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The Financial Times reports that the UK government may rush through new laws to jail paedophiles who target children over the Internet. The government will reportedly move to make "on-line grooming" an offence; this is the means by which paedophiles initiate friendships with children over the Internet, often by pretending to be children themselves. The offence could be defined in an upcoming criminal justice bill or as part of an overhaul of sex crime laws.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Internet advertising, syndicated television and national magazines in the US continue to suffer from an ad spending slump. At the same time media sectors like local newspapers and network TV benefited from slight gains in advertising spending during the first half of 2002, which totalled USD46.5 billion, up 2.3 percent compared to the same period in 2001. The numbers from Nielsen Monitor-Plus showed that Internet ad spending fell 8.4 percent to USD3.4 billion.
The same paper reports that Handspring on Monday will launch its Treo combined phone and organiser device for US wireless carrier Sprint PCS. The new Treo 300 will be branded with the Sprint name and will include instant e-mail and instant wireless Web capability.
The Sunday Times carries details from an article in Forbes magazine which describes how executives in 25 of America's biggest companies sold billions of dollars in stock as the value of their firms plummeted. Topping the list was Qwest Communications, whose directors sold USD2.26 billion in stock as the firm's share price tumbled. Chip company Broadcom came next as its directors sold USD2.08 billion in shares, followed by AOL Time Warner, which saw top executives sell USD1.7 billion.
The Sunday Tribune reports that venture capital group Mentor Capital has taken a stake in Donegal Software company Iontas in exchange for EUR600,000 in funding. Iontas makes software to monitor PC activity in call centres, and since it was founded in 2000 the firm has raised almost EUR2 million in funding, excluding this most recent round.
The same paper also reports on Intel's new focus on communications chips (mobile phone chips and networking equipment chips), a sector that the Tribune notes has performed worse than the PC market. Additionally, the paper reports on Microsoft's USD6 billion drive into other sectors this year, including the video game, mobile phone software and Web services industries.
In an unrelated article about the Redmond-based software giant, The Sunday Tribune reports that the former managing director of its Japan operation, Shoji Hasegawa, was given a 2-year suspended sentence and was fined EUR570,00 for selling Microsoft shares purchased in an option scheme, but not paying taxes on the sale.
The Sunday Independent reports that Irish e-learning company SmartForce would be forced to pay USD9 million in "termination" fines if its proposed USD564 million merger with SkillSoft were to collapse. The paper does not speculate on whether the deal will fall through, but does point out that a proposed merger with US company Centra did collapse earlier this year.
The Sunday Business Post reports that an increasing number of IT professionals are leaving Ireland in search of jobs in the US, Britain and Holland. The report does not offer any official statistics but does include interviews with IT professionals and recruiters.
Additionally the paper reports that O2 has played down supply problems with its XDA personal digital assistant. The paper also carries an article that details the woes of computer maker Gateway since its departure from Ireland a year ago this month.
Finally, the Sunday Business Post reports on First Tuesday's latest elevator pitch at the Gravity Bar in the Guinness Storehouse. According to the paper, none of the firms seeking funding at the event are looking for more than EUR10 million in investment.
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