Two underwater cables in the Mediterranean Sea were damaged on Wednesday morning, dragging Internet connections throughout the Middle East and in parts of Asia to a crawl.
The cables, one operated by Flag Telecom and the other by a consortium of 15 telecommunications operators, account for 75 percent of the network capacity between Europe and the Middle East, according to Stephan Beckert, an analyst with TeleGeography Research.
A third cable was undamaged, but it is older and has far less capacity than the others, he said.
Operators believe the damage was caused by ship anchors during a heavy storm at sea, Beckert said. Wire services reported that ships heading for Egypt's northern coast were diverted due to the storms, and their anchors may have severed the cables several miles from shore.
AT&T confirmed that its service to some areas of the Middle East was affected, but said it was now re-routing traffic. Etisalat, the telecommunications provider in the United Arab Emirates, reported that both Internet traffic and international voice calls were affected by the incident. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, India and all of the Gulf states were affected, Beckert said.
As much as 70 percent of Egypt’s Internet network was down, and over half of India's bandwidth was cut due to the disruption, according to a report from Reuters that cited local officials.
Most of the major operators have backup plans in place for this type of incident, Beckert said. In this case, they'll have to route traffic from the Middle East to Asia, across the Pacific Ocean, through the U.S. and then across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe, he said. That will result in latency problems that will likely lead to sluggish connections until the cables are repaired, he said. The operators in the Middle East told him that they should be able to repair the damages in one to two weeks.
The accident should affect mainly Internet traffic. Voice calls travel over the same cables, but operators will give priority to the voice calls, which take up relatively little capacity but produce more revenue than data traffic. Beckert estimates that 1 percent or less of traffic carried on the cables is voice.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Dell shuts 140 retail kiosks in US
Dell on Wednesday announced the shutdown of retail kiosks in malls throughout the U.S. as it adjusts its evolving product distribution strategy.
The closings comes at a time when Dell is repositioning its retail strategy to attract more customers by selling products through its Web site, retail outlets and over the phone.
Dell had over 140 kiosks, called Dell Direct stores, for customers to buy products, including PCs, TVs and printers. Dell representatives staffed the kiosks and assisted buyers in choosing products and placing orders. The kiosks didn't actually carry inventory so products were shipped to buyers.
This change does not impact Dell Direct stores in Canada, Asia-Pacific and Japan, said Lionel Menchaca, digital media manager at Dell in a blog entry. The company has about 50 stand-alone kiosks outside the U.S.
"We started offering Dell systems through retailers about six months ago, and now customers can buy Dell desktops and laptops through more than 10,000 retail outlets worldwide," Menchaca wrote.
The needs for kiosks declined as retail stores provide more accessibility to Dell products, said Dell spokesman David Frink. The kiosks, introduced in 2002, are being closed immediately, Frink said.
The shutdown might lead to laying off employees who staffed the kiosks, Frink said. He declined to comment on an exact number of layoffs and charges that the company might take relating to the shutdown.
Dell has expanded its in-store offerings over the last six months by signing up retailers globally to sell its products, including Best Buy and Wal-Mart in the U.S., Tesco in the U.K. and Bic Camera in Japan.
The kiosks were just an expansion of the company's online and catalog sales, said David Daoud, an analyst at IDC. "If anything, it shows that Dell doesn't want kiosks to compete with the brick and mortar stores," he said. Customers prefer to buy products online or at a store so having kiosks doesn't fit with Dell's evolving U.S. business model, Daoud said.
However, kiosks will be an effective tool to facilitate brand awareness for Dell in the international and emerging markets, especially for customers who can't go online, Daoud said. Though it has a significant enterprise presence internationally, Dell has the potential to grow in the consumer space, Daoud said.
Dell's retooled retail strategy has helped the company expand its lead over Hewlett-Packard as the largest U.S. PC vendor in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to figures from analyst firms Gartner and IDC. However, HP remained the world's largest PC dealer, topping Dell, Acer and Lenovo, according to figures from both firms.
The closings comes at a time when Dell is repositioning its retail strategy to attract more customers by selling products through its Web site, retail outlets and over the phone.
Dell had over 140 kiosks, called Dell Direct stores, for customers to buy products, including PCs, TVs and printers. Dell representatives staffed the kiosks and assisted buyers in choosing products and placing orders. The kiosks didn't actually carry inventory so products were shipped to buyers.
This change does not impact Dell Direct stores in Canada, Asia-Pacific and Japan, said Lionel Menchaca, digital media manager at Dell in a blog entry. The company has about 50 stand-alone kiosks outside the U.S.
"We started offering Dell systems through retailers about six months ago, and now customers can buy Dell desktops and laptops through more than 10,000 retail outlets worldwide," Menchaca wrote.
The needs for kiosks declined as retail stores provide more accessibility to Dell products, said Dell spokesman David Frink. The kiosks, introduced in 2002, are being closed immediately, Frink said.
The shutdown might lead to laying off employees who staffed the kiosks, Frink said. He declined to comment on an exact number of layoffs and charges that the company might take relating to the shutdown.
Dell has expanded its in-store offerings over the last six months by signing up retailers globally to sell its products, including Best Buy and Wal-Mart in the U.S., Tesco in the U.K. and Bic Camera in Japan.
The kiosks were just an expansion of the company's online and catalog sales, said David Daoud, an analyst at IDC. "If anything, it shows that Dell doesn't want kiosks to compete with the brick and mortar stores," he said. Customers prefer to buy products online or at a store so having kiosks doesn't fit with Dell's evolving U.S. business model, Daoud said.
However, kiosks will be an effective tool to facilitate brand awareness for Dell in the international and emerging markets, especially for customers who can't go online, Daoud said. Though it has a significant enterprise presence internationally, Dell has the potential to grow in the consumer space, Daoud said.
Dell's retooled retail strategy has helped the company expand its lead over Hewlett-Packard as the largest U.S. PC vendor in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to figures from analyst firms Gartner and IDC. However, HP remained the world's largest PC dealer, topping Dell, Acer and Lenovo, according to figures from both firms.
California company introduces new mobile Linux platform
Another mobile Linux platform, this time from Azingo, hit the market on Wednesday, joining an increasingly crowded market of Linux phone software.
Formerly called Celunite, Azingo aims to differentiate itself from the crowd by offering phone makers an entire package, including kernel, middleware, applications, development tools and integration services.
"Mobile Linux has failed because there's a big integration problem," said Michael Mclaughlin, marketing director at Azingo. "People come with piece parts."
For example, companies like Montavista and Wind River make mobile Linux kernels while others like Trolltech, purchased by Nokia just this week, make application development environments. Phone makers typically must buy the different components and then struggle to integrate them. That puts mobile Linux at a disadvantage against some other mobile platforms, like Windows Mobile, which comes complete, he said.
Azingo is offering a complete suite of mobile Linux software but will also help customers integrate different pieces if they choose components from different vendors, said Mclaughlin.
The applications Azingo offers as part of the platform include Web widgets that can deliver information such as weather and traffic, entertainment applications such as video and audio players, and productivity software like e-mail.
Azingo hasn't announced any deals with handset makers planning to use its software. Mclaughlin said the company has been working with some of the well-known vendors and expects handsets running its software to ship in the fourth quarter.
The company isn't the only one offering the market a complete suite of mobile Linux software. A La Mobile has a similar approach, using some of its own software and integrating components from other vendors including Trolltech. GUPP Technologies, a Malaysian company, announced in 2006 that it would use A La Mobile's platform.
Azingo will also compete against Android, Google's high profile Linux-based mobile phone operating platform, which includes an operating system, middleware and applications. Android phones are expected to become available in the second half of this year.
Azingo is a member of the LiMo Foundation, a group founded by Motorola, NTT DoCoMo, Vodafone, Samsung and others to build a mobile Linux platform.
Formerly called Celunite, Azingo aims to differentiate itself from the crowd by offering phone makers an entire package, including kernel, middleware, applications, development tools and integration services.
