Industry Round-Up for the W/E 27th January 2012
As January draws to a close here is our weekly round-up of the industry news for the week ending January 27th:
- Web economy to double by 2016
- Digital ‘right to be forgotten’ will be made EU law
- Children left ‘stoned’ by gaming
- Symantec warns customers to stop using its pcAnywhere software
- Watch out for branded domain names
Web Economy to Double by 2016
According to the BCG the value of the web economy in G20 countries will nearly double by 2016 to reach £2.7 trillion.
In a study supported by Google the research suggests that the UK is one of the most advanced e-commerce economies.
Patrick Pichette, Google’s chief financial officer, says:
“Understanding the economic potential of the web should be an urgent priority for leaders… [with] a powerful case for countries and companies to get online and reap the rewards of an age of data”
Read the complete article here.
Digital ‘Right to be Forgotten’ will be Made EU Law
Embarrassing, inaccurate or simply personal data will have to be deleted from the internet and company databases if consumers ask, under a new set of European laws.
It will also mean that consumers will be able to force companies that hold data about them, such as for Tesco’s Clubcard, to remove it.
Quentin Archer, a partner at law firm Hogan Lovells, said:
“The draft regulation will greatly increase the cost of compliance for business, particularly in the UK where we have enjoyed a relatively relaxed but pragmatic, business-friendly regime to date.”
Read the complete article here.
Children Left ‘Stoned’ by Gaming
BCS, the Chartered Institute of IT, reported that a charity has claimed that the young children it works with are left “stoned” after long gaming sessions.
Paul Bowser, who works at Wings South West in Bideford, said:
“We have a number of young people who most of the time look almost stoned, not necessarily on drugs, but just with sleep deprivation because they’re gaming all the time.”
Read the complete article here.
Symantec Warns Customers to Stop Using its pcAnywhere Software
Anti-virus giant Symantec is warning customers to immediately disable their pcAnywhere software, as it leaves PCs on which it is installed especially vulnerable to being hacked.
The company confirmed that “old” source code stolen by a hacking group had exposed vulnerabilities in the remote access program.
Attackers with access to the pcAnywhere source code “have an increased ability to identify vulnerabilities and build new exploits,” Symantec said
Read the complete article here.
Watch out for Branded Domain Names
Brand managers and company owners have until April 12th 2012 to register almost any word they like (including brands) as a domain name.
Rod Beckstrom, chief executive of the ICANN, urged businesses that do not apply to ensure that any new domains do not infringe on their trademarks.
To reach another person on the Internet you have to type an address into your computer – a name or a number. ICANN stands for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, and coordinate the Internet’s naming system.
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