Microsoft extends suit to Canada

Microsoft`s legal action against Linux retailer Lindows for trademark infringement has been extended to include Canada as well as the US and Europe.

CNET says the suit makes trademark claims and seeks an injunction barring Lindows from doing business under that name.

The US suit claims the Lindows company name infringes on Microsoft`s trademark for its Windows operating system. Lindows, which sells a version of the Linux operating system, argues the Microsoft trademark is invalid because "window" was a generic computing term at the time it was granted.

The judge hearing the US cases has sided with Lindows, but Microsoft has been more successful with injunction requests in Europe, where Lindows is considering a subtle name change.

Computerworld reports Linux Networx is building a new, high-performance 2132-CPU Linux cluster supercomputer for the US Department of Defence.

Linux Networx says the Army Research Laboratory Major Shared Resource Centre will use the Evolocity II cluster for weapons research, including calculating projectional dynamics for weapons systems, battlefield weather simulations and battle survivability.

The report says the Linux Networx system was selected because the lab said it provided the best choice for what it wanted to do.

As more American homes install high-speed Internet connections, telephone companies are finally starting to take market share from the once-dominant cable companies, says Reuters.

The report says top US cable operators all reported slower growth in the last quarter of new consumers for high-speed Internet service.

However, top telephone companies offering high-speed Internet access are experiencing high growth.

Cable still holds 64% of the high-speed data market, but the report says that share may shrink in the coming year as the telephone companies make inroads among more price-sensitive consumers with their slower, cheaper digital subscriber line (DSL) services.