IN ASSOCIATION WITH

For the record 29 April
29-04-2008
by Bryan Collins

Record amount of spam follows Grand Theft Auto IV launch | Three Ireland and Universal announce Hive Live Music shows

Gamers anxious for a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV are being targeted by record amounts of spam offering free entry to a competition to win a PlayStation 3 console and the sought-after game. However, these illicit e-mails actually contain spyware and Trojan horses which will attack users' computers and try to steal personal information. A number of retailers around Ireland opened at midnight on Monday to sell the highly-anticipated title, which is expected to become the biggest selling game of the year.

The communications regulator, ComReg, has published the outcome of its review into the Code of Practice for Carrier Pre-Selection. It has created two documents which detail provisions in the code with regulatory obligations and provisions without obligations. The legal provisions consist of guidance from ComReg and other agencies like the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner and the National Consumer Agency. The regulator wants to discuss the non-legal provisions with the operators.

Three Ireland and Universal Music have announced that a series of Hive Live gigs will take place around the country in the coming weeks. The first one will take place on 27 May in Whelan's with David Jordan. The Hive is Three's mobile music show, presented by Tom Dunne. The mobile operator has also cut prices on its music downloads to EUR1.49 per track. "We've been working with Universal to give music fans access to some really great acts in intimate venues. Kicking off Three's Hive Live with David Jordan is going to be quite the treat as he is such a talented guy," David Riley, Head of Entertainment at Three Ireland said.

The market for rich media advertising on mobile handsets will reach EUR1.77 billion by 2012, with global mobile TV advertising accounting for the vast majority of this, at EUR1.55 billion. That is according to a report published on Tuesday by media analyst Screen Digest. "Nokia, Microsoft and Google have been very active in developing mobile advertising operations, either internally or through external acquisitions. The potential is huge, and some of the world's largest companies are vying for control of what they see as the next major advertising medium," said David MacQueen, co-author of the report.

Figures released by Interxion show the company increased revenue by 36 percent to EUR101.4 million in 2007, from EUR74.7 million in 2006. The provider of European carrier-neutral data centres also said adjusted EBITDA margins increased to 27.5 percent in 2007 compared to 17.6 percent in 2006. In addition, Interxion started the first phase of an expansion programme, which will increase the amount of equipped space in its data centres by approximately 6,800m2.