The Register reports that “

[t]he European Commission wants to create a form of company across Europe to make cross-border business easier to conduct for small firms.” Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy “has proposed the creation of the European Private Company Statute which would provide a form for companies to take which would apply across Europe.”  McCreevy is encouraging “all interested parties, and in particular SMEs, to give us their views.”

According to Yahoo!News, “[a] Lithuanian court said Tuesday that it had rejected a US extradition request for a suspected cyber-criminal accused of defrauding online stores.  In a statement, the Baltic country’s appeals court said it had turned down the joint demand by US justice authorities and Lithuania’s chief prosecutor, on the grounds that Paulius Kalpokas’ alleged offences took place within Lithuania.”

Reuters reports that, according to Chinese and American officials, “[p]irated software worth $500 million, including counterfeit Microsoft and Symantec products, has been seized in a long-running joint probe by Chinese police and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

eWeek.com points out that “Google’s new cookie expiration policy will do little to fortify user privacy.”  At first glance, the new policy regarding cookies (instead of expiring in 2038, they will now expire two years after the consumer’s last visit to Google) sounds “like an accommodating change. In reality, it’s far from clear whether it truly gives privacy groups anything. First, giving up the 2038 date was easy, given that it’s highly likely the Google cookie of today (or of a few years ago) will be entirely irrelevant to the Web user of 2038.  Much more importantly, though, is the practical impact today.  […]  The user doesn’t have to visit Google once a week or once a month. If they visit just once within two years, they’re back to square one.”

In a CNetNews.com article, IP lawyer Nancy Prager reports on a recent court decision which obligates Torrent Spy to “preserve server log data, and make it available to the Motion Picture Association of America as part of the ongoing litigation between them.”  As Prager points out, this is the right decision: “Contrary to popular belief, digital file sharing has a direct impact on independent artists as well as major label artists.”  And “[a]n invisibility cloak does more than just protect the identity of those who use the Internet for illegal or unlawful activity. It encourages individuals from taking responsibility for their actions. And in providing an invisibility cloak to its users, TorrentSpy has been converted from a passive participant to an active collaborator in their activities.”