IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 1 July
01-07-2010
by Sylvia Leatham
Irish website hosted child pornography | Google search partially blocked in China
The Irish Times reports on the introduction from Thursday of a cap on mobile data roaming fees within the EU. As previously reported, a EUR50 limit will apply to roaming charges when a consumer connects to the internet using a smartphone or other mobile device. Operators will also have to send users a warning when they reach 80 percent of this limit. The maximum price for making a roaming call is also being cut to EUR0.39 per minute (excluding VAT), while receiving a call will cost a maximum of EUR0.15 per minute.
The same paper says that a high-tech number plate recognition system in Northern Ireland is to be substantially upgraded following a decision by the British treasury to pay STG12 million for improvements, according to Northern Ireland Minister of State Hugo Swire. Swire told the House of Commons the upgraded system will "be a useful device in its continuing battle against those who would commit crime". The system can identify cars that are stolen, untaxed or uninsured and it can also be used to track terrorist or criminal suspects.
The paper also says that the website of a family-owned specialist clothes shop in rural Ireland ended up unwittingly hosting child pornography put there by international criminals based in Ukraine. The owners of the shop did not know about it until they received a visit from Gardai, who had been alerted to the website by an international hotline set up to monitor internet child pornography. The case from October last year is the first of its kind in Ireland where an Irish website was found to have been hosting child pornography, according to the Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland's Hotline.ie, a service that allows the public to report illegal websites. The shop owners had contracted the website design out to another company and that firm had not put proper internet security in place. The shop owners have not been identified.
In more news on the same topic, the Irish Independent says that new figures show the number of reports of illegal activity on the internet halved last year compared to 2008. However, industry experts warned that the amount of child pornography on the internet had not decreased, but was instead being better shielded. Hotline.ie said there were 284 reports in 2009, compared with 536 reports in 2008. Paul Durrant, manager of the project, agreed that the amount of child porn that ordinary internet users were likely to stumble across had dropped, but said "We have no way of knowing how much material is out there."
The Wall Street Journal reports that Yahoo's directors have authorised management to buy back up to USD3 billion in common shares over the next three years. The share repurchase comes as the internet giant has almost depleted its previous USD3 billion buyback plan, approved in 2006. The new buyback "is consistent with the company's commitment to returning value to shareholders," said spokeswoman Dana Lengkeek.
The paper also reports that Google has said its search service in mainland China was partially blocked on Wednesday, less than two days after the company announced changes aimed at keeping its internet operating license in the country. The company said the blockage appeared to affect only search queries generated by mainland China users of the company's Google Suggest function, which automatically recommends search queries based on the first few letters a user types into the search box. "It appears that search queries produced by Google Suggest are being blocked for mainland users in China. Normal searches that do not use query suggestions are unaffected," the company said in a statement. Google declined to speculate why only Google Suggest searches were being blocked. Other key services such as Gmail, News and Images remained "fully or mostly accessible", Google said.
The paper also notes that online retail giant Amazon.com has acquired deal-of-the-day website Woot, for an undisclosed sum. Following the acquisition, Dallas-based Woot will continue to be managed independently, the company said. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter. (Read Woot CEO Matt Rutledge's note to employees about the purchase here.)
According to the Financial Times, a new type of mobile advertising for the iPhone will be launched on Thursday by Apple. Big companies from Nissan to Sears to Citigroup have committed to spending USD60 million this year on Apple's iAds, which will open within a small number of the hundreds of thousands of applications on the iPhone and, later, on the iPad. Many app developers are critical of the new system, however, saying Apple's initial emphasis on delivering iAds to high-end apps will leave most developers out in the cold. They also say Apple is, in effect, blocking the use of AdMob, Google's ad-delivery network, which is the most popular ad network among application developers.
The paper also says that the Portuguese government has used special veto rights to block Spanish telco Telefonica's EUR7.15 billion offer to buy Portugal Telecom out of Vivo, their Brazilian mobile phone joint venture. Lisbon used a controversial "golden share" rule to override 74 percent of shareholders who voted in favour of the offer. Sources said the government intervention caused widespread surprise among investors, and analysts said the veto was likely to lead to intense legal wrangling. The government intervention is expected to be challenged by the European Commission and by Telefonica.
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.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 