From the Loop Holes dept.:
The HTC One X for AT&T and Evo 4G LTE for Sprint already bear the distinction of being the first Android devices to face an import block at US Customs for potentially infringing an Apple patent, but the ignominy may be fleeting: sources tell us that HTC's US devices use a customized version of Android that removes the offending "data tapping" feature. That's confirmed by our own examination of an AT&T One X and Sprint Evo 4G LTE, neither of which exhibit the key behavior excluded from importation into the US by the International Trade Commission, and which both include a new settings screen not present in the international One X.

From the Direct dept.:
Google plans to give multiple mobile-device makers early access to new releases of Android and to sell those devices directly to consumers, said people familiar with the matter. That is a shift from Google's previous practice, when it joined with with only one hardware maker at a time to produce "lead devices," before releasing the software to other device makers. Those lead devices were then sold to consumers through wireless carriers or retailers.

The expansion of direct sales marks a bid to exert more control over key features and apps that run on Android-powered phones and tablets, thus reducing the influence of wireless carriers over such devices, these people said. Wireless carriers typically handle marketing and sales of devices and thus can exert some control over the services that run on them.

From the From on High dept.:
"My view is that broad categories treated pejoratively are going to lead us toward bad solutions," Michael told us. "People say 'We know all business method patents are bogus, so let's just get rid of them.'" He added that people make similar arguments about software and medical diagnostic patents. "I don't think that's a constructive way to proceed. Certainly there are software patents out there that are no good, and that's a shame. We've gotta clean those out. But I'm against these kinds of broad, polemical ways of proceeding."

Michel did concede that software patents don't appear to be very helpful to the software industry. "Software is way less dependent on patents—maybe not dependent at all except in certain areas. How much [patents] retard [software] I'm not so sure. I hear a lot of anecdotes, a lot of scare stories. I'm a facts and figures guy. I'm not for anecdotes and assumptions."

From the Not This S**t Again dept.:
The company behind the Firefox Web browser says Microsoft Corp. is hindering its ability to distribute the software on some devices being designed for the next version of the Windows operating system.

Mozilla Corp.'s contention focuses on future tablets and personal computers that exploit chip designs licensed from ARM Holdings which are being supported for the first time in the next version of Microsoft's flagship Windows software.

From the Be Proud dept.:
May 8th, 2012 is a day to celebrate in The Netherlands as it becomes the first country in Europe to protect its citizens by enshrining net neutrality into law.

The Netherlands is also implementing privacy protections for users against wiretapping and disconnection by the Internet Service Providers (ISPs), which will no longer be able to interrupt traffic of users unless it is proven to be in the public interest.

From the dept.:
Apache OpenOffice 3.4 is available for download free of charge. OpenOffice 3.4 features:

-word processing, spreadsheets, presentation graphics, databases, drawing, and mathematical editing applications support for Windows, Linux (32-bit and 64-bit) and Macintosh operating environments
-native language support for English, Arabic, Czech, German, Spanish, French, Galician, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Russian, Brazilian Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese
-improved ODF support, including new ODF 1.2 encryption options and new spreadsheet functions
-enhanced pivot table support in Calc
-enhanced graphics, including line caps, shear transformations and native support for Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)
-improvements in performance and quality

From the He Said dept.:
The number one iOS carrier duking it out with the company behind the world's most popular smartphone operating system. Last month, Google's lead for the Android Open Source Project, Jean-Baptiste Queru, more or less blamed carriers (see comments) for Android's upgrade woes. Yesterday, AT&T's CEO Randall Stephenson retaliated, blaming Google for the delays. And yes, Google already responded to that, too.

Last month, Jean-Baptiste Queru pointed fingers at the carriers, stating the carriers' approval processes for updates is what's causing the delays. Considering the swiftness with which small, non-funded independent developers can support devices, this doesn't seem like quite a stretch. The massive delays caused by carriers with Windows Phone 7 updates further confirm this line of reasoning.

From the Blow dept.:
In what could be a major blow to Android, Google's mobile operating system, a San Francisco jury issued a verdict today that the company broke copyright laws when it used Java APIs to design the system. The ruling is a partial victory for Oracle, which accused Google of violating copyright law.

But the jury couldn't reach agreement on a second critical issue—whether Google had a valid "fair use" defense when it used the APIs. Google has asked for a mistrial based on the incomplete verdict, and that issue will be briefed later this week.

From the Linux dept.:
Microsoft has drastically overhauled the network running its Skype voice-over-IP service, replacing peer-to-peer client machines with thousands of Linux boxes that have been hardened against the most common types of hack attacks, a security researcher said.

