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Update on May 27: added that Greentech Media is publisher of concentrating solar power report.

The Prometheus Institute, in a report published by Greentech Media, forecasts that concentrating photovoltaic technologies will be used in midsize to large power plants that range from about 1 megawatt of production to about 100 megawatts.

Prometheus Institute forecasts that 50 gigawatts of electricity could be generated this way by 2020. Currently, there 430 megawatts worth of concentrating solar power systems installed around the world, according to Emerging Energy Research.

(Credit:
Schott)

California and Spain are the biggest markets for these concentrating solar power systems. If renewable portfolio standards get passed in more states, we could see a much greater diversity of technologies beyond the solar trough and solar tower.

(Credit:
Prometheus Institute/Greentech Media)

The latter, known as concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) systems, may make more sense in a broader set of geographies, compared with concentrating solar thermal. Both forms of concentrating solar power are meant to improve on sun-tracking flat panels.

There are competing designs for utility-scale solar farms. By concentrating light to make steam, some designs use heat to generate electricity. In parallel, other companies concentrate light onto photovoltaic cells to generate electricity.

Utilities are being pushed to use more renewable energy, heating up the business of large-scale solar power. (Click here for related photo gallery.)

Concentrating solar thermal systems, meanwhile, will dominate very large centralized power generation.

Click on the image to view a photo gallery of different utility-scale solar technologies.

When it comes to solar these days, it’s go big or go home.

Which technological approach will win out isn’t clear yet, but the demand for centralized solar-power generation systems is there.

We talked with Vogele about this, and went over not just the legal doctrine that applies to digital content, but also some of the practical guidelines in dealing with infringement of rights (near the end). Play the podcast for this free lesson in modern copyright law.

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Today on the Real Deal podcast, Tom and I interviewed Colette Vogele, attorney, Fellow at Stanford’s Center for Internet and Society, and host of the Rules for the Revolution podcast. We started to cover the concept of copyright from the perspective of the content producer separately from that of the consumer, but found that the line between the two is increasingly fuzzy. We all consume content. But with digital technologies, almost every one of us also produces, copies, or otherwise mangles the content that we are consuming.

Real Deal 106: Copyright
How to navigate digital rights Listen:

If you want to join the ongoing discussion, come on over to the Real Deal forums.

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At the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee’s State of the Net Conference in Washington earlier this year, Chopra talked of Virginia’s initiatives to improve aspects of governance in areas like health care and education.

Aneesh Chopra, Virginia's secretary of technology, is President Obama's pick for the nation's first chief technology officer.

Although Chopra had reportedly been under consideration for months for a job in the administration and had put in long hours helping Obama’s transition team, much of the speculation around the post surrounded candidates with Silicon Valley roots, as TechCrunch points out in a post with the headline, “Obama Spurns Silicon Valley Vets.”

For example, Virginia was set to debut its physics “flexbook,” comprised of Web-based instructional materials that cover areas of physics in which Virginia’s traditional curriculum is lacking.

Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, also commended Obama for his choice. “Chopra is an excellent selection as he served proficiently in Virginia as Secretary of Technology and also has a strong background in the private sector advising the health care industry on technology management issues,” he said in a statement. “He will bring to the position real world technology and public policy experience.”

Mark Rutledge, director at McAfee’s public sector business and former CIO for the state of Kentucky, also had strong praise. “Aneesh Chopra is a fantastic pick, he is a visionary and a great communicator. If I was looking for one person to bring change, and create energy he’s the pick,” he said in a statement

President Barack Obama, in his weekly address Saturday, announced the appointment of Aneesh Chopra to serve as the nation’s first chief technology officer.

“You can make information more accessible, collaborate more, and people can do more to hold their elected officials more accountable,” said Chopra, who was one of a team of volunteers serving on the Obama transition’s technology, innovation and government reform police working group.

(Credit: Virginia.gov)

Others, like Tim O’Reilly, are praising Chopra as the perfect candidate due to his understanding of how to build a better government with the help of technology.

Chopra, who is currently Virginia’s secretary of technology, “will promote technological innovation to help achieve our most urgent priorities–from creating jobs and reducing health care costs to keeping our nation secure,” Obama said.

