Archive for October, 2008

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Penn hacker sentenced, avoids child porn charges

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

A federal judge questioned why a white Ivy League student found during a computer hacking probe with thousands of images of child pornography was not charged with that crime, sparing him a decade-long prison sentence that a black convicted child pornographer faced at the same hearing.

University of Pennsylvania senior Ryan Goldstein, 22, of Ambler, was sentenced Tuesday to three months in prison and five years of probation for a hacking scheme that caused a Penn engineering school server to crash in 2006.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Levy said the decision not to charge Goldstein for the child pornography was appropriate given his extensive cooperation.

Voicing concerns about fairness, the judge took the unusual step of sentencing Goldstein alongside a Philadelphia man, Derrick Williams, who was facing eight to 10 years in prison for child pornography in an unrelated case.

Both men were found with several thousand images of child pornography, and each had copied some of the images, though Williams had also posted about 15 of them on a Web site, prosecutors said.

The judge said he could not help noting that Williams is black and Goldstein is white.

“This has weighed very heavily on my mind, as I think it would most judges,” U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson said. “That’s why I’ve brought this case together with the Williams case.”

However, he said the sentencing disparities were not connected to race. Baylson gave Williams a two-year prison term, noting his steady work history and minor criminal record.

Goldstein pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge and spent long hours helping the FBI investigate a worldwide hacking enterprise, lawyers for both sides agreed. But even as he was cooperating, Goldstein twice engaged in unspecified mischief with FBI computers, Baylson said.

“It was very detrimental to the investigation,” said Baylson, who heard details of the misconduct behind closed doors at the start of the sentencing hearing. “It’s very disturbing.”

According to the FBI, Goldstein worked with a New Zealand teen who allegedly gained control of thousands of computers and amassed them into clusters known as botnets.

Owen Thor Walker, known by the online name “AKILL,” was ordered this summer to pay more than $11,000 in fines in New Zealand but avoided a conviction so he can help police solve computer crimes.

Goldstein acknowledged at the hearing that he has been viewing child pornography since he was 11 or 12. A therapist who testified Tuesday described him as a bright but asocial child who spent long hours on the computer and rarely played with friends.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t begin to emerge from that computer world until the FBI knocked on my door,” Goldstein told the judge. “This actually may have saved me from a life of computer addiction.”

The case was part of an international crackdown on hackers who steal credit card information, manipulate stock trades and even crash industry computers, authorities said.

Goldstein’s parents, who attended the hearing, declined comment afterward, as did lawyers for both sides. Williams and his lawyer, Max Kramer, also declined comment.

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WHO: Heart, infectious diseases, cancer kill most

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

Heart ailments, infectious diseases and cancer remain the world’s top three killers, the U.N. health agency said Monday.

Heart attacks and related problems are the top killer, claiming 29 percent of people who die each year, the World Health Organization said in a report on the global burden of disease. In second place,
infectious diseases lead to 16.2
percent of worldwide deaths.

Cancer, in third, claims 12.6
percent of global deaths, said the 146-page report, which is based on death registration data from 112 countries and estimates where reporting is incomplete.

The figures are from 2004, the most recent records available on a wide scale, officials from WHO said. But the rankings are unchanged since 1990 when WHO first did a global check.

Colin Mathers, WHO expert and lead author of the report, said he believed
infectious diseases used to be the leading killer 20 to 40 years ago, but that he did not have statistics to back it up.

Some 58.8 million people died worldwide in 2004, most of them over 60, the report said. Nearly one in five deaths was a child under 5.

The heart disease death rate was virtually unchanged from WHO’s previous study on death causes, based on 2002 figures.

The rate for
infectious diseases dropped from 2002, when they accounted for 19.1 of the world’s deaths, partly because estimates for AIDS deaths were revised downward last year, said Mathers.

“Malaria deaths are also somewhat lower, and some of the other child causes have also come down a bit,” Mathers said, adding that the number of deaths from measles has dropped thanks to wider use of vaccination.

Women die more often from heart disease than men. The rate for females is 31.5
percent, and for males 26.8
percent, the report said.

Mathers said the percentage for women was higher because there were more women living at older ages than men.

But in general, men are more affected by heart diseases, he said.

“Men in many parts of
the world have a higher risk,” he said, adding that they are more often overweight or obese, get insufficient physical activity and eat more fat and salt.