"Mobile Linux has failed because there's a big integration problem," said Michael Mclaughlin, marketing director at Azingo. "People come with piece parts."
For example, companies like Montavista and Wind River make mobile Linux kernels while others like Trolltech, purchased by Nokia just this week, make application development environments. Phone makers typically must buy the different components and then struggle to integrate them. That puts mobile Linux at a disadvantage against some other mobile platforms, like Windows Mobile, which comes complete, he said.
Azingo is offering a complete suite of mobile Linux software but will also help customers integrate different pieces if they choose components from different vendors, said Mclaughlin.
The applications Azingo offers as part of the platform include Web widgets that can deliver information such as weather and traffic, entertainment applications such as video and audio players, and productivity software like e-mail.
Azingo hasn't announced any deals with handset makers planning to use its software. Mclaughlin said the company has been working with some of the well-known vendors and expects handsets running its software to ship in the fourth quarter.
The company isn't the only one offering the market a complete suite of mobile Linux software. A La Mobile has a similar approach, using some of its own software and integrating components from other vendors including Trolltech. GUPP Technologies, a Malaysian company, announced in 2006 that it would use A La Mobile's platform.
Azingo will also compete against Android, Google's high profile Linux-based mobile phone operating platform, which includes an operating system, middleware and applications. Android phones are expected to become available in the second half of this year.
Azingo is a member of the LiMo Foundation, a group founded by Motorola, NTT DoCoMo, Vodafone, Samsung and others to build a mobile Linux platform.
Mozilla ups Firefox bug threat, slates fix for Feb. 5
Mozilla Corp. bumped up the threat ranking for an unpatched Firefox bug to "high" Tuesday, but promised a fix is coming in Version 2.0.0.12, now slated for release on Feb. 5.
The company's head of security, Window Snyder, confirmed that the browser, when running any of more than 600 add-ons, can be exploited to steal "session information, including session cookies and session history."
Snyder's acknowledgment followed an update by Gerry Eisenhaur, the researcher who first reported the Firefox problem. "There seems to be some confusion about what exactly the severity of this vulnerability is," Eisenhaur said on his hiredhacker.com blog. "This is not a chrome privilege escalation, but it [is] worse than just leaking some variables. I created another demo to read the sessionstore.js file. This will display information regarding your current session, [including] windows, tabs, cookies, etc."
Last week, when Eisenhaur broached the subject, Mozilla rated the threat as only "low," but began working on a patch. Yesterday, Snyder said a patch would be included with Firefox 2.0.0.12, a security update currently scheduled for a Feb. 5 release.
"Firefox is not vulnerable by default," Snyder added Tuesday. "Only users that have installed 'flat' packed add-ons are at risk."
Her caveat may be a moot point for most Firefox users, however, since such add-ons are legion. For example, a partial list posted on Bugzilla, Mozilla's bug management database, runs to more than 600 Firefox extensions, including YouTube-It and Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer. Snyder urged add-on authors to update their extensions by packaging them as .jar (Java Archive) files to make them immune to the vulnerability.
Alternately, Firefox users can install the popular NoScript extension to block exploits, regardless of which add-ons have been installed.
The company's head of security, Window Snyder, confirmed that the browser, when running any of more than 600 add-ons, can be exploited to steal "session information, including session cookies and session history."
Snyder's acknowledgment followed an update by Gerry Eisenhaur, the researcher who first reported the Firefox problem. "There seems to be some confusion about what exactly the severity of this vulnerability is," Eisenhaur said on his hiredhacker.com blog. "This is not a chrome privilege escalation, but it [is] worse than just leaking some variables. I created another demo to read the sessionstore.js file. This will display information regarding your current session, [including] windows, tabs, cookies, etc."
Last week, when Eisenhaur broached the subject, Mozilla rated the threat as only "low," but began working on a patch. Yesterday, Snyder said a patch would be included with Firefox 2.0.0.12, a security update currently scheduled for a Feb. 5 release.
"Firefox is not vulnerable by default," Snyder added Tuesday. "Only users that have installed 'flat' packed add-ons are at risk."
Her caveat may be a moot point for most Firefox users, however, since such add-ons are legion. For example, a partial list posted on Bugzilla, Mozilla's bug management database, runs to more than 600 Firefox extensions, including YouTube-It and Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer. Snyder urged add-on authors to update their extensions by packaging them as .jar (Java Archive) files to make them immune to the vulnerability.
Alternately, Firefox users can install the popular NoScript extension to block exploits, regardless of which add-ons have been installed.
Apple MacBook Air laptops ship, but no stock in stores
Apple Inc. announced Wednesday that it has begun shipping the first MacBook Air laptops to customers, but acknowledged that a planned update to Apple TV has been delayed for up two weeks.
The company's newest laptop, which CEO Steve Jobs called the "world's thinnest" computer when he unveiled it two weeks ago at San Francisco's Macworld, is shipping as of Wednesday, Apple said. The three-pound portable, which retails for US$1,799 in its base configuration with a 1.6GHz IntelCore 2 Duo processor, 2GB of memory, and a 13.3-in. LED-backlit display, is also supposed to be available at retail, in both the company's own stores and its resellers.
Several calls to Apple retail stores in New York, Oregon and elsewhere, however, failed to turn up a MacBook Air. "We haven't gotten our filthy little hands on them yet," said a sales rep at the store on West 14th St. in Manhattan. When told that Apple had announced the Air's availability, however, he added: "That's good news. It means we'll have them in in two days."
He expects that his store will stock both the base model, and the $3,098 configuration that features a slightly faster processor and swaps out the traditional platter-based hard drive for a faster 64GB SSD (Solid State Drive) built form flash memory.
The Cupertino, Calif. computer and consumer electronics maker also revealed a delay in the free software update for current owners of Apple TV, the content-serving appliance that Jobs put central to Apple's entry into downloaded movie rentals.
"The new Apple TV software update...is not quite finished," Apple said in a statement Wednesday. "Apple now plans to make the free software download available to existing Apple TV customers in another week or two." When Jobs touted the revamped Apple TV Jan. 15, he said the update would be delivered in about two weeks.
Apple did not provide a reason for the delay, saying only: "The new Apple TV software will be available as a free automatic download to all Apple TV customers within two weeks." New Apple TV units -- which cost $229 for a 40GB model, $329 for a 160GB device, and sport the new software -- ship to customers within 24 hours from Apple's online store, according to information on the site.
The company's newest laptop, which CEO Steve Jobs called the "world's thinnest" computer when he unveiled it two weeks ago at San Francisco's Macworld, is shipping as of Wednesday, Apple said. The three-pound portable, which retails for US$1,799 in its base configuration with a 1.6GHz IntelCore 2 Duo processor, 2GB of memory, and a 13.3-in. LED-backlit display, is also supposed to be available at retail, in both the company's own stores and its resellers.
Several calls to Apple retail stores in New York, Oregon and elsewhere, however, failed to turn up a MacBook Air. "We haven't gotten our filthy little hands on them yet," said a sales rep at the store on West 14th St. in Manhattan. When told that Apple had announced the Air's availability, however, he added: "That's good news. It means we'll have them in in two days."
He expects that his store will stock both the base model, and the $3,098 configuration that features a slightly faster processor and swaps out the traditional platter-based hard drive for a faster 64GB SSD (Solid State Drive) built form flash memory.
The Cupertino, Calif. computer and consumer electronics maker also revealed a delay in the free software update for current owners of Apple TV, the content-serving appliance that Jobs put central to Apple's entry into downloaded movie rentals.
"The new Apple TV software update...is not quite finished," Apple said in a statement Wednesday. "Apple now plans to make the free software download available to existing Apple TV customers in another week or two." When Jobs touted the revamped Apple TV Jan. 15, he said the update would be delivered in about two weeks.
