Posted by admin on Nov 3, 2009 in
news Originally the Digital Britain report, published in June, gave Ofcom until 2012 to consider whether technical measures to catch pirates were necessary.
However, according to a statement from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) released on Tuesday, that timeframe is now considered “too long to wait”.
Stephen Timms, minister for Digital Britain, said: “We’ve been listening carefully to responses to the consultation this far, and it’s become clear there are widespread concerns that the plans as they stand could delay action, impacting unfairly upon rights holders.”
It proposes that internet service providers (ISPs) are obliged to take action against repeat infringers and suggests that the cost of tracking down persistent pirates be shared 50:50 between ISPs and rights holders.
The proposal has been welcomed by the BPI, which represents the recorded music industry in Britain.
“‘Digital piracy is a serious problem and a real threat to the UK’s creative industries,” it said in a statement.
“Today is a step forward that should help the legal digital market to grow for consumers.”
BIS denied that it had changed its position since the publication of Digital Britain and said that the recommendations were open to consultation.
“We are simply adding new ideas to the table that could potentially make the whole system more flexible and provide a quicker way to bring in technical measures,” it said in a statement.
It is estimated that half of all the traffic on the net in the UK is content that is shared illegally.
The UK government has set a target of reducing the problem by at least 70%
Tags: carefully
Posted by admin on Nov 3, 2009 in
news Peer-to-peer networks are likely to be the main targets of any anti-piracy legislation.
At network level, internet service providers are able, if asked, to identify the particular machines from which music or other content is being illegally downloaded.
But non-network piracy methods, including using instant messaging, e-mail, music blogs, bluetooth and iPod ripping, are on the rise.
It is likely that legislation will be too slow to catch pirates, thinks Mr Mulligan.
“Technology just moves quicker. Already we are seeing around 20 different alternatives to peer-to-peer piracy,” he said.
This week France’s constitutional court approved its revised anti-piracy plans.
The proposed legislation operates under a “three strikes” system. A new state agency would first send illegal file-sharers a warning e-mail, then a letter and finally cut off their connection if they were caught a third time.
Under the revised law, a judge must rule on the issue of whether to disconnect users.
The UK’s policy on file-sharing is due to be revealed next month.
Tags: methods
Posted by admin on Nov 3, 2009 in
news The UK economy unexpectedly contracted by 0.4% between July and September, according to official figures, meaning the country is still in recession.
It is the first time UK gross domestic product (GDP) has contracted for six consecutive quarters, since quarterly figures were first recorded in 1955.
But the figures could still be revised up or down at a later date, because this figure is only the first estimate.
GDP measures the total amount of goods and services produced by a country.
The pound fell sharply after the figures were released, reflecting the fact that many observers had expected the UK to have grown during the quarter.
It was down 1.7% against the dollar, at $1.6323, and down 1.9% against the euro, at 1.0859 euros.
Quarterly growth of 0.2% had been expected in the figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), although expectations had been tempered by recent figures showing no growth in retail sales in September, and a 2.5% decline in industrial output in August.
The unexpected decline in the services sector was the key factor behind the drop, with the distribution, catering and hotels sector performing particularly badly.
The UK economy’s reliance on the service sector, and financial services in particular, may be the reason why it is still in recession when partners such as France and Germany exited in the second quarter of this year.
The economy contracted 5.2% compared with the same period last year, which was marginally better than the record figure of 5.5% in the previous three months.
It has now contracted 5.9% from its peak before the recession began.
The worse-than-expected GDP figures are likely to make the Bank of England consider extending its policy of quantitative easing.
Quantitative easing is the central bank’s policy of printing money and using it to buy bonds from banks and other companies to help stimulate the economy.
Tags: economy
Posted by admin on Nov 3, 2009 in
news The Red Cross says relief workers are being kept out of South Waziristan region, where the Pakistani army is mounting an anti-militant offensive.
A senior official said there was evidence that the level of civilian casualties there was rising sharply.
He added that aid workers faced “very heavy restrictions on access”, mainly because of the heavy fighting.
His comments come on a day that has seen at least 23 people killed in bomb attacks in northern Pakistan.
At least 16 wedding guests – most of them children – were killed when their minibus hit an explosive device in the tribal area of Mohmand, about 35km (22 miles) from the district capital, Ghalnai.
A suicide bomber killed seven other people near an air force base 60km south-west of the capital, Islamabad.
And in Peshawar, a car bombing wounded at least 15 people – the first attack in the city since the army began its offensive in nearby South Waziristan.
The International Committee of the Red Cross’s head of operations for South Asia, Jacques de Maio, said reports from people who had managed to flee South Waziristan – and other areas of northern Pakistan where the army was battling militants – suggested that the number of civilian casualties had surged.
