Microsoft must disclose more

US antitrust authorities are pushing Microsoft to disclose more to rivals who license key Windows computer code, reports Reuters.

The report says Microsoft has agreed to cooperate with authorities to address concerns that potential competitors are not getting enough back-up documentation when they pay for access to Windows protocols needed to make non-Microsoft server software work with the operating system.

Reuters says antitrust enforcers view the protocol licensing plan as key to the 2001 antitrust settlement, hoping it will enable other software companies to compete with Microsoft on a more equal footing.

Microsoft is to extend support for its Java Virtual Machine in Microsoft products until the end of 2007.

ZDNet says Sun Microsystems have agreed to extend Microsoft`s Java license to allow Microsoft to continue support for its JVM. The Microsoft JVM is the software needed to run Java programs on numerous Windows PC applications. Despite the move, Microsoft is no longer distributing the Microsoft JVM.

The extension of Microsoft`s Java support, says ZDNet, is one of the first indications of teamwork with Sun. Earlier this month, Sun signed an agreement to dismiss ongoing litigation and cooperate on product interoperability.

Lindows has changed the name of its LindowsOS operating system to Linspire in response to a federal judge`s refusal to halt Microsoft`s trademark infringement lawsuits outside the United States.

SiliconValley.com quotes Michael Robertson, founder and chief executive officer, as saying Lindows will remain the company`s name and may be used to sell products in the United States, but the company`s Linux operating system will be renamed Linspire worldwide.

Microsoft sued Lindows in 2001 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, alleging the name infringed on its trademark for the ubiquitous Windows operating system.

Telecommunications experts say mobile phone-users in Pakistan will double next year, outstripping fixed-line customers for the first time and heralding a new era of communications in the poverty-stricken nation.

AFP says the prediction comes as two new operators are expected to begin operations in response to a government offer of two new licences for GSM phone services.

The report quotes Pakistan Telecommunication Authority director Ghulam Qadir Khan as saying mobile phones will surpass 4.5 million land-based telephones, with the mobile phone subscribers number expected to rise from 3.8 million to 7.0 million in 2005.

Hackers are reported to have infiltrated computer systems at universities in the U.S. and worldwide, which PC World says has prompted questions about the security of scientific research data.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) says the infiltrated systems were located at universities and research facilities that operate high-performance computer centers.

The report says the NSF does not know who was behind the attack, but believes it was part of a much larger action that affected high-end systems worldwide, including sites in Europe.