The Tech News Roundup - 2.23.07 - LAist: Los Angeles News, Food, Arts & Events

black iMac Welcome to the LAist weekly tech news roundup. Each week I'll be bringing you the latest, and hopefully most interesting, technology news from around the city, the state, the country and maybe even the world. Also, if you have any news, tips or things of interest you want to point out, feel free to drop me a line at: themacist [at] gmail dot com. Now, let's get to the news:

Microsoft was ordered by a federal jury yesterday to pay $1.52 billion to Alcatel-Lucent in a patent dispute over the MP3 format. If upheld on appeal, it would be the largest patent judgment on record. This case involves the technology at the heart of the MP3 format and could seriously affect other companies that make mp3 players, like Apple, and force them to pay millions in royalties as well.

You thought it was cool if your school was listed as one of the top party schools in the country -- as compiled by those diligent researchers at Playboy. Well, forget about that, because your friends and mine at the RIAA have released a list of the top 25 Piracy schools!

In other words, schools that have the most cases of music piracy and got the most notices about violations from the RIAA. Way to go Ohio U. -- you’re number one! As for our local schools, USC and UCLA, they didn’t even make the list. Better luck next year. (On a side note, kudos to my old school San Diego State for staying in the top five on the list of party schools since way back in the day.)

Is there a black iMac or a new 15” MacBook in your future? These guys think so. Of course, with any info like this, its only pure speculation. Although, with black iPods and black MacBooks a black iMac doesn’t seem that unlikely. If so, they look pretty cool.

Is Apple already preparing a 2nd generation of the iPhone that will feature 3G wireless goodness and be released in early ’08? Perhaps.

Canon announced a slew of new cameras this week including a new high-end DSLR –- the EOS 1D Mark III – and some new compact Digital Elphs. Personally, I’m a Nikon user but those Canons look pretty cool too.

Is Google going to take on Microsoft’s Xbox Live? Maybe.

Speaking of Microsoft, they have apparently been testing a “pay-as-you-go” software rental scheme in South Africa, Romania and Mexico. Interesting concept but I don’t know if it will catch on. I think people like to own the things they buy and not rent. Still, you never know what will be popular with the public -- after all, Ghost Rider was the number one movie last week so really, anything is possible.

Just in time for Oscar this weekend – alleged copyright violator gets nabbed! The department of justice is charging 27-year-old Oscar Nunez with copyright infringement for uploading academy screener DVDs of Flushed Away and Happy Feet to the internet – DVDs which he allegedly got from his sister who is a member of the Animation Academy. Thank you MPAA and department of justice for keeping the world safe from these evil copyright violators.

For VoIP fans out there it’s the Top 50 Amazing VoIP gadgets. If you don’t know what VoIP means don’t bother clicking the link or try asking one of your more tech-savvy friends.

Skype asked the FCC to apply to the wireless industry what is known as the "Carterfone" rules, which would allow consumers to use devices and software of their choice on cell phone networks -- like devices offerd by Skype, for example. Yeah I’m sure the cellphone companies are going to fall over themselves to comply with this one.

Who will be the “next big thing” on the internet after the rise of sites like YouTube? It may not be who you think.

Internet Explorer is losing ground as the browser of choice to Firefox and to what may surprise some people, Apple’s Safari web browser. Does this mean more people are using Safari who are Mac users or is it a case of more Mac users in general? I think the latter.

Google announced “Google Apps Premiere Edition” this week, a new version of Google's hosted services for communication and collaboration designed for businesses of all sizes. But, as some people wonder, will you trust Google with your data?

And in other potentially ominous Google news it seems the search giant is now going to start filtering YouTube videos for copyright infringing content. Sorry Google but when did law enforcement become your job. I can’t help but think this is a mistake on Google’s part and certainly won’t do much to help YouTube either.

Yes, protecting intellectual property is important but when service providers like Google start taking the law into their own hands where does it end? Let the police and the FBI handle it Google and stick to what you do best – offering innovative products and services.