Syria’s Internet network has long been kept under close surveillance. Now it turns out that the surveillance has been stepped up. The Telecomix hactivist group has revealed that 34 Blue Coat servers are operating in Syria (WeFC link). The servers are using DPI (Deep Packet Inspection) technology to analyse and control the activities of Syrian Internet users – censuring websites, intercepting emails, obtaining details of sites visited and so on. As the Assad regime recovers territory in the (…) … Read More
OtterBox acquires rival smartphone and tablet case maker LifeProof
OtterBox on Wednesday announced the acquisition of TreeFrog Developments Inc., otherwise known as LifeProof. The multi-billion dollar business designs, manufacturers and markets protective cases for smartphones and tablets to defend against water, dirt, snow, shock and the hazards of daily life much like OtterBox does. … Read More
Fashion award turns Rookies into players
Swedish designers who fight for brand-name recognition in the notoriously hard-to-crack fashion business tell The Local’s Victoria Hussey about the importance of the Swedish Rookies Award. … Read More
VTB finds ‘tricky’ main SPO buyer: Qatar
The Sovereign Fund of Qatar is aiming to secure a business partnership in order to develop new joint projects. After the purchase it will control 5 percent of the bank’s shares, according to Financial Times, which stated sources close to the deal.The Russian government currently holds 75.5 percent of the bank, and has mandated that its stake remains above 60 percent. VTB expects the Kremlin stake to fall to 60.93 percent.Some Russian analysts are skeptical about business relations with the Qatar Foundation, which has a reputation for being a difficult banking partner.A former manager at JP Morgan told FT that the sovereign fund is ‘the worst customer of any bank’ because they are used to receiving big discounts and ‘love to knock down the price’“They are the most difficult customer, which is known by all banking professionals” said the source.The sale will be finalized on May 24th, when the two sides will discuss joint investments, including private equity, mergers, and acquisitions.The Qatar Investment Authority was founded by the government in 2005 to strengthen the country’s economy through diversified international assets. They have partnerships with some of the biggest names in banking – Credit Suisse, Barclays UK, and Deutsche Bank.The Norwegian Government Pension Fund (assets of $720 billion) and the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (assets of $33 billion) have also agreed to buy shares in the SPO, each for about $500 million.Norway already holds a 0.21 percent stake in the bank.In an effort to increase its capital, VTB announced its secondary public offering at the end of April. The first phase of the SPO – open to existing shareholders only- ended on Monday.1245 shareholders bought up 14 percent of the available shares in the 14 billion rouble sale, leaving 102 billion roubles worth of shares for non-existing shareholders.The share sale will increase its Tier 1 capital ratio to 11.9 percent from 10.3 percent, VTB said.VTB first estimated the sale of 2.5 trillion new shares to be priced at 4.1 kopeks a piece, but on Monday’s floor they traded at 4.6 kopeks. In their May 2007 public offering shares were sold at 13.6 kopeks.The stock climbed 3.5 percent on the Moscow stock market.The sale is part of the bank’s drive to privatize state assets and reduce state influence in business. … Read More
Cisco: Big Data Is The Network, Too
The head of the world’s biggest computer networking company says that the computer business and networking are collapsing into each other, as sensors and a bigger Internet deliver even more information to analyze. The implication is a lot of expensive acquisitions. … Read More
British business says ‘Brexit’ will cost UK $140bn annually
Some of the UK’s leading business heavyweights including Sir Richard Branson and Sir Martin Sorrell as well as the current and next presidents of the Confederation of British Industry and the chairmen of BT, Deloitte, Lloyds and Centrica argue that exiting the EU could cost the British economy up to £92bn (almost $140 billion) a year, The Independent newspaper reports. A number of UK’s most successful and eminent business figures have signed a letter to The Independent where they slam Eurosceptics for ignoring the national interest in their call for the UK to leave the European Union. It is the first coordinated response from the business community to the anti-EU rhetoric.The businessmen call for PM David Cameron to “strengthen and deepen” the European single market to drag an extra £110 billion ($167 billion) to the British economy. Opinion polls in the country reveal that exiting the EU is the most likely