The New York Times reveals that “Wall Street analysts have begun to search the globe for 1.7 million lost iPhones.  Apple said that it has sold 3.75 million iPhones through the end of last year, but AT&T has activated a bit less than 2 million phones. There was a moment of panic as investors imagined more than a million unsold iPhones piled up in the stock rooms of AT&T stores.  Upon reflection, several analysts have come to the conclusion that the vast bulk of these have been bought and unlocked to use on carriers other than AT&T in the United States and on European carriers who are Apple’s partners. 

[…]  There are not, however, 1 million people who are going to steep themselves in the art of iPhone hacking. Rather, […] analysts suggested that there are organized groups of gray market dealers who are buying up iPhones, unlocking them, and reselling them, largely overseas.”

The Wall Street Journal reports that “EBay Inc. said it will cut by up to 50% the fees it charges sellers to list their goods online, in an effort to boost listings and keep pace with other burgeoning e-commerce sites.  To balance the fee cut, the company plans to increase its commission on items that do sell, a method the company says sellers prefer because it lowers their risk if items do not sell.”

According to Reuters, “in a blow to copyright holders trying to fight digital piracy,” the EU’s top court said on Tuesday that “European Union countries can refuse to disclose names of file sharers on the Internet in civil cases.”  The European Court of Justice ruled on a dispute between Spanish music rights holders association Promusicae and Spain’s top telecoms operator Telefonica.  “‘Community law does not require the member states, in order to ensure the effective protection of copyright, to lay down an obligation to disclose personal data in the context of civil proceedings,’ the court said in a statement.”

At the same time, “the manager of rock band U2 has urged internet service providers (ISPs) to help end illegal music downloads.”  According to the Hollywood Reporter, writes the BBC, “Paul McGuinness called for policies on disconnecting those who acquired tracks illegally, using a speech in France to urge governments to take action.  McGuinness said ISPs had ‘been at our trough for too long,’ and should share the revenues they made out of music.”

Internetnews.com reveals that “intellectual property consultancy the Patent Board this week ranked Microsoft first on its Patent Scorecard of top IT patent holders.  The software titan has racked up a total of around 8,500 U.S. patents granted, the company said this week.  Microsoft also has more than 15,000 additional patents pending, and is applying for about 3,000 per year, according to a company statement. That’s partly due to the company’s aggressive R&D budget—a war chest of $7.1 billion in 2007 alone. While most of that money goes to creating products, it also yields a bounty of intellectual property.  ‘We pursue patents on only those inventions that are in line with our business objectives and have strategic value to the company,’ Bart Eppenauer, Microsoft’s chief patent counsel and associate general counsel, said in a statement.  ‘Close alignment with our business strategies, goals and priorities has enabled Microsoft to become the new standard bearer for patent quality in the technology industry.’”