Tuesday Tech News

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The legal standard that was applied awards patents to the person who invented a concept first, and it has long been a unique feature of the U.S. patent system. This year, however, Congress is about to consider a controversial proposal from Rep. Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican, that would grant a patent to the first person to submit the paperwork --a standard that's common outside the United States.

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I asked Steve Jobs to put FairPlay onto Linux and he said "no." I mean, flat-out no. That's not a world I want. I want a world where people can choose any hardware device they want, any operating system, and not have to re-buy their music every time they get a new device. I think open standards are the key to that. What we were trying to do with BadApple is pull the world more towards an open direction.

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The new technique could make tissue grafts invisible to the immune system, and would allow transplant recipients to circumvent the multiple side effects of immunosuppressive drugs, says Maggie Dallman, an immunologist at Imperial College London, UK, whose team is examining the method in mice. The process - which dupes the cells the human body uses to regulate its immunity - makes use of the natural immune-dampening effect of suppressor or regulatory T-cells. It has shown some promise in treating auto-immune diseases such as multiple sclerosis in mice. Regulatory T-cells keep other immune cells in check, and prevent them from attacking the body's own tissues.