scenario. Anti-EU sentiment has been growing since 2007, when almost half the UK population didn’t trust the European bloc. A similar survey undertaken last year revealed that 69 percent of those who took part were euro-sceptic.A draft bill on an in-out referendum has been proposed by the ruling Conservative party, saying it must be held before the end of 2017. According to The Independent, two cabinet ministers have already declared that they would vote to leave the EU if the referendum were held today. The newspaper also says that some senior Tories are quite certain a new EU membership deal for Britain that eurosceptics would support is hardly an option for Cameron.The businessmen in their letter refer to the economics, saying that exiting the EU would bring nothing but losses to the UK economy. “The economic case to stay in the EU is overwhelming,” the business leaders state in the letter to the The Independent. “To Britain, membership is estimated to be worth between £31 billion ($47 billion) and £92 billion ($139 billion) per year in income gains, or between £1,200 to £3,500 for every household.”“What we should now be doing is fighting hard to deliver a more competitive Europe, to combat the criticism of those that champion our departure. We should push to strengthen and deepen the Single Market to include digital, energy, transport and telecoms, which could boost Britain’s GDP by £110 billion ($167 billion) ,” they add. … Read More
US seizes top Bitcoin exchange as crackdown begins
The American government has previously made it clear that officials are watching Bitcoin, a decentralized economic currency that international regulators have not yet been able to control. Many of those who favor Bitcoin use Dwolla, an Iowa-based startup that allows customers to transfer their dollars into Bitcoins. Unfortunately for those consumers, the Department of Homeland Security issued a warrant Tuesday effectively shutting down Dwolla’s ability to process Bitcoin payments, as reported by CNET. Whether because of the DHS’ charge of operating an “unlicensed money transmitting business,” the sudden timing of the allegations, or another reason, Dwolla and Mt. Gox officials have been reluctant to comment. “In order not to compromise this ongoing investigation being conducted by ICE Homeland Security Investigations Baltimore, we cannot comment beyond the information in warrant, which was filed in the District of Maryland [Tuesday],” said Nicole Navas, a representative for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The warrant claims Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpeles did not disclose he operated a financial transfer site when he opened a new bank account for the business. Money transmitting services, according to Gawker, are required to register with the Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen). Mt. Gox, which is involved in roughly 63 per cent of all Bitcoin purchases, has not done so.Despite the technicalities skeptics are wondering if Bitcoin’s friction with the Treasury department is the cause of this recent scrutiny. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-New York) said the anonymity afforded by the service provided an “online form of money laundering” and campaigned for its downfall. “Literally, it allows buyers and users to sell illegal drugs online, including heroin, cocaine, and meth, and users do sell by hiding their identity through a program that makes them virtually untraceable,” Schumer said during a 2011 news conference. “It’s a certifiable one-stop shop for illegal drugs that represents the most brazen attempt to peddle drugs online that we have ever seen. It’s more brazen than anything else by light years.” Most notably, proponents have asserted that Bitcoin would be impermeable in instances where WikiLeaks, for example, saw its funding evaporate as the federal government pressured PayPal to cut off the whistleblower site’s support network. Bitcoin would be more resistant to a crackdown of that nature. Jerry Brito, a scholar at the libertarian Mercatus Center at George Mason University, told the Washington Post Bitcoin could reduce the cost of financial services by pioneering new business formats. “Bitcoin has the potential to be a boon to the economy and a boon to merchants,” he said, adding that it could “disrupt traditional payment networks that have not been innovative for a very long time.”A blind governmental crackdown would only serve to push Bitcoin further underground, Brito argued. “You can’t put the genie back into the bottle,” he continued. “I hate to say it, but the Bitcoin community needs to start lobbying. It needs to start educating policymakers, lobbyists and influencers about the pros of Bitcoin and the impossibility or the difficulty in getting rid of all the bad uses.” … Read More