Apple did not provide a reason for the delay, saying only: "The new Apple TV software will be available as a free automatic download to all Apple TV customers within two weeks." New Apple TV units -- which cost $229 for a 40GB model, $329 for a 160GB device, and sport the new software -- ship to customers within 24 hours from Apple's online store, according to information on the site.
New attack proves critical Windows bug 'highly exploitable'
Security researchers Tuesday said they'd discredited Microsoft's claim that the year's first critical Windows vulnerability would be "difficult and unlikely" to be exploited by attackers.
On Tuesday, Immunity Inc. updated a working exploit for the TCP/IP flaw spelled out Jan. 8 in Microsoft's MS08-001 security bulletin, and posted a Flash demonstration of the attack on its Web site. The exploit, which was released to customers of its CANVAS penetration testing software -- but is not available to the public -- was a revised version of code first issued two weeks ago.
"This demonstrates conclusively that the MS08-001 IGMPv3 vulnerability is highly exploitable," said Dave Aitel, Immunity's chief technology officer, in a message to his Dailydave security mailing list.
Aitel's assertion challenged Microsoft's earlier assessment that "there are a number of factors that make exploitation of this issue difficult and unlikely in real-world conditions."
Immunity did acknowledge that its newest exploit was not 100% reliable, however.
Other security companies reacted to the revamped attack code and Flash proof by issuing new alerts. Symantec Corp., for instance, sent a new warning to customers of its DeepSight threat network. "The exploit demonstrates remote code execution," noted Symantec. "The exploit works against Windows XP SP2 English Default [and shows] two Windows XP SP2 computers on a local subnet with firewall enabled being compromised."
It urged users who have not already deployed the patches Microsoft issued Jan. 8 to do immediately.
Previously, Aitel had called out the IGMP (Internet Group Management Protocol) vulnerability as a potential blockbuster for 2008. In a detailed analysis of the flaw and its exploitation, Symantec agreed that the reward to hackers would be large even if replicating Immunity's work might be tough.
"Although exploitation of a remote kernel flaw is considered quite difficult, over the past few years numerous papers have been released on the subject," the Symantec analysis noted. "Examples of exploits successfully leveraging such flaws have also been released to the public. Therefore, we assume that this issue will be exploited in the wild to execute arbitrary code. Deploy patches immediately."
Successful attacks by the Immunity exploit -- and any similar to it developed by others -- allows arbitrary code to execute within the context of the Windows kernel, said Symantec, an especially egregious scenario for Windows Vista.
"This is especially critical on Vista, due to its enhanced kernel security mechanisms," said Symantec. "A local user, even an admin, may have difficultly introducing unsigned code into the kernel, but in this case, it can be done remotely without any authentication whatsoever.
"This vulnerability presents an opportunity to not only execute arbitrary code on the system, but also to install backdoors and other malicious tools as well as a rootkit, which may normally be more difficult with a typical remote userland vulnerability."
In its Jan. 8 MS08-001 bulletin, Microsoft ranked the IGMP flaw as "Critical" for Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista, Windows Small Business Server and Windows Home Server. On other versions, including Windows Server 2003, the bug rated an "Important" label.
On Tuesday, Immunity Inc. updated a working exploit for the TCP/IP flaw spelled out Jan. 8 in Microsoft's MS08-001 security bulletin, and posted a Flash demonstration of the attack on its Web site. The exploit, which was released to customers of its CANVAS penetration testing software -- but is not available to the public -- was a revised version of code first issued two weeks ago.
"This demonstrates conclusively that the MS08-001 IGMPv3 vulnerability is highly exploitable," said Dave Aitel, Immunity's chief technology officer, in a message to his Dailydave security mailing list.
Aitel's assertion challenged Microsoft's earlier assessment that "there are a number of factors that make exploitation of this issue difficult and unlikely in real-world conditions."
Immunity did acknowledge that its newest exploit was not 100% reliable, however.
Other security companies reacted to the revamped attack code and Flash proof by issuing new alerts. Symantec Corp., for instance, sent a new warning to customers of its DeepSight threat network. "The exploit demonstrates remote code execution," noted Symantec. "The exploit works against Windows XP SP2 English Default [and shows] two Windows XP SP2 computers on a local subnet with firewall enabled being compromised."
It urged users who have not already deployed the patches Microsoft issued Jan. 8 to do immediately.
Previously, Aitel had called out the IGMP (Internet Group Management Protocol) vulnerability as a potential blockbuster for 2008. In a detailed analysis of the flaw and its exploitation, Symantec agreed that the reward to hackers would be large even if replicating Immunity's work might be tough.
"Although exploitation of a remote kernel flaw is considered quite difficult, over the past few years numerous papers have been released on the subject," the Symantec analysis noted. "Examples of exploits successfully leveraging such flaws have also been released to the public. Therefore, we assume that this issue will be exploited in the wild to execute arbitrary code. Deploy patches immediately."
Successful attacks by the Immunity exploit -- and any similar to it developed by others -- allows arbitrary code to execute within the context of the Windows kernel, said Symantec, an especially egregious scenario for Windows Vista.
"This is especially critical on Vista, due to its enhanced kernel security mechanisms," said Symantec. "A local user, even an admin, may have difficultly introducing unsigned code into the kernel, but in this case, it can be done remotely without any authentication whatsoever.
"This vulnerability presents an opportunity to not only execute arbitrary code on the system, but also to install backdoors and other malicious tools as well as a rootkit, which may normally be more difficult with a typical remote userland vulnerability."
In its Jan. 8 MS08-001 bulletin, Microsoft ranked the IGMP flaw as "Critical" for Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista, Windows Small Business Server and Windows Home Server. On other versions, including Windows Server 2003, the bug rated an "Important" label.
EnterpriseWizard offers customizable CRM
EnterpriseWizard this week is releasing the 2.0 version of its CRM application, a product built on top of its SaaSWizard Web application development platform and designed to be easily customizable.
EnterpriseWizard 2.0 employs templates and drag-and-drop style customization of tables and fields through a browser-based interface. Users can also define business rules, sketch out workflows and generate reports. Other new features include an improved search engine and the ability to automatically transmit information from a client computer when a trouble ticket is sent out.
The SaaSWizard platform represents "man-centuries of development," rather than the man-hours usually used as a measure, according to CEO Colin Earl. But EnterpriseWizard is not alone in offering end users the ability to change its application. SAP's recently unveiled CRM 2007 product features an Web 2.0-style interface that users can manipulate to their liking.
A difference lies in EnterpriseWizard's underlying business model. Earl said his company is looking to partner with systems integrators and value-added resellers. The company hopes they will use the core SaaSWizard platform to create and sell customized applications -- both CRM (customer relationship management) and other types -- to customers in vertical industries.
"Our vision is not to build these products ourselves," he said.
Many on-demand software companies have the wrong idea, he argued. "What I see happening in the market is the SAAS vendors have a direct sales model, and they are effectively trying to take the whole pie for themselves. I think this is a strategic mistake," he said.
While the J2EE-based product is available on-demand, it is also possible to deploy it on an internal server, a fact that drew a nod from one close observer of the CRM scene.
"Generally, the fact they offer both on-premise and SAAS is great -- we feel customers like the choice of being able to move seamlessly between the two environments, assuming the two products are functionally the same," China Martens, an analyst with the 451 Group, said via e-mail.
"It's impressive they've retained high-end customers over years such as Chevron and have a bit under 400 customers in total," she added. "If they do want to garner more attention amid the plethora of their competition, we'd expect them to seek some VC funding, also advice from VCs as to how to best grow their business."
The company has about 40 employees and financially is "very healthy" these days, according to Earl, though he acknowledges that the years spent developing SaaSWizard were "pretty lean."
EnterpriseWizard costs US$65 per staff user per month for the hosted product, and $950 per staff user if it is purchased outright on Linux, with unlimited end-user access, according to a spokesman. The company also offers the software for purchase on Windows or Solaris for about $1,150 per staff user.
