Nancy Weil

Google Inc. attorneys will square off against the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) at a Feb. 27 hearing over the issue of providing the government with information about searches for pornography on the company's site.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (UPTO) has rejected an NTP Inc. patent that is part of the ongoing legal spat between the company and Research in Motion Ltd. NTP contends that RIM's popular BlackBerry wireless device infringes five of its patents.

A worm that affects Linux systems and spreads by exploiting Web server-related vulnerabilities has been reported by antivirus companies, but so far Linux.Plupii, which is also known as Lupper, hasn't spread much and isn't seen as much of a threat.

The findings of an investigation into dumping of used electronics equipment in Nigeria came as no surprise to African IT leaders, who say that if African governments fully realized the harm being done, they would take action. A report about the investigation, conducted by the Basel Action Network (BAN) calls on governments globally to pressure electronics manufacturers to remove toxic chemicals from their products "at the earliest possible date" and also urges consumers to take responsibility for their electronic waste.

IBM Corp. is set to release new capabilities in storage and systems management software that the company said Monday will improve performance and also speed data backup and recovery in complex IT environments.

The role of the telecommunications industry as part of disaster response and recovery was a focus of the VON (Voice on the Net) conference in Boston this week, where speakers and participants also touched on the companion topic of user rights in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

A road map aimed at guiding governments and companies in the development of open information and communication technologies was presented Friday at a World Bank meeting in New York by a group comprised of academics, government officials and industry representatives. The Open ePolicy Group contends that the adoption of open standards is vital to global economic growth and innovation.

Computer Associates International Inc. (CA) will allow access to individuals and groups in the open-source software community to technology included in 14 of its U.S. patents and counterpart patents held in other countries, the company said Wednesday, as it also announced a long-term patent cross-license deal with IBM Corp.