In The Papers 27 November

27-11-2008

by Sylvia Leatham

Filtertek to cut Limerick jobs | Dell to offer zero percent finance

The Irish Times reports that the Government has unveiled its plans to encourage motorists to switch to electric vehicles, as reported by ENN on Wednesday.

The Irish Independent says that Google Ireland entered the red in 2007 but employee levels at the group increased by over 300, bringing staff numbers to 1,500. According to accounts just filed at the Companies Office, the loss for 2007 was EUR12 million, due mainly to increased cost of sales, investment in R&D and higher wage bills. Turnover at Google was up 58 percent to EUR5.28 million, boosted by an increase in the number of new contracts.

The paper also notes that US filter technology firm Filtertek has announced plans to lay off around 60 workers in Co Limerick. Filtertek says it plans to reduce the size of its workforce in Newcastle West from 99 people to around 40. The company is blaming the cuts on recent economic factors which have affected its competitiveness.

The Wall Street Journal reports that a US jury has convicted a Missouri woman of three minor offences for her role in an internet hoax that apparently drove a 13-year-old girl to suicide. The Los Angeles federal court jury rejected felony charges of accessing a computer without authorisation to inflict emotional distress on Megan Meier. However, the jury found defendant Lori Drew guilty of three counts of the lesser offence of accessing a computer without authorisation. Each count is punishable by up to one year in prison and a USD100,000 fine. Prosecutors said Drew violated the MySpace terms of service by conspiring with her young daughter and a business assistant to create a fictitious profile of a teen boy on the social networking site to harass Meier.

The paper also says that shares in chipmaker Rambus surged for the second day in a row on Wednesday after the firm received a positive pre-trial ruling in California in its patent case against some of the largest semiconductor companies in the world. According to a court document on Rambus's website, a US District judge issued a summary decision in favour of Rambus, saying the chipmakers infringed on certain aspects of Rambus's patents. The chipmakers named in the case are Hynix Semiconductor, Samsung Electronics, Nanya Technology and Micron Technology.

According to the Financial Times, PC maker Dell has announced it will offer zero-percent financing to business customers in the US, along with lower list prices. The PC giant quoted price reductions of 11 to 20 percent on specific laptops and servers, with cuts of up to 40 percent on server memory. However, a Dell spokesperson said the tactics did not represent a change in direction for the company, which has managed so far to defend its profit margins in the downturn.

The paper also notes that a once-pioneering web portal is set to meet an ignominious end after Lycos Europe failed to find a buyer. Lycos Europe began a strategic review in April but said on Wednesday that it would wind up its hosting and main portal, returning EUR50 million to shareholders before the end of the year. Lycos, a loss-making joint venture between Telefonica and Bertelsmann, still hopes to sell its domain names, Danish portal and shopping site, Decido.

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