Steven Schwankert

Telecom regulators in China may finally be preparing to issue 3G (third generation) telephony licenses, if a report in a state-run newspaper is any indication.

The Ministry of Science and Technology in China will form a new independent watchdog to oversee funding for scientific research in the country, state media reported Monday.

Microsoft Corp. announced Wednesday the creation of the Open XML Translator project, so its Office suite will support the OpenDocument Format (ODF) standard.

Internet pirates will face fines of up to 100,000 renminbi (US$12,500) for unauthorized use of copyrighted material on the Internet under a new Chinese regulation. From July 1, uploading or downloading copyrighted material from the Internet requires the copyright holder's permission, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Monday. Using, producing, or importing devices capable of evading copyright protection is also banned under the regulation.

Yahoo Inc.'s Hong Kong subsidiary provided information to Chinese authorities that led to the imprisonment of writer Wang Xiaoning on charges of incitement to subvert state power, a human rights group said.

NEC Corp. has been the victim of a large-scale piracy ring that sold both counterfeit NEC goods as well as NEC-branded products that the company does not even manufacture, it acknowledged.

China claimed that it has lost US$1 billion in disputes over intellectual property (IP) rights since it joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001.

Microsoft Corp. is entering the social networking market currently led by News Corp.'s MySpace.com and Friendster Inc. with its own entry, Wallop Inc. Microsoft claimed the site, due to launch later this year, will offer users "an entirely new way for consumers to express their individuality online," but did not explain further.