TechCrunch reveals that “Login standard OpenID  has gotten a huge boost today from Microsoft, as the company has announced  that users will soon be able to login to any OpenID site using their Windows Live IDs. With over 400 million Windows Live accounts (many of which see frequent use on the Live’s Mail and Messenger services), the announcement is a massive win for OpenID. And Microsoft isn’t just supporting OpenID – the announcement goes as call it the de facto login standard.”

In more Microsoft news, Yahoo!Tech reports that “Microsoft announced Tuesday that it plans to finally allow the crown jewels of its applications — the Microsoft Office suite — to be delivered through Web browsers.  The announcement was made at the Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles. Chris Capossela, senior vice president of the Microsoft Business Division, said Office Web will allow users to employ lightweight versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote to create, edit and collaborate with Office documents through a Web browser.”

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article on how the two US Presidential candidates differ on trade issues.

According to the Register,“

[t]he European Patent Office (EPO) has asked its ultimate legal authority to look at the European Patent Convention (EPC) and issue advice on the patentability of software. The EPO said that such advice was necessary to ensure the uniform application of the EPC.  EPO President Alison Brimelow has referred the contentious issue to the EPO's Enlarged Board of Appeal, the body which gives the EPO legal guidance. The Board is independent of the operation of the EPO and takes as its only authority the EPC itself.  ‘It is hoped that the answers to these questions will lead to greater clarity concerning the limits of patentability, thereby facilitating application of the EPC by patent examiners and enabling both applicants and the wider public to understand the law regarding the patentability of programs for computers,’ said an EPO statement regarding the referral.”

In a different article, the Register writes that British television executives are “finally waking up to Google's ‘parasitic’ nature. C4 chief Andy Duncan has become the latest to awake from his slumber. The problem? Duncan's ‘cure’ will probably only make Google stronger.  Duncan says that Google sucks billions out of the UK economy without making so much as a 30-second trailer in return. Duncan followed Michael Grade – who used the ‘P’ word – in voicing the criticism.  ‘Google should pay for content that it uses. The burden of responsibility should be on it to identify the people whose content it is using and make sure they are being paid for it, rather than expecting other people to point it out,’ Duncan said.  Duncan also argued that because Google books so much advertising revenue it should regulated. This is muddle-headed and misses the point. In fact the call for regulation is likely to make Google stronger – at C4's ultimate expense.  Contrary to what the company says, Google is in fact quite keen on regulation – when it hampers Google's opponents.”