Weekly Digest
Weekly Digest Issue No. 472
02-07-2009
by Deirdre McArdle
Swashbuckling days over at The Pirate Bay | China does U-turn on filtering software
Tough task for innovation taskforce?
On Monday Taoiseach Brian Cowen announced the appointment of an 'innovation taskforce', which will be tasked with advising the Government on setting Ireland up as an innovation 'hub', as we pin our hopes on the development of a 'smart economy'. The team's remit will be to identify ways to increase innovation and entrepreneurship and to ensure that investment in science, technology and research translates into high-value jobs and economic growth. The taskforce features some well-known names in the technology industry, including Dr Chris Horn, co-founder of Iona Technologies; Dr Brian Kelly, CEO of Celtic Catalysts; and Barry O'Sullivan, senior vice-president at Cisco Systems. It will also include the heads of Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland, and the Higher Education Authority. The Taoiseach has high hopes for Ireland's 'smart economy'. "The Ireland of the future will be a smart, high-value, export-led economy. It will have some of the world’s leading research-intensive multinationals, a number of which will be Irish-owned. It will have thousands of innovative small and medium enterprises. These companies will be creating the products and services of tomorrow and providing high-quality employment for our people," he said. As news of unemployment spirals, let's hope this 'Ireland of the future' isn't too far off.
Jackson death causes internet chaos
The unexpected news last Thursday night that Michael Jackson had died of an apparent cardiac arrest spawned a massive internet reaction that caused several sites to grind to a halt. News of the King of Pop's rush to hospital and subsequent death was broken on online celebrity gossip site TMZ.com, which has continued to be at the forefront of all Jackson-related news over the past week. Google News and Twitter were among the high-profile websites to temporarily crash as the world swarmed online to get Jackson updates. On Friday, 26 June, Jackson ranked on seven of the ten top trending topics on Twitter. The massive spike in Jackson-related searches on Google was so severe that the search giant thought it was under attack. As a result, for about 25 minutes on the Thursday night, when some people searched Google News they saw a "We're sorry" page before finding the articles they were looking for. Security firms were quick to warn internet users that a wave of malware-infected spam messages related to the death would spread like wildfire, which they did. An online hoax reporting news of actor Jeff Goldblum's death also spread across the internet last Thursday, while Britney Spears' own Twitter picture service account was hacked over the weekend and used to spread false rumours of her death.
Swashbuckling days over at The Pirate Bay
In more surprise news, the owners of infamous BitTorrent site The Pirate Bay announced that Swedish software firm Global Gaming Factory X planned to buy the site for USD7.8 million. Since the shock news, which many industry commentators are calling 'the end of an era', The Pirate Bay has been inundated with requests from angry users, who expressed feelings of 'betrayal' and outrage at the decision to sell up, to delete their accounts. The Pirate Bay has approximately 20 million users worldwide. For his part, Hans Pandeya, chief executive of Global Gaming Factory, is confident that many will remain with the site. Pandeya said it intends to continue to allow file-sharing on The Pirate Bay but to make it legal by making sure content-owners get paid. Pandeya reportedly plans to combine the bandwidth of The Pirate Bay users into a giant peer-to-peer network. He aims to then resell that broadband capacity to ISPs who need a quick bandwidth boost, splitting the revenue with users. The revamped site will be the first BitTorrent site to pay members for sharing their content, something which Pandeya claims will make the site attractive to those who were used to getting free content. Back in April, the four founders of the site were given a year's prison sentence and ordered to pay USD4.5 million in damages. In a blog post, the founders acknowledged that "a lot of people are worried" about the change of ownership, "but we're not and you shouldn't be either". "We've been working on this project for many years. It's time to invite more people into the project, in a way that is secure and safe for everybody. We need that, or the site will die. And letting TPB die is the last thing that is allowed to happen!" Some might argue that that is exactly what's happened.
China does U-turn on filtering software
China performed a dramatic about-turn this week when, just hours away from the 1 July deadline making internet-filtering technology mandatory on new PCs, the government postponed the order indefinitely. The software, Green Dam Youth Escort, was ostensibly aimed at filtering pornography, but industry experts claimed it was also programmed to suppress politically sensitive material, which prompted mass disapproval both in China and around the world. Since it made the initial announcement regarding the software a couple of weeks ago, the Chinese government has faced intense pressure from PC makers, as well as the US government, global rights groups and trade bodies, Chinese citizens and even state media. The last-minute turnaround caught many by surprise, although celebrations may be short-lived. According to reports, an unnamed Chinese government official has said that the postponement is only temporary. "The government will definitely carry on the directive on Green Dam. It's just a matter of time," the unnamed official was quoted as saying, in the state-run English language China Daily newspaper.
One charger to rule them all
This week marked a broad agreement from major mobile phone makers to standardise phone chargers so that devices from the iPhone to Nokia's handsets can be recharged using a universal mobile charger. The phone makers have signed a memorandum of understanding, which was presented to the EU, that says that by 2010 manufacturers will adopt the micro USB connector, a universal charger that will work with all their new data-enabled phones by 2010. Ten manufacturers have signed up to this initiative: Apple, LG, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Qualcomm, Research in Motion, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Texas Instruments. The agreement not only makes it easier for consumers to charge their phones while travelling if they've forgotten theirs, for example -- according to the EU, the memorandum of understanding also serves to cut down on the amount of electronic and electrical waste, as once users get their hands on a new charger, they won't need to replace it if they subsequently purchase another new phone.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 