Sheryl Sandberg sells $91 million of Facebook stock

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/thumb/msid-21756221,width-310,resizemode-4/facebook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/thumb/msid-21756221,width-310,resizemode-4/facebook.jpg" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; line-height: 18px;"><b>The number two executive at social networking giant Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg, has sold $91 million of the company's stock, according to US securities filings.</b></span></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; line-height: 18px;"><b><br /></b></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">NEW YORK CITY: The number two executive at social networking giant Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg, has sold $91 million of the company's stock, according to US securities filings.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />Facebook<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> shares sold at their </span>initial public offering<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> in May 2012 for $38, but soon after dropped in value. Only in the past days it has recovered and surpassed that value. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">The company shares closed Friday at $38.50. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">Sandberg still holds more than 25 million shares, representing approximately $1 billion, according to the filing, released late Friday. </span></div> </div>

Sheryl Sandberg sells $91 million of Facebook stock

The number two executive at social networking giant Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg, has sold $91 million of the company's stock, accordi...

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PayPal keen on collaboration for cash-free future

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/thumb/msid-21756381,width-310,resizemode-4/.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/thumb/msid-21756381,width-310,resizemode-4/.jpg" /></a></div> <br /> <div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; line-height: 18px;"><b>Online financial transactions titan PayPal says it is keen to collaborate with others as it strives for a cash-free future.</b></span></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; line-height: 18px;"><b><br /></b></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">SAN FRANCISCO: Online financial transactions titan PayPal says it is keen to collaborate with others as it strives for a cash-free future.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">"We are all about working with developers to let them take advantage of the heavy lifting we've done when it comes to moving money around the world," Hill Ferguson, the company's vice president of global product, told AFP. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">PayPal -- founded 15 years ago with a vision of becoming a global currency -- has also been working with stores in the United States and abroad to let people pay for almost anything with Internet-Age digital wallets. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">The trend is proliferating around the globe, according to Ferguson. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">"People use their identities to represent themselves when they want to buy something, and merchants get easier ways to know who their customers are and focus on the personalized experiences," he said. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">"We really see the future of money as being completely digital -- bringing the experience to the front and the payment to the background," he added. "Right now, it is just the opposite." </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">Ferguson spoke on the sidelines of San Francisco's </span>Outside Lands Music<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> and Arts Festival, where PayPal had quite a setup to tune people into the prospect of going cash-free. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">For one, a mock police force patrolled for "visible wallet bulge" as the crowd jammed to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and other acts in Golden Gate Park. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">"A music festival is a place where you shouldn't have to carry cash and worry about your wallet," Ferguson said. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">"That is the future of commerce, and we want to show that and share that with the rest of the world." </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">The popularity of PayPal and rival Square, brainchild of </span>Twitter<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> co-founder </span>Jack Dorsey<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">, suggest people are growing increasingly comfortable with the idea of smartphones and tablets being a new way transact business. </span></div> </div>

PayPal keen on collaboration for cash-free future

Online financial transactions titan PayPal says it is keen to collaborate with others as it strives for a cash-free future. SAN FRA...

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Popular China bloggers should "promote virtues": Official

