This article titled “Apple posts highest ever quarterly earnings after success for Mac and iPad” was written by Graeme Wearden, for The Guardian on Tuesday 20th July 2010 23.09 UTC

Record sales of Mac computers and strong demand for the iPad has helped Apple post its highest ever quarterly earnings.

Steve Jobs declared last night that Apple had enjoyed a “phenomenal quarter”, after it smashed analyst forecasts. Revenues rose 88% to .7bn (£10.2bn) in the three months to 26 June, with net quarterly profit up 78% at .25bn.

Jobs also insisted that the iPhone 4 was the most successful launch in the company’s history despite the well-documented problems with the handset’s antenna.

Shaw Wu, analyst at Kaufman Bros, said the results were “spectacular”.

The company sold 3.47 million Macs worldwide, and 3.27 million iPads. “iPad is off to a terrific start, more people are buying Macs than ever before, and we have amazing new products still to come this year,” said Jobs.

Apple’s results were released after the close of trading on Wall Street, and its shares jumped by more than 2.5% in after-hours trading. Apple’s Mac computers have taken something of a back seat in recent months, with attention being mainly devoted to the iPad tablet computer and the new iPhone.

Last night’s results suggest a growing trend. “There is a virtuous circle going on with Apple, as customers who are exposed to the iPhone and iPad also want a Mac,” said Colin Gillis of BGC Partners in a research note.

Tim Cook, Apple’s chief operating officer, said that around half the Macs sold during the quarter went to new users. He also revealed that 50% of Fortune 100 companies in America are either testing or deploying the iPad.

Apple has deferred revenue of 5m to cover the cost of providing cases to address antenna problems with the iPhone 4, but denied that the issue had hit sales.

“Let me be clear about this — we are selling every unit we can make currently,” said Cook. “My phone is ringing off the hook with people who want more supply.”

Sales of the iPhone fell slightly quarter-on-quarter, to 8.4 million from 8.75 million, as customers waited for the launch of the iPhone 4 in late June. The figures also suggested that the iPod’s best days are well behind it. Apple sold just over 9.4 million units, the lowest figure since the summer of 2006.

Apple predicted that revenues in the current quarter would hit bn, which is higher than analyst forecasts.

Some critics have claimed Apple has been deliberately restricting the availability of the iPad and iPhone 4 to push up demand, a charge Cook robustly denied: “We are selling both products as fast as we can make them, so we are quoting longer lead times than we’d like, and we’re working round the clock to alleviate this.”

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This article titled “Google denies deal to end net neutrality” was written by Josh Halliday, for guardian.co.uk on Thursday 5th August 2010 16.31 UTC

Google has dismissed reports that the company is in talks with US telecoms operator Verizon that could bring an end to net neutrality.

In an article published yesterday, the New York Times said the two companies “are nearing an agreement that could allow Verizon to speed some online content to internet users more quickly if the content’s creators are willing to pay for the privilege”.

Today the search giant has said it remains as committed as ever to an internet where content exists on a level playing field.

A Google spokeswoman told the Guardian: “The New York Times is quite simply wrong. We have not had any conversations with Verizon about paying for carriage of Google traffic. We remain as committed as we always have been to an open internet.”

Verizon has also moved to dismiss the story.”The NYT article regarding conversations between Google and Verizon is mistaken,” the company said. “It fundamentally misunderstands our purpose. As we said in our earlier FCC filing, our goal is an internet policy framework that ensures openness and accountability, and incorporates specific FCC authority, while maintaining investment and innovation. To suggest this is a business arrangement between our companies is entirely incorrect.”

Many news outlets reported Google and Verizon as edging towards a deal that could see content creators paying for internet service providers to fast-track content to consumers.

Eric Schmidt, chairman and chief executive of Google, said earlier this week that the two internet giants had been talking for “a long time about trying to get an agreement on what the definition of net neutrality is”.

