In the papers 9 May

By Sylvia Leatham info@enn.ie Electric News - Friday, May 9 10:28 am

The Irish Times reports that the Houses of the Oireachtas have issued a tender for an encryption system after it emerged that one TD has had two laptops stolen since the general election last June. A Leinster House spokesman has confirmed that two deputies have reported the theft of three laptops -- understood not to have been encrypted -- during the life of the current Dail. The tender covers the provision of encryption for 600 devices used by TDs, Senators and staff. A spokesman said it had been planned to offer encryption 18 months ago, but there was no real demand from users, and as a result the project was put on hold.

The paper also says that US electronics giant Best Buy is to open its first store in Ireland next year, following its purchase of a 50 percent stake in Carphone Warehouse, which operates 70 outlets in the Republic, for STG1.1 billion. Stephen Mackeral, chief executive of Carphone Warehouse Ireland, said the funds would be used to pay down debt and for investment in retail expansion. Carphone Warehouse operates 2,400 stores in nine European countries.

The paper also notes that revenues at cable and broadband firm UPC Ireland came to EUR58.9 million in the three months to the end of March, a rise of 4.8 percent on the same period in 2007. The company, which owns NTL and Chorus, said its operating cash flow rose by 30.6 percent to EUR22.6 million over the same period, while its capital expenditure fell to EUR16.4 million from EUR25.3 million. UPC said it had 86,500 broadband subscribers in Ireland at the end of March.

The same paper notes that StatCounter, an Irish firm that provides free web traffic analysis, has found that most publicly quoted Irish companies are not tracking their web traffic. A survey by the firm found that 62 percent of companies listed on the Irish Stock Exchange do not use web tracking software and 77 percent of IEX-quoted companies are not using a tracker.

The Irish Independent reports that Eircom workers have moved to resist plans by its owners to split the company into separate divisions, claiming customers would suffer. Staff say plans by Babcock & Brown to sell off sections of the company would lead to increased costs for consumers, inefficiencies and a fall-off in network investment. Members of the Communications Workers Union voted unanimously to resist any attempt by Eircom to break up the company into network and retail divisions.

The Financial Times reports that Google's top executives have issued strong public backing for a potential advertising partnership with Yahoo. "We're very excited to work with [Yahoo]," said Sergey Brin, Google co-founder. The two companies shared a culture and had worked together in the past, making a close relationship now easier, he said. However, he stopped short of confirming that the two firms were close to a deal.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the attorneys general of 49 states have reached a sweeping agreement with Facebook that will see the social networking firm implement new safety and privacy rules designed to protect younger users from sexual predators and inappropriate content. Under the terms of the agreement, Facebook will begin to provide automatic warning messages when a child is in danger of giving personal information to an unknown adult, restrict the ability of users to change their listed ages, and act more aggressively to remove inappropriate content and groups from the site.

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