“What we see now is a sharp and extremely worrying increase in the number of civilian casualties,” he told journalists.
“Aid must reach those who need it. We see effective and unobstructed medical services for the sick and wounded as imperative, followed by assistance to IDPs [internally displaced people] and host families.
“To achieve this… humanitarian access must expand and reach a meaningful level.”
Tags: access
Posted by admin on Nov 2, 2009 in
news Our class organized us to go out for Spring Tour in Zhaoqing city, Guangdong province yesterday. It is a two days travel, and we mainly visited Seven Star Crags and Dinghu Mountain.
It took us nearly two hours to get there by bus. Though it was a cloudy and little rain day, we all excited to enjoy these beautiful scenic spots. In Seven Star Crags, there are seven crags which have different styles and characteristics. Because Tianzhu Crag is the highest mountain in those crags, and it is said that it is the only crag which can oversee the other six crags on the top. We chose to climb it and successfully get its summit. Everybody was excited and exclaimed when they climbed the highest. To my happiness, at least ten people exclaimed “Come on, Zhang Yu” together at that that moment including me. In fact, I really want to say it loudly so as to encourage myself move on, not only in my major field but also in my affection. Therefore, I was really be appreciated by my classmates’ wishes. Seven Star Crag was also characterized by its wide and clean lake. There was a kind of plant left a deep impression on my mind. It was called “He Que flower”. It looked like a cluster of yellowy grapes, but much prettier than it.
We visited Dinghu Mountain this morning, which is one of the famous resorts in Guangdong province. It is a combination of scenery, research and religion. We were appealed by its forest resources. It is reported that there are a great deal of anions in this area, and there is famous word called “Forest Shower”. It can protect our bodies from other dangerous virus, and can also stimulate our bolism. Besides, Butterflies Valley is regarded as a wonderful spot in Dinghu Mountain. It exhibited a variety of butterflies, some of them are world-famous. I think they greatly enlarged our outlooks about this world. The last activity was the virgin forest exploration. We enjoyed a great fun during this period.
How time flies! The time I spent with my classmates is the most precious thing I should cherish in these two days’ travel. We enjoyed the comfort which was brought by the nature, and also improved the relationships between us.
It was an unforgettably trip!
Tags: unforgettable
Posted by admin on Nov 2, 2009 in
news Don’t call Cyworld a Korean MySpace; MySpace is an American Cyworld. In South Korea, an estimated 25 percent of the population (and 90 percent of people in their teens and twenties) have Cyworld accounts, where individuals design miniature animated avatars to represent them in its unique online space. In 2006 CEO Henry Chon brought Cyworld to U.S. shores. Though Cyworld hasn’t yet achieved comparable success here, MySpace shouldn’t rest easy if Chon’s track record is any indication of future competition.. Shana FisherSenior vice president for strategy and M&A, IAC/InterActiveCorpIAC/InterActiveCorp chairman and CEO Barry Diller loves his online enterprises. After a buying binge, IAC now owns Ask.com, Citysearch, Expedia, Match.com, Ticketmaster, and a host of other service-oriented Web businesses. But who tells Diller where to plunk down the cash? That would be his mergers and acquisitions advisor, senior VP Shana Fisher, who determines exactly where and when IAC should invest. Her control over IAC’s purse strings makes her arguably the most powerful woman on the Internet.. Niklas Zennstrom and Janus FriisFounders, Skype and KaZaAIt seems like Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis just can’t stop themselves. First they built the popular (though malware-addled) peer-to-peer file-sharing network KaZaA; then they followed that endeavor up by building the amazingly popular VoIP software Skype. After selling Skype to eBay (see #28) for $2.6 billion, the duo has gone back to the drawing board to produce Joost (formerly “The Venice Project”), a P2P video distribution service that is currently in private beta form. Will Zennstrom and Friis pull off a trifecta of killer apps? After being forced to settle an RIAA lawsuit over KaZaA for more than $100 million, they are negotiating directly with content providers as they prepare for Joost’s official launch.
Important People #16 through #20Matt MullenwegDeveloper, WordPress blogging site and softwareMatt Mullenweg can barely buy a drink, but this 22-year-old open-source enthusiast developed WordPress, the open-source publishing software favored by blogging diehards around the world. In 2004, WordPress became well-enough known that Web publishing powerhouse CNet hired Mullenweg to work on it and other projects. Mullenweg quit in 2005, however, to work full-time on WordPress, which today is more like a content-management system, with various templates, widgets, and plug-ins, and Askismet antispam protection (we reviewed the service in January 2007.)
Tags: Cyworld
Posted by admin on Nov 2, 2009 in
news Don’t yawn: “enterprise software” may sound boring, but it spells big bucks.
