IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 29 January
29-01-2008
by Sylvia Leatham
Data Protection Commissioner to investigate proposed ID cards for immigrants | Nokia to acquire Trolltech
The Irish Times reports that the Data Protection Commissioner is to investigate whether Garda authorities have "the proper security" in place to ensure that data from proposed biometric ID cards for people from outside the EU is fully protected from being used improperly. Among the areas it will examine are whether Gardai have sufficient resources to ensure the security of such data -- including fingerprints -- and whether the data can only be accessed by those who have reason to do so. Data Protection Commissioner Billy Hawkes confirmed the audit would take place this year.
The paper also says that young people are still not sufficiently conscious of the implications of putting personal data online, Minister for Education and Science Mary Hanafin has warned. Hanafin was speaking at the launch of two new initiatives aimed at promoting privacy and data protection among young people: the first is targeted at secondary school students and involves a new educational resource on privacy and data protection, produced by the Data Protection Commissioner's office; the second involves an online competition whereby students are encouraged to create and post a video clip on YouTube on the theme of "privacy in the 21st century".
The Irish Independent reports that US-based digital media firm Mainstream Technologies, which has its international headquarters in Dublin, has raised almost USD30 million from high-profile backers, including the founder of the Home Depot chain. The money will be used to expand Mainstream's Moli social networking site, which is aimed at small business owners and "enterprising individuals". The site is currently active in the US, Ireland and the UK, and the latest fundraising will be used to expand its international presence.
The Financial Times reports that chip giant Intel has given a boost to green power, becoming the largest corporate buyer in the US of renewable energy certificates (Recs). Intel said it would buy 1.3 million megawatt hours' worth of certificates every year -- enough to power about 130,000 US homes -- in a multi-year contract. The company is understood to be paying in the range of USD4 million to USD10 million for the certificates. Recs are an indirect method of encouraging green energy use. Many companies use Recs as "carbon offsets" to balance out the negative impact of their activities on the climate.
The paper also says that mobile handset maker Nokia has offered to acquire Trolltech, a Norwegian software firm, for USD153 million, as part of its push into mobile internet services. Nokia said it expected to complete the takeover in the second quarter. The Finnish company believes the internet services market will be worth EUR100 billion by 2010. It is positioning its phones to capture a slice of this market, which will see handsets being used as navigation devices, music players, game players, and accessing services related to these uses.
According to the Wall Street Journal, VMWare has reported that fourth-quarter net income more than doubled on an 80 percent increase in revenue, but shares of the virtualisation software maker plunged more than 25 percent in after-hours trading because Wall Street was expecting more. VMware's profit was USD78.2 million, or USD0.19 a share, up from USD31 million, or USD0.09 a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose to USD412.5 million from USD229.6 million a year ago. Analysts, on average, were expecting revenue of USD417.4 million.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 