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Issue no. 25, 2004 Published: Jul 09, 2004
EU software patent directive under attack
China, US resolve chip tax issues
US group seeks to overturn 10 patents
World software piracy losses climb to $29 billion
UN takes aim at spam epidemic
US, UK, Australia to fight spam together
European 'online banks could do better'
Brain implants 'read' monkey minds
'Magic ink' that makes metal grow
Evolution could speed net downloads
Fujitsu claims breakthrough in hiding data in images
Broadband delivered by airships?
High-tech messages from the grave

EU software patent directive under attack
The European software patent directive, passed during the EU Competitiveness Council of 18 May, seems set to be reviewed after the Lower House of the Dutch Parliament passed a motion instructing its minister of economic affairs to change the government's vote on the directive from a vote in favour to an abstention. The Dutch parliament argues it thought it was voting on a revised version of the original proposal, containing the amendments made by the European Parliament that allowed patents for industrial inventions but not for pure software. However, that version was discarded by the Council of Ministers, who reverted to the original draft. Officials in other countries, including Denmark, Germany, Poland and Portugal, also say that votes cast by their ministers were not a true indication of their governments' position. This change of circumstances could eventually lead to a new vote by the Competitiveness Council to invalidate its previous decision, making software ineligible for patenting.
EUBusiness / European Patent Office Jul 07, 2004	back to top

China, US resolve chip tax issues
China has agreed to phase out an oft-criticised tax that US companies complained discriminated against foreign semiconductor makers. The Office of the US Trade Representative announced that the two nations have agreed to resolve their differences over China's value-added tax for semiconductors over the next nine months. The agreement settles a case filed in March by the US. The agreement will in all likelihood lead to increasing imports into the fast-growing Chinese markets. Under the system now being phased out, China places a 17 per cent tax on semiconductors but gives local manufacturers rebates, thereby providing them with a substantial advantage. The old system also had the effect of encouraging foreign manufacturers to build facilities in China to take advantage of the rebates, according to US executives and trade groups. Ultimately, the elimination of the tax will probably lead to more chip exports from around the world. Overall, China consumed $19bn worth of semiconductors last year, according to the US Trade Representative.
ZDNet Jul 08, 2004	back to top

US group seeks to overturn 10 patents
A coalition of lawyers, researchers and software experts formed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation will try to overturn 10 internet and software-related patents that the group says are so sweeping they threaten innovation. While most of the patents are held by little-known companies, two industry leaders have also been named: Clear Channel, which has patented a way to distribute recordings of concerts within minutes after they end, and Nintendo, whose patents include some concerning platform software for handheld games. The list of targets was drawn from 200 submissions solicited through the website of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, based in San Francisco. It includes patents covering telephone calls over the internet, streaming audio and video, and online testing. The foundation is not alone in questioning the patent process. A report issued this spring by the National Research Council of the National Academies called for, among other things, improvements in the system for challenging patents.
The New York Times Jul 05, 2004	back to top

World software piracy losses climb to $29 billion
The global trade in pirated software hit nearly $29 billion in 2003, the Business Software Alliance (BSA) said in its annual survey on Wednesday. That value amounted to about 60 per cent of all legal global desktop software sales of $51bn, the BSA said. The losses were greatest in Western Europe, where an estimated $9.6bn of pirated software was installed on machines, followed by Asia and North America. Vietnam and China were singled out as the piracy capitals, accounting for 92 per cent of all computer software installed. Ukraine, Indonesia and Russia again ranked in the top 10, the BSA said. The BSA counts major tech firms including Microsoft, Apple Computer and Intel among its members.
CNN / Reuters Jul 07, 2004	back to top

UN takes aim at spam epidemic
The United Nations is aiming to bring a 'modern day epidemic' of junk e-mail under control within the next two years by standardising legislation around the world to make it easier to prosecute. The International Telecommunications Union is hosting a meeting on spam in Geneva this week that brings together regulators from 60 countries as well as various international organisations. The UN agency said it would put forward examples of anti-spam legislation which countries can adopt to make cross-border cooperation easier. Many states currently have no anti-spamming laws in place, making it difficult to prosecute the international phenomenon. As much as 85 per cent of all e-mail may be categorised as spam, the ITU said, compared to an estimated 35 per cent just one year ago. The vast majority is generated by a few hundred people, but authorities are not able to prosecute many of them under current legislation. Spam and anti- spam protection cost users some $25bn last year, according to the UN.
CNN / AP Jul 07, 2004	back to top

US, UK, Australia to fight spam together
The US Federal Trade Commission said last Friday it had reached an agreement with officials in the UK and Australia to fight spam. Law enforcers from the three countries will work together to track down rogue e-mail marketers who send their messages across national borders to avoid prosecution, the FTC said. Many spammers operate out of the US but route their junk messages through overseas computers to avoid detection and make prosecution more difficult. After a US anti-spam law took effect in January, internet providers said they were getting more spam from abroad. The agreement allows the FTC, three UK agencies and two in Australia to share information and work together to investigate and prosecute rogue marketers who send out billions of dubious pitches each day.
Reuters Jul 02, 2004	back to top

