German court rules against Microsoft | New Europe

German court rules against Microsoft | New Europe ;.. A German court in Mannheim ruled that Microsoft infringed Motorola Mobility's patents in making the Xbox 360.




The same court decided to ordered Microsoft to remove its popular gaming consoles and Windows 7 operating system software from the German market.



However, according to Microsoft, "our business in Germany will continue as usual while we appeal this decision and pursue the fundamental issue of Motorola's broken promise".



This case is related to the larger smartphone patent war being fought by the giants Apple, Microsoft and mobile phone makers who use Google's Android software such as Samsung.

Leaders-cum-losers of 2011- Our world is not for sale, but it may be for rent | New Europe

Leaders-cum-losers of 2011- Our world is not for sale, but it may be for rent | New Europe ;..  “The internet as a platform is one that lends itself to a large public forum with no borders, boundaries, and no problems with distance; in fact, it is the perfect platform for starting a revolution. However, platforms do not start revolutions; information does. And we are in an era where critical information is becoming more accessible, less obscure and can be found in abundance.”

Working together to sustain healthy and in-depth growth of China-EU Relations | New Europe

Working together to sustain healthy and in-depth growth of China-EU Relations | New Europe ;..  The month of May is usually among the best time of the year with the beauty and vitality of the nature.

Juncker criticises Germany, resigns Eurozone presidency | New Europe

Juncker criticises Germany, resigns Eurozone presidency | New Europe ;.. As things stand now, Berlin has the unquestionable backing of many important euro area member states, called the Merkelets (Austria, Holland, Finland). However, most of the small member states of the single European money zone (Slovakia, Slovenia, Malta, Cyprus, Estonia) are just following the mainstream options usually formulated by Berlin and Paris. Juncker's criticism against Germany went as far as accusing Berlin of showing arrogance vis-a-vis all the rest of Eurozone's members.




He argued that Germany is part of the problem and not the only country which offers solutions to the over-indebtedness crisis. He added that seven countries have a better fiscal showing than Germany.



According to information from Brussels, filling the presidency of the Eurogroup will give a first taste of the future Franco-German relations in case Francois Hollande wins this Sunday's election.

Norwegian world champion Dale Oen dead at 26 - Yahoo! News Singapore

Norwegian world champion Dale Oen dead at 26 - Yahoo! News Singapore

A €2.5 trillion firewall for Eurozone | New Europe

A €2.5 trillion firewall for Eurozone | New Europe  ;..  Then there was the European Financial Stability Facility and the permanent fire wall mechanism to succeed it, namely the European Stability Mechanism. Those two financial tools are going to coexist and their joint fire power will be of €700bn.




Last but not least, over the past three months the European Central Bank handed out €1 trillion to 800 Eurozone banks, in the form of three year liquidity support loans at the negligible interest rate cost of 1%. The ECB however has spent more money in supporting the Eurozone's capital markets.



In detail, the European Central Bank's interventions in the secondary sovereign debt markets to support the prices of the Greek, Spanish and Italian debt bonds must have reached a round sum of €200 billion.



The IMF



On top of all that, the major Eurozone economies have pledged another €200bn in support of the IMF's own financial arsenal. As it turned out this past weekend in Washington, the new money pledged by the developed and the developing member countries of the Fund has reached almost €700bn in new funding, with the €200bn being the European contribution.



The IMF will not say that this new money is to be used to counter a possible new crisis in the Eurozone, but it goes without saying that most of it will be used to counter a probable new attack on European values. Avoiding duplications add all that together and the fire wall available for Eurozone may reach €2.5 trillion.

Don't be blinded by the light: the 'right to be forgotten' clarified | New Europe

Don't be blinded by the light: the 'right to be forgotten' clarified | New Europe ;.. Today, after more than two and half millennia, whether forgetfulness is a blessing or a curse is still discussed as part of a debate on what is broadly known as the right to be forgotten or right to oblivion in the digital world.




On 25 January, the Digital Agenda Commissioner Viviane Reding, realised her promise to present a proposal to review the current Data Protection Directive 1995 (“DPD”); a plan which would include a separate “right to be forgotten” aiming to arm the user with full control of his personal data in the digital world.