Tech Monitor: Microsoft and US reach deal

The US Justice Department has announced it has reached a settlement with Microsoft of the historic three-year-old antitrust case that would impose a "broad range of restrictions" on the software giant.

In a statement, the Justice Department said the settlement will be filed in federal court in Washington, and must be approved by the judge presiding over the case.

If approved, the pact would bring to an end the three-year-old case in which Microsoft was found to have illegally maintained its monopoly in personal computer operating systems.A Justice Department spokeswoman said the settlement only covered that department, not the 18 states that also sued the company. Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said the states need additional time to study the agreement.Microsoft shares initially rose 10 cents from yesterday's close of $61.84 in pre-market trading after the settlement was announced but now has fallen lower to $61.65."This historic settlement will bring effective relief to the market and ensure that consumers will have more choices in meeting their computer needs," US Attorney General John Ashcroft said in a statement.

CHIPS ARE DOWN:

The worst-ever slump in the semiconductor industry persisted in September as sales dropped 2.5 per cent, to $10.2 billion, but the magnitude of the month-to-month decline continued to moderate, suggesting the end of the downturn is nearly at hand, an industry group said. Japan and the Americas were most affected, with sales declining more than 6 percent in both regions, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said in its monthly report on chip sales. Sales in Europe fell less than 1 percent, however, while sales actually rose 2.6 per cent in the Asia-Pacific region. Market researcher Gartner Dataquest, however has suggested that the industry should rebound in 2002 with worldwide revenue growth of 3 percent and finish out 2003 with strong growth of about 30 percent.

ROBOT WARS:

Robots, already used in record numbers in industry across the world, could be employed more widely in the fight against terrorism, a United Nations expert has said. Mobile bomb-fighting robots can already inspect suspicious cars, buildings or mail for explosives or hazardous materials, according to Jan Karlsson, an expert at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE). But the airliner hijacking attacks in the US, along with anthrax cases among postal workers, exposed security gaps which robots could fill. "It is quite clear that it would have been an expanding area even without September 11th. Everything to do with inspection, surveillance and handling substances in environments hostile for human beings is expanding, not just for anti-terrorism but for maintenance purposes," Karlsson said.

ONLINE STUDY:

Ireland's first online third-level institution, Hibernia College has been launched. Based in Dublin, Hibernia offers nationally accredited Certificate, Diploma, Degree and Masters programmes. The college's courses are targeted at both Irish and international students and are designed for both Microsoft and Macintosh operating environments. Hibernia College also announced the completion of its technology platform (HELMS) designed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) by Professor John Williams. Hibernia has been selected as the sole Irish representative participating in the consortium which seeks to progress the international development of e-learning.

FEES ATTACHMENT:

Microsoft has given a clear indication that it intends to charge for services online by offering subscribers to its free email service, Hotmail, the option of paying for additional storage space online. Users of the Hotmail service are currently allocated 2MB of storage space. For the past number of weeks, the Microsoft Network, www.msn.com, has been offering users an additional 8MB of storage at a fee of $12.95 a year. The hugely successful portal Yahoo!, a rival of MSN which offers a Web-based email package, has also made moves to introduce a fee-system. Last week it announced the introduction of a business version of its service which will set users back more than $100 annually.

CRIME ONLINE:

Crimes stemming from people meeting through online personal sites are on the increase in Japan. There were three times as many in the first half of the year compared with all of 2000, according to the National Police Agency. Most of the crimes involved child prostitution or pornography, though they also included killings and rapes.

CHOOSING LINUX:

Amazon.com cut its technology costs nearly 25 percent last quarter as it reaped the benefits of falling telecommunications prices and a shift to the cheaper Linux operating system, the online retail giant said. Amazon's adoption of Linux mirrors experiences among other companies that, eager to cut costs amid the faltering economy, are increasingly using the open-source system as an alternative to costlier software from companies such as Sun Microsystems.

EMAIL BAN:

Employees of a Dutch council have been banned from emailing Osama bin Laden jokes to each other at work. A council boss says people have complained about the "virtual humour". He highlighted emails featuring pictures of bin Laden with Bert from Sesame Street, or with Mr Bean's head superimposed on his, or doing the samba with President Bush. Mr David Jongen from the city administration in Den Haag has sent a message to all personnel saying he doesn't want to see any more of the jokes.

Modem World

[ www.geocities.com/cyclopath2001/ ]

Campaigning website which highlights the poor facilities in Dublin for cyclists.

[ www.petitiononline.com/close ]

Online petition aimed at bringing about the closure of the Sellafield nuclear power plant.

Diary

Wednesday November 14th:

First Campus in association with Enterprise Ireland, DCU, and First Tuesday present a one day seminar entitled

Campus Companies...what you need to know

in the Invent Building, Dublin City University, Dublin. More info -

[ www.firsttuesday.ie/events/eventsc.html ]

Text Bites

"I think the likelihood of further industry consolidation is very high" -

Dell CEO Michael Dell's assessment of the PC industry's future.

"We absolutely understand that technology never slows down, even during a recession. Our strategy here is new products, new technology, building blocks for the Internet."

- Intel's Chief Executive Craig Barrett on Intel's future.

"We've got $6 billion in cash, no debt. Short of a multibillion dollar embezzlement, I think we are in pretty good shape to ride out, you know, a two or three year economic storm. We're dealing with a recession that was there before September 11th. We're going to see more effects of the continuing recession."

Sun Microsystem's CEO Scott McNealy also looks towards the future.

(additional reporting

Reuters

)