Beijing appears to have taken a page out of Myanmar's playbook by blocking some Internet access amid rioting in Tibet that has already seen as many as 80 people killed, according to the Tibetan government in exile.
China has blocked access to Google News and YouTube in an apparent attempt to stop the spread of video footage related the rioting going on in several cities in Tibet, including the capital Lhasa. Demonstrations in the city started on March 10, a day commemorating the anniversary of a 1959 uprising against Chinese rule after which the spiritual leader of the country, the Dalai Lama, fled to India.
China has said the Dalai Lama is to blame for rioting in the country, and puts the civilian death toll at 13, while adding that police and security forces have also suffered casualties.
The Dalai Lama has denied involvement in the rioting, and said he has "no such power to stop it," in a video of a recent news conference posted on his Web site.
"Whether the Chinese government admits it or not, there is a problem," he said "The Tibetan nation, an ancient nation with an ancient cultural heritage, is actually dying."
China's decision to block access to the sites follows similar government censorship of protests by Myanmar. Last September, Myanmar cut off Internet access entirely to block people from viewing pictures and videos or sending them out of the country. Some analysts at the time said the protests likely spread through the help of the Web, in addition to winning global condemnation of the violent crackdown on protesters there.
Two videos about the situations in Tibet posted on YouTube by the user Amdo2007 both appear to show peaceful demonstrations. The first shows a public gathering, including Tibetan monks in their distinctive saffron robes, while the second video shows what appears to be peaceful marching.
Some videos, including one from Amdo2007, have been "flagged by YouTube's user community" so that users have to verify they are 18 or older by logging in or signing up. The video shows bodies on the streets, protesters throwing rocks at Chinese army vehicles and other images. It may have the most hits, over 80,000 so far, on the subject.
Chinese media and international media have shown footage of buildings burning and crowds damaging store-fronts. Some stations, such as the BBC, picked up photos and other contributions from tourists in Tibet.
Foreign media have been banned from Tibet, according to a CNN video, which says the station has not been able to send a team to report the news. China's own press is run by the state.
(With additional reporting by Sumner Lemon in Beijing.)
Monday, March 17, 2008
BMC to buy BladeLogic for $800 million
BMC Software said Monday that it intends to purchase BladeLogic, a maker of data center automation software, for US$28 per share in cash, or about $800 million.
The company characterized BladeLogic as "the fastest growing company in the fastest growing segment of IT management software" in a statement.
BladeLogic's board of directors has unanimously recommended that the company's stockholders accept BMC's offer, which will occur within the next 10 days, according to a statement.
BMC said the pending purchase will fit into its "business service management" portfolio. The two companies have already worked together to integrate their products, according to BMC.
This would be the latest in a string of recent acquisitions by BMC, which include ProActiveNet, maker of an IT "early warning system," and RealOps, a company specializing in runbook automation software.
Bob Beauchamp, BMC's CEO, said during a conference call that the redundancy between the companies' portfolios is "minimal," which "stands in stark contrast to the overlap seen in acquisitions by many of our competitors."
"We will offer day-one, customer-proven product integration," he added.
Dev Ittycheria, CEO of BladeLogic, also described the company's products as complementary, and declared the pending deal will make BMC the "obvious choice for an IT executive when it comes to managing the data center."
Last week, Citigroup named BladeLogic, among other tech firms, as being ripe for acquisition. Beauchamp indicated that BMC had designs on the company for a while. "We have coveted this business for a long time," he said. "All our evaluations of this technology ... showed BladeLogic was the best product of its type, period. Convincing them to sell this was not an easy process."
Ittycheria said BladeLogic had been "very highly focused on executing [its] stand-alone strategy when approached by BMC."
The entreaty prompted BladeLogic to reach out to a "group of alternative potential buyers who had expressed interest in the past ... ultimately BMC proposed the most compelling transaction," he added.
Stephen Elliot, an analyst with IDC, said via e-mail that the pending deal makes sense for BMC, but argued that the integration work would be broad.
BladeLogic has developed a "solid product portfolio through roles-based controls, granular change and configuration visibility, and application release management," he said, but "BMC must now work hard to integrate a group of products across the client, [runbook automation], server, and application stack."
BMC competes with the likes of IBM and Hewlett-Packard, the latter of which announced a set of data center-related products and services on Monday.
