microsoft appeal to an anti-trust case that dates back to Novell's desktop PC software business in the mid-1990s, reports news.com.

The move leaves standing a lower court ruling that says Novell can sue Microsoft under federal anti-trust laws. Novell argued that Microsoft used its monopoly power to sink Novell's QuattroPro spreadsheet and WordPerfect word processor.

The court had no comment and chief justice John Roberts abstained because he is a Microsoft shareholder, according to the Associated Press.

China has blocked access to Google News and YouTube in an apparent attempt to stop the spread of video footage related to the rioting going on in several cities in Tibet, including the capital Lhasa, says ITWorld.

Demonstrations in the city started on 10 March, a day commemorating the anniversary of a 1959 uprising against Chinese rule after which the spiritual leader of the country, the Dalai Lama, fled to India.

China has said the Dalai Lama is to blame for rioting in the country, and puts the civilian death toll at 13, while adding that police and security forces have also suffered casualties.

A total of 188 global banking brands were targeted by phishing attacks during February - the highest figure for six months, reports Computing.co.uk.

Online fraudsters targeted 20 financial organisations that had never previously experienced attacks, according to security company RSA.

A change of tactics is helping malicious e-mails to evade spam filters, said RSA. By directing attacks through URLs with tiny variations, phishers are able to make their messages "unfamiliar" to filtering applications.

Hewlett-Packard will start shipping some of its notebook and desktop computers with SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) 10 preinstalled later this year, says eWeek.

"We are really excited by this deal because of the power that the HP distribution channel brings, the reach they have and their commitment to interoperability. I am very enthusiastic about what this relationship could bring," said Novell CEO Ron Hovsepian.

SLED 10 recently started shipping on Dell and Lenovo boxes, and the company said at the time that it was looking for other OEM partners. "But the work on that front is not done, and we will continue to try and get additional OEMs to pre-bundle SLED 10," he said.