Filling out the top 12 causes of death are respiratory infections including pneumonia in fourth place, 7.2
percent; respiratory diseases, including asthma and allergies, 6.9
percent; accidental injuries and drownings, 6.6
percent; newborn health
problems, 5.4
percent; digestive diseases, 3.5
percent; suicide, murder and conflict, 2.8
percent; neuropsychiatric disorders, 2.1
percent; diabetes, 1.9
percent; and maternal health
problems related to pregnancy or birth 0.9
percent.

Dr. Ties Boerma, who heads the agency’s statistics department, said there is always a time delay in assembling such data from a number of countries.

“Countries have a backlog of two, three years in publicizing their own information,” he said.

In countries where no death registration data are available, the figures are taken from research studies, which take a few years to get published, Boerma said.

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Unitech Wireless goes to Telenor

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

A couple of days after its stocks suffered a massive hammering on the bourses, Unitech, the country’s second largest real estate player, on Wednesday got some reprieve, managing to cut a deal for its telecom arm, Unitech Wireless. The company is offloading up to 60% stake to Norwegian telecom player Telenor for $1.2 billion.

The deal values Unitech Wireless at Rs 11,620 crore or about $2.32 billion. However, given the sale amount of Rs 6,120 crore for a 60% stake, the company would actually be valued at only Rs 10,200 crore. Sanjay Chandra, managing director, Unitech, declined to comment on the debt structure of the company, which has a debt component of around Rs 1,970 crore.

Telenor is the world’s seventh largest mobile operator and has operations in Europe and Asian countries, including a100 % subsidiary in Pakistan. It is also the fourth largest telecom operator in Asia. The company has a subscriber base of 159 million and revenue of $15 billion.

Unitech has constantly seen its scrips take a beating on the stock exchange through the year, shedding over 86% of its market value. On Wednesday, the company’s shares closed at Rs 49.9 on the Bombay Stock Exchange, gaining 1.63% over the previous day’s close.

Though Chandra said this was the right valuation for the company, a comparison with another new telecom licencee, Swan Telecom, which recently offloaded 45% stake to Arabic telecom giant Etisalaat for $900 million, shows Unitech is undervalued.

Swan Telecom currently has licence for only 13 telecom circles and it earned an enterprise valuation of $2 billion, while Unitech, with telecom licences for 22 circles, earned a valuation of $2.32 billion. The company was earlier hoping for a valuation of around $4 billion but given the current global financial crisis, the benchmark set by Swan Telecom for valuation of startup telcos and the difficult real estate market, Unitech has sold 60% for $1.2 billion. The company was earlier planning to divest around 26% to a foreign partner.

The 60% stake would be offloaded in stages. The regulations allow up to 49% sale via the automatic route;. beyond that, till the cap of 74%, it has to be through FIPB.

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The Nation’s Weather

Saturday, October 25th, 2008

Rain stretched from the Great Lakes and Midwest to Florida early Friday, while the deep South and West were to be calm and clear.

The rainy storm system over the central Plains will continue to weaken as it moves eastward on Friday. The system will advance over the mid-Mississippi Valley for the majority of the day.

By late Friday evening, the storms were to reach the Great Lakes regions and will extend southward over areas of the eastern Gulf Coast.

Showers and thunderstorms are expected to flare up along the eastern Gulf Coast. Temperatures across the Great Lakes and the mid- to upper Mississippi Valleys will range from the 40s to 50s. The Southeast will see warm conditions with temperatures in the 60s to 70s.

The Northeast will remain dry as high pressure will move slowly across the East Coast. Temperatures across the New England states will remain cool, reaching into the 50s to 60s.

In the West, high pressure will keep conditions dry and warm. Warm temperatures coupled with low humidity will cause critical fire weather conditions to persist across areas of southern California. Temperatures across the Northwest will range in the 50s to 60s. The Southwest will see temperatures ranging from the 60s to 90s.

Temperatures in the Lower 48 states on Thursday ranged from a low of 1 degrees at Berthoud Pass, Colo., to a high of 99 degrees at Santee, Calif.

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Health Tip: Trick-or-Treating Safely

Friday, October 24th, 2008

Halloween can be great fun for children and parents alike. But parents still need to enforce some rules to help ensure a safe night of trick-or-treating.

The National Safety Council offers this advice:

  • Children under age 12 should always be accompanied by an adult.
  • Develop a neighborhood route for children to follow. It should only include well-lit areas with which children are familiar.
  • Make sure children understand they should never go into a stranger’s home, and that they should only approach houses that are well-lit.
  • Decide what time your child will return home, and tell them not to eat any candy before they get home.
  • Make sure your child understands traffic safety rules.
  • In case the child gets separated from a group, attach a piece of paper to your child’s costume with his or her name, address and phone number.

