In Europe, Skype has been the chief litmus test for measuring the openness of mobile networks. The results so far have been resoundingly negative. Most European mobile operators block Skype from their networks or impose arbitrary charges on consumers wanting to use the free service from their cellphones.

This runs counter to the concept of net neutrality, which calls for the equal treatment by networks of all Internet traffic, regardless of content.

Skype executives have complained loudly to European regulators in Brussels for more than a year, describing the carriers’ policies as a form of economic discrimination. And the regulators have been sympathetic. In April, a month before Microsoft announced the deal with Skype, the European commissioner for telecommunications, Neelie Kroes, warned operators to stop blocking or imposing fees on Skype before the end of the year or risk unspecified sanctions.

But assuming that Microsoft acquires Skype — the transaction requires approval by the competition authorities in the United States and Europe — Skype’s interests may take a back seat to Microsoft’s larger goals.

via Microsoft’s Plans for Skype Are Unclear – NYTimes.com.

The case, filed against IMAX Corp. and several individual defendants in Toronto in the fall of 2006, is considered a litmus test for a new securities law creating U.S.-style civil liability for misrepresentations that affect stock market values.

Monday’s two-part decision permits the litigation to proceed and separately certifies a global class of investors — no small matter considering that some 80-85 percent of investors reside outside of Canada. The decision also explicitly calls the threshold for such pleadings a low one, which “will no doubt be cheered by investors, and jeered by Bay and Wall Streets,” wrote Jim Middlemiss at The Legal Post.

via Ontario Judge Certifies Global Investor Class in Landmark Decision.