The East Texas patent case that had more than a few technology companies (and other more traditional business that faced lawsuits) freaking out, has fallen apart for the guy that brought it to court. The case came to a dramatic conclusion Thursday when a jury ruled that the key patent in the case was invalid.

Game Developer David Braben (Elite creator) tells Eurogamer that the consumer version of the Raspberry Pi device (a $25 - $35 credit-card sized computer designed to give children of all economic backgrounds the ability to learn important computer skills - will be made available to the public in the third quarter of this year. A pre-order system for the developer version of the Raspberry Pi will be unveiled in the near future, Braben tells Eurogamer.

iRobot makes Roomba, the little circular robot that vacuums your house on its own. But you probably didn't know that that same company makes robots for the military and has done so for quite some time. In fact, iRobot created the PackBot, a robot that the military uses to dispose of bombs. According to Techland, the latest robot created for the military is called "Warrior," and is controlled using an Xbox controller.

According to new research by the Boston Consulting Group, the Internet economy among G-20 nations is expected to nearly double by 2016, reaching an estimated $4.2 trillion (up from $2.3 trillion in 2010). In addition to that astounding figure is the projection that nearly half of the planet's population will be connected to the Internet — with 3 billion users in 2016, up from 1.9 billion in 2010.

The Directors Guild of America issued a statement on Friday about SOPA and PIPA - in conjunction with the American Federation of Musicians (AFM), American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada (IATSE), International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), and Screen Actors Guild (SAG).

First this collective of Hollywood interest groups attempted to put a happy face on a bad situation:

An interesting story on The Hill points out that U.S. President Barack Obama faces a tough choice if the Stop Online Piracy or Protect IP Acts are passed by lawmakers because he has a vested interest in both Silicon Valley and the entertainment industry - two segments of the business community that heavily contributed to his 2008 campaign and continue to support him in 2012.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation announced via its blog that it has begun the manufacturing process for its ARM GNU/Linux machine in Taiwan and China. Besides citing prohibitive UK taxes on electronic parts (there's no tax on products already assembled and shipped into the country), the group chose manufacturers in Asia because the turnaround will be three weeks - as opposed to thirteen weeks.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has announced that it will listen to a handful of experts on January 18.

In a pre-Consumer Electronic Show interview with VentureBeat, Gary Shapiro, chief executive and president of the Consumer Electronics Association, says that he is not happy with the way the Stop Online Piracy Act is being rammed through the Senate. The man at the top of the trade group representing the electronics industry adds that SOPA is "shocking."

As pointed out by our very own Beemoh, The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defense wants to update its military simulations with the latest first-person shooter technology. This, they say, will focus the concentration of soldiers that train using the software.

Lawmakers that support SOPA can say that they haven't been bought and paid for by special interest groups, but an article on MapLight shows that the 32 sponsors of the bill have received four times more campaign contributions from the entertainment industry than from tech companies that oppose it.

AT&T has officially announced that its merger plan with T-Mobile is pushing up daises, but it also takes a few shots at the government for running interference to kill the deal. The $39 billion deal with T-Mobile parent company - Germany-based Deutsche Telekom - fell apart after government regulators from the FCC and the Justice Department took AT&T to task over what the company claimed the deal would accomplish. The Justice Department sued to block the deal in late August, calling it anti-competitive and warning that  it could raise consumer prices.

Eurogamer has launched game streaming on its site today, as part of a new relationship with video game streaming service Gaikai. Eurogamer and Gaikai have partnered to provide free streaming game content, with such AAA titles as Crysis 2, Magicka, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, and FIFA 12 available right now. More titles will be added to the list in "the near future."

Square Enix has revealed details on the extent of the hack that we reported on earlier this week. Square Enix confirmed that up to 1.8 million customers in Japan and the U.S. could be affected by the attack on its member service that took place earlier this week. While personal information may have been compromised, the Final Fantasy maker says that no financial information was stolen because the servers contained no credit card or billing information. They also noted that servers in Europe were not comprised.

In the late 1990's and early 2000's a politician proposing an internet sales tax would have been ridden out on a rail. It used to be that lawmakers were scared of the subject. Now even retail associations - some of which represent huge internet companies - say they support the idea. One of those trade groups, the Consumer Electronics Association, has changed sides this week.

According to this Ars Technica report, Apple has allied itself with a known patent troll to take out its enemies. The company has had some covert dealings with Digitude Innovations, a company that enjoys being paid in patents so it can beat the hell out of companies in court.

As we mentioned last week Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Darrell Issa introduced an alternative bill to SOPA and Protect IP that would put the power of fighting so-called rogue web sites into the hands of the International Trade Commission. The OPEN Act (which stands for Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act) focuses on interrupting the flow of funds to web sites that are proven to be trafficking in counterfeit goods or copyright materials.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings says that he sees an "arms race" in the streaming entertainment sector that his company currently dominates, and the biggest competition they face is Time Warner's HBO Go.