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/thumb/msid-21756577,width-310,resizemode-4/.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/thumb/msid-21756577,width-310,resizemode-4/.jpg" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; line-height: 18px;"><b>Chinese Internet celebrities have been told to "promote virtues" by a leading official, state media said Sunday, after a singer sparked a free speech debate by venting about bombing government offices.</b></span></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; line-height: 18px;"><b><br /></b></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div class="artText" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div class="Normal" style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">BEIJING: Chinese Internet celebrities have been told to "promote virtues" by a leading official, state media said Sunday, after a singer sparked a free speech debate by venting about bombing government offices.</span> <br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />Beijing expects celebrities to "uphold law", state news agency Xinhua reported the official as saying, after singer Wu Hongfei was released earlier this month following her detention by authorities over her online comments. <br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />She said she wanted to target Beijing's housing authority and a neighbourhood committee, soon after a man set off a homemade device at the capital's airport, citing grievances with local government. <br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />"The government expects (Internet celebrities) to uphold law and order and to promote virtues and trust," Xinhua quoted Lu Wei, director of the State Internet Information Office, as saying in indirect speech. <br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />"They shall set an example of protecting the legal rights of citizens and denouncing any activities that harm the reputation and interests of other people," he was reported as saying in a statement after a high-level meeting on Saturday. <br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />AFP could not find the statement on the website of the department, who could not be reached for comment Sunday. <br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />There are more than 1.2 billion accounts on the country's popular Internet blogging websites, Xinhua said. <br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />On two of the most popular Internet sites, the Twitter-like Sina Weibo and t.qq.com, 3,300 accounts have more than one million followers while about 200 have more than 10 million, the news agency added. <br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />Media reported that Wu was held on suspicion of "fabricating fake terrorism information", an offence that carries a maximum of five years in jail. <br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />In an informal online poll run by state broadcaster CCTV, 80 percent of voters did not think Wu's words constituted a crime. <br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />Wu's comments were made just one day after a man in a wheelchair detonated a small handmade explosive device at Beijing airport in protest over historical grievances with the authorities. <br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />The airport bomber, Ji Zhongxing, was a former motorcycle driver who despaired at his failure to win redress for what he called a 2005 police beating in southern Dongguan city that left him paralysed, though authorities there said his claims lacked evidence. <br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />The blast destroyed Ji's hand and injured an officer, but his story triggered widespread sympathy and an outpouring of resentment at abuse by local authorities. <br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />He has been formally arrested and could face three to 10 years in jail, his lawyer told AFP. <br style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></div> </div> </div>

Popular China bloggers should "promote virtues": Official

Chinese Internet celebrities have been told to "promote virtues" by a leading official, state media said Sunday, after a singe...

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Deutsche Telekom snubs US email servers after snooping scandal

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; line-height: 18px;"><b>CEO of Deutsche Telekom Rene Obermann holds a press conference to discuss the topic of secure e-mailing in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Aug. 9, 2013. Deutsche Telekom AG and United Internet AG, Germany's biggest Internet service providers say they will encrypt customers' emails by default following reports that the U.S. National Security Agency monitors international electronic communications. Obermann says the initiative came because "Germans are deeply unsettled by the latest reports on the potential interception of communication data" revealed by NSA leaker Edward Snowden.</b></span></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; line-height: 18px;"><b><br /></b></span></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/thumb/msid-21733129,width-310,resizemode-4/rene-obermann.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/thumb/msid-21733129,width-310,resizemode-4/rene-obermann.jpg" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; line-height: 18px;"><b><br /></b></span></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">BERLIN: Germany's leading telecoms operator will channel email traffic exclusively through its domestic servers in response to public outrage over U.S. spy programmes accessing citizens' private messages, Deutsche Telekom said on Friday.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">Deutsche Telekom launched the "E-mail made in Germany" initiative after a month of public indignation over reports on U.S. snooping based on documents leaked by fugitive former </span>National Security Agency <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"></span>contractor<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> </span>Edward Snowden<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">The spying </span>scandal<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">, which has filled German newspapers for weeks, has become a major </span>headache<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> for Chancellor </span>Angela Merkel<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> ahead of a Sept. 22 election. Government snooping is a sensitive subject in </span>Germany<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> due to </span>the heavy<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> surveillance of citizens in the former communist East and under Hitler's Nazis.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">"The spying campaign has deeply rattled Germans," Deutsche Telekom </span>Chief Executive <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">Rene Obermann said at a news conference in Berlin on Friday to launch the initiative aiming to make email communication in Germany "more secure".</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">Deutsche Telekom and its partner United Internet, which account for about two-thirds of all email users in Germany, said they would protect clients' emails via so-called SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption. This is an option already offered by Google.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">The former telecommunications monopoly, in which the German state remains the biggest investor with a 32 percent stake, said</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">all data processing and storage would take place in Germany.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">"This will make a big difference," said </span>Sandro Gaycken<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">, a professor of cyber security at Berlin's </span>Free University<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">"Of course the NSA could still break in if they wanted to, but the mass encryption of emails would make it harder and more expensive for them to do so," said Gaycken.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">German news magazine </span>Der Spiegel<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> reported in June, citing an NSA document, that the </span>United States<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> taps half a billion phone calls, emails and text messages in Germany in a typical month.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">Snooping fears will boost sales of IT security goods like virus scanners, firewalls and access administration tools, which had been expected to be worth 3.33 billion euros in Germany this year, up from 3.16 billion in 2012, according to the IT-market data provider </span>International Data Corporation<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> (IDC).</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">But Bitkom, which represents more than 2,000 German IT companies, expects even higher demand after news of wholesale electronic surveillance by American and British intelligence.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">"The reports about PRISM and Tempora have considerably raised awareness for IT security," Bitkom President Dieter Kempf said in a statement, adding that the market should now outpace the 5 percent growth that had been expected this year.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />Stefan Frei<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">, a research director at information security company </span>NSS Labs<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">, said the Telekom response was a step in the right direction.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">"This initiative helps to tackle the-day-to-day sniffing around on the communication lines but it still doesn't prevent governments from getting information," Frei said.</span></div> </div>

