Atari US operations file for bankruptcy | Art of essay-writing by Students damaged by Twitter and Facebook, Cambridge don warns | Kim Dotcom starts new file-sharing site | “A modern set of data protection rules is good for growth” | Should we be recording our phone calls?
Another brand that we grew up with looks like heading south with the news that Atari in the US has filed for Bankruptcy protection. The US business has actually boasted modest growth having moved into Digital gaming and looks set to safely emerge on the other side. However its French parent company continues to struggle. So much for the prophecy in Blade Runner where Atari logos can be clearly seen in the futuristic LA depicted in the film.
The Telegraph reports on how Students are losing the art of being able to write the established academic yardstick of the Essay. Text speak has infiltrated the hallowed halls of Oxbridge, with the changing standards of prose seemingly indicative of students spending the majority of their time on social media rather than the library as used to be the case.
The aptly – named Kim Dotcom (yes he did changed his name) has launched the sequel to his ill – fated Megaupload cloud storage facility with a huge party at his New Zealand mansion. He claims his new product is identical to those such as Dropbox. The creatively – named “Mega” gives users 50GB of free storage space and has already attracted 250,000 users, many of whom struggled to attain access due to the nascent service’s limited server capacity. Mr Dotcom was previously raised by the US and continues to fight extradition to the US over charges that Megaupload facilitated piracy between its users. Any users tempted by the 50GB offered by Mega would be wise to look at the legal limbo currently enjoyed by Megaupload users who are still unable to access their data.
In Data Protection news, EU commissioner Reding argues that the proposed EU 2012 Data Protection Regulations would aid commerce by having modern up to date data protection rules in force across the EU. This is in response to the increasingly vocal business community that is fearful of the effect on growth of more EU red tape in imposing restrictions like the need to report Data Protection breaches within 24 hours along with the trouble of implementing the much – heralded “Right to be Forgotten”.
The BBC also looks at the prevalence of Apps that can record telephone conversations on smartphones. An increasing number of suppliers of VOIP to business users also provide this service. However a quick note to over – zealous business – owners – in the UK you still need to make sure the caller is aware that you record calls, so having it in a message before you connect the caller is good practice. Those recordings also amount to personal data under the Data Protection Act as the individual can be identified by their voice, and consequently this data should be stored securely and encrypted in order to comply with the Act.
BBC News – Atari US operations file for bankruptcy protection
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BBC News – Kim Dotcom starts new file-sharing site
Art of essay-writing by Students damaged by Twitter and Facebook, Cambridge don warns – Telegraph
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Reding: “A modern set of data protection rules is good for growth” | New Europe
Data Protection wars – what is at stake for whom under the new EU Directive – When IT Meets Politics
BBC News – Should we be recording our phone calls?
Exclusive: UK firms seek to limit ICO powers in data protection shake-up – IT News from V3.co.uk
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