European 'online banks could do better'
Banks' online banking services have succeeded in winning the trust of European web users but huge progress remains to be made, according to the study on internet banking, conducted by the Novemetrie Institute and European Financial Management & Marketing Association (EFMA) in association with Capgemini, HP and Microsoft. The study interviewed 30 directors of European banks and over 1,000 European users of online financial services. The main conclusion: the interviewees attributed a greater level of satisfaction with internet sites - 57 per cent - than with of physical branches (35 per cent) and phone banking (29 per cent). However, users are critical about the lack of valued-added services. 'The development [of value-added] services would cruelly pose the question of the role of branches and those who work there,' according to the study. The report also questions whether the banks' directors are afraid of unbalancing their economic model - which is largely based at the moment on their physical presence.
Silicon.com / ZDNet France Jul 02, 2004	back to top

Brain implants 'read' monkey minds
Brain implants have been used to 'read the minds' of monkeys to predict what they are about to do and even how enthusiastic they are about doing it. It is the first time such high level cognitive brain signals have been decoded and could ultimately lead to more natural thought-activated prosthetic devices for people with paralysis, according to researchers at the California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena, US. By decoding the signals from 96 electrodes in the parietal cortex the researchers were able to predict 67 per cent of the time where in their visual field trained monkeys were planning to reach. This accuracy could be improved to about 88 per cent when the monkeys expected a reward. They could even predict what sort of reward the monkeys were expecting. Previous research has shown how electrodes implanted in the motor cortices can be used to control a robot arm. But this involved recording signals used to control muscles to move the monkey's arm. The new findings could, in theory, allow a paralysed patient to merely specify which object to reach for, and let the robot worry about how it gets there.
New Scientist / Science Jul 08, 2004	back to top

'Magic ink' that makes metal grow
An eco-friendly way of 'growing' metal for circuitry or antennas has been developed by UK firm QinetiQ. The metal printing technique replaces conventional copper etching by using a special ink. Key to the method is the use of special ink, the ingredients of which QMP is keeping a secret. After the ink is printed on to a flexible or rigid surface, the surface is lowed into a tank which contains the electroless solution. The solution is made up of metals which are attracted to the ink. A quarter micron of metal can be grown within two minutes. The metal printing technique could be used to produce radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. It could also be used to help miniaturise devices. Mobile antennas could be printed into the casing of the phone, for example. Or special wallpaper could be printed which could covertly block radio frequencies. The method is 50 per cent cheaper than conventional methods and it is far more environmentally friendly.
BBC News Jul 05, 2004	back to top

Evolution could speed net downloads
Internet download speeds could be improved dramatically by mimicking Darwin's evolution to 'breed' the best networking strategies, say computer scientists. Transferring popular data across the internet repeatedly can be inefficient and costly, so networking companies have developed ways of temporarily storing, or 'caching', data at different locations to reduce costs and increase download speeds. But figuring out where to store data and for how long is a complex problem. To tackle the challenge, researchers of US company Icosystem and the University of Karlsruhe, Germany, used 'genetic algorithms', which mimic Darwinian evolution, to develop strategies for internet servers to use when caching data. When tested on a simulated network of 300 intersections, or 'nodes', the algorithms they developed were twice as fast as the best existing strategy.
New Scientist Jul 05, 2004	back to top

Fujitsu claims breakthrough in hiding data in images
Fujitsu has developed a method of embedding data invisibly within printed pictures. The procedure, commonly known as steganography, will allow numerical information to be hidden within a colour image and accessed via a camera. Steganograghy involves altering an image in a way that cannot be perceived by the human eye, but which can be detected electronically. Fujitsu's technique can apparently hide a 12-digit number in a 1cm square. This would allow data such as phone numbers or a URL to be planted into an image. To extract the information, a user would just have to point their camera phone or PDA at the image. Fujitsu says that consumers could even use its steganographic procedure to add embedded information to personal photos, and print them out at home. Fujitsu is claiming that this is the first time that technology has been developed to hide numerical data within printed images.
Yahoo / ZDNet UK Jul 07, 2004	back to top

Broadband delivered by airships?
A US company aiming to bring broadband to the masses via tiny airships next week plans to dot Atlanta's skies with a flotilla of low-orbiting 'stratellites'. According to Sanswire Networks, fixed wireless equipment on land will send a signal to antennae in stratellites floating high over the city, then to designated areas on the ground. The stratellites are similar to satellites in concept, but they are stationed in the stratosphere like unmanned airships rather than being put in orbit. Balloon-based IP networks already exists. But Stratellites can be positioned much lower in the sky than balloon-based IP networks. That makes it faster to send photos, emails or other forms of uploading onto the internet. Uploads are something that higher-orbiting balloons have problems with. But there is a price to pay for the low-altitude high speeds. The airships are buffeted about in jet streams, and their covers wear down after about 18 months.
Yahoo / CNET News Jul 08, 2004	back to top

High-tech messages from the grave
Inventors usually try to come up with things that will change people's lives. But Robert Barrows of Burlingame, California, is hoping to make an impact after their death. He is patenting video-equipped tombstones to let cemetery visitors watch messages from the dead. Barrows has filed a patent application for a hollow headstone fitted with a flat LCD touch screen (US 2004/85337). It also houses a computer with a hard disc or microchip memory that allows the deceased to speak from the grave through a video message. The tombstone would draw its electricity from the cemetery's lighting system. And to avoid a grave's soundtrack clashing with the one next door, people can also listen through wireless headphones.
New Scientist Jul 08, 2004	back to top