Overnight news roundup: 2-3 October

With another day in the books, there are a bunch of tech stories that broke while you were sleeping. Would you like to know what they were? If so, keep reading.

Is copying owned music stealing?

Sony BMG -- a popular music record label in the US -- has gone on record claiming that if an owner of music copies a song, it should be considered "stealing." The company's chief executive explained that this form of stealing costs the company quite a bit of cash and has forced the label to downsize.

The Linux Foundation has established a partnership with Japan that will help promote the operating system in Japan and hopefully make it more widespread in the country. Besides simply operating systems, both groups hope that open standards and the open source movement will expand with the help of the untapped market.

Google fined

Google has been fined 10,000 euros by a German court for violating an order that forced the search giant to stop using the "m.gmail.com" domain on mobile search.

A slew of websites and other sources are reporting that a Canon EOS 7D announcement may be imminent. So far, there is little known about the device, but some are speculating that it could be the follow-up to the popular Canon EOS 5D.

Sharp showed off the future of touch screens on mobile devices. The new technology puts optical sensors in each LCD pixel to create a multi-directional touch screen that could have far-reaching effects on any mobile device. Samples are expected to come out in the second quarter of 2008.

LinkedIn and Facebook to square off?

Recent moves by both LinkedIn and Facebook have some wondering if the companies are poised to square off for control over the social networking realm. Could it happen?

NTT DoCoMo Inc., announced a cell phone prototype today that would allow you to pay for just about anything without needing to take it out of your pocket. The prototype packs near-field technology and could prove to be a perfect solution for those of us who are looking to streamline purchases.