Issue no. 13, 2004
Published: Apr 09, 2004 |
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 EU agrees new rules on technology transfer |
| Mobile phones may harm blood cells - study |
| Japan trade watchdog raids Intel offices |
| Intel moves towards greener chips |
| Microsoft wins round in name case |
| Electronic voting source code released |
| Nanotech health probe gets funding boost |
| Simple email attack could bring down servers |
| Surgeons who play video games err less |
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| EU agrees new rules on technology transfer |
Companies will be allowed to share technology with competitors as long
as together they do not control more than 20 per cent of a market, the
European Commission said on Wednesday, agreeing new rules governing the
pooling of technology between companies. EU Competition Commissioner
Mario Monti hopes that the rules, known as the Technology Transfer Block
Exemption, will bring Europe more in line with the United States.
Technology transfer agreements are common in industry today, allowing
companies to combine their expertise to save time and money when
developing sophisticated products. But Monti feared unbridled exchanges
might lead to cartels that would ultimately put the brakes on new ideas
and lead to higher prices.
Direct competitors will be allowed to share freely ideas as long as
their combined share of a market is not greater than 20 per cent
Non-competitors will be able to license technology if their combined
power represents no more than 30 per cent of a market. Above those
thresholds, the companies must be ready to justify their reasons for
sharing technology to competition authorities. |
| Washington Post / Reuters
Apr 07, 2004 |
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| Mobile phones may harm blood cells - study |
Mobile phone radiation may damage cells by increasing the forces they
exert on each other, according to Swedish scientists. The finding could
be the key to claims that mobile phones cause health problems.
The conventional view has been that radio waves could only damage a cell
if they were energetic enough to break chemical bonds or 'cook' tissue.
But radiation given off by mobile phone handsets is too weak to do this.
The scientists looked at another possibility by modelling the properties
of red blood cells. Water molecules have poles of positive and negative
charge which create forces between cells, which are normally very weak.
The simplified model investigated the effect of radiation in the field
of 850 megahertz - about the range used by mobile phones - on the blood
cells. The molecules all ended up with their poles aligned in the same
direction. The forces between the cells unexpectedly jumped by about 11
orders of magnitude. If confirmed by experiments, the results could give
an explanation for tissue damage. Stronger attractive forces between
cells might make them clump together or cause blood cells to contract. |
| BBC News / New Scientist
Apr 06, 2004 |
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| Japan trade watchdog raids Intel offices |
Japan's Fair Trade Commission raided three offices of chip maker Intel
on Thursday as part of a probe into possible antitrust violations. Intel
faces a similar probe in Europe that stems from complaints by its
archrival, Advanced Micro Devices.
The raids stirs up decade-old allegations from competitors that Intel's
business practices are unfairly aggressive. In the US, Intel faced a
three-year investigation by the Federal Trade Commission that ended in
1993 with no action taken. In 1997, the commission opened up another
investigation, which led to a settlement in 1999 that limited the
company's ability to cut ties with customers that sue it.
In Europe, regulators announced in 2001 that they were investigating
Intel's marketing practices in response to AMD complaints that the
company had used its market position to reward some customers and punish
others to ensure loyalty. |
| Yahoo / Reuters
Apr 08, 2004 |
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| Intel moves towards greener chips |
The world's largest maker of computer chips, Intel, is to reduce the
amount of lead in its products. The plans involve microprocessors and
chip sets, which handle the flow of data between the processor and the
rest of a computer.
E-waste is a mounting problem, with growing concerns that discarded
computers end up in developing countries to be dismantled in ways that
are damaging to the environment and to the health of the workers who
take them apart. Tighter regulations on toxic substances used in
electronic products are forcing manufacturers to look for cleaner
materials. A European Union directive requires companies to stop using
six hazardous materials, including lead, after July 2006.
Intel is following in the footsteps of other manufacturers such as
Japan's NEC in switching to lead-free components. Intel is planning to
reduce the amount of lead by 95 per cent starting later this year. |
| BBC News
Apr 08, 2004 |
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| Microsoft wins round in name case |
Lindows, a firm which markets a user-friendly version of the Linux
operating system, has bowed to Microsoft in a lengthy dispute over its
name. The company said it would no longer be using the Lindows name -
which Microsoft says undermines its Windows brand - outside the US.
