Open source’s new weapon: The law?. Open-source advocates will unfurl a legislative proposal next week to prohibit the state of California from buying software from companies that don’t open their source code. [CNET News.com]

Dangers of the Google tool bar exposed. From annoyances to threats [The Register]

Gnutella bandwidth bandits. The file-trading network’s developers are discovering that even their wide-open, free-for-all technology might need a little policing. [Salon.com]

But from the beginning, Gnutella exhibited a frustrating reluctance to “scale” — to perform adequately for large numbers of users — and when Napster did eventually shut down, in 2001, Gnutella wasn’t ready for influx of refugees.