Microsoft has joined the "Open eBooks" push for electronic-book HTML/XML standards, along with Bertelsmann, HarperCollins Publishers, Penguin Putnam, Simon & Schuster, and Time Warner Books. . [News.Com, 09Oct98. Bill Park.]

The US Senate has dropped database protection from its version of the digital copyright bill, but may try to pass such legislation next year. Reverse engineering tools and security studies will also be exempted from penalties for possession or use of devices to defeat copyright protection technologies. [SJM, 09Oct98, 1C.]

The Mozilla Organization is a clearing-house for Netscape source code. . [BotSpot Report, 01Jun98.]

BotSpot Report's monthly HTML newsletter now has over 2,700 subscribers. . [Marcus P. Zillman , 27Jul98.] (A good way to keep up with "software agent" news. I find it somewhat overwhelming.)