I don't know why this keeps happening so often lately, but at least in the last few months, Microsoft kept losing various lawsuits and being forced to pay various amounts to other companies for patent infringements, but the hardest hits came from the European Comission. Anyway, fortunately for the Redmond giant, today is not about the EC. Unfortunately, the amount they have to pay is a bit more than just pocket money, because a federal judge just ordered them to pay Alcatel-Lucent no less than half a billion dollars!

<-234x60 Half Banner - left->Here's the story - the jury decided that Microsoft is guilty for patent infringement related to two patents, one covering how software users select a calendar date from a menu, and the other, related to using a stylus on a tablet PC. This is a 5 years old legal fight, but since Microsoft vowed to appeal the decision...

In an email statement, Microsoft spokesman David Bowermaster said "We are disappointed that Judge Huff denied our request for a new trial. We plan to appeal the rulings against us. We are confident that the damages award against Microsoft will not be sustained on appeal."

Well, you can't always get what you want, and since they weren't happy with the latest decision, which granted Alcatel-Lucent "only" $357.7 million in damages, I can say Microsoft did this to themselves more than anyone else. If they are not happy with the last decision either, I guess the next judge to take the case may grant Alcatel-Lucent even more...and I wouldn't like to be around Steve Ballmer when he finds out!

Do you remember the story about Microsoft being targeted by the Chinese authorities? In the end, it seems it was all nothing but a media storm in a glass. Two days ago, when the story emerged, I expressed my doubt about this, because it was expected from Microsoft to know what was happening. Well, it seems they were right not to know a thing, after all. Today, the Chinese authorities have confirmed that Microsoft is not targeted for any wicked behavior...

According to a statement briefly posted on the official SIPO website, quickly quoted by various media sources, the Chinese organization said it has never got into any market-monopoly investigation so far, and since its task is "to investigate and research domestic piracy issues," it won't go into any monopoly-related investigation in the future, either.

Other than the above, it seems Microsoft doesn't have blue skies all over, but China is a market with huge potential, and it's good for them to stay assured that autorities are not hunting them for now. After all, it would be really strange for this to happen, considering the piracy rate in China...

China is an emerging great power, but when talking about liberty, they are left behind quite a lot. The interesting part is that, despite the Communist leadership, they are slowly opening up to the world, and the best proof to that is what can be easily called the most important sports event of the year, the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Until arriving to the Chinese censorship part, let me say that, apart from having a very strict policy regarding Internet content available in the country, the Chinese authorities are really opening up, and we'll see why right away...

<-120x240 Vertical Banner - left->"Fifteen years ago, style here was monotonous. Everybody looked the same. Today is different. It doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman, old or young, everybody wants to reveal their personality in the way they dress," says Dider Grumbach, but he misses one thing - there is still an incredibly large number of people who barely have something to eat, and I am sure those aren't enjoying the chance to be different at all. Anyway, just as it happens in many places in the world, there can be striking differences between the capital and remote areas, so I won't get into this now. Let's follow the initial line now, and talk about censorship, shall we?

If we think about the fact that China will have more Internet users than the US in 2009, I think that censorship is partially justified, but with a condition - this shouldn't crush the liberty of expression. They can't open up to the world instantly, so let's say I would understand banning of various extremist sites, or explicit ones, but I will never understand banning blogs that try to reflect the truth.

According to Zhang Yu, a member of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre, "during this year the Internet police became much more efficient in terms of surveillance of the Internet activities to suppress freedom of expression."

For example, Internet Cafe customers are being closely watched, being registered with their ID cards, having photos taken, and receiving unique ID numbers to log in, so the authorities can easily find out who did what.

Feelin' lucky? You should...because there's always worse than some BitTorrent traffic throttling, and it seems that if you end up in China during the Olympics, you may get a taste of the Chinese Internet censorship, because it has been decided already that full access won't be granted during the event. Not cool at all, but I have no idea what can be done to change things at this time. Do you?