This post was updated several times after 12:30 PDT with industry reaction.

Prior to his Virginia post, Chopra was managing director for the Advisory Board Company, where he advised executives on health care operations. That likely prepared him for Obama’s proposed health care reforms, which focus heavily on information technology.

Chopra has led his commonwealth’s “strategy to effectively leverage technology in government reform, to promote Virginia’s innovation agenda, and to foster technology-related economic development,” according to a White House press release.

At the same time, Obama also announced the appointment of executive and management consultant Jeffery Zients to be the administration’s chief performance officer. Zients, along with Chopra “will work closely with our chief information officer, Vivek Kundra, who is responsible for setting technology policy across the government, and using technology to improve security, ensure transparency, and lower costs,” the president said.

commentary

A friend called me on Friday to ask what I thought about Novell. “Does it have a chance?” he asked?

The answer is increasingly, “Yes.”

I never would have thought I’d be saying that, but whatever the cause of Novell’s resurgence, it feels like the company is making a serious comeback. I’ve seen it with my own company, where an increasing number of our customers are requesting SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES).

Yes, it has yet to displace its competition: Ubuntu has more momentum but still lacks a winning revenue model that may hamper its transition from community standard to enterprise standard, while Red Hat continues to barrel forward yet doesn’t feel as invincible as before.

But Novell’s progress in its Linux business is nothing to sneeze at, with 65 percent growth in its last quarter. That progress is a direct result of its interoperability agreement with Microsoft, a relationship it has been extending of late.

I’ve harshly criticized this agreement because of the patent cloud it has placed over Linux, but after talking with a range of Novell SUSE/Microsoft customers about it, I’m increasingly convinced that the only company that is sold on the important of patent protection in the deal is Microsoft. As one recent customer noted to me, “The patent coverage for SUSE had exactly zero relevance to us in making our decision to go with SUSE.”

Customers may be indifferent to the patent pact, but Novell’s alignment with Microsoft has been very good so far for its business. Were that the only thing it was doing, however, it might not be much to cheer. Novell has been very busy on a range of different fronts:

HP is helping its customers move from its identity management solution to Novell’s.
Novell has become smarter about managing its channel, and of giving value to its channel. This may well result in greater productivity from the channel.
Even Novell’s participation in Google’s Summer of Code (and its new non-executive chairman, Richard Crandall) bode well for the company’s savvy and credibility.

Yes, the company still has some businesses that need serious work (or better yet, to be sold), but its core Linux-plus-identity management story is selling well. Novell has a ways to go, but this is the first time I’ve felt that it’s actually making progress.

Novell could still crater. But it’s looking increasingly unlikely that its SUSE Linux or Identity Management businesses will. These can provide the backbone for growth across the board. I still wish the company would dump the patent agreement as it fouls the water for other open-source companies and projects, but I’m comfortable that Novell isn’t selling patents as the reason to buy from it, though Microsoft may continue to do so.

Update 6:20 a.m. Thursday:
To include more background on new witness.

RealNetworks introduced a new witness in the RealDVD case on Wednesday, a move that comes late in the court proceedings that could decide the software’s fate.

Real is locked in a court battle with the major movie studios over RealDVD, a software that enables owners to copy DVDs and store them to a hard drive. The Motion Picture Association of America filed suit against Real last fall, accusing the company of violating copyright law and breach of contract. U.S. District Judge Marilyn Patel could rule on whether to remove a ban on the sale of RealDVD as early as Thursday.

Real on Wednesday filed with U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California a written declaration from Peter Biddle, an Intel executive who had dealings with the movie industry over a decade ago while employed for Microsoft. He disputes Hollywood’s claims that the industry included in a license for its DVD-encryption technology a ban on copying DVDs while in a computer hard drive.

Real argues that because it possesses a license to use CSS and because the license doesn’t prohibit the copying of DVDs in all cases, Real isn’t guilty of breaching its contract.

What Biddle focuses on in his statement is the license for DVD Content Scramble System (CSS), the encryption technology designed to prevent copying of DVDs. Companies need the license to make DVD players. In his declaration, Biddle says that he was part of the “standards-setting” group that helped draft the CSS license between 1996 and 1998. According to court documents, he has not been compensated by Real. It is not yet clear whether Patel will allow Biddle to testify in court.

