However, the judge said Verizon would be injured if Vonage was completely free to continue infringing the patents.

A lawyer for Vonage, Roger Warin, told the court the ruling was a "slow strangling" of the company. The difference between a partial stay or a total prohibition on using the technology amounted to "cutting off oxygen or a bullet to the head," he said.

Hilton is expected to sign his order next Thursday. Vonage is then free to take the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which specializes in patent cases.

U.S. equities markets were closed for the Good Friday holiday. Vonage shares closed down almost 7 percent on Thursday to $3.37 on the New York Stock Exchange ahead of the court hearing. Verizon shares rose 1 percent to $38 on the NYSE.

Rebecca Arbogast, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus, said Hilton's order was a blow to Vonage. "If they can't get new customers (while they appeal the case), I think it's going to be tough to attract capital."

Hilton announced on March 23 that he intended to issue an injunction blocking all use of Verizon's technology, sending Vonage shares down nearly 26 percent that day.

The judge gave Vonage two weeks to try to convince him to stay the injunction. Verizon then suggested the judge allow Vonage to keep servicing its existing customers if a stay was necessary.

Earlier in March, a jury found Vonage had infringed three patents owned by Verizon. The jury said Vonage must pay $58 million, plus 5.5 percent royalties on future sales.

Vonage stock has steadily lost value since its initial public offering at $17 a share in May last year. The shares posted an all-time closing low of $3 after Hilton's March 23 hearing.

Software giant Oracle is to open its fifth branch in China's Xi'an, capital of northwestern Shaanxi Province, an ambitious move to strengthen its presence in China's vast western market.

The company will work with local partners to develop IT products and solutions, and persuade businesses and government agencies to use more IT products, said Yan Xuan, vice president of Beijing Oracle Software Systems Co. at a trade fair in Xi'an on Friday.

Oracle will also provide internship and training opportunities for local university students, said Yan, adding Oracle plans to set up offices in Shenyang, Nanjing and Jinan.

Though he did not elaborate on the size of the Xi'an branch, Yan said "the bigger the better" as Xi'an has considerable scientific expertise, hosting lots of universities and colleges.

"The Xi'an office will manage Oracle's business in northwestern China," said Yan.

Founded in 1977, Oracle has developed into one of the world's leading software suppliers and independent software companies. It was the first global software titan to enter the Chinese market in1989.

Oracle China has offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu and two development centers in Beijing and Shenzhen.

Mr. Li, 35, of El Monte, California, was originally indicted by a federal grand jury on June 15, 2004. He was charged with possession and use of counterfeit access devices as well as possession of access-making equipment. Mr. Li pleaded guilty to possessing over fifteen counterfeit credit cards. Mr. Li also admitted to using counterfeit credit cards to fraudulently purchase merchandise in retail stores in the Bay Area that resulted in a total loss of between $1,000,000 and $2,500,000.

Ms. Tan, 36, of Richmond, California, was indicted by the same grand jury with the same violations of federal law and pled guilty to the same violation as Mr. Li. Ms. Tan admitted that her actions in using counterfeit credit cards resulted in loss of more than $5,000.

"These sentences embody the United States Attorney’s Office ongoing commitment to work closely with the United States Secret Service to investigate and prosecute credit card fraud," U.S. Attorney Scott N. Schools stated. "The possession and use of counterfeit credit cards is a scourge on our modern society. Counterfeit credit cards threaten the integrity of our banking system and result in higher costs to businesses and consumers. Those who choose to engage in such fraud will be prosecuted, and if convicted, face lengthy jail time. The Department of Justice commends the dedication of the Secret Service in bringing Mr. Li and Ms. Tan to account for their crimes."

China's State Council on Friday banned the sale of human organs used for transplants effective May 1. The new regulation prohibits individuals and organizations from trading organs, such as hearts, lungs, and kidneys, following allegations of involuntary donations and international criticism that human organs taken from executed prisoners were sold to foreigners. The regulation only bans the sale of organs; sales of human tissue, such as marrow, cornea and cells, are still permitted.

Last month, an anonymous senior Chinese Supreme Court official told the state Xinhua News Agency that China uses the same strict organ donation procedures when accepting organs from executed criminals as it does with any other organ donations, but doubt exists as to how the requirement for informed consent is enforced. Last March, the Chinese Ministry of Health  issued a general ban on the sale of human organs that took effect on July 1, 2006. The Ministry also issued new regulations in August 2006 to counter unauthorized international trade in organs, including rules that would restrict the number of hospitals permitted to perform transplants.

The SEC said yesterday it will work to resolve conflicts between the proposals over the issue of symbols with three or fewer characters. The NYSE and other exchanges are pushing to limit the use of one-, two-and three-character symbols to those listing markets that have traditionally used them.