Deutsche Telekom snubs US email servers after snooping scandal

CEO of Deutsche Telekom Rene Obermann holds a press conference to discuss the topic of secure e-mailing in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Aug. 9...

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Google, others back US bill against patent trolls

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div id="LeftData" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3f3f3f; float: left; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; min-width: 155px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <div id="sshow" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <div class="cnt new_class3" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: inline; float: left; margin: 3px 0px 0px 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 310px;"> <div class="padL3" id="bellyad" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 3px;"> <div class="mainimg1" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; position: relative;"> <div class="flL_pos" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; float: left; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"> <img alt="Google, others back US bill against patent trolls" border="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" pg="" src="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/thumb/msid-21502374,width-300,resizemode-4/security_24.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; display: block; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Google, others back US bill against patent trolls" vspace="0" width="300" /></div> <div class="zoomimg1 wd300 clearfix" pg="asStoryPic" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; bottom: 4px; display: inline-block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; right: 4px; width: 300px;"> <div class="photo11" style="background-color: #eaeaea; border: 0px; color: #757575; font-family: georgia; font-style: italic; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 10px;"> Google, Dell and others urged lawmakers to pass bills that would protect new products against "extortive demands" on patents.</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="new_class2" id="ftredcmt" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; clear: both; float: left; margin: 0px 15px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </div> </div> <div class="clearFix" id="inc_dec" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; height: 977px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <div class="Normal" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <tmp style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br />WASHINGTON: Dozens of major US companies, including Morgan Stanley, Google, Wal-Mart and Dell, on Tuesday urged lawmakers to pass bills that they said would protect new products against "extortive demands" on patents. <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The abusive use of patent litigation has become an increasing concern for companies, many of which have been hit by lawsuits by firms known as patent trolls that buy intellectual property and seek money from companies that may infringe on these patents. <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />In a letter to the top Democrats and Republicans on the Senate and House of Representatives' Judiciary Committees, 44 companies urged support for bills that would broaden the power of the US Patent and Trademark Office to review patents and invalidate any that it determines should not have been granted. <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Currently, the patent office can review business method patents related to financial services more aggressively than other patents. The proposed legislation would expand that authority to include all business method patents. <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The business method patents, many of which are also software patents, are frequently used by patent trolls to file infringement lawsuits. <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The expanded programme "would increase certainty for innovators actually bringing new products to market, who now face an increasing threat of extortive demands based on low-quality patents," the companies said in a letter. <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />They estimated that frivolous patent litigation cost companies $29 billion in 2011, the most recent figures available. <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Senator Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, introduced the Senate version of the bill in May, and California Representatives Darrell Issa, a Republican, and Judy Chu, a Democrat, launched a similar measure in the House this month. <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />No action has been taken on the legislation so far, but the backing from major companies could help create momentum. <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The White House urged Congress in June to take steps to curb lawsuits by firms that make or sell nothing but specialize in suing others for patent infringement. <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Other signatories of the letter include Amazon, Netflix, Newegg, Facebook, Eddie Bauer LLC, Samsung Electronics America, SurveyMonkey, Macy's and Kroger<br />.</tmp></div> </div> </div>

Google, others back US bill against patent trolls

Google, Dell and others urged lawmakers to pass bills that would protect new products against "extortive demands" on pat...

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