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RBI may not offer one more rate cut

Friday, October 24th, 2008

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has found a little comfort in moderating inflation, still in double-digits and is worried by slower growth in money supply as well - but that may still not egg governor Duvvuri Subbarao to make further cuts in signal lending rates when he presents his first official credit policy review on Friday. The central bank earlier this week has already effected an unexpected sharp reduction in the repo (repurchase) rate at which it lends overnight money to banks against deposits of government bonds, to 8 per cent from 9 per cent.

There is no sign that another cut may come so soon. The undertone of worry over inflation remained etched in the central bank’s mid-year review of macroeconomic and monetary developments presented on Thursday.

The report said inflation based on wholesale price index remained at elevated levels. The rate slipped to 11.07 per cent in data released on Thursday, from 11.4 per cent a week ago, 7.7 per cent at the end of last March and 3.2 per cent a year ago.

The RBI could further raise the interest rate ceiling on deposits by non-resident Indians (NRIs) and waive the cash reserve ratio (CRR) and statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) ratio on incremental NRI deposits, in an attempt to encourage inflow of more foreign exchange, said Namrata Padhye, Economist with IDBI Gilts, a primary dealer in government bonds. RBI said comforting factor was that the year-on-year money supply (M3) growth was down to 19 per cent as on September 26 from 21.5 per cent a year earlier and compared with the central bank’s target of 17 per cent.

The growth in credit has also slowed to less over 23 per cent, closer to the RBI target of 20 per cent. The cut in the policy (repo or repurchase) rate, after releasing Rs 1,00,000 crore of banks’ cash reserves, was basically meant to stabilise the financial markets, which were wobbling on account of shortage of liquid funds in the aftermath of the global credit squeeze that led to a flight of capital.

The RBI is seen comfortable with growth in the GDP slowing to a little less than 8 per cent in 2008-09, from a high of 9 per cent in 2007-08. The RBI said it is closely monitoring the developments in the global as well as domestic financial markets and stands ready to take such pre-emptive action as may be necessary to contain excess volatility in the domestic financial markets.

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Microsoft outlook better than feared

Friday, October 24th, 2008

Microsoft Corp reported better than expected quarterly profit and reduced its outlook less than many investors had feared in the face of tough economic conditions.

While demand for its products softened near the end of the September quarter as uncertainty from financial crisis took hold, Microsoft said new releases of computer server software and database software pushed revenue higher.

“Investors were prepared for the worst given the credit crisis. Investors should be pleased with Microsoft’s decent first quarter and only a modest reduction in full-year 2009 guidance,” said Andy Miedler, analyst at Edward Jones.

Microsoft posted a net profit of $4.37 billion, or 48 cents per diluted share, in its fiscal first quarter ended Sept. 30 versus a profit of $4.29 billion, or 45 cents per diluted share, in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose 9 percent to $15.06 billion.

Analysts, on average, were forecasting Microsoft to earn 47 cents per share on revenue of $14.8 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

The world’s largest software maker said it saw technology spending deteriorate in September, with that downturn extending into October. The company expects the spending slowdown to continue until the end of its fiscal year in June.

“We’re taking a more conservative stance going forward. That’s clearly appropriate given all the news we see and what we see out there in the market,” Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said in an interview with Reuters.

For the full-year ending June 2009, Microsoft forecast earnings per share to range between $2.00 to $2.10 on revenue from $64.9 billion to $66.4 billion. Microsoft’s previous estimates called for earnings per share from $2.12 to $2.18 and revenue ranging from $67.3 billion to $68.1 billion.

Wall Street analysts were already forecasting earnings more conservative than the company’s own previous estimates. According to Reuters Estimates, analysts, on average, forecast Microsoft to earn $2.11 per share on revenue of $66.4 billion.

“It’s no surprise that they’re guiding down. Microsoft likes to set achievable goals for themselves,” said Kim Caughey, a senior analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group.

For the December quarter, traditionally Microsoft’s biggest quarter by revenue, the company forecast earnings per share to range between 51 cents and 53 cents on revenue between $17.3 billion and $17.8 billion.

Analysts were forecasting Microsoft to report earnings per share of 55 cents on revenue of $17.9 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

BELT-TIGHTENING

Microsoft’s Liddell said it plans to lower expenses by $500 million compared to its original spending plans through scaling back new hires, reducing travel and lowering marketing costs.

He also said the company plans to reduce capital expenditures this year on items such as data centers to $3.7 billion from an original estimate for $4 billion.

“If macroeconomic conditions worsen, we will adjust operating expenses accordingly,” Liddell said on a conference call with analysts.

