In The Papers 5 November

05-11-2008

by Sylvia Leatham

Intel pledges commitment to Ireland | Dell asks staff to take unpaid leave

The Irish Independent reports that the Business Software Alliance (BSA) has launched legal action against a Liverpool man suspected of selling illegal software on the web. John Rothwell of Anfield allegedly sold BSA investigators pirated copies of design and office productivity software with a total retail value of over STG2,000 for only STG29. The case was part of an intensive investigation over several months by the BSA, which has filed six separate lawsuits on behalf of its software vendor members against nine individuals after complaints that the site iOffer.com had become popular with software pirates.

The Irish Examiner says that Irish consumers are spending less online, reporting on a month-old study by Dublin-based Net Behaviour. Read more on this story as reported on 10 October on ENN.

The same paper reports that two of the largest multinationals operating in Ireland have pledged their commitment to the country. While Wyeth BioPharma vice president Dr Michael Karmarck was fully confident the company would continue to invest heavily in Ireland, Intel general manager Jim O'Hara was a little more cautious in his outlook. O'Hara refused to deny there would be any job losses at Intel in the near future, saying the performance of the company on the global stage will affect its operations here. "Our business in Ireland will be as successful as the business is around the world. There's no reason the next 20 years can't be as successful as the last 20," he said.

The paper also says there are unconfirmed reports that a company which supplies Dell is due to lay off more than 60 workers in Limerick. The company, which the paper says cannot be named at this point, referred media queries to a US-based spokesman who was not responding to calls. Most of the company's production order book is dependent on PC maker Dell.

In other news of Dell, the Financial Times reports that the company has asked employees to consider taking up to five days of unpaid leave, as it struggles to cut costs in the face of weak global demand. The number two computer maker, which is near the end of a programme of 8,900 job cuts, is also offering voluntary severance packages and has instituted a global hiring freeze. Chief executive Michael Dell announced the moves in an e-mail to employees on Monday. On Tuesday he said he expects further consolidation in the technology industry, and encouraged companies to ride out financial turbulence by focusing on hard returns, rethinking businesses and investing.

The paper also notes that a group of IT companies, led by Google, have won an important victory in the US as the Federal Communications Commission approved a proposal to open up parts of the radio spectrum for unlicensed users. Google had argued that the pieces of spectrum, known as "white spaces" because they act as empty "buffers" between broadcast TV signals, would stimulate a range of new wireless broadband services, in much the way the availability of unlicensed spectrum had led to widespread use of short-range Wi-Fi networks. The plan, which had been attacked by TV broadcasters and mobile operators, was supported by four FCC commissioners, with the fifth partially opposed.

The Wall Street Journal says that online retailers in the US expect sales growth to slow this Christmas in comparison with recent years, but more than half of those surveyed anticipate at least a 15 percent increase in sales from last year. The survey of 60 online retailers was conducted for Shop.org, which expects online retail sales to rise 17 percent for the full year to USD204 billion. "With consumers looking to save money due to the economy, the savings factor is playing a key role in keeping online shopping growing," said Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org. He attributed the slower growth partly to the maturation of the online market.

The paper also reports that several major companies are protesting against the launch of a slew of new top-level domain names. Verizon Communications, Marriott International and New York Life Insurance are among the companies arguing that the new domains could open the flood gates to internet fraud and drastically increase their costs of doing business online. The companies also say there couldn't be a worse time than a down economy to saddle them with the added expense. The organisation that oversees the internet, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), plans to start selling the rights to an unlimited number of top-level domains next year. These domains are likely to take their names from popular subjects, types of businesses, geographic locations or even brand names, such as .bank, .hotel, .nyc or .verizon.

Free! "In the papers" email newsletter -- get the full text to your in-box every business day. Email itp@enn.ie with 'subscribe' in the subject line.