The change, which Immunity Security's Kostya Kortchinsky said occurred about two months ago, represents a major departure from the design that has powered Skype for the past decade. Since its introduction in 2003, the network has consisted of "supernodes" made up of regular users who had sufficient bandwidth, processing power, and other system requirements to qualify. These supernodes then transferred data with other supernodes in a peer-to-peer fashion. At any given time, there were typically a little more than 48,000 clients that operated this way.

From the SMRT dept.:
EdX is a joint partnership between The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University to offer online learning to millions of people around the world. EdX will offer Harvard and MIT classes online for free. Through this partnership, the institutions aim to extend their collective reach to build a global community of online learners and to improve education for everyone.

From the Change Up dept.:
Mozilla is working on a revamp of Firefox to synchronize its various versions -- desktop, tablet, phone and Windows 8 Metro -- into a single visual style, according to documents posted by members of its user interface (UI) design team.

The project, which does not have a name, and the earlier blending of Mozilla's mobile and desktop design groups, is meant to bring more coherence to the various versions of the open-source browser.

From the Gubment dept.:
As part of a major efficiency initiative that will leverage modern technology to save up to $500 million in taxpayer dollars by 2020, the Department of the Interior today announced a contract award for Department-wide cloud email and collaboration services using Google Apps for Government. This award is part of Interior’s IT Transformation initiative to provide employees with 21st century IT and support good government practices by reducing waste, cutting costs and integrating services.

“This award is a great example of how our IT Transformation initiative is already delivering value to the Department,” said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. “Implementing a Department-wide, cloud-based email system that helps modernize the ways we do business while cutting costs is good government, plain and simple. We will continue to identify efficiencies to save time and taxpayer dollars using advances in technology to provide better service for less.”

From the We See What You Did There dept.:
The vote followed the debate on amendments, several of which were passed. Among them was an absolutely terrible change (pdf and embedded below—scroll to amendment #6) to the definition of what the government can do with shared information, put forth by Rep. Quayle. Astonishingly, it was described as limiting the government's power, even though it in fact expands it by adding more items to the list of acceptable purposes for which shared information can be used. Even more astonishingly, it passed with a near-unanimous vote. The CISPA that was just approved by the House is much worse than the CISPA being discussed as recently as this morning (yesterday morning -ed.).

From the Ummm, No?!?! dept.:
Amazon's Kindle Fire now has 54.4% of the Android tablet market in the U.S., according to comScore.

This means Google has lost control of the Android tablet market to one of its newest mobile rivals after just a few months.

From the Dude, what? dept.:
Two former chiefs of Sun Microsystems offered opposing views of their company's software policies Thursday, while attorneys engaged in some of the most colorful cross-examination that jurors have witnessed in the high-stakes trial over Google's use of Sun's Java programming tools.

From the It Arrives dept.:
The Ubuntu team is very pleased to announce the release of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Long-Term Support) for Desktop, Server, Cloud, and Core products.

Codenamed "Precise Pangolin", 12.04 continues Ubuntu's proud tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open source technologies into a high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution. The team has been hard at work through this cycle, introducing a few new features and improving quality control.

From the Winning a Constant Threat dept.:
The White House today escalated its opposition to a cybersecurity-related surveillance bill with a formal veto threat.

In a new statement, the White House's Office of Management and Budget said that the CISPA bill endangered Americans' privacy and inappropriately shielded private companies from liability.

From the Did Not! Did Too! dept.:
Google developed its Android smartphone software without using Sun's intellectual property and its use of Java in Android was "legally correct," Google's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, testified in court Tuesday.

Schmidt was on the stand for day seven of the jury trial between Oracle and Google. Oracle wrapped up the copyright portion of its arguments Tuesday, allowing Google to begin its defense.

From the Something Something Android dept.:
ITC Judge David Shaw said yesterday that Microsoft was violating four of five Motorola Mobility patents. The judge’s findings are subject to review by the six-member commission, which has the power to ban imports that infringe U.S. patents. A second judge at the ITC delayed until today issuing his findings in a separate Motorola Mobility case against Apple Inc.

The ruling gives Motorola Mobility leverage in its patent fights with Microsoft that may force settlement talks to avoid an Xbox import ban. Motorola Mobility filed in retaliation for Microsoft lodging patent-infringement claims against Motorola Mobility phones that run on Google's Android operating system, the most popular platform for mobile devices.

From the Dissemination dept.:
Harvard recently sent a memo to faculty saying, 'We write to communicate an untenable situation facing the Harvard Library. Many large journal publishers have made the scholarly communication environment fiscally unsustainable and academically restrictive. This situation is exacerbated by efforts of certain publishers (called "providers") to acquire, bundle, and increase the pricing on journals.' The memo goes on to describe the situation in more detail and suggests options to faculty and students for the future that includes submitting articles to open-access journals.