Data protection needs new approach

In what will be one of his final acts in the role, the current information commissioner Richard Thomas last week called for the EU data protection directive to be updated for the 21st century, says Computing.co.uk.

Thomas believes massive technological advances, global trade and the need for personal information to cross international borders all mean the law has to evolve.

Last year, Thomas commissioned the think-tank Rand to review European data protection law. Its findings concluded the current law has a number of shortcomings that need to be addressed urgently.

Poised to create a court-approved monopoly in the digital book market, Google's $125 million library-scanning settlement is under investigation by the US Department of Justice and possibly state attorneys general, reports The Register.

However, Google co-founder Sergey Brin has defended the company's pact with American authors and publishers, calling criticism of the deal "pretty short-sighted and contradictory".

In October, the company settled a lawsuit from the US Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers. If approved by the court, the deal would hand Google - among other things - an eternal licence to scan, sell and post ads against so-called "orphan works", books whose rights are controlled by authors and publishers who have ceased to exist or can't otherwise be located.

Newly-released patent applications from Microsoft have sparked speculation that it is to unveil a Wii remote rival at the E3 expo in Los Angeles, says the BBC.

An application was filed in 2007 for a motion controller, dubbed Magic Wand, which interacts with "a collection of sensors".

Microsoft says it will not "comment on speculation" about a possible introduction of a rival product.

In the latest twist to a long-running dispute, US classified ads Web site Craigslist is filing a claim against South Carolina's attorney general, reports the BBC.

Henry McMaster had threatened to sue Craigslist for continuing to have "advertisements for prostitution and pornographic material".

The claim seeks "declaratory relief" against the attorney general's office.