IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 9 August
09-08-2007
by Sylvia Leatham
Xerox workers seek legal advice | Facebook to allow advertisers to opt out
The Irish Times says that a team of computer science students from NUI Maynooth has reached the final in the world's largest student software design competition, Microsoft's Imagine Cup. The team is one of six finalists competing for the EUR25,000 first prize at the competition in Seoul, South Korea. The four Irish students -- Cathal Coffey from Kildare, Daniel Kelly from Donegal, Mark Clerkin from Monaghan and Eric McClean from Meath -- have also won the opportunity to participate in a two-week Microsoft and BT Innovation Accelerator programme to bring their project, a sign language teaching program, to market.
The paper also reports that PC maker Lenovo is considering Packard Bell as a possible takeover target. Read the full story on ENN.
The same paper notes that Google has received US antitrust approval to acquire web-based security provider Postini. Antitrust authorities completed a review of the USD625 million deal without taking any action to block it, the US Federal Trade Commission said.
The Irish Independent reports that over half of the 900 workers at Xerox in Ireland whose jobs are on the line following an outsourcing deal with IBM are seeking legal advice. Around 500 of the workers have contributed EUR10 each to a legal fund for advice on the way the companies made the decision. A circular sent by a staff committee last week to Xerox informed management that staff had sought legal advice on the way they were informed of the move. It claimed the company may have been in breach of transfer of undertaking obligations, as Xerox advertised the jobs on an IBM recruitment site prior to them being informed.
The Irish Examiner says that US testing and quality control company AppLabs has opened an operation in Dublin, as noted by ENN on Wednesday.
According to the Financial Times, Vodafone has had its hopes dashed of securing a swift resolution to its dispute with the UK authorities over a potential STG2.5 billion tax bill. A London tribunal on Wednesday turned down Vodafone's attempt to halt an inquiry by HM Revenue & Customs into the tax treatment of a subsidiary. Revenue & Customs is seeking to impose a tax bill on Vodafone in relation to its Luxembourg subsidiary because it is a holding company for some of the group's UK activities.
The paper also notes that Facebook advertisers will be able to opt out of parts of the social networking website, following the discovery that some campaigns were running close to content promoting the far-right British National Party. Companies including Vodafone, Virgin Media and First Direct last week pulled Facebook campaigns after finding these were running next to a page for the BNP. They vowed not to return unless they had reassurances about where their ads appeared. Facebook has now updated its system to enable advertisers to avoid appearing next to listings for some of the user groups on its website.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Deutsche Telekom has posted a 40 percent drop in second-quarter net profit as the customer exodus at its fixed-line business continued. The German telecoms giant said net profit in the three months to 30 June fell to EUR608 million from EUR1.02 billion a year earlier, ahead of analysts' forecasts of EUR563 million. Sales grew 2.9 percent to EUR15.6 billion from EUR15.13 billion, slightly ahead of analysts estimates of EUR15.55 billion, as growth at its mobile business compensated for the shrinking fixed-line business.
The paper also says that Google has begun allowing participants in news stories to post comments about the articles through the Google News service. Google News posts links and excerpts to articles from more than 4,500 English-language news sources. In an experimental project, Google this week began soliciting comments from individuals and groups cited in stories it carries, working to verify the identities of those commenting and displaying the comments alongside links to the original stories. The company said it was doing so to make available additional perspectives on the news.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 