IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 13 June
13-06-2007
by Deirdre McArdle
Government scraps Electronic Communications Appeals Panel | Google makes changes to privacy policy
The Irish Times reports that security software firm Norkom has reported a 38 percent increase in revenues to EUR25 million. Read the full results as reported by ENN.
The same paper says that the Government has done away with the Electronic Communications Appeals Panel (Ecap), the body which oversaw decisions made by ComReg. As a result of industry lobbying Ecap was set up in 2004 in an attempt to speed up appeals of ComReg decisions, while also avoiding the cost of a full court hearing. Industry players have questioned the timing of the Government's decision, which comes just days before a new minister for communications is announced.
According to the Irish Examiner, funding of EUR4.7 million has been allocated to Irish researchers by IRCSET to ensure they develop their careers in Ireland. Read the full story as reported by ENN.
Google has conceded to European Union data protection officials saying it will limit the length of time it keeps users' search data to 18 months rather than two years, according to the Financial Times. Google also said it would "radically redesign" its policy on keeping information from "cookies" or identifier programmes on individual computers. This marks the second time in the past four months that Google has announced changes to its privacy policy in response to pressure from the Article 29 working party, a group of national officials that advises the EU on privacy policy.
The same paper says that Apple has struck a deal with popular social networking site Bebo to embed its iTunes service into the Bebo website. From Wednesday, 8.8 million users in the UK and Ireland will be able to buy music directly from any musician who has a Bebo profile and whose music is available on iTunes. This deal marks the first time Apple has linked iTunes to a social networking site.
The Wall Street Journal reports that almost 177.8 million people around the world viewed web content in April made with online tools from companies that let people post photos, videos and music on other websites, according to data compiled by web-tracking firm comScore. The data is among the first to measure the reach of companies such as Slide, RockYou and PictureTrail, which create applications known as widgets that consumers can use to produce their own content and then post it to blogs and sites such as MySpace.
The same paper reports that Deutsche Telekom chief executive Rene Obermann has said he regards the telco's T-Mobile US unit as central to its long-term growth strategy. A number of investors have suggested Deutsche Telekom should sell the unit and return capital to shareholders. However, Obermann, speaking at a telecommunications industry event on Monday said he believes a sale would be "shortsighted" as the US wireless market offers further "profitable growth opportunities."
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 