As I intimated some time ago, the EU verses Microsoft case looks very much like being a case of Microsoft being found guilty and then getting to decide what it’s own punishment will be. In the same vein, Zdnet has said much the same thing (and much more eloquently then I). The fact that the “EU ordered” Windows XP without media player is being sold (or not sold as the case appears to be) at the same price as the normal version is a very good example of why it won’t work.

As ZDnet says, wouldn’t you like to be found guilty by a court of law then then asked to negotiate your punishment? Well worth the read if you ever find yourself in competition with Microsoft in Europe.

The Wall Street Journal reported (registration required.) on Friday that Google is looking to extend it’s revenue streams beyond advertising by starting an online payment system similar to and in competition with Paypal Inc.

No details were revealed about Google’s plan for this, but it seems likely that Google would want to create streams of revenue in addition to their advertising systems as everyone knows not to put all their eggs in one basket. Paypal don’t really have any international competition for their services so having Google compete with them will be good for both webmasters/storeowners and users alike.

The news does not bode as well for Ebay though as their Paypal unit accounts for a significant portion of their earnings. Obviously only time will tell how Google’s service will differentiate itself from Paypal’s but there is no doubt that Google will be the underdog in this market at least initially as Paypal have a huge head start and have millions upon millions of users already signed up for their service. That said however, Google showed with Gmail that they have the ability to create a revolutionary service that takes the industry by storm and to market that service in a way that competitors like Paypal can’t. In fact Ebay is a big advertiser utilizing Google’s Adwords network so the competition may actually hurt Google’s advertising revenue to some degree. Time will tell.

INSERT:
The rumours have been confirmed.

A rash is starting in the digital photo world around the denial of reproduction if your work is too good because ill informed and undertrained workers at chains like Walmart will deny your right to get prints made according to a recent AP Story. What strikes me as funny is that people are taking their high quality prints to a budget chain. Therein lies the problem. Establish a good relationship with your locally owned and operated photo store. When you have a hastle at Walmart it is because you just got what you are paying for, a cheap impersonal relationship by underpaid part time employees on a business model to drive the caring local stores our of business. Think about it … am I wrong?

Today Opera release an upgrade to the Windows and Linux version of it’s Version 8 Opera browser, labelled as 8.01. At the same time they released version 8 Opera browser for the Macintosh operating system. We don’t mind the Opera Browser to be honest, but find Firefox superior for our purposes for two reasons: (1) Firefox is free and Open Source versus Opera that is proprietary and either a purchased or advertisement supported and (2) we love the Firefox extension system. However, we certainly prefer Opera to Internet Explorer because of much tighter security and better W3C standards compliance. Some sites make a big deal that this is a security upgrade being quietly released. Frankly, all browser upgrades now include some security enhancements and unfortunately if they say that is a major cause of the release, people try to trumpet how they had flaws. Darned if they do and darned if they don’t. Recent and regular updates are the key — and of course they include security enhancements if it is a decent company.

In other browser news, AOL has released an update for Netscape 8 which fixes an IE XML problem and several bugs. You can download the free updated browser here. Microsoft also released a patch to IE in their last patch Tuesday which you should already have if you use XP, but if not you can get it via Windows Update.

According to the Apple Blog at News.com, the Queen of England now has her very own I-Pod. This makes me chuckle because of a recent ipod giveaway over at Mike Industries that had people juxtapose ipods into historical events. It was pretty comical, but now, it may be a case where he preceeded reality as well. Instead of the Queen just nodding off in boredom, you may suddenly realize she is not paying attention when her foot starts tapping on the floor.

Sites like ours that take Paypal (see the donation link at the bottom of each of our pages) have long suffered from a misperception that we do not take credit cards. In fact, Paypal has for a long time permitted people without paypal accounts to complete there transaction using just a credit card — so go ahead and donate here if you wish :-). Anyway, a story on story on News.Com unveils a new plan by Paypal to offer a virtual merchants account that would allow buyers on a merchant site to complete a Paypal/Credit Card transaction without leaving the merchant’s site. The cost for the transaction is the same as the current cost, but there is apparently going to be a $20 per month charge for that. For any kind of volume at all, it just might be worth it.

Rep. Rick Boucher is on a crusade to stop Hollywood and the recording industry from stifling tech innovation and reducing consumers “fair use” rights. Wired has an interview with the good senator which you can find here and it’s well worth a read considering how rare it is to find folks in power looking to defend consumers (the little guys) over companies (the 800 pound Gorillas).