Microsoft executives have said in recent weeks that the company is not immune to a downturn in spending from consumers and corporate customers even as they promote the view that the company’s products and markets are diverse enough to better withstand an industry downturn than its rivals.

“Every business unit exceeded expectations except for the Windows Vista business, which was a little bit light,” said Katherine Egbert, analyst at Jefferies & Co.

Revenue at the Windows business rose 2 percent, while the unit’s operating profit fell 4 percent due to the growing popularity of low-end laptop computers called netbooks. Microsoft sells as many copies of Windows for netbooks as for other machines, but makes less money per unit.

The server and tools division posted a 17 percent rise in revenue, while operating income rose 20 percent. The Office business division reported a 20 percent gain in revenue and a 23 percent surge in profit.

“One of the things we look at Microsoft for is their outlook for how business are doing, and it seems as if their business-oriented division did pretty well in the quarter,” said Fort Pitt Capital’s Caughey.

The company, which announced a $40 billion share buyback plan in September, again reiterated that it plans to grow revenue faster than the broader technology industry.

Shares of Microsoft have fallen 19 percent since it last reported earnings on July 17. Microsoft stock closed at $22.32, up 3.7 percent, on the Nasdaq. They remained mostly unchanged in extended trade.

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Russia tells OPEC eyes swing oil producer role

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008

Russia could become a swing producer to influence global prices, the country’s top energy official said on Wednesday as OPEC’s Secretary General met with a Russian president for the first time.

The resurrection of a decade-old idea of a big oil reserve comes as another sign of Russia’s growing ties with OPEC, which has unnerved global consumers already worried by talks between Russia, Iran and Qatar to create an OPEC-style gas group.

“The Ministry of Energy is considering creating an oil production reserve, which would allow it to work more efficiently with prices on the market,” said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, who oversees the energy sector.

Asked how big the reserve should be, Sechin told reporters: “Enough to reach efficient pricing parameters.”

Russia is the biggest oil producer outside OPEC and the world’s second-largest exporter after Saudi Arabia.

OPEC Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri, who arrived in Moscow on Tuesday for a two-day trip, met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to discuss the exchange of market data.

“The reason (for this meeting) is absolutely obvious,” state television channel Vesti 24 showed Medvedev as saying after the two met just outside of Moscow on Wednesday.

“Russia is also a major producer and exporter of oil and is interested in maintaining stable, predictable prices.”

Badri said he liked the reserve idea. “Russian reserves can help global oil shortages … This idea is good. It is a technical matter. We will have to discuss it,” he said before meeting the Russian president.

The Russian economy grew for 10 straight years on the back of high oil prices.

But as prices have halved in the past months Russia’s budget is at risk as it is balanced at $75 per barrel for 2008 and $95 for next year compared to around $60 for Russian crude now.

Russian companies badly need high prices to refinance their heavy debts and maintain ambitious capital projects.

Badri told journalists he was not interested in asking Russia for a cut in production.

Some top OPEC officials have this week called on Russia and other non-member states to join OPEC in cutting production. The organization will hold an extraordinary meeting on Friday and is widely expected to reduce its deliveries to global markets.

Moscow agreed to reduce exports several times earlier this decade in tandem with OPEC, but analysts said the pledge never materialized as private companies raised shipments instead.

Russia has long toyed with the idea of an oil reserve, which could allow it to become a swing producer. But the expensive and logistically difficult plan was never implemented as the government and private companies failed to reach a compromise.

If set up it will differ from emergency reserves created in the 1970s in some big consuming nations, such as the United States, which are used to soothe supply problems rather than influence prices.

The current oil production scheme in Russia does not allow the country to change its flows significantly as any well shut down in Siberia usually leads to its costly repair.

INVESTMENT CONCERNS

The head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), attending the same industry conference as Badri, said he was worried by Russia’s production outlook as the country heads this year for its first annual output decline in a decade.

“We see worrying signs in some producing countries, including Russia, in the ability to invest enough to meet demand,” said Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka of the IEA, adviser to 28 industrialized countries.

Oil production in Russia has been down by around one percent since the start of this year, leading the government to make exploration a top priority for the strategic oil sector.

“We see Russian supply growth slowing, with all projects declining in production over the next decade. Further government incentives would be welcome to increase production,” he said.

Tanaka also said growing demand in robust emerging markets, such as China, could lead to a global squeeze on oil supply.

“In the medium to long term, say by 2013, a supply crunch may happen… If we stop investing now, the problem will be more acute,” he told reporters.

The IEA hoped OPEC would not cut output at Friday meeting, he added. “We want to see more production, we want a cushion.”