Such a deal could have seen providers of high-bandwidth content or applications – Google’s YouTube and BBC’s iPlayer, for example – having to pay the internet service provider (ISP) for its content being delivered to consumers. Google has previously said it wouldn’t pay for such a service.

Google and Verizon are just two of the parties involved in a long-running hearing held by the US Federal Communications Commission with the aim of coming to an agreement on the future delivery of online content and services.

Julius Genachowski, the FCC chair, is seeking to adopt guidelines that would ensure telecoms companies provide equal treatment of traffic travelling over the networks. The current hearing comes from a Federal Courts Appeal ruling in April this year which said that the FCC has no authority to apply net neutrality policies to ISPs in the country. ISPs are legally entitled manage the traffic on their network as they see fit.

The FCC has said that it does not wish to impose strict terms and conditions on internet rates – seeking to appease concerns the agency could become more of a regulatory body – but says a consistent metric for equal access must be reached. Advocates of net neutrality argue that any impositions on content delivery would stifle innovation and the business models of many new internet companies.

Gigi Sohn, president of consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge, told the New York Times: “The point of a network neutrality rule is to prevent big companies from dividing the Internet between them. The fate of the Internet is too large a matter to be decided by negotiations involving two companies, even companies as big as Verizon and Google.”

The reported deal that both companies were said to be nearing took many by surprise, not least because Google’s submission to the FCC calls for “a nondiscrimination principle that bans prioritising internet traffic based on the ownership (the who), the source (the what) of the content or application”.

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This article titled “Broadband target put back to 2015″ was written by Graeme Wearden, for The Guardian on Thursday 15th July 2010 16.54 UTC

The battle to close Britain’s broadband divide suffered a blow today when the government pushed back the UK’s target for universal access to high-speed networks by three years.

Jeremy Hunt, the culture secretary, said that it was not practical to meet the previous government’s target of universal broadband coverage by 2012 – a commitment he had previously dismissed as “paltry”. Instead, Hunt said it would take until 2015 before every home in Britain had at least a 2Mbps (megabits per second) connection.

Speaking at the start of an industry day that was meant to find solutions to Britain’s broadband coverage problems, Hunt claimed the previous government had not funded its 2012 commitment properly.

“I have looked at the provision the government had made to achieve this by 2012. And I’m afraid that I am not convinced that there is sufficient funding in place,” Hunt told a gathering of telecoms operators. “So, while we will keep working towards that date, we have set ourselves a more realistic target of achieving universal 2Mbps access within the lifetime of this parliament.”

Sebastien Lahtinen of telecoms site Thinkbroadband.com, described Hunt’s move as a shock and a “significant setback for rural broadband users”.

Jillian Pitt, broadband expert at Consumer Focus, said the decision was a blow. “Often people living in these remote communities are amongst the most disadvantaged in our society, so there is also a wider issue about suppliers ensuring that broadband is not only available, but also affordable,” she said.

At present, 99% of homes can get some form of broadband connection but about 11% – or 2 million homes – cannot get speeds as high as 2Mbps. This limits their ability to use bandwidth-intensive services such as video streaming and television-on-demand. About 160,000 rural and remote households still cannot get any form of broadband, more than 10 years after the first services were launched.

Labour had assigned about £250m from the digital switchover fund to pay for its universal service obligation. It had also planned to introduce a 50p-per-line levy on all phone lines to fund the rollout of superfast networks in rural areas, but this tax was shelved before the election and then abolished by George Osborne in June’s budget.

Hunt’s message to the telecoms industry was that it was essential that the next generation of broadband networks, which offers speeds upwards of 40Mbps, were made available to “virtually every household”. He wants Britain to have the best superfast broadband in Europe by 2015.

However, the government also expects the communications sector to take the lead, even though companies such as BT have warned that it is not economically viable to extend superfast broadband across the whole country.

BT Openreach’s chief executive, Steve Robertson, has predicted that £2bn of state funding would be needed to achieve universal fibre-optic coverage in the future, and avoid a new divide in the future between those who can get the fastest services and those who cannot.

