Oracle, Sun deal gets nod

The US Department of Justice has finally approved Oracle's proposed acquisition of Sun Microsystems, after extending its 30-day review of the $7.4 billion deal in June, reports Computing.co.uk.

Sun stockholders approved the transaction in July, but the European Commission (EC) still needs to give its approval before the purchase can go ahead. The EC will convene on 3 December to decide whether the acquisition needs further investigation on anti-trust grounds.

Gaining US regulatory approval will be a relief for the customers of both companies. Analyst firm Gartner argued that delays in closing the deal will be unsettling for businesses wanting to buy hardware and software, because Sun's terms and conditions are likely to change if the acquisition goes through.

Microsoft scored a big victory in China yesterday, after four people were reportedly sentenced to jail terms for reproducing and distributing illegal copies of the firm's Windows XP operating system, says Channel Register.

The four were found guilty of punting the software via a Web site called "Tomato Garden".

Microsoft described the court win as the first successful criminal prosecution mounted against software piracy in China, where such activity is widespread.

Retrevo, a product search engine, polled more than 300 of its four million monthly visitors and found that the “majority of student laptop shoppers will not consider buying a Mac”, the company reported in a statement, states eWeek.

According to Retrevo, 34% of students said they want laptops that are small and lightweight, while 49% wanted full-size PC laptops. Price was also a considerable factor.

“While Apple has done well historically in the education market, 2009 marks the dawn of the netbook,” said Retrevo CEO Vipin Jain, in a statement.

A judge has dismissed most of the charges against a former San Francisco network administrator accused of hijacking the city's computer network he designed and maintained, says CNet.

San Francisco Superior Court judge Kevin McCarthy on Friday tossed three tampering charges against Terry Childs, while preserving a lone charge of denying city authorities access to the network, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle. Childs, who has been in custody since July 2008, had worked at San Francisco's Department of Telecommunication Information Services for five years. Childs, 44, is being held on $5 million bail.

Childs had formerly been accused of tampering with the city's fibre wide area network after allegedly being disciplined for poor performance. He was also accused of electronically spying on his supervisors and their attempt to fire him.