Judge Robert Hanson of the Polk County District triggered the license land rush when he ruled on Thursday that Iowa's law restricting marriage to a man and a woman was unconstitutional. His ruling faces appeals by state officials who want it reversed, but in the meantime the window was open.

The gay marriage issue is a hot one politically at all levels. Twenty-six states have constitutional amendments barring same-sex marriage. Three states allow civil unions for gay couples -- with only Massachusetts permitting full same-sex marriage. New Hampshire will allow gay civil unions beginning in January.

Fritz and McQuillan were among about a dozen couples waiting in a line that formed before dawn at the Polk County Courthouse.

Fritz said he proposed to McQuillan on Thursday night after hearing about the judge's ruling and then went to a store to buy wedding rings.

"He instant messaged me over the Internet that this was going on," McQuillan said. "When he picked me up around 9 o'clock he proposed to me on the spot. Besides the obvious shock, I still haven't recovered. Maybe it'll set in later this week."

Fritz said the two did a "lot of double-checking everything on the Internet to make sure that we got all the paperwork filled out correctly the first time. We didn't want to get refused because we messed up a 't' somewhere." Fritz says he called McQuillan's mother in California to ask permission to marry her son. Not everyone was as happy.House Republican Leader Christopher Rants of the Iowa Legislature called the ruling a "shocking" reversal of the will of the people of the state. He blamed Democrats saying they had refused to back an amendment to the state constitution that would have cemented the ban.

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, a former Massachusetts governor who has been campaigning in Iowa, called the decision another example of a ruling by an activist court. He said it demonstrates the need for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution outlawing gay marriages.

Michelle Gardner of Ames, a neighbor of Fritz and McQuillan who served as a witness on their marriage application, said "I'm just so happy to be in Iowa for this and so happy to be a part of their wedding."

Her 10-year-old daughter, Esther, clutching a bouquet, was in line to be the couple's flower girl.

Although no reason was given, Snow recently told conservative radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt that, due to financial reasons, he did not expect to remain on the White House staff through the remainder of President Bush's term.

Bush told reporters Friday that he will "sadly accept" Snow's resignation.

Flanked by Snow and Perino in the White House press room, the president spoke warmly of his departing press secretary.

"It's been a joy to watch him spar with you," Bush told reporters.

Bush said he was certain of two things in regard to Snow.

"He'll battle cancer and win," Bush said, "and he'll be a solid contributor to society."

Turning to Snow, the president then said: "I love you, and I wish you all the best."

Taking the podium, Snow said he was thankful for the opportunity to serve as press secretary.

"This job has been a dream for me -- and a blast," Snow said.

Snow's cancer was diagnosed for the first time in February 2005. His colon was removed, and after six months of treatment, doctors said the cancer was in remission.

Perino announced March 27 that Snow's cancer had recurred, and that doctors had removed a growth from his abdomen the day before.

Sources told CNN two weeks ago that Snow was planning to leave his job, possibly as early as September.

Snow, who had said he would leave his post before the end of Bush's second term, repeated that the decision is based on finances, not health. He took a major pay cut after leaving the world of cable television and talk radio to come to the White House.

According to The Washington Post, Snow makes $168,000 as the White House spokesman.

Bush tapped Snow to replace Scott McClellan in April 2006. Snow had been an anchor for "Fox News Sunday" and a political analyst for the Fox News Channel, which he joined in 1996. He also hosted "The Tony Snow Show" on Fox News Radio.

On Thursday, Snow told CNN his health is improving, citing two new medical tests this month which found the cancer has not spread.

"The tumors are stable -- they are not growing," Snow said of the results from an MRI and a CAT Scan. "And there are no new growths. The health is good."

The press secretary, whose hair has turned gray during chemotherapy treatment, said his black hair is expected to grow back in about a month.

"I'm also putting on weight again," he said after returning from a 10-day vacation. "I actually feel very good about" the health situation.

Snow said that on Friday he was to see his oncologist, and they will decide on some minor forms of chemotherapy to start as maintenance treatment.

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. and five other Hollywood film studios were awarded a total of $25,500 from a Beijing seller of pirated DVDs, the China Court Web site reported Friday.

The case was heard in Beijing Xicheng District People's Court. The defendant was a video shop belonging to the Beijing Yongsheng Century International Cultural Development Co.

The pirated films included "Lord of the Rings" and "The Day After Tomorrow," the Web site said. It did not identify the five other studios.

Pirated films are popular in Beijing and other parts of China. Besides legal video shops, such as the defendant in the case, there are numerous street peddlers of pirated videos.

Chinese product piracy has worsened tensions with Washington, which filed a World Trade Organization complaint in April accusing Beijing of violating trade commitments by failing to protect copyrights, patents and other intellectual property rights.