End users have limited capabilities, including the ability to submit and update their own records, whereas staff users -- such as sales representatives -- have a more sophisticated interface and can gain the ability to change records from other users, the spokesman said.
EnterpriseWizard 2.0 employs templates and drag-and-drop style customization of tables and fields through a browser-based interface. Users can also define business rules, sketch out workflows and generate reports. Other new features include an improved search engine and the ability to automatically transmit information from a client computer when a trouble ticket is sent out.
The SaaSWizard platform represents "man-centuries of development," rather than the man-hours usually used as a measure, according to CEO Colin Earl. But EnterpriseWizard is not alone in offering end users the ability to change its application. SAP's recently unveiled CRM 2007 product features an Web 2.0-style interface that users can manipulate to their liking.
A difference lies in EnterpriseWizard's underlying business model. Earl said his company is looking to partner with systems integrators and value-added resellers. The company hopes they will use the core SaaSWizard platform to create and sell customized applications -- both CRM (customer relationship management) and other types -- to customers in vertical industries.
"Our vision is not to build these products ourselves," he said.
Many on-demand software companies have the wrong idea, he argued. "What I see happening in the market is the SAAS vendors have a direct sales model, and they are effectively trying to take the whole pie for themselves. I think this is a strategic mistake," he said.
While the J2EE-based product is available on-demand, it is also possible to deploy it on an internal server, a fact that drew a nod from one close observer of the CRM scene.
"Generally, the fact they offer both on-premise and SAAS is great -- we feel customers like the choice of being able to move seamlessly between the two environments, assuming the two products are functionally the same," China Martens, an analyst with the 451 Group, said via e-mail.
"It's impressive they've retained high-end customers over years such as Chevron and have a bit under 400 customers in total," she added. "If they do want to garner more attention amid the plethora of their competition, we'd expect them to seek some VC funding, also advice from VCs as to how to best grow their business."
The company has about 40 employees and financially is "very healthy" these days, according to Earl, though he acknowledges that the years spent developing SaaSWizard were "pretty lean."
EnterpriseWizard costs US$65 per staff user per month for the hosted product, and $950 per staff user if it is purchased outright on Linux, with unlimited end-user access, according to a spokesman. The company also offers the software for purchase on Windows or Solaris for about $1,150 per staff user.
End users have limited capabilities, including the ability to submit and update their own records, whereas staff users -- such as sales representatives -- have a more sophisticated interface and can gain the ability to change records from other users, the spokesman said.
FTC settles with advertiser for spam campaign
An online advertiser that drove traffic to its Web sites by sending out spam with misleading subject lines has agreed to settle a U.S. Federal Communications Commission complaint charging that it failed to tell consumers they had to spend money to receive so-called free products, the FTC announced Wednesday.
The settlement requires Member Source Media to disclose the costs and obligations associated with the advertised products and services, and bars the company from sending e-mail that violates the CAN-SPAM Act, which regulates the sending of unsolicited e-mail. The company must also pay US$200,000 in civil penalties, according to the settlement approved Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
Member Source Media -- doing business as ConsumerGain.com, PremiumPerks.com, FreeRetailRewards.com, and GreatAmericanGiveaways.com -- and the company’s owner, Chris Sommer, used deceptive spam and online advertising to lure customers to its Web sites, the FTC alleged.
The company used e-mail subject lines such as, "Congratulations. You've won an iPod Video Player," "Here are 2 free iPod Nanos for You: confirm now," and "Second Attempt: Target Gift Card Inside," the FTC said in a press release. The company’s Web-based ads contained similar offers: "CONGRATULATIONS! You Have Been Chosen To Receive a FREE GATEWAY LAPTOP."
When consumers arrived at Member Source Media's Web pages, they were led through a series of ads for goods and services from third parties.
To qualify for their "free products," consumers would have to first wade through pages of "optional" offers. Once they navigated those pages, they had to participate in a series of third-party promotions requiring them to do things such as purchase products, subscribe to satellite television service, or apply for multiple credit cards, the FTC said.
Member Source Media's failure to disclose material facts was deceptive and violated the FTC Act, the FTC said. In addition, the agency charged that deceptive subject lines in Member Source Media's spam e-mails violated the federal CAN-SPAM Act.
The settlement requires that Member Source Media clearly disclose in its ads and on its Web pages that consumers have to spend money or incur other obligations to qualify for a free product or service. The settlement also requires the company to provide a list of the obligations a consumer is likely to incur to qualify for their chosen item -- such as applying for credit cards or purchasing products.
The settlement requires Member Source Media to disclose the costs and obligations associated with the advertised products and services, and bars the company from sending e-mail that violates the CAN-SPAM Act, which regulates the sending of unsolicited e-mail. The company must also pay US$200,000 in civil penalties, according to the settlement approved Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
Member Source Media -- doing business as ConsumerGain.com, PremiumPerks.com, FreeRetailRewards.com, and GreatAmericanGiveaways.com -- and the company’s owner, Chris Sommer, used deceptive spam and online advertising to lure customers to its Web sites, the FTC alleged.
The company used e-mail subject lines such as, "Congratulations. You've won an iPod Video Player," "Here are 2 free iPod Nanos for You: confirm now," and "Second Attempt: Target Gift Card Inside," the FTC said in a press release. The company’s Web-based ads contained similar offers: "CONGRATULATIONS! You Have Been Chosen To Receive a FREE GATEWAY LAPTOP."
When consumers arrived at Member Source Media's Web pages, they were led through a series of ads for goods and services from third parties.
To qualify for their "free products," consumers would have to first wade through pages of "optional" offers. Once they navigated those pages, they had to participate in a series of third-party promotions requiring them to do things such as purchase products, subscribe to satellite television service, or apply for multiple credit cards, the FTC said.
Member Source Media's failure to disclose material facts was deceptive and violated the FTC Act, the FTC said. In addition, the agency charged that deceptive subject lines in Member Source Media's spam e-mails violated the federal CAN-SPAM Act.
The settlement requires that Member Source Media clearly disclose in its ads and on its Web pages that consumers have to spend money or incur other obligations to qualify for a free product or service. The settlement also requires the company to provide a list of the obligations a consumer is likely to incur to qualify for their chosen item -- such as applying for credit cards or purchasing products.
Is $.20 enough to stop domain tasters? ICANN thinks so
A proposal by the overseer of the Internet's addressing system could make it a lot easier for people to reserve the domain name they want for their Web site.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is considering keeping the annual fee it charges registries for a registered domain name, even if the domain name is forfeited during the five-day Add Grace Period. ICANN currently charges US$0.20 per domain per year.
The move is intended to stop "domain tasting," a practice where thousands of domain names are purchased at a time and monitored to see which get the most traffic during the grace period, said Jason Keenan, media advisor for ICANN.
The grace period is intended to let people get a refund if they make a spelling mistake while registering a domain. But rogue registrars have been abusing the grace period by setting up thousands of Web sites stuffed with advertising links on newly registered domains.
The domain tasters then keep the ones that generate the most click-through advertising revenue and forfeit the unprofitable domains for a refund before the grace period expires. Some registrars have been known to repeatedly register and unregister domain names as the five-day grace period expires, essentially never paying for use of a domain.
Domain tasting is a problem for users since it means a domain they want to purchase may be temporarily or permanently unavailable. It also means more low-quality Web pages on the Internet that are designed only for generating advertising revenue.
The imposition of a fee would make it a lot more expensive for domain tasters, Keenan said.
"Right now you can go and register a million different names for five days and the cost is zero," Keenan said. "If this [proposal] comes through, the cost is $1 for five [domains]. It really changes the fiscal model of tasting."
A study released earlier this month by ICANN shows how bad the problem has become over the last two years. In January 2005, there were 1.7 million .com and .net domains registered. Of those, 700,000, or 41 percent, were deleted during the grace period, for a total net increase of 1 million domains.
During January 2007, 51 million domains were registered, but 48 million were deleted, or about 94 percent. "There was a net increase of 3 million names but most of the rest were just being 'tasted'," the report said.
