ZDNet Asia reports that Hong Kong is cracking down on software piracy, increasing prison terms as a counter-incentive to steal proprietary software.

From a News.com report: “Nvidia has overtaken ATI Technologies as the biggest maker of chips to enhance graphics on desktop computers, according to a new study by industry consultant Mercury Research.”

Daily Radar News has the hardware specs for the Indrema L600 Linux game console. The box includes a 600MHz processor, 64MB RAM, built-in Ethernet, DVD player, and special DV Linux distribution.

Germany’s Infineon Technologies AG is licensing the Mips64 5Kc 64-bit processor core from Mountain View, California’s Mips Technologies Inc. Infineon plans to use these chips in a class of equipment called integrated access devices and LAN switching applications. Full story at EE Times.

SiliconValley.com reports that VeriSign Global Registry Services is ready to accept domain name registrations that use Chinese, Japanese, and Korean characters. Arabic and other languages are expected to follow.

Bidding begins Friday as the United Kingdom auctions off a part of its radio spectrum. The lucky winners will most likely use their new frequencies to deliver high-speed wireless services to home and business. A total of 42 licenses will be sold. Full story at BBC News Online.

TechWeb reports Transmeta is poised to reveal product plans with Microsoft, Compaq, and Gateway. Although Compaq recently nixed plans to offer the Crusoe chip in its next generation of notebook computers, the company still plans to use the technology to power its new Internet appliance product line.

An Internet Wire story on NewsAlert reports that Software Technology Group has made available the first public release of the Uniform Driver Interface environment for Red Hat Linux and Caldera OpenLinux. UDI provides a development structure for portable driver code and program plans for deploying the technology.

A recent Zona survey reveals that over half of the large companies it surveyed are expecting increases of Linux users within their firms of up to 50%. Smaller companies felt that Linux usage would expand by more than 50%. Full story at eWEEK.

Loki is seeking a few good beta testers for its port of the Sierra Studios title Tribes 2. This first-person action game features team-based play where players can fight alongside more than 60 others with all-new weapons and vehicles.