Back in April, a Rhode Island jury award Uniloc and its Singapore-based parent company some $388 million in damages, finding the Microsoft infringed on Uniloc’s antipiracy technology in Windows XP and Microsoft Office. Uniloc had been seeking $194 million in damages, but the jury doubled the damage award, presumably finding the Microsoft’s conduct in the dispute. The finding was one of the largest damage awards ever laid down in a civil case.
Now, Microsoft has managed to get the whole $388 million bill tossed: U.S District Judge William Smith has nullified the jury decision, meaning Microsoft won’t have to pay a dime.
The case stems from 2003, when patent holder Ric Richardson showed his patented technology to Microsoft under an agreement that the company would not copy his methods; however, Uniloc later alleged Microsoft infringed on the technology for activation of Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Office XP. Microsoft has consistently claimed it used a different method for activating software, and furthermore asserted Richardson’s patent was invalid because the technique was obvious.
Microsoft originally won a summary judgement on the dispute in two years ago; Uniloc appealed that ruling, which resulted in the jury award of $388 million. Now, Microsoft has had that penalty nullified, so—after six years—the companies are essentially back where they started.
In 1950, Alan Turing asked whether machines can think. Rather than argue over definitions, he turned the question into a party game, where an interrogator trades typed messages with hidden players and tries to work out who is who. Since then, chatbots have gotten so good that they have already fooled humans in modern versions of the test.
So, four researchers from Paris Cité University asked the obvious follow-up question in a new study published in Computers in Human Behavior Reports: can AI at least catch its own kind?
Mozilla is giving Firefox’s Smart Window two new tricks. If you haven’t tried it yet, Smart Window is an optional AI mode in Firefox with a built-in chat that helps you get things done while you browse. With this update, it can fill out online forms using details from your tabs and keep an eye on websites for you.
Tired of typing the same details into every form?
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.