[Best of the Web -- Monday, 18 January 2010]

Nokia, Apple step up war of words: The fight between Nokia and Apple is getting ugly. Apple at the weekend began legal proceedings to prevent the Finnish handset manufacturer from importing its products into the US. Nokia has accused Apple of violating its patents in the iPhone. In turn, Apple has filed a counter-claim, alleging that Nokia has infringed a range of its patents. “Other companies must compete with us by inventing their own technologies, not by stealing ours,” Apple senior vice-president Bruce Sewell said last year. [The Telegraph] [Reuters]

Tech comes to Haiti’s aid: Online technology is playing a big role in rescue operations in earthquake-ravaged Haiti. According to AFP, online maps, mobile phone donations, wikis and a slew of websites are being deployed as telecommunications company, technology giants and start-ups put the latest tools to work. [AFP] [Mashable] [The New York Times]

France joins Germany in warning about IE: The French government has echoed calls by Germany for Web users to find an alternative Web browser to Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) until the software company fixes a security hole in the browser software. Certa, a government agency that oversees cyber threats, warned against using all versions of the web browser, according to the BBC. A flaw in IE has been blamed for recent cyber attacks on Google in China. [BBC News] [The Telegraph]

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