The US and Ireland will both legally recognise electronic signatures when the President, Mrs Mary McAleese, signs the E-commerce Bill into law this week. President McAleese will become the first person in Ireland to use an electronic signature, with full legal recognition, when she officially passes the Bill. It finally passed through by the Dail on Thursday night. The US President, Bill Clinton, electronically signed similar legislation on Friday. In 1998 Clinton and the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern signed an e-commerce agreement using identical laptop computers, with `smart cards', personalised codes and digital readers.
The new law provides a framework which will allow businesses and individuals to do business over the Internet. In practical terms it will, for example, allow the signing of contracts or the registering of property deeds. The Minister for Public Enterprise Mary O'Rourke described the passing of the Bill as a "good day for technology, the information age, and especially for Irish business".
Wapdate: Your brand new WAP mobile phone could be out of date next year as technology in the wireless access market continues to develop. By 2001 mobile devices will be able to provide audio and video to users, according to Nokia and RealNetworks who have teamed up to develop the new product.
More Dots Join: The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers looks set to add to its list of domains, departing from the overcrowded worlds of .com, .org, .edu, .gov, and .net. When the board of directors meets this month in Japan millions of fresh names for Web sites may be unleashed. It is believed names such as .shop, .bank, and possibly .xxx will be made available.
Who Knows? The World Health Organisation has said there is still no evidence to prove that mobile phones pose risks to health. However, it said further research was needed and investigations into links with head and neck cancer would last another three to four years.
Digicash: Esat Digifone is investing £50 million in "Ireland's first seamless fixed and mobile Internet Service Provider (ISP) and Portal". In real-speak you will be able to surf Digifone's portal website - Digifone-On-Line - and send and receive emails on your computer or WAP phone. Esat says the initiative will encourage many people who have never had access to the Internet before to now log on for the first time.
Faster And Bigger: The fastest computer in the world, which can perform 12.3 trillion operations per second, was unveiled last week. It is believed IBM's Advanced Strategic Computing Initiative White (ASCI White) will eventually surpass the computing capacity of the human brain. However, weighing in at 106 tonnes and measuring 9,920 square feet, this is not the machine for your average suburban semi-D. The ASCI white will first be used by the US Energy Department to simulate the testing of nuclear weapons. Meanwhile Intel has unveiled its new Pentium 4 processor - the fastest processor commercially available for PCs.
Catching The Bug: A man was charged in the Philippines with unleashing the `Love Bug' virus which reeked havoc worldwide in May of this year. The charges against computer programming student Mr Onel de Guzman (23) were delayed as new e-commerce and computer hacking laws were passed by President Joseph Estrada. However, de Guzman cannot be charged retrospectively under the new laws. De Guzman has admitted he may have released the virus by accident, but refuses to say he wrote it.
Uniting On The Web: The UN is to host a conference this week on speeding up worldwide economic development through Internet technology. Heads of major international finance and trade bodies will gather from Wednesday for the three-day event. US Vice-President Al Gore (above) will address the conference by video link. ADS ONLINE: An American judge has allowed a case against America Online (AOL) to proceed. The Internet service provider is being sued, on a behalf of subscribers who pay an hourly rate, over "pop-up" ads. It is being claimed that the ads unfairly delay users who are charged for the time it takes for the ads to appear.
In Brief... The Irish Internet Association has launched its fifth online survey (www.iia.ie/survey/) about Internet usage in Ireland... Yahoo! Is to buy eGroups - which helps marginalinterest groups organise on the Web - for £430 million to expand its "community" offerings... Transmeta has shown off a new chip that will allow laptops to run for up to eight hours without being plugged into mains electricity supply... The EU Council of Ministers has endorsed the concept of a diploma for basic computer skills to ensure standardised computer literacy throughout the union.