A regularly updated column of IT related briefs
France Telecom takes control of Jordan Telecom
PARIS - France Telecom said on June 30 that it had taken control of Jordan Telecom by purchasing an additional 10-percent stake in the telecommunications operator from the government of Jordan for €145 million ($184 million). France Telecom also has an option to buy another 1-percent stake for €14.5 million from the government, which is selling off its entire 41.5 percent holding in the telecoms group. A consortium led by France Telecom already owns 40 percent of Jordan Telecom, having acquired the stake in 2000. The Jordanian government also sold 10-percent stakes in the company to the Gulf Finance House of Bahrain and the Nour group of Kuwait, while the Jordan Social Security administration bought 5 percent, and various civil servant groups took 1 percent.
Sony hit with $243mn extra tax bill
TOKYO - Sony Corp. said on June 30 that it has been ordered by the Japanese authorities to pay additional taxes of 27.9 billion yen ($243 million) but vowed to appeal the decision. Sony said that the Tokyo Regional Tax Bureau had demanded extra taxes linked to transactions between the group's computer entertainment division and a US subsidiary over five years to March 2005. They have also reassessed profits made by Sony from transactions with a number of overseas subsidiaries in CD and DVD manufacturing for the two years to March 2005, the group said in a statement.
A Sony spokesman said that the group believed that it had paid the appropriate taxes in accordance with the rules of each country. "We regret this notification and will swiftly file a formal objection to the authorities," he said. Sony said that it did not expect its earnings to be affected as it was confident of avoiding double taxation.
Microsoft to delay new version of Office suite
NEW YORK, NY, USA - Microsoft said on June 29 that it was delaying the launch of an updated version of its Office software to the end of this year as it works to improve the package of business applications. "Based on internal testing and beta 2 feedback around product performance, we are revising our development schedule to deliver the 2007 Microsoft Office system by the end of year 2006, with broad general availability in early 2007," the company said in a statement. "Feedback on quality and performance will ultimately determine the exact dates."
The Office suite, which includes the Word program for word processing, the Excel spreadsheet and PowerPoint presentation software, is one of the key products for Microsoft along with its Windows operating system. Microsoft earlier this year delayed the release of its upgraded version of Windows, Vista until January, missing the key yearend period for computer sales.
Apple to probe stock option grants for irregularities
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA - Apple Computer said on June 29 that it uncovered "irregularities" on its awarding of stock option grants, including to chief executive Steve Jobs, and had informed federal investigators. Apple said in a statement that an internal investigation uncovered the questionable options grants made between 1997 and 2001. "One of the grants in question was to CEO Steve Jobs, but it was subsequently canceled and resulted in no financial gain to the CEO," the company said in a statement. "A special committee of Apple's outside directors has hired independent counsel to perform an investigation and the company has informed the SEC [Securities and Exchange Commission]."
"Apple is a quality company, and we are proactively and transparently disclosing what we have discovered to the SEC," said Jobs. "We are focused on resolving these issues as quickly as possible." Apple did not disclose details about the irregularities, but some companies have reportedly been embroiled in a controversy over "back-dated" options.
Hackers hit Israel sites to protest against Gaza operation
JERUSALEM - Hackers have attacked 750 Israeli Internet sites, among them that of the country's largest bank, to protest against Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli media reported on June 29. "You are killing Palestinians, we will hijack your servers," read a message on the home pages of the targeted sites, many of which have since been repaired. Apart from Hapoalim, the largest bank in the Jewish state, Rambam hospital in the northern city of Haifa was also targeted by the hackers, who the media said were of Moroccan origin.
Google fined €300,000 for Vuitton 'knockoff' ads
PARIS - Google has been fined €300,000 ($380,000) by a French court for publishing online ads openly offering illegal copies of Louis Vuitton bags. The Paris appeals court on June 28 also ordered the US Internet giant to pay €60,000 in legal costs on top of €15,000 that it already owes from a defeat in a French lower court in February 2005.
The case revolves around linked ads that appear on the right hand of the screen when an Internet user does a Google search for Louis Vuitton. The French luxury goods company started the lawsuit when it found that ads for copies of its wares came up on the screen. Google has since eliminated the offending ads from its French site, but the Paris court said that it was obliged to do so for all its other sites, too - a ruling, that if upheld, would have wider ramifications for Internet sites and national jurisdictions. The appeals court upped the initial €200,000 fine initially imposed on Google, adding pressure on the company to comply.
Internet giants suffer defeat in US Congress
WASHINGTON - US Internet giants have suffered a defeat in the US Congress where an amendment on "Internet neutrality" was rejected by a Senate committee studying telecommunications reform. Aimed at preventing network operators from charging an additional fee to Websites seeking quicker and more effective connections for their users, the amendment failed on June 28 to gain a majority in the committee, which deadlocked 11-11. However, the issue was to be examined by the Senate during its debate on telecommunications reform, the date for which has not been set.
Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan, one of the key promoters of "Internet neutrality," has vowed to continue his efforts. "Any telecommunications legislation adopted by the Senate must preserve Internet freedom, and I will continue to press this issue with my colleagues as this measure moves to the floor for consideration," Dorgan said.
US busts global movie piracy ring
NEW YORK, NY, USA - US federal prosecutors filed charges on June 28 against 22 alleged members of a global piracy ring responsible for manufacturing and distributing millions of counterfeit movies worldwide. So far, 13 of those named in the charge sheets have been arrested by federal agents, US Attorney Michael Garcia told reporters in New York. The suspects covered the entire pirating process, from the "cammers" who use camcorders to copy the films in movie theaters, to the printers who package the pirated DVDs and the wholesalers who distribute them domestically and overseas.
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) said that the New York-based ring was responsible for half of all camcorded copies of films available on the US black market and 25 percent of those available worldwide. "These arrests are a substantial victory in the fight to curb movie theft on the Internet and on the streets," said MPAA chairman Dan Glickman. "These camcorders were an organized group of people responsible for fueling an underground economy."
Mobile phone doubles as a metal detector
PARIS -Finnish phone maker Nokia has devised a mobile handset that can also double as a metal detector, enabling the owner to look for concealed guns, hidden electrical cables and lost car keys, British weekly New Scientist reports. The US patent application filed by Nokia says that the phone is fitted with an induction coil whose main use is to get a clear audio signal for people with hearing difficulties. But it can also be used to detect metal at short distances, says the report.
MTN shareholders approve acquisition of Investcom
JOHANNESBURG - Shareholders in South African mobile giant MTN have approved plans to buy Dubai-listed Investcom in a deal to create the biggest mobile operator in Africa and the Middle East, MTN said on June 28. The $5.5-billion deal, first announced on May 2, was expected to lead to operations in 21 countries and serving nearly 30 million subscribers. "The MTN Group is pleased to announce that its shareholders have approved all the resolutions relating to the proposed offer by MTN to acquire ... Investcom LLC," MTN said in a statement, issued in Johannesburg.
"The approval of these resolutions ... is good progress toward the conclusion of the Investcom deal and brings us closer to the realization of the MTN Groups strategy to consolidate our position in Africa and the Middle East," MTN chief executive Phuthuma Nhleko added. MTN will now submit an application to the Johannesburg Securities Exchange for the listing of a maximum of 204,298,809 new MTN Group ordinary shares.
Nokia sues Chinese rivals for copying
HELSINKI - Mobile phone maker Nokia said on June 28 that it was suing two Chinese rivals for copying the design of its 7260 mobile phone model. The Finnish company said that it had initiated a civil litigation in Beijing against Shenzhen Telsda Mobile Communication Industry Developing Co. Ltd. and Song Xun Da Zhong Ke Electronic (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., both of which are Chinese phone manufacturers based in Shenzhen. Nokia accused the companies of "manufacturing and selling mobile phones that copy the proprietary and legally protected industrial designs of the Nokia 7260 mobile phone model."
Intel sells hand-held processors business for $600mn
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA - Intel, the world's leading chipmaker, said on June 27 that it had agreed to sell its processor business that supplies cell "smart" hand-held devices to US company Marvell for $600 million. Several US newspapers had reported this month that Intel was looking to sell the business, based on its Xscale technology.
Intel's communications and application processor business develops and sells processors for a variety of smart phones and personal digital assistants. The business being sold employs about 1,400 people and "the vast majority" of them will become employees of Marvell, the companies said. Marvell, also headquartered in Santa Clara, is a developer of storage, communications and consumer computer chip solutions, including storage networking.
British, Finnish police hold three in computer virus probe
LONDON - Two men have been arrested in Britain and a third in Finland as part of an investigation into an alleged international conspiracy to infect computers with viruses, police here said on June 27. London's Metropolitan Police said that they detained a 63-year-old man from Suffolk, eastern England, and a 28-year-old man in Scotland, while the Finnish authorities arrested a 19-year-old man there. The operation involved the Met's Computer Crime Unit, the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation and the Finnish police.
All three were detained "for an international conspiracy to infect computers using viruses attached to unsolicited commercial e-mail [spam]," the Met said. The trio are suspected of being members of the "highly organized" online M00P group, which is believed to be responsible for writing new computer viruses that escape detection by anti-virus software, it added.
Ericsson wins Saudi Telecom HSPA contract
STOCKHOLM - Ericsson will provide Saudi Telecom with high-speed packet access for the central and western provinces of Saudi Arabia. The Swedish group said that the HSPA will allow Saudi Telecom to introduce a combination of voice, high-speed data and television access on mobile phones. In addition, the new network will more than double the current system capacity and make response times for interactive services faster.
