A federal appeals court in the US has said Napster can resume business over the Internet. It overruled a lower court judge who had demanded more assurances on copyright protection. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said Napster, which has been voluntarily offline since the beginning of the month, coould resume operations pending further order of the court. The decision by the court's three-judge panel overruled an earlier ruling by federal Judge Marilyn Hall Patel, who on July 11th instructed Napster to stay offline until it could show it had done everything it could to make its new song-filtering system 100 per cent effective.
Napster officials expressed pleasure with the appeals court decision, but did not say if the company would immediately resume trading music. Jonathan Schwartz, Napster's general counsel, said in a statement: "We're studying the implications of the decision. We continue to push ahead with the launch of our new membership service later this summer."
Eirnet Moves: Galway-based Eirnet Technologies, the software company powering the excellent Political Companion palm pilot, which gives users access to an astonishingly comprehensive UK-based political reference library through a PDA, have plans to corner the Irish market too. Eirnet is in discussion with the Institute of Public Administration (the publishers of the Administration Yearbook and Diary) to offer IPA content on PDAs.
Peekabooty: A group of hackers is apparently finishing work on software that would enable human rights workers to access censored websites, in a move that ratchets up the "arms race" between free speech activists on the Internet and government censors in Asia and the Middle East. The software, called "Peekabooty", was scheduled to be unveiled this past weekend but was pushed back to later this year to make sure it adequately protects those using it, said Oxblood Ruffin, a leader in the group.
Radiation Facts?: The world's leading mobile phone makers are to start publishing information later this year about the level of radiation emitted by their phones in response to consumer concern. The largest cellphone maker, Nokia, the second-largest, Motorola, and the fourth-largest, Ericsson, have agreed with a European standards-setting body on a way to measure radiation absorption on phones globally. "There have been requests by some consumers that this information should be readily available," said Nokia Mobile Phones spokesman Tapio Hedman. "We are providing them with information they feel is important."
Pay Per View: Britannica.com has announced plans to charge $50 per year for Web access to the full text of the venerable Encyclopedia Britannica. The company said the free Web site, created in 1999 when the company launched a massive assault on the Internet, would go pay-per-view and would be redesigned to offer personalisation features.
Agr E-Government: A new £45 million Information Technology system to be used by the Government has been unveiled by the Minister for Agriculture, Joe Walsh. The first phase of the project will focus on the Department of Agriculture and will cost £10 million. The Minister said sheep tagging and registration applications will be the first aspects of the system to be delivered over the Internet. He said the new system will help the Department deliver a more efficient service in an e-Government environment.
Baltimore's Defence Plan: Baltimore Technologies has been chosen as a member of the consortium picked to upgrade the Australian defence force's communications network. The consortium will provide secure communications and e-business solutions to the 90,000 Australian soldiers through the so-called e-Defence project. Baltimore will provide e-security services in a deal valued at over one million Australian dollars (&€8364;600,000) that is expected to be recognised over seven months from June to year-end.
China Slowdown: China's soaring growth in its number of Internet users is slowing. The number of users rose by 4 million in the first half of this year to 26.5 million, the government has said. That increase was down substantially from the same time last year, when the government said the number of users had more than quadrupled to 16.9 million from 4 million the previous year.
And The Winner Is: Google, Expedia and BBC World Service were among the winners at this year's Webby Awards in the US. The event, held at San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House, is the Web's version of the Oscars.Vanity site HotorNot.com - which invites users to send in photos of themselves for a summary out-of-ten rating - picked up a People's Award. BBC World Service won an award for web radio, while satire site The Onion and National Geographic.com were among other award recipients.
Ulster's Tech Centre: Up to 100 hi-tech jobs are expected to be created at a new technology centre being set up by the University of Ulster. The £2.5 million sterling Technology and Engineering Innovation Centre will help to fledgling engineering firms. The 20,000 sq ft facility will allow start-up firms to tap into the university's technological expertise and research facilities. Based at the Jordanstown, it will also provide on-going support for new businesses and joint ventures. The centre is planned for completion in mid-2002