Intel Settles Anti-Competitive Behaviour Claim

The Federal Trade Commission and Intel announced on Wednesday that they have agreed to settle charges of anticompetitive behavior that the agency claimed stifled competition in the market.

The settlement would prohibit Intel from paying any of its customers to buy Intel processor chips or to prevent them from buying the chips of its competitors. It would also prohibit Intel from designing its chips in way that they harm a competitor. Intel also agreed that no retaliation would be done if a customer agrees to buy chips from a competitor.

In addition, the settlement requires Intel to modify agreements with other chipmakers giving them the freedom to merge or form joint ventures without the threat of being sued by Intel for patent infringement. Intel is also required to maintain for at least six years a feature that will not limit the performance of graphics processing chips made by others, and to disclose that its computer compilers might discriminate between its chips and those of other companies, and therefore not might register all of the features of non-Intel chips.

Jon Leibowitz, the chairman of the F.T.C., said that the settlement “provides ‘fencing-in’ protection to ensure that Intel doesn’t come up with new ways to undermine competition.”

In a statement, Intel’s general counsel, A. Douglas Melamed, said the settlement allowed the company “to put an end to the expense and distraction of the F.T.C. litigation.”



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3/4 of BP Spill Oil Gone from Gulf

According to U.S. Scientists on Wednesday, 3/4 of the oil from the BP oil spill has gone from the Gulf of Mexico. Only 26 percent of the oil that leaked has been left in the form of tarballs, sheen, or is buried in sediment or has been washed ashore.


According to a report, "It is estimated that burning, skimming and direct recovery from the wellhead removed one quarter (25 percent) of the oil released from the wellhead."

Another 25 percent naturally evaporated or dissolved and 24 percent was dispersed, either naturally or "as the result of operations," into small droplets, the report also quoted.


The rest of the estimated 4.9 million barrels of crude spilled into the Gulf is either on or just beneath the water's surface as "light sheen or weathered tarballs," has washed ashore where it may have been collected, or is buried in sand and sediments at the sea bottom.


The report also mentions that 33 percent of the oil has been dealt with by the Unified Command, which includes government and private efforts.


Natural processes on the other hand broke down the rest of the 74 percent that has been removed from the Gulf.


Acording to Carol Browner, energy and climate change adviser to President Barack, "The good news is that the vast majority of the oil appears to be gone." The report was released just before National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency officials were to testify at a U.S. Senate hearing about the use of dispersant chemicals for the purpose dispersing the oil.




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Carrier Unlock for iPhone 4 released

Hackers on friday released a carrier unlock for the new Apple iPhone 4 which allowed jailbroken iPhones to be used on carriers that have not been been approved by Apple. Dubbed "ultrasn0w," the updated hack now works with the iPhone 4 and its baseband version 01.59. It is also compatible with the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS, which have basebands 04.26.08, 05.11.07 and 05.13.04.

To run the carrier unlock, users must be on a jailbroken handset, a process that modifies the iOS software and allows users to run unauthorized code. The ultrasn0w unlock can be found in the Cydia store. The unlock comes just days after hackers released a browser-based jailbreak for all iOS devices, including the iPhone 4.


The jailbreaking process takes advantage of a dangerous PDF security hole found in the Mobile Safari browser. Apple said this week it is aware of the vulnerability and is looking into the issue.


The mastermind behind the free software unlock was David Wong, a member of the iPhone Dev Team who goes by the handle planetbeing. He is the same programmer who earlier this year ported Google Android to the iPhone.


While there are several nations that have access to the iPhone through a multitude of carriers, in the United States AT&T is the sole carrier for the Apple iPhone. Unlocking it allows the use of the more competitive and cheaper T-mobile services. The unlocking process may also allow people to use SIM cards on the iPhones.


Last month, the U.S. Library of Congress reiterated its stance that unlocking is legal. It also officially made it legal for iPhone owners to jailbreak their iOS-based device and run unauthorized third-party software.



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Arguments To Be Heard Against Arizona Immigration Law

Amidst all the commotion, all the shouting, and all the debate over who should enforce the country's immigration laws, the United States v. the State of Arizona and Gov. Janice K. Brewer is finally coming to court on Thursday.

It is being believed that the Justice Department lawyers from Washington are going to march into the federal courthouse in Phoenix and argue that Arizona's crackdown on illegal immigration should be stopped.

This is the first hearing of the lawsuit between the Obama administration and the state of Arizona against the passing of Arizona's new immigration law.

The fact that needs to be looked out for is that whether the judge would issue an injunction against the law and stop it from coming into force on July 29, or whether he would allow the law to come into force.

While it is not sure what Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O'Connor, would do on the day of the trial but one thing is certain that about 12 million illegal immigrants, who inhabit the United States, would be having a close watch on the proceedings of the case.

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Arizona sued by Federal Government over Immigration Law

The state of Arizona is facing a lot of heat after the United States Justice Department decided that it would file a lawsuit against the state of Arizona on grounds that the new immigration law enacted by the state intrudes on privilages given specially to the federal authorities.

The Justice Department has thought of bringing in the lawsuit as they believe that formulation of immigration laws is a federal responsibility and since the Constitution gives supreme status to federal law over and above state laws, then formulating a new immigration law by a state is unconstitutional.

The lawsuit also has another aspect that deals with civil liberties of the people. According to the suitors the new law can lead to harassment of foreigners as well as U.S. citizens by the police forces.

According to a speech given by United States President Barack Obama, the new legislation may also violate the rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.

The case which has been filed in Phoenix is likely to escalate the current explosive environment over the new immigration law.

It is being believd that the federal arguments are quite strong and they would surely convince the presiding judge to make the new law unconstitutional in nature.

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