The word now is that federal judge Thomas Penfield Jackson will delay a ruling in the Microsoft antitrust case at least another week. There had been a March 28 deadline for a settlement between the government and the software giant before Jackson might rule. But apparently the judge is pushing both sides to keep talking and reach a deal that would end the controversial case. If they don't settle, Jackson will issue his conclusions of law. He found last November that Microsoft had abused monopoly power. Any settlement between Microsoft and the government ends the case.
STOCKHOLM - You can announce deaths and order tombstones in cyberspace. But how would you like to go to a funeral online? You might be able to, and soon, if one Swedish funeral home has its say in the matter. "It's a fine way for a person who cannot personally attend to show his respect," Fonus funeral parlor manager Ib Ahlen says. "They could be living a long way away or abroad.'' He tells Reuters Fonus will offer online funerals as soon as broadband connections bring moving picture transmission up to acceptable standards. "Death is already on the Internet. In the United States there have been death notices for a long time, and they have begun to transmit funerals there. We have had inquiries about this here too,'' he says.
DUSSELDORF, Germany - Not to be outdone, German undertakers are getting ready to, er, liven up their business by way of a Web site to cut the cost of dying. The Federation of German Undertakers based here wants to bring online suppliers of every funereal need - from formaldehyde to flowers - aiming to curb prices of embalming, coffins, and funerals. They want to produce an online booking service similar to www.MyFuneralPlan.com in the United States, which offers help to the bereaved in sending their loved ones to their reward for $20. Death is no stranger to cyberspace - a crowd of Web sites related to death have sprung up, including, says Reuters, a site on which you can choose your funeral limousine, and another which allows you to erect a headstone in a virtual cemetery and attach photographs of departed relatives - or even of a departed pet.
WASHINGTON - Protest? What protest? Only 20 Linux users and administrators bothered showing up to protest the Digital Millennium Copyright Act March 28 at the Capitol. The protestors marched past the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court, getting mostly puzzled looks, according to Wired. The DMCA itself was almost obscure until the Motion Picture Association of America sued under the act to block distribution of open-source programming which cracks DVD security codes. The law itself bans distributing technology which bypasses copy protection. And the protestors made one mistake which federal police reminded them of as they tried to march closer to the Capitol - they had the wrong permit.
--- Compiled by Humphrey Pennyworth
