In a bid to streamline EU data protection law compliance, the European Union ordered Google to delete images captured for Streetview after 6 months. For the uninitiated, Streetview is a feature on Google Maps and Google Earth where you can view images of places on street-level. These images are captured by a vehicle equipped with more »

Cloud computing poses a host of complications in carrying out the law in a uniform fashion, prompting Microsoft’s top lawyer, Brad Smith to pose a suggestion to the EU. The existing European data retention law was passed in 2006, which did not really consider cloud computing implications back then. The data retention law requires the more »

An unknown hacker attacked Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s website last week. As a result the site was briefly redirecting to another domain that contained a plea to God from someone who appears to be a fan of Michael Jackson, Brittany Farrah Fawcett and several other celebrities who died in 2009: “Dear God, In 2009 you more »

By now most, if not all of us, know that Windows 7 will be released on October 22. Like Vista, it’s being released in far too many SKUs for the average consumer to make sense of, each at varying prices. While those of us in the US, Canada, and Japan are already able to pre-order more »

Recently, the EU was in discussion about a possible cell phone tax in Europe, which would pretty much affect everyone who wished to purchase a phone. Of course, big cell phone manufacturers such as Nokia and Sony Ericsson protested such a tax because their sales would fall. Currently, the EU is based in Sweden, and more »

For the most part recently it seems that Intel can do no wrong by many people. It keeps churning out new processors like the i7 that greatly improve on everything else on the market. There’s also all its other random side projects that could improve any number of technologies. None of these things get passed more »

And the boys continue to fight over who’s is bigger. I wonder if they all drive red cars? This latest round in the Google/Microsoft bru-haha features Google wanting to hop in bed with those battling Microsoft in an effort to prove antitrust charges having to do with the software giant’s ruling of the Web browser market.

Google’s VP of product management gave the following reason for jumping into the proceedings on their company blog:

Google believes that the browser market is still largely uncompetitive, which holds back innovation for users. This is because Internet Explorer is tied to Microsoft’s dominant computer operating system, giving it an unfair advantage over other browsers. Compare this to the mobile market, where Microsoft cannot tie Internet Explorer to a dominant operating system, and its browser therefore has a much lower usage. The value of competition for users (even in the limited form we see today) is clear: tabbed browsing, faster downloads, private browsing features, and more.

I’m sure Google also likes that as party to the case going-ons, they are entitled to access to confidential documents in the case, and have the right to voice objections.

This is where we call out by names the actions and companies that seem odd, out of touch or just plain straight up smokin’ crack. Technology is an odd realm where PR speak doesn’t hold a lot of water if the 1s and 0s don’t line up. This week sees posturing, positioning and flat out insanity. Here is what caught my eye this week:

Click “more” to see a rant on:

• The new Joost.
• No BlackBerry for you.
• Apple’s newest MacBooks.
• The entire European Union.

$899 million euros or $1.4 billion is definitely a huge sum of money and it seems like Microsoft would not just want to lose that amount over an anti-trust ruling that the EU has slapped Microsoft in February 2007. The fine was a result of a case filed against Microsoft for failing to comply with a 2004 ruling. So, Microsoft is appealing the EU ruling and hoping against all hopes that the EU would heed its plea to overturn the ruling or at least reduce the fine.

If you recall, sometime in 2004, the EU slapped Microsoft with a $768 million fine after it failed to comply with an anti-trust ruling that ordered Microsoft to provide rival companies with data that would allow their servers to connect to the Windows platform which was the predominantly used operating systems in majority of the PCs in 2004. In return, Microsoft is allowed to charge reasonable royalties for giving rival companies access to its Windows Platform.

Perhaps the European Commission feels that Microsoft’s song of interoperability is all talk. That’s why it did not hesitate to fine the software giant with a hefty 899 million Euros or $1.35 billion for failure to comply with its antitrust decision.

Apparently, Microsoft had abused its dominant 95% market share in the EU market by using high prices to block software competition. There are also allegations that it tied its Windows Media Player and web browser Internet Explorer to Windows. In 2004, Microsoft had failed to comply with EU’s order to open up its key software to competitors. To date, this is the first and the biggest penalty for such violation.