-------- Original Message -------- GOOD MORNING! Today is April 30, and this is ... InformationWeek Daily! Business innovation powered by technology brought to you by InformationWeek magazine. Check out http://update.informationweek.com/cgi-bin4/flo?y=eDZK0BoVte0V20WH0AF ***************************************** This issue is sponsored by NetReality, provider of the network application priority switch (NAPS). Are you using existing bandwidth efficiently? Are you wasting precious dollars on application downtime? Are mission-critical applications running slow? SPEED SAP -- BOOST BAAN -- SUPERCHARGE CITRIX Save money on application downtime and unnecessary bandwidth with NetReality! NetReality brings network delivery assurance and allows you to control business priorities--in real time. For a FREE QoS analysis, log on to: http://update.informationweek.com/cgi-bin4/flo?y=eDZK0BoVte0V20CFs0Am ***************************************** [...SNIP...] ** Microsoft Passport Can't Get Through Maryland Customs For almost two years, Microsoft has been trying to sign up users for Passport, its secure online-wallet service. But it seems to have hit an unusual hurdle: legal technicalities in Microsoft's licensing agreement could restrict residents of the state of Maryland from using the service. The problem comes from a clause in Passport's terms-of-use agreement, which states that if users want to sue Microsoft, they must consent to do so in King County, Wash., Microsoft's home turf. But Maryland's version of the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA) assigns jurisdiction for those cases to its state courts. The situation then gets muddied further by Microsoft's terms of use, which go on to state that use of the Passport service is unauthorized in any jurisdiction that doesn't agree to all provisions of the terms. In other words, Microsoft's terms of use apparently prohibit Maryland residents from using Passport. And since the UCITA requires all Maryland residents to honor software agreements they've signed, they may be breaking the law if they do use Passport. But before any resident chokes on crab cakes, take note that Kumar Barve, a member of the Maryland House of delegates and a co-sponsor of the UCITA, says that lawsuits over this conflict are a "ridiculous possibility." He says he can't see Microsoft actually prohibiting residents of Maryland from using Passport. If a Maryland resident sued Microsoft because of a Passport-related issue, Barve says the resident would have to go before a Maryland judge to decide where the case would be tried. "State consumer-protection laws have always trumped licensing agreements," he says. Making this situation even stranger is the fact that Microsoft was represented in the drafting of the UCITA and even lobbied for its passage. "Microsoft strongly supported the bill," says Barve. Representatives of the company did not return calls for comment. - David M. Ewalt [...snip...] ********************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the following text in the *body* (*not* the subject line) of the letter: unsubscribe gnhlug **********************************************************
