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Hutchison Telecommunications and Singapore Technologies Telemedia have signed an agreement to acquire a majority interest in Global Crossing. Hutchison Telecommunications, a subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa, and Singapore Technologies will invest a total of USD250 million for a 61.5 percent majority interest in a newly constituted Global Crossing on its emergence from bankruptcy. Reports claim that Global Crossing's creditor groups support the agreement as did a hearing before the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
A UK government resource holding information on 50,000 companies is set to become available over the Web. The Companies Registry, located in Belfast, holds data on limited companies in Northern Ireland including annual accounts, assets and director details. Currently all company documents at the Registry are in paper form. The proposed "e-Companies Registry Service" will give customers access to company files and information via the Internet and a call centre, resulting in faster and wider access to Registry information. It will be phased-in from 2003 to be fully operational by 2005.
According to Reuters, Sun Microsystems says it made loans of USD6.3 million to six current and former executives and directors since 1999. The company said it made the loans to help senior staff with vesting and exercising stock options. Jonathan Schwartz, the company's executive VP for software, obtained loans of USD4 million, according to a filing made with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday.
According to Nielsen//NetRatings, visits to the Web sites of airlines increased by 15 percent in the course of only one week. The rise was observed in the week ending 4 August, as people went on-line to seek out airfare bargains for their summer holidays.
America Online has released Nullsoft Winamp3, the next generation of the popular audio player. Nullsoft Winamp3 has been rebuilt from scratch and carries the Wasabi coding platform which AOL says offers an "enhanced media experience." The player includes video support, richer audio functionality and the ability to customise the look, feel and function of the player.
The Sloan School of Management at MIT has put out a paper outlining research into monitoring people's requests for advice from experts. Their reasoning is that people making requests for advice in an unprompted environment, such as the Net, will allow companies to monitor potential customers' unexpressed needs and wants. More information is available as a pdf on the MIT Web site.
Intel says that former staff member Ken Hamidi trespassed on its property when he sent e-mail to current employees that aired grievances about Intel. Labour and privacy groups in the US say Hamidi was exercising his right to free speech. Now the American Civil Liberties Union and the US Chamber of Commerce are among many groups that have filed friend-of-the-court briefs in Hamidi's California Supreme Court appeal of a ruling forcing him to stop sending e-mail to Intel employees. Civil liberties organisations backing Hamidi claim that if Intel wins, the way organised labour works, how Web sites link and free speech rights are all at risk.
Learning Tree, the computer skills training company, said its fourth quarter numbers will be 15 to 18 percent lower than last year's results, as fewer individuals enrol for classes. Revenue for the quarter, ending next month, will be USD40.5 million to USD42 million, below revenue of USD49.3 million last year, according to the Los Angeles company's quarterly filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
According to the Wall Street Journal, China is going to actively promote the use of the Linux operating system when government offices purchase computer systems. Germany and the UK government sources have also endorsed Linux as an option.
According to the US Customs Service, US and European police forces have made arrests of 20 people who allegedly sexually abused their own children and then traded photographs and tips over the Internet.
The UK government wants to use text, e-mail and chat to allow the public to make appointments with state-run organisations and to send warnings of possible disasters, according to Alan Mather, chief executive of the Office of the e-Envoy's e-Delivery Team. The news of the UK government's ambitions came out during an interview with vnunet.com.
Epson has launched the Stylus C62, an A4 four-colour inkjet printer providing high-speed output. Claimed print speeds for the Stylus C62 are 14ppm in black and white, and 13.9 ppm in colour, and it features a resolution of 5760 x 720 optimised dots per inch when using special photo paper. The recommended retail price is EUR128 including VAT.
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