The $106 billion merger of America Online and Time Warner has cleared its final US government hurdle. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) approval lets the two companies move towards completion of the deal which was announced a year ago. The new business combines the largest US Internet provider and a media titan that owns such popular entertainment titles as CNN, HBO, Sports Illustrated and Warner Bros.
The FCC approved the deal after requiring the companies take modest steps to open AOL's widespread instant messaging service to rival providers over Time Warner's cable lines. That issue caused protracted debate at the FCC even though approval has long been expected. Anti-trust regulators at the Federal Trade Commission cleared the deal in December but imposed broad restrictions to preserve consumer choice as the merged company gains a foothold in markets for high-speed Internet access.
Policing The Web: Crime-stopping in Ireland's technological age has taken a further step following the launch of the new Garda website. The site, www.garda.ie, aims to provide a broad overview of Garda activites, with a major focus being put on their Missing Persons list.
Online Shopping: Staying with the Old Bill, the British government is devising plans to allow the public to report crimes to the police through the Internet. Home Office Minister Charles Clarke has commissioned work on the "exciting development".
Software Centre: The National Software Centre, a Software/IT Incubation facility with a Public-Private Sector Partnership, has been launched in Cork. The Centre will house up to 30 companies employing in excess of 300 people initially and will cost a minimum of £9m to develop.
Highbrow Hypertext: The Digital Media Centre in the DIT, Aungier St has secured two years funding from Enterprise Ireland for research into spatial metaphors in hypertext. The DMC is a multidisciplinary group in the Faculty of Applied Arts. The Centre undertakes research, consultancy and experimental production in novel areas of digital media. It is currently producing a database-driven site for the National Gallery of Ireland featuring, amongst other things, interactive 3D galleries.
Drag Net: Some 130 Turkish children were last week briefly detained by police in the central Anatolian town of Kirikkale for spending time in Internet cafes that officials feared could corrupt them. Checks were made into complaints Internet cafes were full of cigarette smoke and children could look at pornographic material in addition to playing backgammon.
Life Saving Phone: They may irradiate your brain and irritate the bejaysus out of you, but new information has come to light which suggests that mobile phones can be life savers. Late last week, a student in Britain saved his own skin by ringing 999 on his mobile after becoming impaled on railings in Manchester. Jamie Collings slipped while climbing over a 7-foot fence and three four-inch spikes pierced his legs and stomach. Dangling upside down with blood flowing from his wounds, he managed to ring for help.
Marine Vice Shocker: Marines in the US are being investigated over allegations they posed naked for gay pornography being sold online. The Los Angeles Times claimed marines at the Twentynine Palms base were being recruited by colleagues and offered money for posing naked. Base spokesman Captain Rob Crum said participation in pornographic activities was "incompatible with the ideals upheld by the United States Marine Corps".
Ms For Os X: Microsoft has pledged to make a version of the Office business software package for Apple Computers new operating system, giving a big boost to the company as Apple struggles with poor sales. Office for Apple's Macintosh OS X operating system would be available this Autumn, Mr Kevin Browne, general manager of Microsoft's Macintosh unit, told an audience at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco.
Hammer The Spammer: European legislators have vowed to fight the curse of spam. Commissioners have discussed proposals to extend strict privacy protections adopted against unsolicited phone calls from marketers to email and advertisements sent to mobile phones.
In Brief...SmartForce will provide the e-learning infrastructure for Florida's largest healthcare company, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida. . . AltaVista has withdrawn its application for an IPO of stock, nine months after the company postponed it because of poor market conditions. . .