IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 8 September
08-09-2009
by Sylvia Leatham
T-Mobile and Orange to merge | Linux supporters buy Microsoft patents
The Irish Times reports that the legal wrangle over Google's book settlement will enter its final stages on Tuesday, the deadline in the US for arguments for and against the search giant's proposal to create an online library of out-of-print books. An alliance motivated to block the move includes Microsoft and Yahoo, both of which are likely to spell out their objections in documents submitted on Tuesday. They could lodge separate appeals alongside the class action, as Amazon.com did last week. On Monday, Google made concessions to publishers outside the US, saying that books that were out of print in the US but available elsewhere would not be displayed without explicit consent.
The Irish Independent says that spending time on Facebook could enhance a key element of intelligence, but using Twitter may have the opposite effect, a psychologist has claimed. And playing video war games and solving Sudoku may have the same effect as keeping up to date with Facebook, according to Dr Tracy Alloway from the University of Stirling in Scotland, who studied working memory -- the ability both to remember information and to use it. Video games that involve planning and strategy, Sudoku and keeping up with friends on Facebook were all found to stretch the working memory. However, the ''instant'' nature of texting, Twitter and YouTube was not healthy for working memory.
The Irish Examiner reports that a Limerick secondary school may be forced to drop a high-tech fingerprint monitoring system because of data protection legislation. All 420 students at the Salesian College in Pallaskenry have been fingerprinted with a new biometric system used for daily enrolment. However, the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) said the project may contravene data protection legislation. Commissioner Billy Hawkes has contacted the school for information abut the new enrolment procedures.
The Financial Times reports that Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom have confirmed they wish to merge their British mobile phone units, T-Mobile UK and Orange UK. The two companies said they had started exclusive negotiations about putting their assets into a 50:50 joint venture by the end of October. Deutsche Telekom would put its business into the venture free of any debt, while France Telecom would shift STG1.25 billion of intra-group debt into the venture. In addition, France Telecom would receive STG625 million in cash as a one-off payment. The board of the new management would be staffed equally by France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom.
The Wall Street Journal reports that a group of Microsoft rivals is closing in on a deal to acquire a set of patents recently owned by the software giant, in a bid to avert any legal threat to the Linux operating system. Microsoft has suggested in recent years that companies using Linux might be violating Microsoft patents. A group that includes major corporate supporters of open source software, including IBM, Red Hat and Sony, said it is nearing an agreement to acquire 22 patents that Microsoft sold to another organisation earlier this year. The group, known as the Open Invention Network, claims that its acquisition will protect Linux users from lawsuits that could arise should these patents fall into the hands of "patent trolls".
The paper also notes that Google's newly departed China head has described his plans for a technology incubation company. Kai-Fu Lee said he hopes his new investment company, capitalised with USD115 million from several prominent backers, will spawn several tech start-ups each year focused on China's internet market. Lee said he plans to hire aspiring entrepreneurs for the company, called Innovation Works, and to provide financial and technical support for them as they develop and implement proposals for new ventures.
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