The fee is also expected to put the brakes on another practice, known as "front running." Some ISPs and registries sell records of what domain names people have searched for, and those domains will end up being "tasted," said Susan Wade, spokeswoman for Network Solutions, a registry.
Often the tasters will try to sell those domains at inflated prices, she said. Network Solutions has tried to stop the behavior by registering a domain name for four days after someone conducts a search for one on its Web site.
Critics have decried the approach, saying that it forces customers to pay Network Solutions for a domain or face further competition when the domain goes back on the market. Wade countered that Network Solutions doesn't charge any more for the domain, and it prevents the domain from being immediately scooped up by a taster.
However, Wade said Network Solutions will stop the practice if ICANN imposes a fee.
"At that point, we believe that our customers would no longer need protection from front running," Wade said in an e-mail.
The fee proposal is contained within ICANN's 2009 fiscal budget, which will be discussed in Paris in June, Keenan said. It must be approved by ICANN's board as part of the budget.
It must also be approved by registrars that comprise two-thirds of the revenue ICANN receives from domain registrations, Keenan said. There are about 900 or so registrars for the seven generic Top Level Domains (TLDs) that have the Add Grace Period: com .net .org .info .name .pro and .biz, he said.
Registrars have been complaining to ICANN about domain tasting for some time and appear ready to support the plan. Some registrars, such as GoDaddy.com, have dissuaded tasters from using their registration services by reserving the right to charge a fee even for domains that are returned within the five-day period.
Network Solutions also deflects tasters by not issuing bulk refunds for registrations before the five-day grace period expires, Wade said.
However, most tasters end up become registrars themselves, said Warren Adelman, GoDaddy's president and chief operating officer. "We hope that we are really beginning to see the end of an era of what's been negative behavior," he said.
The only other option to stopping tasting would be to get rid of the grace period, which would hurt users, said John Levine, an author and technology consultant. The fee is the easiest route, he said.
"It will definitely stop domain tasting," Levine said. "It's clear they [tasters] have to register several hundred domains to find one that will pay off. It's pretty hard to find a hither-to-unknown domain to find $50 of revenue."
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is considering keeping the annual fee it charges registries for a registered domain name, even if the domain name is forfeited during the five-day Add Grace Period. ICANN currently charges US$0.20 per domain per year.
The move is intended to stop "domain tasting," a practice where thousands of domain names are purchased at a time and monitored to see which get the most traffic during the grace period, said Jason Keenan, media advisor for ICANN.
The grace period is intended to let people get a refund if they make a spelling mistake while registering a domain. But rogue registrars have been abusing the grace period by setting up thousands of Web sites stuffed with advertising links on newly registered domains.
The domain tasters then keep the ones that generate the most click-through advertising revenue and forfeit the unprofitable domains for a refund before the grace period expires. Some registrars have been known to repeatedly register and unregister domain names as the five-day grace period expires, essentially never paying for use of a domain.
Domain tasting is a problem for users since it means a domain they want to purchase may be temporarily or permanently unavailable. It also means more low-quality Web pages on the Internet that are designed only for generating advertising revenue.
The imposition of a fee would make it a lot more expensive for domain tasters, Keenan said.
"Right now you can go and register a million different names for five days and the cost is zero," Keenan said. "If this [proposal] comes through, the cost is $1 for five [domains]. It really changes the fiscal model of tasting."
A study released earlier this month by ICANN shows how bad the problem has become over the last two years. In January 2005, there were 1.7 million .com and .net domains registered. Of those, 700,000, or 41 percent, were deleted during the grace period, for a total net increase of 1 million domains.
During January 2007, 51 million domains were registered, but 48 million were deleted, or about 94 percent. "There was a net increase of 3 million names but most of the rest were just being 'tasted'," the report said.
The fee is also expected to put the brakes on another practice, known as "front running." Some ISPs and registries sell records of what domain names people have searched for, and those domains will end up being "tasted," said Susan Wade, spokeswoman for Network Solutions, a registry.
Often the tasters will try to sell those domains at inflated prices, she said. Network Solutions has tried to stop the behavior by registering a domain name for four days after someone conducts a search for one on its Web site.
Critics have decried the approach, saying that it forces customers to pay Network Solutions for a domain or face further competition when the domain goes back on the market. Wade countered that Network Solutions doesn't charge any more for the domain, and it prevents the domain from being immediately scooped up by a taster.
However, Wade said Network Solutions will stop the practice if ICANN imposes a fee.
"At that point, we believe that our customers would no longer need protection from front running," Wade said in an e-mail.
The fee proposal is contained within ICANN's 2009 fiscal budget, which will be discussed in Paris in June, Keenan said. It must be approved by ICANN's board as part of the budget.
It must also be approved by registrars that comprise two-thirds of the revenue ICANN receives from domain registrations, Keenan said. There are about 900 or so registrars for the seven generic Top Level Domains (TLDs) that have the Add Grace Period: com .net .org .info .name .pro and .biz, he said.
Registrars have been complaining to ICANN about domain tasting for some time and appear ready to support the plan. Some registrars, such as GoDaddy.com, have dissuaded tasters from using their registration services by reserving the right to charge a fee even for domains that are returned within the five-day period.
Network Solutions also deflects tasters by not issuing bulk refunds for registrations before the five-day grace period expires, Wade said.
However, most tasters end up become registrars themselves, said Warren Adelman, GoDaddy's president and chief operating officer. "We hope that we are really beginning to see the end of an era of what's been negative behavior," he said.
The only other option to stopping tasting would be to get rid of the grace period, which would hurt users, said John Levine, an author and technology consultant. The fee is the easiest route, he said.
"It will definitely stop domain tasting," Levine said. "It's clear they [tasters] have to register several hundred domains to find one that will pay off. It's pretty hard to find a hither-to-unknown domain to find $50 of revenue."
Congress extends surveillance law for 15 days
Following an appeal from President George W. Bush on Monday, the U.S. Congress has granted a temporary extension to a controversial law that allows the government to conduct telephone surveillance on suspected terrorists.
On Tuesday Congress voted to extend for 15 days The Protect America Act, which allows the U.S. National Security Agency to intercept phone calls and e-mail of suspected terrorists without first obtaining a court warrant. The act was due to expire Friday, but Bush called for its extension Monday during his final State of the Union address.
The debate to extend the act was led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat. His efforts to extend the act for 30 days began Monday; by late Tuesday, Congress decided on a 15-day extension by a voice vote. Some Democratic lawmakers were in favor of only a temporary extension because they wanted time to consider a more permanent measure.
Bush and some Republican lawmakers were hoping for longer extension of the act, which also provides legal protection for telecommunications carriers that are cooperating with the NSA. Without protection, the carriers face privacy lawsuits from those under surveillance.
The Protect America Act has been surrounded by controversy since Bush signed it in August. Congress is expected to continue debating whether to renew the act or to give carriers immunity from legal proceedings -- or compromise on some combination of both -- during the 15-day extension period.
On Tuesday Congress voted to extend for 15 days The Protect America Act, which allows the U.S. National Security Agency to intercept phone calls and e-mail of suspected terrorists without first obtaining a court warrant. The act was due to expire Friday, but Bush called for its extension Monday during his final State of the Union address.
The debate to extend the act was led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat. His efforts to extend the act for 30 days began Monday; by late Tuesday, Congress decided on a 15-day extension by a voice vote. Some Democratic lawmakers were in favor of only a temporary extension because they wanted time to consider a more permanent measure.
Bush and some Republican lawmakers were hoping for longer extension of the act, which also provides legal protection for telecommunications carriers that are cooperating with the NSA. Without protection, the carriers face privacy lawsuits from those under surveillance.
The Protect America Act has been surrounded by controversy since Bush signed it in August. Congress is expected to continue debating whether to renew the act or to give carriers immunity from legal proceedings -- or compromise on some combination of both -- during the 15-day extension period.
