MS files lawsuit against TomTom

Microsoft has filed a federal patent infringement lawsuit in Seattle against TomTom, of the Netherlands, a maker of personal navigation devices, and against TomTom's American subsidiary, reports The Boston Globe.

In addition, Microsoft has filed a complaint in Washington with the US International Trade Commission, which could lead to a ban on imports of TomTom devices.

The case has attracted widespread attention because three of the eight alleged infringements relate to the popular Linux operating system, which competes directly against Microsoft's flagship Windows software.

British prosecutors will not seek charges against accused Pentagon hacker Gary McKinnon, which puts him one step closer to being extradited to the US to face charges, says CNN.com.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said its decision comes despite McKinnon's admission that he broke the law and intentionally gained unauthorised access to computer systems.

"Although there is sufficient evidence to prosecute Mr McKinnon for these offenses, the evidence we have does not come near to reflecting the criminality that is alleged by the American authorities," said Alison Saunders, head of the CPS organised crime division.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has slapped more than 660 small US telecommunications companies with a total of $13.3 million in fines for failing to certify they are keeping their customer information safe, reports AP.

The FCC's action is part of its attempts to tighten the rules governing customer information.

Reports surfaced in recent years that private investigators and "data brokers" were able to elicit phone records and other information from companies. A common method is "pretexting”, or calling the company under a false pretence.

Microsoft has revealed some of the changes it has made to Windows 7 since it issued a public beta more than a month ago, reports Computerworld.

In a long post to the company's "Engineering Windows 7" blog, senior program manager Chaitanya Sareen touted three-dozen improvements and modifications to the new operating system that developers have slipped into the under-construction "release candidate". Microsoft executives have said this will be the next milestone on the road to final code.

However, Sareen did not disclose any new information about a timetable for wrapping up the release candidate.