U.S. Backs Increase in Peacekeepers for Afghanistan. U.S. officials say enlarging the international force and placing its troops outside Kabul may help secure the country. By Michael R. Gordon. [New York Times: Politics]

MP3 codecs no longer free for GPL use. Or were they ever? [The Register]

They never were because the GPL would be incompatiable with the restriction of the commercial use.

 MacCentral: Apple to release Rendezvous code as open source. [Hack the Planet]

Welcome to AT%26amp;T WorldNet Service – Headline – Scientists Create Lullabies From Brain Waves [lnk.to]

News.Com: “Apple Computer has invoked the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to prevent its customers from burning DVDs on external drives.” [Scripting News]

Groups Seek Exemptions From Curbs on Political Ads. Several organizations contend that the rules would stifle their ability to convey their views on public issues. By David Stout. [New York Times: Politics]

Explorer putting the squeeze on Netscape. Despite new technology from Netscape, Internet Explorer now commands well over 90 percent of the market, according to a new study. [CNET News.com]

IE has now reached 96 percent market share, according to StatMarket, up from 87 percent a year agoIE has now reached 96 percent market share, according to StatMarket, up from 87 percent a year ago.

Microsoft’s New Irrelevance.  [osOpinion]

Not worth reading. however it has one good quote: “Buzz has been missing from Redmond, Washington, for so long that if it suddenly descended upon Microsoft headquarters, the company’s executives would probably flee in terror, mistaking it for a swarm of bees sent to annihilate them.”

Microsoft puts privacy policy on display. The latest beta version of the software maker’s Windows Media Player 9 Series isn’t shy about letting consumers control the amount of information they choose to share. [CNET News.com]

Mozilla 1.1 debuts to mixed reviews. The new browser is faster and easier to use, according to its developers. But some users are saying the software still has a ways to go. [CNET News.com]