E.U. lawmakers question telecom regulation proposal
Controversial aspects of the European Commission's plan to increase competition throughout the European Union telecommunications sector came under heavy fire late Tuesday by the industry committee of the European Parliament.
The planned reforms, known collectively as the "telecoms review," are designed to increase choice and lower costs for consumers.
Parliamentary committee members from across the political spectrum raised a red flag over two key, and much-debated, aspects of the review: plans to create a pan-E.U. regulator and to force a functional separation of services from former telecommunications monopolies.
The parliamentary committee described Tuesday's session as a preliminary exchange of views. However, if the Commission does not address the parliamentary concerns, the committee could push for changes to the planned reforms.
Several members of the committee questioned whether a supranational regulator, dubbed the European Electronic Communications Market Authority (EECMA), is necessary.
"Who is guaranteeing the independence of the new agency?" asked Pilar del Castillo, of Spain's conservative People's Party.
French Socialist Catherine Trautmann asked how the Commission would deal with possible conflicts between national regulators and the new agency. Trautmann is the committee's rapporteur on the telecom review, which means that she will lead the debate in the committee.
Alexander Alvaro, a German Liberal, questioned the Commission's plan to make the EECMA responsible for the functions of the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA), an E.U. body in charge of network security, as well as much of the work of the national telecom regulators. "I'm not sure whether this would lock two different species into one cage," Alvaro said.
The Commission believes functional separation -- the splitting of telecom infrastructure and networks from services -- is a necessary weapon to use against former national monopolies that continue to obstruct fair competition in the services sector.
"Functional separation tries to achieve an equivalence of access," Fabio Colasanti, the Commission's director general in charge of telecom, told parliamentary committee members. He added that the Commission wants to "re-establish the equality of opportunity" among service providers.
However, many committee members appeared skeptical and were concerned about the costs and benefits of functional separation.
Several other committees will also assess the planned changes. The parliament as a whole has the power to block the proposals, as do the 27 national governments of the E.U. However, a vote on the telecom review by the parliament remains a long way off. Telecom Commissioner Viviane Reding, architect of the proposed changes, expects the review to become law in 2009.
The planned reforms, known collectively as the "telecoms review," are designed to increase choice and lower costs for consumers.
Parliamentary committee members from across the political spectrum raised a red flag over two key, and much-debated, aspects of the review: plans to create a pan-E.U. regulator and to force a functional separation of services from former telecommunications monopolies.
The parliamentary committee described Tuesday's session as a preliminary exchange of views. However, if the Commission does not address the parliamentary concerns, the committee could push for changes to the planned reforms.
Several members of the committee questioned whether a supranational regulator, dubbed the European Electronic Communications Market Authority (EECMA), is necessary.
"Who is guaranteeing the independence of the new agency?" asked Pilar del Castillo, of Spain's conservative People's Party.
French Socialist Catherine Trautmann asked how the Commission would deal with possible conflicts between national regulators and the new agency. Trautmann is the committee's rapporteur on the telecom review, which means that she will lead the debate in the committee.
Alexander Alvaro, a German Liberal, questioned the Commission's plan to make the EECMA responsible for the functions of the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA), an E.U. body in charge of network security, as well as much of the work of the national telecom regulators. "I'm not sure whether this would lock two different species into one cage," Alvaro said.
The Commission believes functional separation -- the splitting of telecom infrastructure and networks from services -- is a necessary weapon to use against former national monopolies that continue to obstruct fair competition in the services sector.
"Functional separation tries to achieve an equivalence of access," Fabio Colasanti, the Commission's director general in charge of telecom, told parliamentary committee members. He added that the Commission wants to "re-establish the equality of opportunity" among service providers.
However, many committee members appeared skeptical and were concerned about the costs and benefits of functional separation.
Several other committees will also assess the planned changes. The parliament as a whole has the power to block the proposals, as do the 27 national governments of the E.U. However, a vote on the telecom review by the parliament remains a long way off. Telecom Commissioner Viviane Reding, architect of the proposed changes, expects the review to become law in 2009.
Microsoft to stay under court's eye for two more years
Microsoft's compliance with a U.S. antitrust settlement will remain under court supervision for another two years, in part because the company delayed producing documentation required by the court, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia extended the court's supervision through Nov. 12, 2009, writing that the 2002 settlement had not fully taken effect. Several U.S. states involved in the case had sought a five-year extension, despite opposition from the Department of Justice.
As part of the settlement, Microsoft is required to document information on communication protocols, making it easier for other software manufacturers to create products that work well with the Windows OS.
The documentation has been a sticking point between the company and the government. Microsoft has been ordered to rewrite the documentation, which was supposed to have been complete by February 2003, to make it clearer.
In her ruling, Kollar-Kotelly blamed Microsoft. "Although the technical documentation project is complex and novel, it is clear, at least to the Court, that Microsoft is culpable for this inexcusable delay," she wrote.
But she also wrote that the company had been "overwhelmingly cooperative" in the years after the antitrust settlement, and that this latest extension should not be viewed as a sanction.
Microsoft will continue to comply with the antitrust ruling and has built its latest operating system, Vista, to comply with the rules, the company said.
"We are gratified that the court recognized our extensive efforts to work cooperatively with the large number of government agencies involved," said Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel and senior vice president.
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia extended the court's supervision through Nov. 12, 2009, writing that the 2002 settlement had not fully taken effect. Several U.S. states involved in the case had sought a five-year extension, despite opposition from the Department of Justice.
As part of the settlement, Microsoft is required to document information on communication protocols, making it easier for other software manufacturers to create products that work well with the Windows OS.
The documentation has been a sticking point between the company and the government. Microsoft has been ordered to rewrite the documentation, which was supposed to have been complete by February 2003, to make it clearer.
In her ruling, Kollar-Kotelly blamed Microsoft. "Although the technical documentation project is complex and novel, it is clear, at least to the Court, that Microsoft is culpable for this inexcusable delay," she wrote.
But she also wrote that the company had been "overwhelmingly cooperative" in the years after the antitrust settlement, and that this latest extension should not be viewed as a sanction.
Microsoft will continue to comply with the antitrust ruling and has built its latest operating system, Vista, to comply with the rules, the company said.
"We are gratified that the court recognized our extensive efforts to work cooperatively with the large number of government agencies involved," said Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel and senior vice president.
SAP profit drops 6 percent in fourth quarter
SAP reported a 10 percent rise in revenue for the fourth quarter, but earnings fell 6 percent compared to a year earlier, dragged down in part by the cost of launching Business ByDesign, a new offering for the mid-market, the company said Wednesday.
Revenue for the fourth quarter totalled €3.24 billion (US$4.77 billion as of Dec. 31, the last day of the period reported), up 10 percent from €2.95 billion a year earlier, but net income fell 6 percent to €756 million.
Software and related services revenue grew at 13 percent year on year, while consulting activities, representing around a fifth of SAP's revenue, remained stagnant.
For the full year, revenue rose to €10.25 billion, up 9 percent from €9.39 billion, while net income rose to €1.92 billion, up 3 percent from €1.87 billion.
The results do not include any revenue gains from SAP's $6.8 billion acquisition of French business intelligence software vendor Business Objects, which the companies only completed on Jan. 16, 2008, although they do include €61 million in acquisition-related costs.
SAP's operating margin for the year fell from 27.4 percent in 2006 to 26.7 percent in 2007, but if the effects of exchange rate fluctuations and the company's investment in Business ByDesign were excluded, the operating margin would have risen to 28.2 percent, Chief Financial Officer Werner Brandt said in a conference call.
Developing Business ByDesign cost the company €125 million in 2007, €40 million of it in the fourth quarter, and the company expects to spend at least a further €175 million in 2008. An additional €50 million of expenditure will fall in late 2008 or early 2009.
Sales and related services for subscription-based products like the new ByDesign contributed just €53 million in the fourth quarter, up 47 percent year on year.
