IRISH artists can now look forward to displaying their works abroad without having to leave home. Two Irish firms, Toppsi and Ireland On-line, will use digital technology to exhibit Irish art over Internet, the international information network. Toppsi plans to hold an international exhibition on Internet. Paintings will be scanned, stored on a central server in Dublin and then relayed over Internet to art galleries and museums. It will be initially targeted at 15 European Community capitals and will later be extended to include Toronto, New York and Los Angeles. Internet users will be able to dial Dublin and download images of the paintings. Prints of displayed paintings can be had for approximately L35 each. Ireland On-Line is running a pilot scheme for Kennys book shop and art gallery, providing biographies of artists and samples of their works on the network.

MICROSOFT Corp, the world's largest software maker, has been caught copying the technology of Stac Electronics, a maker of disk-compression software for personal computers. Microsoft suffered a heavy defeat in the patent-infringement case lodged by Stac. Settling a $120 million suit, Microsoft said it will pay Stac $1 million each month for 43 months, invest nearly $40 million in Stac and share some of its technology with the company. Under the agreement, which calls for the companies to cross-license all disk-compression patents over the next 5 years, Stac will also receive a license to Microsoft's technology in MS-DOS 6 software.

ELECTRIC cars are about to zoom into Malaysia. Two Malaysian firms, UMW Corp and Perusahaaan Otomobil Nasional (Proton), have launched a joint venture company with Electricar Inc of the US to manufacture Malaysia's first electric vehicle. According to UMW, during the initial stages of operations, the joint venture will concentrate on the manufacture and assembly of cars by fitting component parts, the sub-assembly and partially completed vehicles supplied by Proton. It's long-term plans envisage a unit with the capacity to produce electric cars without any external support.