ROUNDUPS
For the record 07 February
07-02-2003
by Ralph Averbuch
ALTO urges ComReg to bring in interim prices for fixed-to-mobile calls | European Commission plans new rapid reaction force for cybercrime
It was reported on Friday that thousands of Esat BT Internet customers were without services for about three hours, when a critical fibre-optic cable was accidentally cut in the CityWest industrial park. Business customers were said to have suffered the most, although some dial-up customers were known to have experienced disruption as well. One report said that a building contractor that accidentally cut though the cables was to blame for the outage.
The Online Publishers Association has released a report providing marketers with a better understanding of Internet use and the role of various metrics. Using data from Nielsen//NetRatings, the report concludes that five distinct 'dayparts' exist on the Internet: Early Morning (M-F, 6am-8am), Daytime (M-F, 8am-5pm), Evening (M-F, 5pm-11pm), Late Night (M-F, 11pm-6am), and Weekends (Sat-Sun, all day). The study confirmed that Daytime is the largest daypart (measured in terms of both total audience and total usage minutes), followed by Evenings and Weekends. Research shows that affluent, working people between 25-54 make up a larger share of the Daytime audience than any other daypart, while those under 18 are three times more likely to be reached during Evenings and Weekend dayparts.
T-Mobile, the wireless unit of Deutsche Telekom, said former Dell vice president Brian McBride is to become chief executive officer of its UK division this July. McBride replaces Harris Jones in the position, according to a company statement. It sheds no light on Jones' departure. McBride reports to T-Mobile International CEO Rene Obermann.
The Association of Licensed Telecomms Operators (ALTO), the industry group representing telecoms operators in Ireland, has again urged telecoms regulator ComReg to bring in interim prices for fixed-to-mobile calls. ALTO made its remarks following a decision by Italy's telecomms regulator to force price reductions on mobile operators. Italy's regulator issued a ruling which sees rates for fixed-to-mobile access charges fall 34 percent over the next three years, leading to an estimated EUR270m saving according to the regulator.
The European Commission (EC) is thought to be planning to announce a new rapid reaction force, with specific responsibility for cybercrime. A spokesperson told Reuters, "The task force would enable member states' authorities...to liaise with each other to respond better and more efficiently to any threat to vital networks".
A University of North Carolina computer system was allegedly used to steal financial information from eBay users according to US federal officials. Users of the Internet auction site complained to the FBI when they received e-mails that appeared to come from eBay, according to Chris Swecker, head of the FBI in North Carolina. The e-mails told people their account was suspended until they verified some personal data. That data included a credit card number and mother's maiden name. A link in the e-mail took users to a Web page appearing to belong to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. It now seems that someone used the University's systems for a couple of hours before they were shut out. It is not thought that the person has any connection to the University.
Microsoft has issued another patch for the Internet Explorer browser, with the warning that two new vulnerabilities have been found involving the cross-domain security model. A security bulletin from Microsoft said the latest IE fix includes the functionality of all previous patches for Internet Explorer versions 5.01, 5.5, 6.0.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 