Looking ahead, CEO Henning Kagermann expects mid-market products like ByDesign to boost growth in 2008, he said during the conference call.
Another growth driver will be SAP's acquisition of Business Objects, which will help the company increase its penetration of the business user sector, Kagermann said.
SAP expects full-year revenue from software and software-related services to grow at between 24 percent and 27 percent. Excluding the contribution of Business Objects, SAP's existing activities will contribute between 12 and 14 percentage points, the company said.
Revenue for the fourth quarter totalled €3.24 billion (US$4.77 billion as of Dec. 31, the last day of the period reported), up 10 percent from €2.95 billion a year earlier, but net income fell 6 percent to €756 million.
Software and related services revenue grew at 13 percent year on year, while consulting activities, representing around a fifth of SAP's revenue, remained stagnant.
For the full year, revenue rose to €10.25 billion, up 9 percent from €9.39 billion, while net income rose to €1.92 billion, up 3 percent from €1.87 billion.
The results do not include any revenue gains from SAP's $6.8 billion acquisition of French business intelligence software vendor Business Objects, which the companies only completed on Jan. 16, 2008, although they do include €61 million in acquisition-related costs.
SAP's operating margin for the year fell from 27.4 percent in 2006 to 26.7 percent in 2007, but if the effects of exchange rate fluctuations and the company's investment in Business ByDesign were excluded, the operating margin would have risen to 28.2 percent, Chief Financial Officer Werner Brandt said in a conference call.
Developing Business ByDesign cost the company €125 million in 2007, €40 million of it in the fourth quarter, and the company expects to spend at least a further €175 million in 2008. An additional €50 million of expenditure will fall in late 2008 or early 2009.
Sales and related services for subscription-based products like the new ByDesign contributed just €53 million in the fourth quarter, up 47 percent year on year.
Looking ahead, CEO Henning Kagermann expects mid-market products like ByDesign to boost growth in 2008, he said during the conference call.
Another growth driver will be SAP's acquisition of Business Objects, which will help the company increase its penetration of the business user sector, Kagermann said.
SAP expects full-year revenue from software and software-related services to grow at between 24 percent and 27 percent. Excluding the contribution of Business Objects, SAP's existing activities will contribute between 12 and 14 percentage points, the company said.
MySpace to launch developer platform next week
MySpace Wednesday will begin letting programmers pre-register for its developer platform program, which will open for business next week.
Interested developers will be able to sign up on the site to receive information about the MySpace Developer Platform, announced in October. Then next Tuesday, the developer site will become fully operational and feature documentation and API tools to build and test applications for MySpace, the world's most popular social networking service.
Although over the years MySpace has allowed, on a case-by-case basis, some external developers to put their widgets on the social networking site, the upcoming program potentially opens the door to any coder by providing open APIs and makes it possible for developers to generate revenue from those applications.
"This gives developers deeper access to our community through APIs so they'll be able to build richer applications and also gives them an opportunity to build their business directly on MySpace. It's a natural step in the evolution of how we've worked with third party developers," said Amit Kapur, who has just been appointed chief operating officer after being in charge of business development for several years.
In October, the move was widely seen as a competitive response to rival Facebook's successful opening of its platform to outside developers in May, which has resulted in the creation of about 14,000 applications and widgets for that social networking site.
Other social networking companies have also followed suit and decided to let external developers create applications for their sites. Moreover, in November, Google launched its OpenSocial initiative to promote industry-wide adoption of common APIs for social applications, so that developers can more easily port their applications to different sites. MySpace, along with others, has indicated it supports OpenSocial.
As it gears up for the launch of the application development platform, MySpace has taken special care to put safeguards in place to prevent security and privacy breaches from third-party applications, Kapur said.
"A key interest we have as we launch this platform is to protect the user experience against things like application spam and security holes, so that'll be a major part of our launch. We're extremely committed to safety and security," he said.
Facebook has been dealing with this problem, as some over-eager developers have built self-promotion features into their applications to spur their adoption. Since its platform launch, Facebook has tweaked its tools and APIs several times to address the problem of applications that annoy users with intrusive displays and unsolicited messages, and seems to have the issue well under control now.
Interested developers will be able to sign up on the site to receive information about the MySpace Developer Platform, announced in October. Then next Tuesday, the developer site will become fully operational and feature documentation and API tools to build and test applications for MySpace, the world's most popular social networking service.
Although over the years MySpace has allowed, on a case-by-case basis, some external developers to put their widgets on the social networking site, the upcoming program potentially opens the door to any coder by providing open APIs and makes it possible for developers to generate revenue from those applications.
"This gives developers deeper access to our community through APIs so they'll be able to build richer applications and also gives them an opportunity to build their business directly on MySpace. It's a natural step in the evolution of how we've worked with third party developers," said Amit Kapur, who has just been appointed chief operating officer after being in charge of business development for several years.
In October, the move was widely seen as a competitive response to rival Facebook's successful opening of its platform to outside developers in May, which has resulted in the creation of about 14,000 applications and widgets for that social networking site.
Other social networking companies have also followed suit and decided to let external developers create applications for their sites. Moreover, in November, Google launched its OpenSocial initiative to promote industry-wide adoption of common APIs for social applications, so that developers can more easily port their applications to different sites. MySpace, along with others, has indicated it supports OpenSocial.
As it gears up for the launch of the application development platform, MySpace has taken special care to put safeguards in place to prevent security and privacy breaches from third-party applications, Kapur said.
"A key interest we have as we launch this platform is to protect the user experience against things like application spam and security holes, so that'll be a major part of our launch. We're extremely committed to safety and security," he said.
Facebook has been dealing with this problem, as some over-eager developers have built self-promotion features into their applications to spur their adoption. Since its platform launch, Facebook has tweaked its tools and APIs several times to address the problem of applications that annoy users with intrusive displays and unsolicited messages, and seems to have the issue well under control now.
Stanford center turns to Sun Blackbox for extra capacity
When the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center wanted to increase its computing capacity last year it considered a satellite datacenter or an extension to the existing building, but in the end it chose a faster and more novel approach: it ordered a datacenter in a box.
The center, which does high-energy physics research for the U.S. Department of Energy, was one of the first customers for Sun Microsystems' Project Blackbox, which takes standard shipping containers 20 feet by 8 feet by 8 feet (6.1m x 2.4m x 2.4m) and turns them into mini datacenters that can be delivered and operational in a few weeks, according to Sun.
SLAC's Blackbox was delivered in July last year and was up and running by September. Aside from a few challenges -- like figuring out how to service the unit when it's raining -- the center is pleased with its choice and in the process of installing a second unit.
It is one of four customers that Sun identified Tuesday to illustrate momentum for Project Blackbox. It also renamed the product the Sun Modular Datacenter, or Sun MD. The boxes start at US$559,000 without the "payload," or the computers inside, and Sun will ship them around the world for an extra fee. Delivery to Amsterdam by air, for example, costs about $15,000.
SLAC turned to Project Blackbox because it needed to expand its compute capacity fairly quickly. "The datacenter here was at its capacity, especially in terms of the electrical service to the building and the amount of heat we could take back out. And the experiments needed their next year's worth of computing," said Chuck Boeheim, SLAC's assistant director of computing services.
Modifying its existing datacenter to accommodate another major electrical feed and "chiller plant" would have taken one to two years and cost several million dollars. "We also looked at doing a satellite datacenter in a smaller building, but with the approvals and lead time that was a couple of years out as well. Blackbox was something we could do very quickly," Boeheim said.
The raw shipping containers are customized by a subcontractor, and Sun typically installs the payload before delivery. SLAC's Blackbox arrived on a flat-bed truck last July, fitted with 252 Sun Fire X2200 rack-mount servers, the same type it uses in its datacenter. Sun had also wired the servers to a Cisco Catalyst 6509 switch that SLAC provided before delivery.
Boeheim described the process in a white paper on his Web site, along with photos and time-lapse videos that show the box being hoisted into place by a crane.