The company characterized BladeLogic as "the fastest growing company in the fastest growing segment of IT management software" in a statement.
BladeLogic's board of directors has unanimously recommended that the company's stockholders accept BMC's offer, which will occur within the next 10 days, according to a statement.
BMC said the pending purchase will fit into its "business service management" portfolio. The two companies have already worked together to integrate their products, according to BMC.
This would be the latest in a string of recent acquisitions by BMC, which include ProActiveNet, maker of an IT "early warning system," and RealOps, a company specializing in runbook automation software.
Bob Beauchamp, BMC's CEO, said during a conference call that the redundancy between the companies' portfolios is "minimal," which "stands in stark contrast to the overlap seen in acquisitions by many of our competitors."
"We will offer day-one, customer-proven product integration," he added.
Dev Ittycheria, CEO of BladeLogic, also described the company's products as complementary, and declared the pending deal will make BMC the "obvious choice for an IT executive when it comes to managing the data center."
Last week, Citigroup named BladeLogic, among other tech firms, as being ripe for acquisition. Beauchamp indicated that BMC had designs on the company for a while. "We have coveted this business for a long time," he said. "All our evaluations of this technology ... showed BladeLogic was the best product of its type, period. Convincing them to sell this was not an easy process."
Ittycheria said BladeLogic had been "very highly focused on executing [its] stand-alone strategy when approached by BMC."
The entreaty prompted BladeLogic to reach out to a "group of alternative potential buyers who had expressed interest in the past ... ultimately BMC proposed the most compelling transaction," he added.
Stephen Elliot, an analyst with IDC, said via e-mail that the pending deal makes sense for BMC, but argued that the integration work would be broad.
BladeLogic has developed a "solid product portfolio through roles-based controls, granular change and configuration visibility, and application release management," he said, but "BMC must now work hard to integrate a group of products across the client, [runbook automation], server, and application stack."
BMC competes with the likes of IBM and Hewlett-Packard, the latter of which announced a set of data center-related products and services on Monday.
Windows Mobile to get Flash, PDF support
In addition to its own Silverlight multimedia technology, Microsoft will support Adobe's competing Flash technology on Windows Mobile phones, the companies planned to announce on Monday.
Microsoft has licensed Adobe Flash Lite, the Flash Player runtime for mobile devices, so that Windows Mobile phone users can view Flash content in the Internet Explorer Mobile browser. Microsoft has also licensed the Adobe Reader LE software, so that Windows Mobile users will be able to view PDF documents.
The announcement means Windows Mobile phones will support both Flash and Silverlight, Microsoft's own fledgling technology that lets developers build multimedia Internet applications that run in browsers.
Microsoft hasn't yet said when it will add the support for Silverlight to Windows Mobile, and nor is it saying when it plans to support the Adobe programs, said Scott Rockfeld, group product manager at Microsoft's Windows Mobile group.
The companies have some integration work ahead of them. "The engineers have to work together to integrate the technology, and then the platforms have to be distributed to OEMs," said Anup Murarka, director of technical marketing for mobile and devices at Adobe. Adobe hopes that the capabilities will be found in phones by the end of the year, "but that's something Microsoft would have to comment on," he said.
Having both Silverlight and Adobe Flash on Windows Mobile is a natural, Rockfeld said. "From a Windows Mobile perspective it comes down to choice," he said. "Flash and Silverlight can provide similar experiences, just like we see in other areas." For example, Microsoft's Live Search and Google Maps, which offer similar services, are both accessible from Windows Mobile phones, he said.
Regardless of which technology users are most drawn to -- Silverlight or Flash -- the technologies both enable the types of multimedia content that phone users are interested in, said Julie Ask, an analyst with Jupiter Research. Her research shows that consumers who have phones that support rich browsing experiences, like the iPhone and some Nokia phones, generate more page views and are more likely to sign up for a data plan with their operator, she said.
"Adding Flash into the user experience on the phone will make it a better one, a richer media experience," Ask said.
Microsoft said last year that it would develop Silverlight for Windows Mobile. Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that Nokia will use Silverlight. Nokia said it planned to ship phones running its Series 60 software that support Silverlight by the end of the year, with Series 40 and its Internet Tablet to follow.
Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and LG are all shipping Flash-enabled devices today, Murarka said. In addition to supporting Flash-based content on Web sites, mobile-phone makers and operators can also use Flash in content like screen savers, wallpapers and animated ring tones. Flash is also used in mobile-phone user interfaces.
Notably absent from the list of handsets using either technology is the iPhone. "We'd love to see Flash come to the iPhone," said Murarka. But just like any other phone maker, Apple would have to work with Adobe to license Flash for the iPhone. "Hopefully when we have the opportunity to review the SDK, and if it's a vehicle to deliver a solution, we would look forward to working with Apple," he said. Apple recently released an SDK that will allow third parties to build applications for the iPhone.
Microsoft has licensed Adobe Flash Lite, the Flash Player runtime for mobile devices, so that Windows Mobile phone users can view Flash content in the Internet Explorer Mobile browser. Microsoft has also licensed the Adobe Reader LE software, so that Windows Mobile users will be able to view PDF documents.
The announcement means Windows Mobile phones will support both Flash and Silverlight, Microsoft's own fledgling technology that lets developers build multimedia Internet applications that run in browsers.
Microsoft hasn't yet said when it will add the support for Silverlight to Windows Mobile, and nor is it saying when it plans to support the Adobe programs, said Scott Rockfeld, group product manager at Microsoft's Windows Mobile group.
The companies have some integration work ahead of them. "The engineers have to work together to integrate the technology, and then the platforms have to be distributed to OEMs," said Anup Murarka, director of technical marketing for mobile and devices at Adobe. Adobe hopes that the capabilities will be found in phones by the end of the year, "but that's something Microsoft would have to comment on," he said.
Having both Silverlight and Adobe Flash on Windows Mobile is a natural, Rockfeld said. "From a Windows Mobile perspective it comes down to choice," he said. "Flash and Silverlight can provide similar experiences, just like we see in other areas." For example, Microsoft's Live Search and Google Maps, which offer similar services, are both accessible from Windows Mobile phones, he said.
Regardless of which technology users are most drawn to -- Silverlight or Flash -- the technologies both enable the types of multimedia content that phone users are interested in, said Julie Ask, an analyst with Jupiter Research. Her research shows that consumers who have phones that support rich browsing experiences, like the iPhone and some Nokia phones, generate more page views and are more likely to sign up for a data plan with their operator, she said.
"Adding Flash into the user experience on the phone will make it a better one, a richer media experience," Ask said.
Microsoft said last year that it would develop Silverlight for Windows Mobile. Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that Nokia will use Silverlight. Nokia said it planned to ship phones running its Series 60 software that support Silverlight by the end of the year, with Series 40 and its Internet Tablet to follow.
Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and LG are all shipping Flash-enabled devices today, Murarka said. In addition to supporting Flash-based content on Web sites, mobile-phone makers and operators can also use Flash in content like screen savers, wallpapers and animated ring tones. Flash is also used in mobile-phone user interfaces.
Notably absent from the list of handsets using either technology is the iPhone. "We'd love to see Flash come to the iPhone," said Murarka. But just like any other phone maker, Apple would have to work with Adobe to license Flash for the iPhone. "Hopefully when we have the opportunity to review the SDK, and if it's a vehicle to deliver a solution, we would look forward to working with Apple," he said. Apple recently released an SDK that will allow third parties to build applications for the iPhone.
King of Spam pleads guilty; faces 26 years in prison
The notorious spammer authorities dubbed "the King of Spam" is facing a possible 26-year jail sentence after pleading guilty in Seattle on Friday to charges of fraud and tax evasion.
Robert Soloway, 28, had already been found guilty of spam charges in several civil cases -- Microsoft won a US$7.8 million judgment against him in 2005 -- but had avoided paying fines in those cases. The criminal charges to which he pleaded guilty on Friday followed his arrest in 2007 by the U.S. Justice Department.
He was arrested on criminal charges brought by the U.S. Department of Justice in May 2007.
In a 2005 discussion group post, Soloway bragged, "I've been sued for hundreds of millions of dollars and have had my business running for over 10 years without ever paying a dime regardless to the outcome of any lawsuits."
That year, Soloway raked in more than $300,000 from his spam operations, according to his plea agreement.
Soloway has avoided fines in the past, but this time around he may not be so lucky. In addition to the jail time he now faces, he has also agreed to discuss his financial assets while being monitored by a lie detector.
