In The Papers 3 October

03-10-2008

by Deirdre McArdle

Proposals to simplify net shopping | Thousands check out EU farmers payments info

The Irish Times reports the European Commission has issued new proposals to make internet shopping easier and safer for consumers. The measures include strengthened protection against late delivery and non-delivery of goods, more time for shoppers to change their mind post-purchase and a black list of unfair contract terms. Meglena Kuneva, the EU consumer affairs commissioner, who was visiting Dublin on Thursday, said she hoped her proposals would help boost cross-border internet trade, and drive competition in high-price economies such as Ireland.

The same paper writes about Facebook's decision to base its international headquarters in Dublin. Read more on this story on ENN.

Still in the Irish Times, Irish consumers wishing to buy an iPhone 3G are being told they may now have to wait until December to get their hands on the device. People looking for the handset are now turning to various internet forums to complain about the lack of availability. The iPhone is only available at O2 and Carphone Warehouse stores or on their websites. A spokesman for O2 told The Irish Times: "As a matter of priority, we are currently in the process of trying to clear any remaining backlog of demand for the device as quickly as possible." It is understood that the company hopes to have this backlog cleared within weeks.

The paper also says that the South Cork Enterprise Board has honoured seven local IT companies for taking part in an eight-month IT business development programme which finished last month. The programme is funded by the Government and part-financed by the European Union under the National Development Plan 2007-2013. Companies involved in the programme included Advance Laser Systems Ltd, Gilroy Control Systems, TMC Technology Ltd, Neville Saas Ltd, Asometric Managed Services, Sigtec Ltd and BSS Collateral.

The Irish Independent reports that following the publication of EU payments to farmers on the Department of Agriculture's website, thousands of people logged on to the site. After the details of three schemes under the Common Agricultural Policy were revealed, around 5,000 people logged on between 7pm and midnight on Tuesday. The department revealed a further 14,000 people checked the site on Wednesday.

The paper also writes that the Department of Education is using state-of-the-art colour-coded mapping technology -- Geographical Information System (GIS) -- to work out where 100,000 new school places will need to be created over the next seven years. "The GIS is essentially a digital image of the country using various sources of population-related data that gives us school locations and the location of potential gaps in current or future provision," Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe told the paper.

According to the same paper, Communications Minister Eamon Ryan rejected data showing Ireland at the bottom of the broadband penetration pile, saying it was out of date and not accurate. The minister was responding to the newly released Broadband Performance Index which lists Ireland as not only lagging behind the EU penetration but as ninth worst for other factors, including speed. "The figures used in this study are mostly from the end of 2007," he said. There has been an increase of more than 200,000 users since then, he claimed.

The paper also reports Nintendo has released a new model of its handheld gaming console, the DS. The new model, the DSi, features a camera and music-playing functionality and goes on sale in Japan 1 November, priced at JPY18,900 (EUR130). This latest version of the DS is aimed at consolidating Nintendo's lead in the portable gaming market.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Copyright Royalty Board, which met on Thursday, have opted not to change the way in which royalties on music sales are calculated. This means that royalty rates of USD0.09 per track will for now remain unchanged. Music publishers, represented by the National Music Publishers Association, had sought a higher rate for downloads – USD0.15 per track -- a proposal opposed by Apple and the operators of other online music stores.

The Financial Times writes that internet communications firm Skype has accused its joint venture partner in China of keeping it in the dark about a censorship programme that involved the monitoring of politically sensitive terms on the service. The accusation came as Skype's parent company eBay became the latest US internet firm to be dragged into a public controversy over the potential use of its online service to aid Chinese monitoring of dissidents.