A regularly updated column of IT related briefs.
Serbian jailed in first cyber pedophilia case
BELGRADE - A Serbian court on November 23 jailed a man in the former Yugoslav republic's first Internet child pornography conviction, the first of its kind in Serbia, a news agency report said. Jugoslav Stefanovic, 38, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for crimes that included sending pornographic pictures of babies and other children younger than 14 over the Internet, according to the independent Fonet news agency. The court also found Stefanovic guilty of raping a girl under the age of 14, the sentence for which formed part of his 12-year prison term.
Biggest virus attack in 2005 slows
HELSINKI - A computer virus that has proliferated through e-mails appearing to come from the FBI, the CIA or Germany's BKA criminal police agency, has been spreading more slowly on November 23, Finnish computer experts said. "Several millions of infected e-mails were seen by Internet operators yesterday [Tuesday] but it seems to be quietening down," Mikko Hypponen, head of research at Internet security firm F-Secure, said. It was still the "biggest virus attack of the year", he said.
The FBI said on November 22 that it was not the source of the e-mails. But experts said that the virus was propagating because the authors made the message appear authentic. The messages, which contain a strain of the Sober virus, appear to be sent from an e-mail address such as mail@fbi.gov, post@fbi.gov, admin@fbi.gov or a similar address, and direct the recipient to open an attachment to answer questions. The opening of the file activates the virus and causes it to spread to others. The virus slows down data transfers in companies and in private computers that are often vulnerable because previous virus attacks uninstalled their protective software.
Library of Congress builds huge database to build cultures
WASHINGTON - The US Library of Congress on November 22 launched an ambitious campaign to create an online database of rare books, manuscripts, posters, stamps and other artifacts, available to users around the world via the Internet.
James Billington, head of the Library of Congress, said that the proposed "World Digital Library" would contain rare items from national libraries from around the world. He said that Google Inc. contributed $3 million. In an opinion piece in the Washington Post on November 22, Billington hailed the venture as a way to build bridges between cultures across the globe, "by celebrating the depth and uniqueness of different cultures in a single global undertaking".
3Q global mobile sales up
LONDON - Mobile phone sales increased 22 percent worldwide during the third quarter, topping 205 million units, according to a report released on November 22.
The British consulting firm Gartner Inc. noted that the increase was the largest quarterly gain in the global market since it began monitoring sales in 2001.
Gartner noted major sales increases around the 40-percent level in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Western Europe and North America saw somewhat lower increases that were driven by replacement purchases and provider churning. Nokia led the market-share categories with 32.6 percent of the 3Q world market, which translated to about 67 million units. Nokia was followed by Motorola (18.7 percent), Samsung (12.5 percent) and Sony Ericsson (6.7 percent) and the remainder of the sector.
Sony, Samsung's LCD venture to boost investment
TOKYO - A joint venture between Sony and Samsung Electronics said on November 22 that it would spend 10 billion yen ($83.8 million) to expand its capacity in liquid crystal display (LCDs) production. S-LCD Corporation, which is based in South Korea, aims to boost monthly production of LCD panels by 15,000 units to 75,000 units from about July 2006 to meet demand for use in televisions. S-LCD said in a statement released by Sony that it plans to raise the necessary funds on its own. The venture is owned 50-50 by Sony of Japan and Samsung of South Korea.
Hong Kong Internet providers vow privacy protection but respect local law
HONG KONG - Hong Kong Internet service providers said on November 22 that they would respect their users' privacy but were bound by local laws, a week after record companies asked them to hand over information about clients accused of illegal music downloads. Seven record companies last week filed a writ in the High Court seeking a court order to force four local Internet service providers (ISPs) to disclose the identities of 22 alleged illegal music file-sharers. The Hong Kong Internet Service Providers Association said that while the group does not encourage the use of Internet services for unlawful purposes, it is committed to respect residents' rights to privacy.
China looks to disconnect free Internet calls with help of US company
SHANGHAI - A US technology group said on November 21 that it had sold software to a major telecoms firm that will allow China to block popular free Internet telephone services such as Skype. US Verso Technologies said that it had sold a trial version of its software to block computer-to-telephone call services to a Chinese telco. "Verso does have an executed trial agreement with a tier-one carrier in China," Verso's chief executive Monty Bannerman said in a statement. "However, at the request of the customer, we will maintain their anonymity until the trial is completed."
Japan's Pioneer to scale down DVD production, shed 1,000 jobs
TOKYO - Japan's struggling Pioneer Corp. plans to scale down its DVD recorder business and cut 1,000 jobs or 10 percent of its domestic workforce as part of its restructuring, a report said on November 20. President Kaneo Ito and chairman Kanya Matsumoto will step down to take responsibility for the electronics manufacturer's dismal performance, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun business daily reported. The package of retrenchment measures is likely to be approved at a November 21 board meeting, the paper said. Under the restructuring plan Pioneer will stop production of its current line of DVD recorders and procure them from a low-cost manufacturer, the report said.
Post US intel on Internet
WASHINGTON - As mountains of raw intelligence go unanalyzed, the chairman of the House intelligence committee said on November 18 that posting it on the Internet could speed up translation. "I would like to get these documents into the public domain in hopes that academics, journalists, bloggers and other interested people can help clear this backlog," Pete Hoekstra said. "I think the government and the public will benefit from having all these documents translated," the Michigan Republican added. "I believe this is a far better plan than the continued slow translation of documents, which may leave many of these documents unread for decades," he said.
US online sales seen growing 24 percent for holidays
WASHINGTON - US consumers are likely to boost online spending for the holidays by 24 percent from last year to a total of $19 billion, a research firm predicted on November 18. The report by comScore Networks predicted that much of the growth would come from retailers with both an online and offline presence. The report contrasted with forecasts of generally sluggish overall sales for the yearend holidays, a crucial season for many retailers for both profits and revenues. "E-commerce will remain strong as consumers continue to shift more of their holiday spending to the online channel," said Gian Fulgoni, chairman and co-founder of comScore.
Britain's 'Most Wanted' posted online
LONDON - British police have launched their first FBI-style Internet site aimed at catching the country's most wanted criminals in their web. Since November 16 details and photographs of 22 fugitives have been posted on the Crimestoppers "Most Wanted" site, which is based on the US model created by former Federal Bureau of Investigation director J. Edgar Hoover in 1950. Until now British police have not had a single place where they could share information with the public to track down people evading justice. Only 11 of the 52 British police forces have signed up to the initiative, including London's Metropolitan Police.
Historic British intelligence document up for grabs
LONDON - A piece of espionage history was up for auction on the Internet on November 18. The only copy of the original letter discussing the formation of Britain's external security service, now called MI6, has been donated by the agency to raise funds for charity. The deliberately vague letter sent from Admiral Alexander Bethell to Commander Mansfield Cumming in 1909 is widely regarded as MI6's founding document. The price on the Internet auction site eBay had risen to 820 pounds Sterling (€1,200, $1,400) on 34 bids by late in the morning of November 18.
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