While there have been hundreds of spam prosecutions in the U.S., it is extremely rare for spammers to face criminal charges, and those involved in the matter say that Soloway's case could serve as a deterrent to other spammers.
In an interview last month, Microsoft Senior Attorney Aaron Kornblum said he thought the prosecution would make other spammers think twice. "There have not been a large number of criminal CAN-SPAM prosecutions in the U.S.," he said. "This is significant."
Soloway is set to be sentenced on June 20. The prosecution had been seeking $700,000 in damages when Soloway was first charged nearly a year ago.
Robert Soloway, 28, had already been found guilty of spam charges in several civil cases -- Microsoft won a US$7.8 million judgment against him in 2005 -- but had avoided paying fines in those cases. The criminal charges to which he pleaded guilty on Friday followed his arrest in 2007 by the U.S. Justice Department.
He was arrested on criminal charges brought by the U.S. Department of Justice in May 2007.
In a 2005 discussion group post, Soloway bragged, "I've been sued for hundreds of millions of dollars and have had my business running for over 10 years without ever paying a dime regardless to the outcome of any lawsuits."
That year, Soloway raked in more than $300,000 from his spam operations, according to his plea agreement.
Soloway has avoided fines in the past, but this time around he may not be so lucky. In addition to the jail time he now faces, he has also agreed to discuss his financial assets while being monitored by a lie detector.
While there have been hundreds of spam prosecutions in the U.S., it is extremely rare for spammers to face criminal charges, and those involved in the matter say that Soloway's case could serve as a deterrent to other spammers.
In an interview last month, Microsoft Senior Attorney Aaron Kornblum said he thought the prosecution would make other spammers think twice. "There have not been a large number of criminal CAN-SPAM prosecutions in the U.S.," he said. "This is significant."
Soloway is set to be sentenced on June 20. The prosecution had been seeking $700,000 in damages when Soloway was first charged nearly a year ago.
Study: Enterprises warm up to SAAS, but concerns remain
Adoption of hosted applications among large companies jumped last year, but many CIOs and IT managers will not consider these software-as-a-service (SAAS) products due to concerns about security, cost and integration, according to a Forrester Research study.
In a 2007 survey of just over 1,000 IT decision makers, 16 percent said their companies were either already using or piloting SAAS products, a 33 percent increase from 2006.
Those who said they were either interested in or planning to pilot hosted applications remained the same at 46 percent, while those who aren't interested dropped from 41 percent to 37 percent, Forrester said in the report, issued Wednesday.
Respondents who are favorable to SAAS products cite shorter implementation, lower up-front costs and pay-as-you-go pricing as reasons, wrote analyst Liz Herbert, the report's author.
Interest in SAAS isn't consistent across application categories. Popular applications include those for human resources, collaboration and customer relationship management. SAAS is less used for enterprise resource planning, supply chain management and Web 2.0 tools like wikis, blogs and RSS.
Respondents who aren't considering SAAS products cited limitations in the ability for hosted applications to be integrated with software they have installed in-house and to be customized. These IT executives also believe that hosted applications that are leased and paid for under a subscription model cost more in the long run than software that is bought and installed on the company's servers. They also mentioned a variety of security concerns, including fear about having the software and data hosted in a third party's data center and concerns about application performance and availability.
In a 2007 survey of just over 1,000 IT decision makers, 16 percent said their companies were either already using or piloting SAAS products, a 33 percent increase from 2006.
Those who said they were either interested in or planning to pilot hosted applications remained the same at 46 percent, while those who aren't interested dropped from 41 percent to 37 percent, Forrester said in the report, issued Wednesday.
Respondents who are favorable to SAAS products cite shorter implementation, lower up-front costs and pay-as-you-go pricing as reasons, wrote analyst Liz Herbert, the report's author.
Interest in SAAS isn't consistent across application categories. Popular applications include those for human resources, collaboration and customer relationship management. SAAS is less used for enterprise resource planning, supply chain management and Web 2.0 tools like wikis, blogs and RSS.
Respondents who aren't considering SAAS products cited limitations in the ability for hosted applications to be integrated with software they have installed in-house and to be customized. These IT executives also believe that hosted applications that are leased and paid for under a subscription model cost more in the long run than software that is bought and installed on the company's servers. They also mentioned a variety of security concerns, including fear about having the software and data hosted in a third party's data center and concerns about application performance and availability.
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