In the papers 2 July

02-07-2008

by Sylvia Leatham

British government illegally monitored Irish communications, says court | Microsoft buys Powerset

The Irish Times reports that ComReg's latest strategy document concerning management of the State's radio spectrum outlines a plan to open up the airwaves to wireless broadband operators. ComReg is proposing to double the available capacity for wireless broadband operators, in the hope that existing operators will bid for further licences and new players will be attracted to the Irish market. ComReg also agreed to work with fellow regulator the Competition Authority when both agencies are dealing with competition law issues affecting the communications industry.

Reporting on the same story, the Irish Independent notes that ComReg has not ruled out holding so-called simultaneous multiple round auctions (SMRA) for available spectrum within the next two years. An SMRA can be the most lucrative form of auction as it involves multiple bidding rounds. It is believed that increasing demand for spectrum bandwidth could prompt the agency to hold these auctions, in addition to relying on other auction types such as 'beauty contests'.

The paper also says that the British government illegally and secretly monitored every telephone, fax and e-mail to and from the UK and Ireland for seven years. In a landmark ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, laws surrounding mass covert surveillance, which the British government insisted were necessary to combat a growing threat from terrorism, were found to have violated privacy laws. The ruling, which could have significant implications for a similar case under way in the Irish High Court, found that the British government's scheme of external surveillance was not "in accordance with the law". The case was taken to the Strasbourg court by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and two UK-based human rights agencies, Liberty and British-Irish Rights Watch.

According to the Financial Times, smartphone buyers in the US will shortly be able to buy Apple's new 3G iPhone for USD599 without a contract. AT&T, the exclusive supplier of the iPhone in the US, will begin selling the new 3G iPhone from 11 July. By selling the new iPhone without a two-year contract, AT&T and Apple are hoping to forestall sales of "hacked" versions of the device, which plagued sales of the original iPhone when it was launched in the US a year ago.

The paper also says that Microsoft is turning up the heat on its rivalry with Google with the purchase of Powerset, a Silicon Valley company that has developed one of the most promising, and controversial, new internet search tools of recent years. Powerset has an ambitious plan to enable search engine users to employ "natural language" instead of keywords when searching the web. Critics claim the technology is still years ahead of its time, and even that it raises philosophical questions about the nature of language. Microsoft is reportedly paying about USD100 million for Powerset.

In more news of Microsoft, the Wall Street Journal says that the software giant has approached other media companies in recent days about joining it in a deal that would effectively lead to Yahoo's break-up, say sources. Microsoft has held discussions with Time Warner and News Corp, among others, say people involved in the talks. In the past, Microsoft has floated an arrangement under which it would acquire Yahoo's search business and another partner, such as News Corp's MySpace or Time Warner's AOL, would combine forces with what remained of Yahoo. However, some of the people familiar with these talks say they are preliminary and unlikely to result in a deal with Yahoo.

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