He confirmed that the film industry was initially against allowing the copying of DVDs under any circumstances. But he said eventually the studios relaxed their position.

Real says it couldn't find Peter Biddle until May 6th. Perhaps it should have tried simple Google search.

(Credit:
LinkedIn)

“I repeatedly explained that such a prohibition would be extremely difficult to implement,” said Biddle in his declaration, recalling what he said during negotiations on what language the CSS license should include. “Because computer and software products rapidly evolve, the CSS license was designed to enable computer manufacturers to have significant freedom.”

He says it was never agreed to that the CSS license would ban all copying.

Marsha King, a retired vice president at Warner Bros., testified during the hearing that the entire reason for the CSS license was to prevent consumers from creating copies.

“The studios were adamant that no copy be placed on the (computer) hard drive,” King told the court. “The only thing we authorized was playback of the movies…no copies were to be made…it was a mantra.”

In the past week, Real has introduced Biddle and filed new allegations against the film industry, accusing them of antitrust violations. The question is whether these moves are just 12th-hour legal wrangling or will have legitimate impact on the case.

In a letter to Patel, Real’s attorneys said that they were unable to locate Biddle until May 6, and weren’t clear about what he would testify to until Wednesday. This makes little sense as Biddle, the man behind Microsoft’s BitLocker technology and Darknet, is pretty high profile and a Google search quickly reveals he is Director of the Google Program Office at Intel and lives in the Seattle area.

Patel is scheduled to hear closing arguments on Thursday morning. There’s no telling when she will issue a decision, but she has a history of ruling from the bench.

Update: 10:25 p.m. with photo, more details

Handset maker Sony Ericsson is announcing plans for its first Windows Mobile device, a move aimed at boosting the company’s presence in the North American smartphone market.

The first product is a business-oriented phone with a QWERTY keyboard, but a family of devices is expected. Over time, Microsoft hopes Sony Ericsson will leverage its camera and music expertise to help build more consumer-oriented devices.

Xperia X1 has an unusual arc slider that reveals the QWERTY keyboard.

(Credit:
Sony Ericsson)

“They’ve really got some great consumer brands that we’d love to partner with and bring to Windows Mobile,” Microsoft Vice President Pieter Knook said in an interview.

The company is expected to have more to say about Windows Mobile in general at its press conference Monday, but Microsoft isn’t announcing any details on its future operating systems. There have been rumors aplenty about both a modest update to Windows Mobile 6 and a future version that would have much more touch-screen capabilities a la the
iPhone.

Knook acknowledged that Apple has included some nice features with the iPhone, particularly in the Web browser, but declined to talk about when Microsoft might incorporate some of those advances.

“We are certainly investing in the browser,” Knook said. “We are certainly investing in entertainment scenarios.”

Photo handling is another area he identified as important. The most recent version of Windows Mobile allows for photos to be uploaded to Windows Live Spaces, but Knook said there’s more work to do on that front.

“That’s still an area where the user experience is more cumbersome than it needs to be,” Knook said. As for music, Knook noted the company’s recent purchase of Musiwave, as well as the work being done by Microsoft’s
Zune team.

“We do envisage that some of those experiences will come to the Windows Mobile platform in the future,” Knook said.

Update:
The device will be known as the Xperia X1, featuring a 3-inch VGA display with an “arc slider” to slide out the keyboard. The device will support HSDPA and HSUPA networks, as well as Wi-Fi.

Will he or won’t he?

Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell is speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference at 8:45 a.m. PST on Monday. Maybe some comments regarding the Yahoo bid will fall from his mouth, and then again, maybe not.

Full coverage
Microsoft’s big bid for Yahoo Click here for the latest on the software giant’s attempt to buy the Net pioneer.

Liddell’s Webcast may add to comments made Monday by Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer in Hannover, Germany.

Ballmer made the case for the existing offer.

“The deal makes sense with the price and structure we announced. We hope it becomes reality,” he told reporters, according to the Associated Press.