Lindows has faced a barrage of legal challenges from Microsoft over the
past three years. It is already prevented from using its name in much of
Europe. Courts in Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands have ruled against
the Lindows brand. And Microsoft wants Dutch authorities to fine the
firm for not blocking internet users in the Benelux countries from
accessing its website. Microsoft has filed similar action against Lindows
in France, Spain, Canada and Mexico, as well as the US.
Lindows has now conceded that it cannot keep the brand going outside the
US, and says it will unveil a new international identity next week. The
company has been asking users for suggestions on a new name. |
| BBC News
Apr 07, 2004 |
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| Electronic voting source code released |
A US company that makes electronic voting machines has taken the
unprecedented decision to make public all its proprietary computer code
for its devices. It hopes this will assuage the fears that the
technology cannot be trusted to carry out free and fair elections.
VoteHere, based in Washington State, has placed the software used to
control its e-voting machines on its website for free downloading. A
'voting machine simulation' is also included that lets programmers see
precisely how the code would work in practice. VoteHere's technology has
yet to be used in any official elections and the company's code includes
a list of improvements that it plans to make.
Electronic voting devices hold the promise of making elections faster,
cheaper and less prone to the disputes over ballot papers that marred
the 2001 US presidential elections. However, many experts maintain no
electronic voting system can be considered secure unless there is also a
back-up paper trail, which no existing systems currently provide. |
| New Scientist
Apr 07, 2004 |
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| Nanotech health probe gets funding boost |
The US Department of Defence has provided a grant to researchers at the
University of Rochester Medical Center to further probe the health risks
of nanotechnology, a growing concern in the industry.
Researchers at the university's EPA Particulate Matter Center, have
already completed one study showing that inhaled nano-size particles
accumulate in the nasal cavities, lungs and brains of rats. This sort of
particulate buildup could lead to inflammation and the risk of central
nervous system disorders, researchers say.
The $5.5 million grant will be used to develop models to predict the
toxicity of certain nanoparticles over a five-year period. Two other
universities will also be involved in the project. |
| ZDNet / CNET News
Apr 07, 2004 |
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| Simple email attack could bring down servers |
A team of computer security experts at the UK-based NGS Software UK have
devised a crafty way to knock out any email server. The trick involves
sending forged emails that contain thousands of incorrect addresses in
the 'copy to' fields that are normally used to send duplicate messages.
The exploit depends on finding a server configured to return an email
plus its attachments to each incorrect address. But this can be tested
by sending just a single message. The next step is to forge an email so
it appears to come from the mail server that is to be the target of the
attack. Finally, the forged email, complete with the thousands of
incorrect addresses is sent. The resulting avalanche of 'bounced'
messages sent to the target server would almost certainly cause it to
crash, and leave its users without access to their mail.
The researchers tested the email servers of all Fortune 500 companies
and found that 30 per cent could be used to launch this type of attack. |
| New Scientist
Apr 06, 2004 |
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| Surgeons who play video games err less |
All those years on the couch playing Nintendo and PlayStation appear to
be paying off for surgeons. US researchers found that doctors who spent
at least three hours a week playing video games made about 37 per cent
fewer mistakes in laparoscopic surgery and performed the task 27 per
cent faster than their counterparts who did not play video games.
Laparoscopic surgery involves making tiny keyhole incisions, inserting a
mini-video camera that sends images to an external video screen, with
the surgical tools remote-controlled by the surgeon watching the screen.
The study was done by researchers with Beth Israel and the National
Institute on Media and the Family at Iowa State University. It was based
on testing 33 fellow doctors - 12 attending physicians and 21 medical
school residents who participated from May to August 2003. Each doctor
completed three video game tasks that tested such factors as motor
skills, reaction time and hand-eye coordination. |
| Yahoo / AP
Apr 07, 2004 |
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