Hunt, though, said that innovative solutions were the answer. “I don’t want to hear about how to roll out a fibre-optic pipe to every home in Wales,” said Hunt, who suggested the water mains and sewers could be opened up if this would cut the cost of building new networks.

He also conceded that commercial operators could not solve the problem alone. “There is market failure now so I believe there will be market failure in the future, but I would be incredibly pleased to learn that this is not the case.”

BT has committed to spending £2.5bn to extend its new fibre network to two-thirds of homes, but has warned that it cannot go further without government support.

Broadband is an important subject for many politicians, especially those whose constituencies are riddled with blackspots. Rory Stewart, Conservative MP for Penrith, suggested that telecoms operators should be given access to networks run by state bodies such as the Ministry of Defence, the NHS or the education sector.

Caroline Spelman, the environment secretary, said that this idea would raise security issues, but agreed that public-private partnerships could be set up to make better use of public infrastructure.

The government also said today that it would start three trials of super-fast broadband networks in rural areas this autumn. These pilots should identify ways of bringing broadband to areas where it is not economically viable – through partnerships, funding support, or by relaxing legislation.

Martha Lane Fox, the UK’s digital champion, also attended the industry day. She said it was essential that Britain achieved universal broadband coverage at 2Mbps as soon as possible. “I know fibre rollout is important, but I personally think we can do a lot by hitting the universal service commitment,” she said.

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This article titled “Broadband delay: what the experts think” was written by Graeme Wearden, for guardian.co.uk on Thursday 15th July 2010 16.06 UTC

The government’s decision to push back the target for universal 2Mbps broadband until 2015 has disappointed some in the communications industry.

Jillian Pitt, broadband expert at Consumer Focus

We welcome such a high-level commitment from the government to ensure that broadband reaches rural and remote areas so that everyone can reap the huge benefits being online can bring.

We are, however, disappointed that the timetable to provide a universal 2Mbps broadband connection has been pushed back to 2015. Also, the coalition agreement itself acknowledged there are areas where the market alone will not reach. We would like to see a clear government plan on what happens when this is the case. We would like to be reassured the estimated £250m under-spend from the digital switchover budget will be enough to tackle this issue.

Often people living in these remote communities are amongst the most disadvantaged in our society, so there is also a wider issue about suppliers ensuring that broadband is not only available, but also affordable.

Sean Royce, commercial and finance director at KC, the Kingston-based operator

It is encouraging to see the government collaborating with industry to improve the telecommunications network in the UK but its target for universal broadband access is nowhere near ambitious enough. We believe there is a business case for broadband providers to deliver universal access and we would welcome greater pressure from the government to ensure they make the necessary investments.

Today KC provides 2Mbps or more to 98% of our network area and we have taken the lead in committing to the provision of at least 2Mbps across our entire network, including the most rural locations, by March next year – well ahead of the government’s target which has now been pushed back until 2015. We also believe broadband providers will need to go much further than 2Mbps if we are to transform UK plc and make applications like tele-health and high definition on-demand TV a reality.

Ian Thomas, director of strategy development at Cable&Wireless Worldwide

There is little doubt that the UK’s public broadband network lags behind those found in many comparable economies. However, a clear distinction must be drawn between consumer broadband networks and networks designed specifically for the use of businesses. A lot of the analysis of the state of broadband in this country blurs this distinction and, therefore, draws incorrect conclusions. When it comes to enterprise broadband networks, the UK is actually one of the world leaders.

In order to roll out 2Mbps broadband across the country, innovative solutions are called for, such as our recent Wide Area Network (WAN) implementation, which delivered broadband access to the rural Scottish Highlands and Islands.

By looking at the business networks on offer today, those involved in the country-wide rollout will get a better understanding of the technologies and service levels that will be required to provide consumers with data-rich applications and services that will be the envy of the world.

