May 27, 2003

Jury Rules Against EBay in Patent Suit Washington Post - A Washington area entrepreneur yesterday won a $35 million judgment against eBay Inc., prevailing in a patent dispute that could cause the online auction giant to change some of its business practices. 10:47:16 PM

Microsoft yanks update after glitch discovered ComputerWorld - Microsoft Corp. has pulled an update to security software from its Web site after some users who downloaded the code saw their Internet connections go down. A "handful" of users had problems after installing the update to Microsoft's IPSec (IP Security) software because of the way it interacted with some third-party software, according to a Microsoft statement. The problems caused the update to think it was under attack, so it responded by blocking all traffic. This behavior wasn't a security flaw, according to Microsoft. 10:19:16 PM

US Plans Guantanamo Bay Death Camp Utne Reader Online - The U.S. plans to build a death camp in Guantanamo, complete with its own death row and execution chamber. According to a May 26 report in Australia's Herald Sun, prisoners would be tried and executed at the death camp, without the benefit of a jury or the right of appeal. Major-General Geoffrey Miller-head of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in charge of international terrorist suspects-revealed the plan during a May 24 interview with reporter David Rennie of Britain's Daily Telegraph. "We have laid out a very extensive plan, should long-term detention and imprisonment be given to JTF Guantanamo," General Miller said. 10:07:36 PM

Who's the Boss? Dispute Arises Over Mideast Summit Date Excite News - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat stepped in to assert Tuesday that he - not his prime minister - is in charge of the Palestinian side in negotiations with Israel, throwing plans for an Israeli-Palestinian summit into confusion. The dispute underlined the power struggle between Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas, the prime minister he grudgingly appointed under international pressure, as efforts to move forward on a new peace plan intensified. Some things change, and some things don't.... 9:09:47 PM

Boeing broadband takes off on Lufthansa CNET News.com -  Broadband access will be the latest in-flight service for travelers on Lufthansa following an agreement struck by the German airline and a Boeing subsidiary devoted to mobile communications. 5:22:29 PM

Canada to decriminalize pot over US objections Reuters AlertNet, UK -The Canadian government overrode objections from the United States and police groups on Tuesday and introduced legislation to end criminal penalties for the possession of small amounts of marijuana. Under the bill, people caught with 15 grams (half an ounce, or enough for about 15 to 30 joints) or less of cannabis would only be fined, and criminal penalties would be reduced on those growing up to 25 marijuana plants. 5:16:39 PM

U.S. cringes at a looser Canada pot policy, plan would decriminalize use of small amounts San Francisco Chronicle, CA - Canada's plan to decriminalize marijuana, making possession of the country's cannabis no more serious than a traffic ticket, has the Bush administration fuming. The view from Washington is that the mellowing of Canadian drug law will result in even more smuggled bales of "B.C. Bud," "Quebec Gold," and "Winnipeg Wheelchair" -- the last so named because of its supposedly disabling effect on users -- reaching American pot users. 5:13:49 PM