A US judged ruled that Google’s 3-D modeling software does not infringe the patent of a rival.  Google Earth users can get an astronaut’s view of the earth and zoom in to where you park your car on the street. US District Court Judge Douglas Woodlock of Massachusetts dismissed the patent infringement suit by Skyline Software Systems. Skyline claimed Google tried to portray views of the Earth’s terrain, but Woodlock said that Google didn’t attempt to do that. Google purchased satellite image firm Keyhole in 2004 and renamed it Google Earth.In related news, Bad Toelz Mayor in Germany demanded Google Earth delete a reference to “Mount Hitler“from the 3-D software. Mayor Andreas Wiedemann said residents have called the peak “Mount Hitler” for a brief period during the Third Reich, but that after World War Two it went back to the original name Heigel Kopf. Google Earth gives users both names of the mountain, but Wiedemann thinks it misleads. Google Germany spokesman Stefan Keuchel said the Hitler name appears as a “technical accident.” Google earth considers deleting the matter if they find no historical reason for its addition.Olympic organizers opened a ticketing website today allowing Chinese residents to reserve tickets online for the 2008 Games. The web site announced organizers would distribute tickets in three phases and they would randomly give out tickets to over-subscribed events. Olympic organizers said overseas residents could purchase Olympic tickets from their national Olympic Committee or from designated outlets at the same price as Chinese residents. Tickets vary from 30 yuan or around three dollars and 50 cents at preliminary events to five thousand yuan or more than 640 dollars for the opening ceremony. To see about acquiring tickets, log on to www.tickets.beijing.2008.cn.Microsoft announced today that it secured Quest Software as its first protocol technology program licensee. This program comes out of the March 2004 European...