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This article titled “Online safety: Facebook, the Grid project and the ‘panic button’ myth” was written by Jemima Kiss, for guardian.co.uk on Monday 9th August 2010 14.38 UTC

For a while, it seemed as if the ongoing debate about online safety, and all the expertise engaged with that, was obscured by simplified ‘panic button’ coverage in the spat between Facebook and Ceop, the Child Explotation and Online Protection centre.

In the meantime, the Family Online Safety Institute had been collaborating on something far more worthwhile – an international directory of online safety initiatives. Grid features profiles, an outline of projects and initiatives and details of research and legislation in 150 countires.

Photo by Sarag G… on Flickr. Some rights reserved.

It has been an enormous undertaking, taking two years to develop and with eight specialists. Fosi raised about 0,000 in sponsorship from its members including MySpace. Corporations and government organisations will pay a subscription to access the site, which will summarise updates and major developments in quarterly reviews from an expert panel and guest contributors.

Consumer version planned

“We think it’s a hugely significant portal because 10%-15% of this content has never been seen in English,” said Fosi’s European development director David Miles, who led the project. “There’s a cornucopia of stuff in Indonesia, for example, around ICT and education.

“If you look at the challenges for parents in South Korea, Venezuela or London, they are facing similar issues – cyberbullying, learning to be web confident and in the differences between parents and kids. What is different is how the parents respond, the way an Arab parent responds to a parent going onto Facebook for the first time compared to a parent in Asia.”

This professional edition is the first incarnation – a consumer version, as well as expansion to cover a total of 200 countries, is in the works. It should combine the best practice of all the online safety agencies worldwide, as well as what doesn’t work, and generally make online campaigns more informed, coherent and centralised.

But it will be a significant challenge to keep the directory updated, just as it will be a challenge to adapt online safety mechanisms to cope with the growth of video which, Fosi, says, will account for half of all online content within two to three years.

The problem with the panic button

As for that panic button episode, Fosi chief executive Stephen Balkam said it was largely a label invented by the press. “Ceop has done a good job raising awareness of the potential dangers on social networking sites,” he said. “The problem is that in cases like that of Ashleigh Hall, she never panicked at all. She never thought of herself as in imminent danger – she was actively cooperating and communicating with this guy and actually went off Facebook onto MSN Messenger, which does have a panic button.” For Ceop to put so much emphasis on the panic button – or what Ceop internally actually calls a ‘don’t panic button’ – as an essential solution was therefore rather disingenuous, he argues.

Using that button as a reporting tool is far from a one-button process, and it is also not an anonymous process as it requires the child to enter their name and address to make a report. That’s not the case for Childline and even 999.

Cyberbullying is 99% of the problem

Facebook handles 2m reports through its site every week, and 80% of those are false. But of those cases that are genuine, by far the biggest issues are cyberbullying, addiction, oversharing and ‘sexting’ – when girls are bullied into sending photos of themselves to ‘boyfriends’. Balkam cites research by Ncmec, the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children in the US the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire, which found that 1% of child victimisation cases involved the internet. “Those cases are shocking and disturbing and they make the nightly news, but therefore they seen a greater problem than they are.”

The future of online safety is also about far more than just Facebook, which bears the brunt of the publicity because it is the most visible site. But it does have the opportunity to set a standard.

“Ceop has done a good job in companies like Facebook,” said Balkam. “It has awakened the sense of responsibility inside companies not just to improve, but to to innovate more in areas to do with reporting abusive behaviour or abusive content. It’s not bad at all to force the entire industry to raise its level and raise the bar.

“It has also forced Facebook to communicate a bit more about what it is facing. No company in the world has ever attracted 500m users or 2m complaints per week. It’s extraordinary.”

Balkam said he’d asked Facebook, somewhat tongue in cheek, if it had a philosopher on the staff because it is having to deal, at a very fast pace with what is good and what is abhorrent behaviour.

“Aristotle and Plato struggled with that – and the average age at Facebook is 28.”

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