You are looking at a $60bn (£33bn) market. And now the giants of the industry are squaring up to fight for domination.
In the red corner is Oracle, the world’s second-largest software company, well-known for databases and brash boss Larry Ellison.
In the blue corner is SAP.
“SAP who?,” you might ask.
Well, SAP is the third-largest software firm in the world, with headquarters near Frankfurt, Germany.
Its public profile may be as understated as boss Henning Kagermann, who on a bad hair day looks more like a distracted physics professor than a chief executive.
But the three letter acronym – which stands for “Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing” – is synonymous with software that makes many of the world’s largest companies tick.
Think of it as a corporate nervous system that tells the boss where money is spent, whether production is ticking along, and where and
Tags: software
Posted by admin on Nov 2, 2009 in
news Recently , I have read the novel named ” the state of mind of Qubo” ,written by police writer Sun Xuejun from Jinning province. it is from the Jinning policemen Journal.No 3rd issue,2009.
Qubo is the a policeman name who has encountered a bitter affair at a critical period. Because he is facing a major readjustment of cadres. it is a real possibility for him to be promoted. But his close friend ’s pistol was gone goes missing. During the course of the loss of gun When the gun went missing, he was just having dinner with his friend ,so some people suspect it was him who possibly took the gun .
It was is normal for him to be frustrated. In order to find the important gun, he is investigated many times . he admits that he had drunk some achohol at the table , and his friend who has Diabetes didn’t do . Since his friend was lucid sober without touching any spirits. how to lose gun was a puzzel the gun was lost is a puzzle for most people.
Tags: Police
Posted by admin on Nov 1, 2009 in
news Buried treasure from the early kingdom of Kent unearthed in a burial ground dig is going on display to the public.
More than 2,500 objects including weapons, brooches, glass beads and drinking and storage vessels were uncovered in the dig in Sittingbourne.
They were recovered from 229 graves in prehistoric and Anglo-Saxon burial ground at The Meads discovered when the site was being cleared for housing.
The exhibition will be at the Forum Centre until the end of January.
Sittingbourne Heritage Museum has recruited a team of 30 conservation volunteers to work on the objects.
Visitors will be able to see both the volunteers and experts at work on conserving some of the objects.
The most precious of the finds is a perfectly-preserved pair of glass drinking cups from a Saxon warrior’s grave found by a volunteer, but these will not be on show.
“This exhibition gives us a fascinating insight into what life was like in this part of Kent 1,400 years ago,” said Kent’s county archaeologist Lis Dyson.
“The presence of some very rich graves suggests that the area was important at the time the kingdom of Kent was emerging.”
Tags: graves
Posted by admin on Nov 1, 2009 in
news Who are ya? – Some of Nick Clegg’s critics have suggested he is fighting an uphill battle to win support because most people don’t even know who he is. But he said he wasn’t worried. Speaking to BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat, he said it wasn’t “fair” to say no-one knew him – in fact he’d been told that two out of three people could put a face to his name. “By the general election, I think everyone will know exactly who I am and what I stand for,” he said.
The Missing Skinhead – Chris Huhne’s hard-hitting attack on the Tories in his keynote conference speech turned out not to be quite as savage as first planned. He had intended to describe shadow foreign secretary William Hague as a “skinhead” in a strongly-worded section on David Cameron’s new friends in Europe. The first draft of the speech, circulated to journalists, included the lines: “Skinhead Hague has toured the beer cellars of central Europe, and has come up with the dregs.” But reporters were told on Monday evening the line had been dropped. “There were more important points he wanted to make about the Tories’ policy than just William Hague’s hairstyle and drinking habits,” explained Danny Alexander in the morning press briefing.
Brought to book – Sarah Teather was the warm-up act at the party’s opening night get together. She had a few digs at the opposition, suggesting David Cameron’s favourite songs should include You’re So Vain, Fake Plastic Trees or “anything by the Pretenders”. But she reserved her best lines for her own side. Noting that a number of party figures were set to publish books in the near future, she offered others some advice on possible titles. For Evan Harris, left wing scourge of the party leadership, she suggested The God Delusion. Ouch.
Kennedy crack – As ever, Charles Kennedy gave a rousing speech to the party faithful, in which he compared Gordon Brown to the Spanish dictator Franco on his deathbed. But his best reminiscence was at the expense of the Tories. He remembered sitting next to the former prime minister Ted Heath in the Commons when the two were listening to a speech by William Hague on Europe. The speech was greeted with rapturous applause by the Tory benches, from which Mr Heath – one of the party’s minority of Europhiles in the 1990s – did not join. As William Hague sat down, Charles Kennedy says Ted Heath twitched and apparently whispered to him “such a vulgar little man”.
Tags: glance
