E-government facilities in Ireland are the sixth best in the world, a survey of 196 countries has revealed. The survey by the World Markets Research Centre (WMRC) also shows that Ireland is one of only two countries in the world with a government website that has the capacity for digital signatures, the other being Taiwan. Ireland is ranked second in terms of disability access, beaten only by the US. Worldwide, only two per cent of state websites had some form of disability access.
On a scale of one to 100, Ireland scores 46.9 in list of top e-government countries. Ireland is beaten by the US (57.2), Taiwan (52.5), Australia (50.7), Canada (49.6) and the UK (47.1). The survey measured the availability of contact information, publications, databases, portals, as well as disability and privacy and security policies. The survey of more than 2,000 websites ranked Germany second in the world, behind Taiwan, for providing services fully executable online, scoring 59 per cent. The survey can be seen at www.wmrc.com.
USE IT: The use of e-mail could surge as fears of anthrax in the post grow around the world. Last week some organisations in the US stopped accepting "snail mail" instead opting for e-mail or fax only. "We realise that this policy will inconvenience some readers," said Arizona Daily Star editor and publisher Jane Amari, "but it seems a reasonable way to give employees who handle our mail a little more peace of mind."
ANTHRAX VIRUS SPREADING: A computer virus purporting to provide information about anthrax and its side effects has been discovered. The new self-propagating computer virus is spreading through e-mail systems and instant relay chat channels. The e-mail, written in Spanish, has a subject line that says "Anthrax Info". The message claims that the attachment is a photo that shows what the side effects of anthrax are. Once the attachment is opened the worm spreads itself to everyone listed in the e-mail address book.
CHINA LIFTS BLOCKS: China last week unblocked a number of previously-censored Western news websites. While Chinese authorities are tight-lipped, Web surfers say they have been able to access previously permanently blocked Western news sites such as CNN and the BBC. It is suspected the move may be a temporary measure tied to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shanghai. It is the second time China has unblocked major Western news sites recently. During the week of the September 11th attack in the US some US newspaper sites were unblocked.
BERT IS GONE: The official Bert Is Evil website has been removed from the Internet. Its creator made the decision after images of the Sesame Street puppet surfaced on banners held by demonstrators in Bangladesh protesting against the bombing of Afghanistan. The picture of Bert with Osama bin Laden is thought to have come from a Bert Is Evil copycat site. Dino Ignacio started the Bert Is Evil cult digitally pairing the character with evil people as a joke. Bert has also been pictured with Hitler, the Ku Klux Klan, the Unabomber and Jeffrey Dahmer. Ignacio's site won awards and spawned a series of spin-off and mirror sites. He is now asking other sites to close down as well.
X MARKS THE BOX: Microsoft's Xbox games console is to go on sale across Europe early next year with a retail price of £299 sterling, it was announced last week. The long-awaited rival to the Playstation will be available in 16 major European markets from March 14th 2002. A total of 1.5 million Xbox consoles are planned for shipment in Europe for its first three months on sale, which includes weekly replenishments from the Xbox manufacturing facility in Hungary. It's all about the games, of course, and the range revealed last week showed significant support from 3rd party developers for the Xbox. Electronic Arts demonstrated a version of F1 2002 and Sega and Eidos were among the high profile developers showcasing their wares.
GOOD TIME: AOL Time Warner says demand for its Internet and cable systems has pushed its earnings up by 20 per cent. The company reported third-quarter earnings of $2.46 billion, or 30 cents a share, from $2.02 billion, or 21 cents a share, a year ago. AOL says it's still looking for a 20 per cent rise in underlying earnings for the year as a whole, with "double-digit" percentage growth in 2002. Meanwhile, Intel third-quarter profits have tumbled 77 per cent as it struggles with slowing economies and weak personal computer sales, prompting it to forecast sluggish sales in the fourth quarter.
YOU NAME IT: The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) last week announced the signing of an agreement with the Museum Domain Management Association (MuseDoma) to oversee the operation of the ".museum" top level domain. It is expected that by early next month ".museum" will become a functioning domain. Over 500 museums have already requested their ".museum" domain names as part of an early registration process that will last until the end of this month.
TAKE IT DOWN: The Business Software Alliance (BSA) said last week it had sent almost 6,000 "take-down" notices to websites worldwide between January and September this year. The watchdog group which polices the illegal use and distribution of computer software said 3,732 sites in Europe and 2,187 US sites, which typically offer unlicensed software for sale or download, had received the notices by e-mail. "The aggressive action we are taking to rid the Internet of illegal software is helping to protect end-users from becoming victims of Internet fraud", said Beth Scott, vice president of BSA Europe.