Mobile phone revenue in W.Europe to grow by half by 2011
LONDON - The mobile phone market across Western Europe is forecast to grow by 43.3 percent by 2011, according to a study by telecoms research group Analysis, published on June 26. Mobile services revenue across the region was forecast to grow at a compound average growth rate of 6.2 percent annually to €198.4 billion ($249 billion) in 2011 compared with €138.4 billion in 2005, the British group said.
Omantel, Flag sign data, cable MoUs
MUSCAT - Omantel has signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with India's Flag Telecom to establish an international data transfer point in Oman and extend an undersea communications cable. The first of the MoUs cover Internet lease circuit services and multiparty labeling to a dozen nations, including the Arab Gulf Cooperating Council. The project will be implemented in September, June 26 reports said. The other project involves extension of the African cable network through Falcon into landing points and hubs at Seeb International Airport near Muscat, and Khasab, which is on the Straits of Hormuz.
Vietnam to punish media for SMS sex adverts
HANOI - Communist Vietnam will punish 18 newspapers for advertising SMS sex services following the suspension of two sports newspapers late last week, a government official said on June 26. "We are considering the appropriate punishment levels for newspapers having printed commercial advertisements for SMS services providing crude sex information," said Nguyen Tri Dung, an official at the ministry of culture and information's press department.
Two sports newspapers, Bong Da and The Thao Ngay Nay, were suspended for five consecutive issues for "deliberately continuing to print the ads despite prior warning," Dung said. Bong Da was fined 15 million dong (about $1,000) while The Thao Ngay Nay will be fined an undisclosed larger amount.
Hynix reportedly strikes a deal with creditors
SEOUL - Hynix Semiconductor, the world's second largest memory chipmaker, agreed with its creditors on the details of an approximately 1.45 trillion won ($1.51 billion) share sale, reports said on June 25. The Yonhap news agency reported that both parties compromised to sell 40 million shares in the chipmaker after long negotiations on June 25. "As many as 27 million shares will be sold to domestic institutional investors in a bloc deal before the opening of the stock market on Monday, while the other 13 million shares will be sold to overseas investors by issuing global depository receipts," industry sources said.
The price of the bloc deal was set at 26,500 won per share, discounted by 2 percent from the closing price on June 23. Creditors, led by Korea Exchange Bank, will sell as many as 54 million shares in total, including the issue of new shares, which will raise 1.45 trillion won, they added.
LG Philips to build LCD plant in Guangzhou, China
SEOUL - LG Philips LCD, a South Korean-Dutch joint venture, said on June 25 that it planned to build a plant for producing modules for liquid crystal display (LCD) panels in Guangzhou, China. The global LCD maker said in a report to financial authorities here that it signed the investment deal in May with the Guangzhou authorities in Guangdong province. Details on the deal were not available.
France's new 'Geoportal' attracts millions
PARIS - Nearly 5 million Internet users have clicked on to "Geoportal," the French answer to Google Earth offering high-resolution aerial imagery of France, in the first day of the site's operation, the portal's developers said on June 24. The flood of traffic to the site has meant that only about one in five has been able to connect to Geoportal (www.geoportail.fr), developed by the state-funded National Geographic Institute (IGN), in a bid to rival the planetary success of the US pioneer in the field, Google Earth.
What Internet users are waiting for is the chance to zoom to within 50 centimetres (20 inches) of the ground, a first in Europe. Unlike Google Earth, which offers views of the entire planet but high resolution only for certain areas, the Geoportal covers the whole of France's territory, on the mainland and overseas. It lets users switch from aerial views of a site, to detailed maps, charts and geological data - with a three-dimensional tool to be added in the autumn.
Syria blocks independent news Website
DAMASCUS - Syrian authorities have blocked an independent news Website run by a group that promotes free press, a human rights group said on June 23. "Authorities blocked the Mashed Al Suri [syriaview.net] site, an independent online newspaper run by the Syria Center for Free Press and Expression," said lawyer Mohannad Al Hassani who heads the Syrian Organization for Human Rights. Syria was described this year by the press watchdog Reporters Without Borders as one of the world's "15 Internet enemies."
Alcatel payload on Arabsat satellite
PARIS - Alcatel Alenia Space will provide the payload for Arabsat's BADR-6 "Full Moon" satellite for Arabsat (Arab Satellite Communications Organization). Full Moon will go operational in 2008 and provide television, telephone and data service over much of the Middle East and North Africa. It is equipped with 24 C-band and 20 Ku-band transponders, and is based on the EADS Eurostar E2000-plus satellite. Arabsat is the leading satellite provider to the Middle East Arab community.
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