16 January – Five Stories You Need to Read

CNetNews.com reports that according to the creator of Linux, Linus Torvalds, “[d]igital rights management and the General Public License cause a lot of ‘hot air’ to be exchanged, but they are not a ‘big deal’”. 

According to ZDNet, “[w]hile Apple has dismissed Cisco’s iPhone trademark suit as ‘silly’ and many in the blogosphere have questioned whether Cisco meets all the requirements of iPhone trademark ownership, Cisco stands firm.”

Internetnews.com writes that U.S. Senators Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) have “rolled out legislation” that is meant to “put a stop to identity theft” by banning phone companies from selling personal information, barring Internet sites from selling the records and prohibiting the sale or display of Social Security numbers without an individual’s consent.

The International Herald Tribune points out that “Hong Kong was named the world’s freest economy for a 13th year by the Heritage Foundation because of its low taxes, openness to investment and lack of trade tariffs”.

Writing in FT.com, the online version of the Financial Times, Ernest Hollings and Charles McMillion claim that “with China’s much larger population and lower production costs, the only way the US can maintain its high standard of living and military security is to retain vastly superior technology within its borders.”