"The competitor we fear most is HBO Go,” Hastings said this week at the UBS media conference in New York. "HBO is becoming more Netflix-like and we’re becoming more HBO-like. The two of us will compete for a very long time."

UK secretary of state for education Michael Gove came out in support of the call for computer science to be part of the National Curriculum. Gove made his comments while talking to students at Catmose College about information technologies in schools.

"What we should have is computer science in the future, and how it fits into the curriculum is something that we need to talk to scientists, to experts in coding, and to young people about, to make sure that that part of what happens in schools which deal with technology and computing is relevant," Gove said.

New data from Pew Research Center finds that young adults are using the Internet as a distraction - a distinction television use to have among that particular age group. A majority of young American adults are using the Internet for "fun" and to "kill time," according to a new report by Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. But television isn't the only victim according to the data - video game console time is also being affected by Internet use, according to the data.

The AbleGamers Foundation, a charity and advocacy group dedicated to finding and highlighting games and technology that enable disabled gamers to play games, has released its 2011 Holiday Shopping Guide For Disabled Gamers. This annual list is the compilation of the very best technology and devices available that are tailored for gamers with disabilities. The 2011 edition of the guide includes some annual favorites of the group, along with game controller technology, and more.

While Hewlett Packard's PC division has been saved by returning CEO Meg Whitman, it looks like its tablet OS webOS is dead in the water. While the new CEO says that the company plans to make a decision soon, UK-based paper The Guardian says that the decision has already been made to get rid of the operating system. It will inevitably be replaced by Microsoft's Windows 8 Phone OS.

"We’ll make a decision about the long-term future of webOS within the next couple months," Whitman said during HP’s quarterly earnings call.

Consumer spending on electronics gifts will reach an all-time high this holiday shopping season, according to new research released today from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). The research firm's 18th annual CE Holiday Purchase Patterns Study shows that overall spending this holiday will increase as well. The study was released today at CEA's Industry Forum in San Diego, a four-day conference for leaders in the consumer electronics (CE) industry.

Netflix has had a rough couple of months.  Investors and customers alike have reacted negatively to the company’s recent price hikes and it’s Qwikster announcement was so unpopular that it canned the whole thing mere weeks later.

"The last few months...have been difficult for shareholders, employees, and most unfortunately, many members of Netflix," wrote Netflix CEO Reed Hastings in a letter to shareholders. "We've hurt our hard-earned reputation, and stalled our domestic growth."

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released new guidelines on Thursday that require publicly traded companies to disclose when they are the victim of a security breach or cyber attack. The new guidelines are the result of members of congress pressuring the watchdog agency to add them following several major cyber attacks earlier this year. Senator John Rockefeller is one of those lawmakers.

GameIndustry.biz reports that UK Minister for Culture Communications and Creative Industries, Ed Vaizey made an appearance on last night's BBC Newsnight and vocalized his support for reforms in IT education in the region. Vaizey spoke briefly about planned trials to build a new IT curriculum - which will start in November - and take place in 20 schools with 100 pupils and will carry on until June 2012.

In a recent interview with Dengeki PlayStation, Sony Corp.'s Yoshio Matsumoto told the publication that his company is still trying to figure out what it plans to do with consumers who own games on the UMD format as it heads towards its March release of PlayStation Vita. He said that Sony is "looking into" offering UMD owners the chance to re-download their games on the Vita for a special price.

Netflix has decided that separating its DVD rental business from its streaming business might have been a bad idea after consumers gave them a very public verbal thrashing. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings wrote on the official company blog this morning that Netflix has abandoned that idea, instead keeping everything the way it was before. One thing we do not know is whether Netflix will move forward with its plan to rent video games to its subscribers because Hastings doesn't mention that in his post.

Microsoft has officially abandoned Zune, admitting publicly for the first time that production of the hardware has ceased. RIP, iPod wannabe. Microsoft said that Windows Phone will be where it puts all its attention on in that space and that Zune will live on as a brand. The Zune brand will live on as the face of Microsoft’s content sales services. It remains a mainstay in the Entertainment section of the Xbox dashboard, for example.

A new survey of Playr2.com users shows that a majority of its members are not satisfied (or interested) in 3D gaming. Tapping into 1,001 members, the Playr2.com asked them what they thought of the prospect of 3D gaming. Around 44 percent of respondents said that 3D gaming is “unnecessary," while 28 percent said they were "unimpressed" while playing the 3DS. Around 22 percent said that 3D technology impairs the gaming experience.