Crucial hearing in complex case that could change the landscape for libel law

The case of British blogger Bruce Everiss - who is being sued for libel in Australia by an American games company - is due to take another step forward later, as a court hears arguments over jurisdiction.

On Tuesday morning in Sydney, the court of New South Wales will hear arguments over whether it should be involved in the defamation case being brought by Evony - an online gaming firm registered in the US state of Delaware - against Everiss, a British games industry veteran who lives in Coventry.

While Evony, which also threatened action against the Guardian for claims made in an article published last year, argues that the Australian court is an appropriate forum for the case to be heard because its reputation was damaged there, Everiss has accused the company and its anonymous owners of libel tourism.

In December, ahead of a previous preliminary hearing on the subject, Everiss's lawyer, Damian Sturzaker from the high profile firm Marque, told me that it would create an "extraordinary precedent" if the local court decided it was an appropriate forum for the larger case.

More to come once the hearing has taken place.

• We reported an interesting twist in the saga of the digital economy bill last night, when it emerged that the controversial clause added by the Liberal Democrats - which has been criticised for threatening sites like YouTube that don't carefully monitor user content - was actually drafted by British music industry body the BPI. The battle between the different lobby groups looks set to continue - and get more vicious - as the bill draws closer to becoming law.

• After a week in which its appeal over a near-$300m patent lawsuit failed, some good news for Microsoft: the Xbox 360 overtook Nintendo's Wii to become America's most biggest-selling games console in February. Less promising? Games sales dropped by 15% in the same month, despite the launch of high-profile titles like BioShock 2.

• And given that it's Friday, I'd like to leave you with a . Jason Kottke points me in the direction of this fascinating article about the work of David Cope - who has spent years developing a piece of software that can compose classical music. The crucial addition to his latest iteration is that it doesn't just lob in any old notes or copy the patterns set by old masters like Bach and Mozart, but actually analyses how to break the rules to make its compositions sound more real. Listen to the compositions and you might have a hard time distinguishing it from the real thing. That opens up some amazing - if slightly worrisome - possibilities.

You can follow our links and commentary each day through Twitter (@guardiantech, @gdngames or our personal accounts) or by watching our Delicious feed.

Aleks Krotoski, Bobbie Johnson and Charles Arthur dig into this week's top stories across the web, including the optimism that Opera co-founder Jon von Tetzchner has about the new web browser ballot that Microsoft is offering its users, the latest on the Italian scandal that's got Google's top brass in the dock and Twitter's nascent advertising-based business model that's starting to rise to the surface.

Special guest Elizabeth Varley, co-founder of forthcoming London coworking space TechHub offers her insight into the growing popularity of these new shared office facilities across the UK, and we hear from Andy McMillan, founder of Belfast's most recent coworking space, Core. There's some good information at coworking.pbworks.com.

All this, plus all the feedback from across the social web - including a run down of the people you'd like us to invite to our live Tech Weekly recording at the Science Museum on Tuesday 23 March. Add your suggestions below.

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div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.20.3/18003?ns=guardianpageName=Microsoft+backs+down+over+online+%27spy+guide%27%3AArticle%3A1364632ch=Technologyc3=GU.co.ukc4=Microsoft+%28Technology%29%2CSurveillance+%28News%29%2CInternet%2CIntellectual+property+%28Technology%29%2CFile+sharing%2CLaw+and+technology%2CTechnologyc6=Bobbie+Johnsonc7=10-Feb-25c8=1364632c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=Technologyc13=c25=Technology+blogc30=contenth2=GU%2FTechnology%2FMicrosoft" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Software company had forced closure of Cryptome website for publishing guide that explains how to access millions of pieces of private data/ppMicrosoft has been forced to backtrack after it closed down a whistleblowing website after it published a leaked version of the company's "spy guide"./ppThe American software giant took action on Wednesday against the a href="http://www.cryptome.org"Cryptome/a website - which has been running since 1996 - for publishing a copy of the Microsoft Global Criminal Compliance Handbook, a document explaining how law enforcement officials can access millions of people's private information online./ppThe site, which hosts thousands documents relating to free speech and surveillance, said that it was within its rights to hold a copy of the handbook - but under Microsoft said the publication infringed its copyright and lodged a complaint with Cryptome's web hosting company, Network Solutions./ppUnder America's Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Network Solutions shut down the website entirely - a move that caused uproar among civil liberties campaigners, and led Microsoft to withdraw its complaint so that Cryptome could go back online./ppAccording to an email from Evan Cox, a legal counsel for Microsoft, the company did not intend to close the site - just remove the document in question. /pp"While Microsoft has a good faith belief that the distribution of the file that was made available at that address infringes Microsoft's copyrights, it was not Microsoft's intention that the takedown request result in the disablement of web access to the entire cryptome.org website."/ppThe move was greeted as a victory by Cryptome and its supporters, with proprietor John Young saying he was considering taking the company to court for what using copyright law to enforce what he called "draconian shutdowns"./pp"We think all lawful spying arrangements should be made public," he said. "Microsoft should join the others who openly described the procedures, and just may be do if there is a public demand for it."/ppThe return of the website does little to eradicate the controversy around the handbook itself, which Young described as "repugnant" for encouraging the authorities to snoop on people's private information./ppThe 22-page document lists the sort of information that Microsoft holds on its users, and gives law enforcement officers tips on how to easily access and use that data. /ppThe document lists the sorts of data it can provide, including photographs, contact lists and internet addresses all stored by users of Microsoft services like Windows Live, Xbox Live and MSN Messenger./ppIt even suggests that law enforcement officials request much more information than they need, and lays out example subpoenas to enable them to get the data more easily./ppCryptome has been a thorn in the side of the authorities and many companies for years, since Young launched the site to keep tabs on various aspects of surveillance and cryptography./ppSimilar to the Wikileaks website - a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/jan/29/wikileaks-temporarily-closes-lack-funds"which had to shut down temporarily due to a lack of funds/a - Cryptome says it "welcomes documents for publication that are prohibited by governments worldwide, in particular material on freedom of expression, privacy, cryptology, dual-use technologies, national security, intelligence, and secret governance but not limited to those."/ppIn the past organisations including the Recording Industry Association of America have tried - and failed - to get the site taken down, and it also hosts documents similar to Microsoft's from companies like Facebook and Yahoo./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/microsoft/"Microsoft/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/surveillance"Surveillance/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/internet"Internet/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/intellectual-property"Intellectual property/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/file-sharing"File sharing/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/law"Law and technology/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/bobbiejohnson"Bobbie Johnson/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" / pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/BTaTgp5eOpms7aJ21OgugeXLdPU/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/BTaTgp5eOpms7aJ21OgugeXLdPU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/BTaTgp5eOpms7aJ21OgugeXLdPU/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/BTaTgp5eOpms7aJ21OgugeXLdPU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