Nasdaq and other self-regulatory organizations are trying to permit any listing market to use one-, two-, three-, four- or five-character symbols, allowing companies to move their securities onto the Nasdaq while retaining their ticker symbols.

The SEC said it plans to publish the proposals for comment and "will resolve the conflicts ... as fairly and expeditiously as possible." A spokesperson did not know when the issue would be decided.

The investor protection agency asked the exchanges in February 2005 to work together to develop a national plan for reserving, selecting and allocating securities symbols.

"Securities symbols are an important part of a listed company's identity and developing a formal process to reserve, select and allocate symbols ... will help promote a fair and orderly national market system and prevent investor confusion," said SEC Market Regulation Director Eric Sirri.

Following the SEC request to formalize the symbol allocation system, Nasdaq announced its intention to begin listing companies with three or less symbols. Last month, Delta Financial Corp. became the first company to trade on the Nasdaq with a three-character symbol – DFC – after a proposal to list that specific company was approved. Nasdaq moved a step further with a March 29 proposal to the SEC that would explicitly permit the display of three-character symbols on its exchange. The SEC will consider the proposal after the public comment period ends April 25.

In an interview, Iglesias said he was given no reason for his firing when he was notified Dec. 7. But he later found out from a Senate staff member that Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty had said Iglesias and six of the other seven were fired for performance reasons.

And in Iglesias' case, a document released by the Justice Department referred to him as an "absentee landlord."

But Iglesias said his absences from his civilian job were taken to fulfill his military obligations as a reservist. As a drilling reservist, he said, he is required to do 36 days of duty each year, and probably did a little extra, 40 to 45 days total for each year that he served as the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico.

Each time before he left for military duty, he notified the Washington, D.C., Justice Department office, which is the clearinghouse for such matters, he said. And his Navy Reserve information was on his résumé when he was hired for the U.S. Attorney's job in October 2001.

Iglesias confirmed that he has authorized an investigation into whether his firing might constitute a violation of USERRA. A spokesman for the Office of Special Counsel confirmed that the office is investigating the case but declined to provide further details. The office, which often investigates employment and re-employment rights cases on behalf of military reservists, is an independent agency and is not connected to the Justice Department.

If his firing is even partly related to his reserve duty, it could be a violation of the law.

Iglesias said he has had a number of Guard or Reserve members working for him and had six who were mobilized since Sept. 11, 2001. As part of his reserve duties, he also has conducted training for virtually every drilling Navy reserve attorney.

The subject of USERRA is "something near and dear to my heart," he said. He is scheduled to conduct training soon with Navy Reserve attorneys about how the Justice Department enforces USERRA with private employers.

If his status as a reservist did, in fact, have anything to do with his firing as U.S. Attorney, he said, "it would be a violation of federal law — and I'd be horribly disappointed with the Justice Department tasked with enforcing it, that they would not honor the letter of the law with one of their own people.

"There are so many ironies in this scandal," Iglesias said. "I've authorized the OSC to look into whether there is an issue. There may be. The stories keep changing from the Department of Justice."

Performance evaluations and statements by officials indicated Iglesias' job performance was excellent, according to congressional testimony.

In a joint statement when four of the fired attorneys were subpoenaed to testify before the House and Senate judiciary committees March 6, the attorneys, who are political appointees, said they were aware that they served at the pleasure of the president and could be removed for any or no reason.

Iglesias' situation is more complicated than the USERRA issue. He testified about phone calls he received before the November 2006 midterm elections from Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., and as a result felt pressured related to a corruption investigation involving Democrats in New Mexico.

Later, he testified, "I just started to put the dots together" in connection with his firing.

As such, the OSC investigation into Iglesias' firing is moving on three parallel tracks: the Justice Department's violation of Iglesias' rights under the Whistleblower Protection Act and USERRA, and the government's violation of the Hatch Act, which restricts partisan political activity by government employees.

Canada, Sweden and Eritrea are pressuring Ethiopia to reveal details regarding the foreign nationals it has allegedly detained in secret prisons in collaboration with the FBI and CIA. The existence of prisons in which US government agencies have interrogated individuals suspected of having ties to al Qaeda was disclosed on Tuesday after Human Rights Watch reports claimed that the US, Kenya, and Ethiopia were cooperating with the transitional government of Somalia to detain refugees from the recent conflict there.

Among those believed to be imprisoned in Ethiopia are Canadian citizen Bashir Makhtal, three Eritrean citizens who were turned over to Somalia after their arrest by Kenyan authorities in January, and two Swedish citizens. Nationals of France, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Morocco and Tunisia are also thought to be detained there. Investigations of the US rendition program have so far focused primarily on Europe, where reports revealed that sixteen EU member states were involved at some level in the operation of CIA secret prisons and rendition flights.