Spyware reaching epidemic proportions, and other brief reports ...

* The European Union has suspended its antitrust review of Microsoft\'s deal with Time Warner, as technology company Thomson SA has joined the proposed venture. The companies aim to develop digital rights management technologies that would allow online access to content while protecting it from unauthorised copying and counterfeiting. Full report in The Age * Central Scotland Police have arrested 28 people and seized a haul of counterfeit goods worth over £10m in a five-day operation. The counterfeit products include music CDs, videos and DVDs, discs of pornographic images and software, and duplication equipment. Full Out-Law.com report * A Canadian man has been sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for having sex with a 13-year-old autistic girl he had lured using an Internet chat room. Upon his release, Brian Deck will be prohibited for 10 years from communicating online with children under the age of 14. Full report in The Globe and Mail * The European Parliament has approved proposals to include facial images as a biometric identifier in passports, but has rejected the creation of a central database of EU passport and travel documents. It did not vote on an amendment to the proposals that required fingerprints to become mandatory for passports and travel documents. Full Out-Law.com report * A UK judge has jailed a woman for selling non-existent concert tickets via eBay\'s online site to last year\'s Glastonbury music festival. Sara-Louise Hambridge made more than £3 000, but, the buyers, who paid an average of £159 per ticket, were left with nothing. Hambridge was given a nine-month jail sentence that was suspended for two years due to her ill health. Full report in The Telegraph