Russian oil firms have called on the government to ease taxes and slash export duties in November, one month earlier than planned, because of a steep price decline this month.

Sechin said the idea was being discussed but no decision had yet been taken.

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Ky. campus lockdown ends; no evidence of gunfire

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008

Western Kentucky University was locked down for several hours Wednesday after reports of gunmen on campus, but officials said they could find no evidence that shots had been fired or that anyone had a weapon.

Someone reported seeing people with weapons in a building on a satellite campus and police later received reports that shots had been fired on the main campus, a mile away.

University officials said they received three 911 calls from students. The last caller reported hearing shots.

But Howard Bailey, vice president for student affairs, said at a news conference that there was no gunfire and no witnesses reported seeing weapons.

Bailey said five male students were being questioned in connection with two fights, one on the satellite campus and the other near Pearce Ford Tower residence hall on the main campus, about an hour north of Nashville, Tenn.

He said the fights were related to an altercation Saturday at a school-sponsored dance organized by a group called Black Men at Western. Bailey said no one from the group, which mentors black students, was involved in the fights.

“That student organization has a good reputation,” he said.

Shortly before 2 p.m. EDT, the university sent a text message warning students to seek shelter after the reports of shots in or near Pearce Ford Tower. The campus emergency warning system was activated and students and employees were told to remain indoors. An “all clear” was issued about two hours later after police searched buildings and didn’t find any gunmen. Classes were canceled for the rest of Wednesday.

Bailey said one student suffered minor injuries trying to break up a fight on the satellite campus. The student, who wasn’t identified, was treated and released Wednesday.

Bailey said campus officials didn’t regret sending a message that shots had been fired.

“We would rather be telling you we didn’t have near the problem we thought we did,” he said.

Jake Oakley, an 18-year-old freshman from Princeton, Ky., said he believes he heard gunshots but later acknowledged it could have been the sound of people slamming doors as they ran away. He was leaving English class at the satellite campus, known as South Campus, when he saw 10 people beating up another person. As he was walking away, he thought he heard shots and ran into a building.

“I was scared as hell so I took off running,” Oakley said. “I was just thinking, I can’t get shot.”

He called his mother to say he was safe and stayed in the building until the all clear was given.

The university, which has about 16,500 undergraduates, is on a hill in Bowling Green. Its students and sports teams are known as Hilltoppers.

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African leaders agree to form single market

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008

Leaders from three African trading blocs accounting for more than half the continent’s industrial output agreed Wednesday to form a single market and aimed to set up a free trade area.

They resolved to “immediately start working towards a merger into a single (bloc) with the objective of fast-tracking the attainment of the African Economic Community,” a statement said.

Six heads of state and foreign ministers from 26 countries of the East African Community, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and Southern Africa Development Community gathered for the meeting in Kampala.

They also agreed on “the expeditious establishment of a Free Trade Area encompassing the member/partner states of the three (blocs) with the ultimate goal of establishing a single customs union.”

A framework to form the Free Trade Area will be drawn up in six months.

The summit comes as the world’s poorest continent grapples with the effects of steep food and energy prices as well as the impact of a credit crunch that has hit exports around the world.

Such crises posed a “serious threat to the growth of African economies particularly in terms of demand for African exports of goods and services,” the statement added.

South African President Kgalema Motlanthe said poor nations, whose economy might be shocked by the dynamics of the world financial market, should be given positions at global institutions.

“While Africa and other developing countries had marginal influence over the decisions that have brought the international finance systems to the brink of collapse, unjustifiably, African countries will bear the brunt.”

“Development countries must be included in the governance of all international financing institutions to mitigate adverse effects on them,” said Motlanthe.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki said the creation of a single market would help alleviate poverty and offer employment by boosting efficiency in production, increasing trade and investments.

“We should therefore be steadfast in supporting our desire for a bigger regional bloc that can finally culminate into an African Economic Community,” said Kibaki, who chairs COMESA.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni described the envisaged single market and integration as “a strategic tool” for prosperity.

Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, credited with masterminding the reconstruction of his tiny nation following the 1994 genocide that claimed 800,000 lives, said “the summit constitutes another chance that we need to do more for our region.”

“It is inevitable that the integration will seemingly produce losers and winners initially, but in the long run it will benefit all of us,” Kagame said.

The three blocs comprise 527 million people and a combined GDP of 624 billion dollars or 58 percent of the GDP of the African Union.

But the drive for a single market faces obstacles arising from countries having overlapping membership in the three blocs, presenting a barrier to the creation of a common customs union.

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