In the papers 3 July

03-07-2008

by Sylvia Leatham

Minister Ryan says 'digital divide' will not happen | Bertie launches personal website

The Irish Times reports that Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan has said the Government will not allow a 'digital divide' to develop between parts of the State that have access to new broadband services and those that do not. Minister Ryan was addressing delegates at a broadband conference in Dublin organised by UPC Ireland, Digiweb and Magnet Networks on Wednesday. The minister said the number of broadband service providers in Ireland (67) was a "signal that our policy approach is starting to work". The Government's 'next generation' broadband strategy is due for publication on Thursday.

The Irish Independent says that Dublin's Point Depot music venue is to renamed The O2 when it reopens in December after refurbishment. The mobile operator has secured the naming rights to the venue under a major sponsorship deal. Customers of O2 will be allowed to purchase concert tickets for the venue up to two days before they go on general release. The value of the sponsorship deal was not disclosed.

The paper also notes that shares in Yahoo plunged below the USD20 mark earlier this week, coming close to its trading level before Microsoft launched a buyout attempt in February. The stock has been in steep decline since the internet company rejected Microsoft's USD47.5 billion takeover bid on 12 June.

The same paper reports on the launch of a personal website by former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. The site, www.bertieahernoffice.org contains an official biography outlining his "political skills", his "great triumph" in the peace process, and his role in tackling "key global issues" such as HIV/AIDS. Libertas campaigner David Cochrane posted a message on the Politics.ie website giving seven reasons why the Bertie Ahern site was a fake -- including the lack of Fianna Fail logos, the lack of reference to Dublin Central and the absence of the 'TD' title after his name -- but Fianna Fail confirmed that it was in fact Ahern's official site.

The paper also notes the launch of www.imagebank.ie, an online interactive photo library for students and teachers, devised by the National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE).

According to the Wall Street Journal, IBM has agreed to buy Platform Solutions, in a deal that eliminates litigation and a potential competitor for its lucrative mainframe business. The value of the deal was not disclosed. Platform is a venture-capital-backed California company with ambitious plans to sell powerful computers that run the same software that runs on IBM's Z-system mainframe computer, which can cost upward of USD1 million. The deal comes less than three months after EU antitrust regulators said they would question IBM about its actions in the mainframe market. The EU activity followed complaints by Platform Solutions. But Platform dropped its complaint to the EU when IBM announced the acquisition, eliminating the EU's grounds for its inquiry.

The same paper reports that a US federal judge has denied a request to force Google and its YouTube unit to turn over the computer code at the heart of their search functions in a USD1 billion copyright-infringement lawsuit by Viacom. US District Judge Louis L. Stanton in Manhattan granted Google's request for a protective order barring the disclosure of the source code, which controls the YouTube search function and Google's internet search tool. Google contends the source code is a trade secret and can't be disclosed without risking the loss of business.

New! "In the papers" email newsletter -- get the full text to your in-box every business day. Email itp@enn.ie with 'subscribe' in the subject line.