A U.S. judge on Monday threw out a record $1.5 billion verdict against Microsoft Corp, ruling the world’s largest software had not infringed on audio technology patents held by France’s Alcatel-Lucent.

Microsoft said the reversal was a victory for other technology companies who could have been at risk to patent infringement charges if Alcatel won.

Amazon.com Inc. has opened its payment system to other Web sites in a move that would pit it against eBay Inc’s PayPal.

The program, called Amazon Flexible Payment Service, was launched on Friday in an initial testing period, Amazon said on Monday.

Customers of Amazon.com, the largest internet retailer in the world, can already purchase goods through third-party sellers. Now, software developers operating their own Web sites can choose to use Amazon’s payment system.

The payment system operates under the umbrella of Amazon Web Services, a relatively new division of the online retailer that allows start-ups as well as established businesses to rent Amazon’s computing and other Web services on demand.

Amazon customers use their Amazon.com passwords and payment information on file to pay for goods and services ordered on these third-party Web sites — even if they access these sites without first going on Amazon.com.

Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 video game console will be $50 cheaper starting Wednesday, confirming fuzzy snapshots of leaked advertisements posted by bloggers in late July.

The company said its most popular console, which comes with a 20-gigabyte hard drive, will cost $349.

A basic console without a hard drive or wireless controllers will retail for $279, $20 less than its current price, while the Xbox 360 Elite, a black version with a 120-gigabyte hard drive and high-definition video support, will drop $50 to $449.