Customers can put other vendors' hardware in the unit, but not all equipment will fit. SLAC bought some Dell PowerEdge 1950 servers that it wanted to put in its second Blackbox, but they were too long for the server racks. Instead it will move some existing Sun servers to the box from its datacenter, and put the Dell machines inside the building instead.
The computing center already had a 4-megawatt substation serving its area of the site. "So it was a fairly simple matter to put a 220-kilowatt power pane on the outside of that and bring up a fairly standard chiller unit and put that on a concrete pad next to the Blackbox. Both of those things could just be fork-lifted in and connected up," Boeheim said.
SLAC wanted to do a rigorous installation that would last several years, so it spent a few weeks getting the unit hooked up. It had to reconnect about half the power cords which had shaken loose during the truck ride. Aside from that the installation went smoothly and the machines were turned on for batch work Sept. 25, about two months after delivery. The 60-ton chiller and the outside power unit were also delivered in that time.
Servicing the unit has presented some challenges. "We're trying to figure out how to do it on a day like today when it's pouring with rain," Boeheim said recently. "The wind doesn't have to be blowing very hard for the rain to blow in the end, and you pretty much have to open both ends of the box to service it,"
It's quite cramped in the box, he said, and both ends need to be open so that a person can maneuver when a server rack is slid out into the narrow central aisle.
"Our stance right now is to wait for a clear day to open it up," he said. Two people are needed to service the box in case one gets trapped inside or injured, he wrote in the white paper on his Web site. SLAC put a phone in the box in case someone gets locked in.
The first Blackbox gave the center a roughly 25 percent boost in computing capacity, and the servers have been running as smoothly as their counterparts inside the datacenter, Boeheim said. "Once we got them turned on they just ran. We went a full 30 days not even opening the thing." He put rack servers in the box rather than storage gear, because storage gear tends to need servicing more often, he said.
Sun's Blackbox won't be for everyone. Brookhaven National Laboratory, on Long Island, New York, considered a Blackbox but decided on a new wing for its datacenter instead, Boeheim said. SLAC's experience may have been easier than that of an average business because it is a federal government site located on county land. A business in a city may need more planning permissions and permits.
A few other companies offer comparable products, such as the Ice Cube from Rackable Systems, and the Infrastructure Express from American Power Conversion.
Sun said it is happy with the momentum for Blackbox, although it wouldn't say how many customers it has. The other three it named are Hansen Transmissions, a Belgian industrial manufacturer that is using one at a new plant in India; Mobile TeleSystems, Russia's largest mobile operator; and the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in the Netherlands.
Most of the customers had no room to add capacity in their datacenters, said Darlene Yaplee, vice president for integrated platforms in Sun's systems marketing group. "Half the customers are using it while they build extra datacenter capacity, and then it will remain for disaster recovery," she said.
The next size up in standard shipping containers is 40 feet long. "We could do 40 feet technically, but most people have been happy with 20 feet," Yaplee said. Boeheim said he'd probably choose a wider box rather than a longer one, which would accommodate his Dell 1950 servers.
The center, which does high-energy physics research for the U.S. Department of Energy, was one of the first customers for Sun Microsystems' Project Blackbox, which takes standard shipping containers 20 feet by 8 feet by 8 feet (6.1m x 2.4m x 2.4m) and turns them into mini datacenters that can be delivered and operational in a few weeks, according to Sun.
SLAC's Blackbox was delivered in July last year and was up and running by September. Aside from a few challenges -- like figuring out how to service the unit when it's raining -- the center is pleased with its choice and in the process of installing a second unit.
It is one of four customers that Sun identified Tuesday to illustrate momentum for Project Blackbox. It also renamed the product the Sun Modular Datacenter, or Sun MD. The boxes start at US$559,000 without the "payload," or the computers inside, and Sun will ship them around the world for an extra fee. Delivery to Amsterdam by air, for example, costs about $15,000.
SLAC turned to Project Blackbox because it needed to expand its compute capacity fairly quickly. "The datacenter here was at its capacity, especially in terms of the electrical service to the building and the amount of heat we could take back out. And the experiments needed their next year's worth of computing," said Chuck Boeheim, SLAC's assistant director of computing services.
Modifying its existing datacenter to accommodate another major electrical feed and "chiller plant" would have taken one to two years and cost several million dollars. "We also looked at doing a satellite datacenter in a smaller building, but with the approvals and lead time that was a couple of years out as well. Blackbox was something we could do very quickly," Boeheim said.
The raw shipping containers are customized by a subcontractor, and Sun typically installs the payload before delivery. SLAC's Blackbox arrived on a flat-bed truck last July, fitted with 252 Sun Fire X2200 rack-mount servers, the same type it uses in its datacenter. Sun had also wired the servers to a Cisco Catalyst 6509 switch that SLAC provided before delivery.
Boeheim described the process in a white paper on his Web site, along with photos and time-lapse videos that show the box being hoisted into place by a crane.
Customers can put other vendors' hardware in the unit, but not all equipment will fit. SLAC bought some Dell PowerEdge 1950 servers that it wanted to put in its second Blackbox, but they were too long for the server racks. Instead it will move some existing Sun servers to the box from its datacenter, and put the Dell machines inside the building instead.
The computing center already had a 4-megawatt substation serving its area of the site. "So it was a fairly simple matter to put a 220-kilowatt power pane on the outside of that and bring up a fairly standard chiller unit and put that on a concrete pad next to the Blackbox. Both of those things could just be fork-lifted in and connected up," Boeheim said.
SLAC wanted to do a rigorous installation that would last several years, so it spent a few weeks getting the unit hooked up. It had to reconnect about half the power cords which had shaken loose during the truck ride. Aside from that the installation went smoothly and the machines were turned on for batch work Sept. 25, about two months after delivery. The 60-ton chiller and the outside power unit were also delivered in that time.
Servicing the unit has presented some challenges. "We're trying to figure out how to do it on a day like today when it's pouring with rain," Boeheim said recently. "The wind doesn't have to be blowing very hard for the rain to blow in the end, and you pretty much have to open both ends of the box to service it,"
It's quite cramped in the box, he said, and both ends need to be open so that a person can maneuver when a server rack is slid out into the narrow central aisle.
"Our stance right now is to wait for a clear day to open it up," he said. Two people are needed to service the box in case one gets trapped inside or injured, he wrote in the white paper on his Web site. SLAC put a phone in the box in case someone gets locked in.
The first Blackbox gave the center a roughly 25 percent boost in computing capacity, and the servers have been running as smoothly as their counterparts inside the datacenter, Boeheim said. "Once we got them turned on they just ran. We went a full 30 days not even opening the thing." He put rack servers in the box rather than storage gear, because storage gear tends to need servicing more often, he said.
Sun's Blackbox won't be for everyone. Brookhaven National Laboratory, on Long Island, New York, considered a Blackbox but decided on a new wing for its datacenter instead, Boeheim said. SLAC's experience may have been easier than that of an average business because it is a federal government site located on county land. A business in a city may need more planning permissions and permits.
A few other companies offer comparable products, such as the Ice Cube from Rackable Systems, and the Infrastructure Express from American Power Conversion.
Sun said it is happy with the momentum for Blackbox, although it wouldn't say how many customers it has. The other three it named are Hansen Transmissions, a Belgian industrial manufacturer that is using one at a new plant in India; Mobile TeleSystems, Russia's largest mobile operator; and the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in the Netherlands.
Most of the customers had no room to add capacity in their datacenters, said Darlene Yaplee, vice president for integrated platforms in Sun's systems marketing group. "Half the customers are using it while they build extra datacenter capacity, and then it will remain for disaster recovery," she said.
The next size up in standard shipping containers is 40 feet long. "We could do 40 feet technically, but most people have been happy with 20 feet," Yaplee said. Boeheim said he'd probably choose a wider box rather than a longer one, which would accommodate his Dell 1950 servers.
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