John Blau

Here's one decision that players may be happy about: The world soccer body FIFA (F

Two big mobile phone operators, one in the U.S., the other in Europe, are teaming to offer tailored services to multinational companies operating on both sides of the Atlantic. Orange SA has agreed to join Cingular Wireless LLC's Worldview program, which provides multinationals with a one-stop sales contact, a Web-based portal to monitor key usage and billing data, and a volume discount scheme.

Imagine things like doorknobs, toasters and light bulbs communicating with one another in a network that far exceeds anything we know today. The concept, often referred to as ubiquitous computing, isn't new. What's new is that technologies are now emerging to make it happen sooner than many of us imagine.

Microsoft Corp. tried to have references to free software removed from a document approved at the United Nations-sponsored Internet summit in Tunis two weeks ago, a blog discussion has revealed. But the attempt failed.

Let's call it a clash of cultures: engineers who know the Internet inside out on the one side and government policy makers grappling to understand it on the other. For the past two years, both parties have been engaged in a frequently acrimonious debate on how the Internet should be governed. That debate reached its zenith at the United Nations-sponsored World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis, Tunisia, last week when all declared victory.

Forget personal computing. A new world of "community computing" is knocking on the front door, offering unparalleled communication opportunities and challenges alike. That's how Jonathan Murray, Microsoft Corp.'s chief technology officer for the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region, envisions a new technological environment that will soon confront users, suppliers and governments alike.

Advocates of free software and open-source software are neither protesting nor dancing in the halls of the Kram conference and exhibition center at the Internet summit in Tunis. A few who are critical, including Richard Stallman, are questioning why they even came.

If the first World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva two years ago was one of vision, the second phase in Tunis, Tunisia, should be one of action. That was the key message in a speech given Wednesday by United Nations General Secretary Kofi Annan at the opening of the Tunis summit.