• Lots of potential ructions after a Bloomberg report that Steve Jobs asked Palm boss Ed Colligan to stop recruiting Apple employees. The story, which appears to have come directly from Palm (which is engaged in an ongoing war with Apple) has some extra zing since it comes after the US Department of Justice said it was looking into allegations of collusion in Silicon Valley hiring (WSJ).

• Obligatory Twitter news segment: the company has said it is getting ready to launch a location API that will "allow developers to add latitude and longitude to any tweet". Privacy concerns? It'll be opt-in. Jeff Jarvis has a few thoughts.

• If, like me, you mourn the death of Polaroid instant film, you might want to get out to Urban Outfitters on Friday. Jack points me in the direction of this DazedDigital post which says they are selling Polaroid cameras and film from the last Dutch production run. Sweet.

You can follow our links and commentary each day through Twitter (@guardiantech, or our personal accounts) or by watching our Delicious feed.

• Google books is under fire again, after a class action lawyer filed an objection to the company's proposed $125m settlement with authors' groups (more background here). That might be of interest to France, where the Bibliotheque Nationale is about to sign a deal with the internet giant, according to the Times.

• Simon Cowell's record label is hunting for the 'hacker' who leaked a new Leona Lewis/Justin Timberlake song online, reports Reuters. The individual in question may be looking nervously at the case of Guns N Roses leaker Kevin Cogill, who was recently sentenced to two months house imprisonment.

• It's Thursday, so you'll be able to pick up a copy of the Technology Guardian print supplement from your newsagent. Stories include a look at why Facebook Lite sheds light on the company's strategy, finding out about new micro wind turbines and wondering whether the instruction manual is a thing of the past. Just 90p, or read it online.

You can follow our links and commentary each day through Twitter (@guardiantech, or our personal accounts) or by watching our Delicious feed.

DNA has quickly become the bedrock of modern law enforcement - as anyone who's watched CSI will know. It's enough to make up the minds of the courts, and to convince the British government to put millions of people into its database.

Suddenly things look a lot shakier, however, after scientists discovered ways to fabricate saliva and blood samples - and even DNA evidence itself, given the right information. The New York Times reports research into falsified results, which appear staggeringly easy - particularly for those with access to an original record (even if not genetic material).

The killer quote, from the paper's co-author, Dan Frumkin: "You can just engineer a crime scene... any biology undergraduate could perform this".

It's certainly not enough to destroy DNA evidence entirely, but you can bet that thousands of defence lawyers are rubbing their hands at the chance to discredit crime scene evidence in front of juries around the globe.

• Yes, Sony finally did it - announcing a cheaper, smaller PlayStation 3 model. Given how much it costs Sony to make the PS3, no doubt as soon as it is released in September somebody will do a teardown to find out how much it costs to make. Is it less than the $805 iSuppli suggested it cost in 2006, or the $448 it cost last year?

• Remember that decision by a court in Texas to stop Microsoft selling Word after a patent dispute? Quelle surprise - Microsoft is asking for a stay on the injunction after filing an emergency motion, reports CNet.

• Earlier this week TechCrunch broke the news that MySpace was looking to buy iLike - an online music service that hooks into Facebook, among others. It's not finalised - AllThingsD reports that the deal could be on the rocks - but regardless, rumours of a $20m sale are unlikely to please investors, who had pumped $16.5m into the startup. Are the widgets coming home to roost?

You can follow our links and commentary each day through Twitter (@guardiantech, or our personal accounts) or by watching our Delicious feed.

• You may have heard of the venture firm Y Combinator, which offers small amounts of early-stage funding to budding entrepreneurs - names that have passed through its incubator-style scheme include Reddit, Justin.tv and Loopt. Now founder Paul Graham is planning to go a step further by assembling teams to create made-to-order startups. The first project? The future of journalism, which YC picked because "Newspapers and magazines are in trouble. We think they will mostly die, because we think we know what will replace them, and it is too far from their current model for them to reach it in time".

• The result of America's highest-profile prosecution for illegal filesharing - the $1.92m fine dished out to Jammie Thomas- Rasset has been given the blessing of the US Department of Justice, according to CNet. A legal brief filed by the DoJ suggests that the fine was not unconstitutional

• If you've ever spent too long surfing FAIL Blog or LOL Cats, you might be interested in this Time profile of the company behind it all.

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