Integrated Electrical Services on Friday said it reached a settlement with the U.S. regulators related to an investigation alleging violation of certain accounting laws by the company and six former officers.

The settlement does not require Integrated Electrical to make any monetary payments, the company said in a statement.

A civil complaint was filed by the SEC against the company and its employees alleging improper accounting of certain receivables and inadequate disclosure of its contingent liabilities in certain prior periods.

The complaint also alleged that the company failed to properly disclose a change in its policy for bad debt reserves and the resulting write-down of such reserves in 2003 and 2004.

In fact, according to attorneys for California, Connecticut, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, the commonwealth of Massachusetts and the District of Columbia, known as the "California Group" of plaintiffs, "Microsoft's market power remains undiminished and … key provisions of the final judgment—those relating to middleware— have had little or no competitively significant impact."

The disagreement and upcoming courtroom battle about whether or not the final judgment has resulted in more competition in the middleware market comes in a series of filings made to U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ahead of the next joint status conference between all the parties to be held on Sept. 11.

The matter is all the more critical given that most of the terms and conditions of Microsoft's antitrust settlement with the government are due to expire this November.

In January 2006, PUCO approved the recovery of some of FirstEnergy's fuel costs through a fuel rider and allowed them to recover other fuel costs over a 25-year period beginning Jan. 2009 through distribution rates.

The court also found that said it did not believe PUCO addressed whether the deferral of recovery was anticompetitive. It sent the issue back to the commission for further consideration.

FirstEnergy said it plans to contest the court's interpretation and ask it to reconsider the ruling. It also intends to file a concurrent application with the PUCO, laying out a new plan for recovery of the fuel costs.

It said it would continue deferring the fuel costs until the court hears its motion to reconsider the case.

Following various Net reports doing the rounds this week regarding the official unveiling of Nokia’s new Internet service, the Finnish mobile phone giant duly delivered yesterday by whipping the covers off Ovi, the company’s new Internet brand name.

Wednesday’s introduction of the multi-faceted Ovi (‘door’ in Finnish) marks a significant move by Nokia to expand its market reach from mobile devices through to a wide range of Internet-based services. Nokia claims that Ovi will enable its customers to conveniently access their "existing social network, communities and content, as well as acting as a gateway to Nokia services."

Included in the Ovi services package are also the new Nokia Music Store, which will bypass usual network operator delivery, and also the revamped and re-launched N-Gage gaming platform, both of which Nokia says will allow for the easy assessment and purchase of music and games "from a blockbuster range of artists and publishers." Ovi also includes Nokia Maps, which delivers a navigation service, maps, city guides, and more through compatible Nokia mobile devices.

As expected, Ovi was officially announced by Nokia’s President and CEO, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, at yesterday’s Nokia Go Play event in London, during which Mr. Kallavuo outlined that:

"The industry is converging towards Internet driven experiences and Ovi represents Nokia's vision in combining the Internet and mobility. Nokia is the number one mobile device company in the world. Looking into the future, we will deliver great devices, combined with compelling experiences and services, to make it easy for people to unlock the potential of the Internet.

"We started this journey with our navigation services earlier this year and we are now combining all our services into a single branded offering - Ovi by Nokia. Over the coming 12 months, you will see us integrate new user interface elements, service suites and web communities to Ovi."

Looking a little more closely at the Nokia Music Store and N-Gage platforms reveals that the former will offer "millions of tracks from major artists" as well as independent labels and a broad range of local artists from around the world. Accessible via PC or through a Nokia handset such as the new Nokia N81 or Nokia N95 smartphone multimedia computer, users will be able to browse, buy (single tracks or complete albums), create mobile playlists, and add tracks to wish lists for later retrieval.

The store will open across key Europe regions during Q3, with other EU territories and Asia due to arrive in the months following the initial roll out. Tracks will cost from €1,00 while albums will be priced from €10,00. A monthly subscription fee of €10,00 is also included for PC streaming. While those ‘starting’ prices are not quite as strong as the ‘standard’ prices found on the likes of iTunes, it remains to be seen whether DRM copy protection is missing as a core component of Nokia’s Music Store content, which could help make the slightly higher price more attractive.

Similarly, the re-imagined N-Gage service will allow users to purchase quality videogames directly through their Nokia device. They will also be able to connect with friends, read game reviews, download demos of specific games, and preview available releases. Videogame creators such as Electronic Arts and Gameloft are already bringing some of their most prominent gaming brands through to the N-Gage, which is expected to make its official appearance in November of 2007.

Beyond the specific services on offer through the Nokia Music Store, N-Gage, Nokia Maps, and others yet to arrive, Ovi also allows its users to open the door to Web-based communities, content, and contacts all from a compatible Nokia mobile device or a PC system. Ovi is currently scheduled for its official launch (in English) in Q4 of 2007, with additional content features and further language interfaces expected to arrive before the close of Q2 2008.