Update 9:20 a.m. PST: Morgan Stanley analyst and moderator Mary Meeker asked Liddell the effect of software as a service on Microsoft’s business. In response, Liddell noted: “Software as a service will be a bigger part of our business, and things like a Yahoo acquisition is one way how we see that.”

Update 9:47 a.m PST: As Liddell’s presentation and the Q&A portion wrapped up, no one in the audience–to Liddell’s surprise–asked a single question about Yahoo.

Hello…Microsoft is looking to lay down mega, mega, and, I say, MEGA bucks for Yahoo and no one at the investor/technology conference asked a single question about its bid.

That didn’t stop Liddell from addressing the proverbial elephant in the room.

Said Liddell: “No one asked me about Yahoo, which is interesting. It’s a small company we are looking to acquire, but the company has not yet formally responded to our offer…We will continue to look at our options and that is something I am incredibly systematic about.”

The systematic approach Liddell referenced includes looking at the horizon for other acquisitions too. Of course, he didn’t drop any names of who might fit the bill for those.

Wired’s Epicenter blog reported Thursday that rumors point to contact-management-service-turned-social-network Plaxo as Google’s latest shopping purchase. Well, maybe.

The report is extremely thin, and very little detail is given except that the buying price is under $200 million and the buyer is “most likely” Google. Representatives from Plaxo said that the company does not comment on matters related to mergers and acquisitions.

It would make sense: Plaxo has been a loyal and vocal member of Google’s OpenSocial initiative, and contact management is one thing that Google Apps really hasn’t nailed yet. But Plaxo, like Digg, is one of those Silicon Valley properties that’s constantly tossed about as an acquisition target. We’ve seen this one before. Move along, folks.

Wednesday is tax day, so I thought you might be able to use some free music. I don’t mean questionably legal file trades or streams or random MP3s delivered via Seeqpod or some other search engine–I’m talking about the Free Music Archive, which launched in beta over the weekend.

Often, sites with tons of free music have a low-quality bar–either they cater to beginning bands, or they’re used to promote leftovers and outtakes that artists couldn’t otherwise sell. But at first glance, FMA appears to be different.

It’s curated by serious music fans, including New Jersey’s WFMU, the undisputed national leader in unusual music, as well as Seattle’s frequently awesome KEXP, and includes lots of live-in-studio performances on these and other stations.

There are artists you might actually have heard of, like Robyn Hitchcock, Daniel Johnston, and Vivian Girls. And, keeping with WFMU’s heritage, the “Experimental” category isn’t just an afterthought but a rather major part of the site, with a whopping 1,340 downloads. All songs are licensed for a wide array of uses, including sampling and remixes.

Can’t get enough? Want new downloads as soon as they become available? Try subscribing to the site’s Twitter feed.

Happy downloading! Remember to leave a tip.

Follow Matt on Twitter

File photo: This is a tiger. Do not taunt.

(Credit:
Declan McCullagh/mccullagh.org)

A California judge has said the San Francisco Zoo may inspect the mobile phones of two brothers involved in a deadly tiger attack on Christmas Day.

Superior Court Judge Socrates Peter Manoukian in Santa Clara County ruled late Friday that the city and the zoo can review the devices for photographs that might provide clues about what happened that day, and for logs of conversations near the time of the 911 call.

He wrote: “Under the maxim that a picture is worth a thousand words the Court believes that the allegation of existence or nonexistence of any photographs is specific enough to justify an attempt to perpetuate them.”

The defendants in the civil lawsuit are brothers Kulbir Dhaliwal and Amritpal Dhaliwal. They were mauled during the tiger attack and their friend, Carlos Sousa Jr., was killed. The tiger pen’s wall was only 12.5 feet high, 4 feet below generally accepted safety standards. The Siberian tiger, Tatiana, was shot dead by police that day.

Manoukian said, however, that the city and the zoo could not inspect the contents of the
car. (There have been reports that a bottle of alcohol was present.) Their attorney has called these efforts a fishing expedition.

It’s unclear what the real impact of this ruling will be–that’s because the San Francisco Police Department has obtained a search warrant allowing them to examine the car and mobile phones in conjunction with a separate criminal investigation.