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CRT manufacturers accussed of price fixing
The European Commission has accused manufacturers of cathode-ray tubes of running cartels in the markets for computer monitors and TVs. The Commission didn’t name the companies, but Dutch consumer electronics manufacturer Philips said it had received a formal statement of objections from the Commission. The charges follow a two-year investigation sparked by complaints in 2007 from customers claiming that Philips and five other manufacturers had colluded in order to prevent prices of CRT screens from falling as demand for the old technology almost evaporated.
Big Brother monitoring system planned for India
India plans to set up a centralized system to monitor communications on mobile phones, landlines and the Internet in the country. Indian laws allow the interception and monitoring of communications under certain conditions, including to counter terrorism. A pilot of the new Centralized Monitoring System will start by next June, and will allow government agencies to intercept telecommunications without intervention by network operators. It will also analyse call data records. India’s current system for call monitoring is too reliant on manual intervention, a government minister said.
London Stock Exchange glitches out
The London Stock Exchange stopped electronic trading on Thursday after its fourth major technical problem in just over a year. Intermittent “connectivity issues” for clients trying to use the trading platform prompted the latest shutdown. The exchange shut down at 10.30, an hour after the problems surfaced, switching instead to an offline trading system in which stocks are auctioned, with trades agreed throughout the day and processed later instead. The existing TradElect platform is due to be replaced at the end of 2010 with an open source product from MillenniumIT, a company recently acquired by the stock exchange. The exchange has spent 20 million pounds maintaining and improving the old system over the last six months.
China warns about sequel to tough Panda virus
A new computer worm that China warned Internet users against is an updated version of the Panda Burning Incense virus that infected millions of PCs in the country three years ago, according to McAfee. The new version includes a rootkit, making it harder to detect and remove from infected PCs.
British hacker closer to U.S. extradition
Gary McKinnon, the man accused of hacking into the NASA and Pentagon IT systems in 2001 and 2002, has been dealt another blow in his fight against extradition to the U.S. The British Home Secretary Alan Johnson has turned down an appeal to block the extradition on medical grounds. McKinnon has Asperger’s syndrome.