Online Gambling Ban

Now the EU is weighing in on the US ban on online gambling and poker playing:

The European Union's internal market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy yesterday accused the US government of protectionism in the way it is dealing with online gambling.

According to the Financial Times, McCreevy said: "In my view it is probably a restrictive practice and we might take it up in another forum." He said the case could go to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The real problem people forsee is that the ban is only temporary. Ban it while foreign companies are doing well, destroy them, then make it legal again when hte big US gambling groups are ready to enter a now empty market.

The US has already lost one case before the WTO brought by Antigua.

That was exactly what Antigua alleged and they won in court, not just once but again on appeal.

 

Technorati tags: online poker, online gambling, betting

Cardspace

Microsoft has a new secutirty product, Cardspace. The aim is to do for online credit card transactions what chip and pin have done for cardholder present frauds.

A major card issuer is preparing to announce its support for Microsoft's new identity security system, Cardspace, in the new year, along with "a major consumer retail site", Microsoft said this week.

The company is also at the early stages of working out how the technology could be used to secure the UK's Government Gateway for tax and VAT filings.

Cardspace, the brainchild of Microsoft's Kim Cameron and others, is the latest proposal from Redmond for how to solve the problem of securing identity online. (It is bundled in Vista, and XP users can get hold of it through the automatic updates.)

Microsoft says the system will do for online credit card fraud what chip and PIN has done for cardholder present fraud. In a country where an estimated five per cent of all online transactions are fraudulent, that could have a significant impact.

As the major effect of chip and pin has been to put the onus of paying for a fraud onto the card holder rather than the bank, this Cardspace system might not be an unalloyed blessing.

 

Technorati tags: Microsoft, Cardspace, Credit Card

Nokia 8260

The Nokia 8260 is a mobile phone for the US market.

Details and specs are as follows:

Mobile Messaging
	Two-way text messaging 1
	Predictive text input
	E-mail over SMS 1

Personalization & Fun
	Holds 5 downloadable ring tones 1
	4 Games: Snake, Memory, Logic and Rotation
	Find more Ring Tones, and Graphics >>

Organization
	Caller groups
	Profiles
	Holds up to 250 phone book entries
	Calendar stores up to 50 appointments and reminders
	Currency converter

Specifications
	Weight: 3.4 ounces
	Up to 3 hours and 30 minutes of digital talk time with standard battery
	Up to 8 days of digital standby time
	Internal antenna
	Internal vibrating alert
	Side volume key
	Large, 5-line LCD display
	Support 7 languages (English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Hebrew, Russian and Chinese) 8
	Hearing aid support with the LPS-3 Loopset

Service
	DualBand / TriMode TDMA 1900/800 MHz and AMPS (Analog)

8260 Battery Life
	Extended Li-Ion Battery 900mAh
		-- Digital Talk Time up to 3.5 hours*
		-- Digital Standby Time up to 8 days*
		-- Analog Talk Time up to 1.5 hour*
		-- Analog Standby Time up to 36 hours*

For further details and service providers please go to the Nokia 8260 web page.