Adil Syed

Jupiter Research has recently published the results of an exhaustive research project meant to determine the actual growth of worldwide usage of the worldwide web. Their findings confirm that the Internet is increasingly becoming more accessible to ... the global population, although a vast majority still have not enjoyed the online experience. Jupiter estimates that nearly 1.8 billion people will be online by 2012, representing just under a quarter of the world's population. The most significant growth is expected to be in rapidly-developing countries like China, India, Russia and Brazil. These ... (view more)

Unknown hackers recently targeted the website of the second largest Internet Service Provider (ISP) in the US, which resulted in the temporary shutdown of Comcast.net. The attack took place around 11pm on May 28, and prevented customers from ... accessing their Comcast web mail as well as other services provided on the website. Instead of the website, visitors were greeted by a message reading "KRYOGENIKS EBK and DEFIANT RoXed COMCAST sHouTz To VIRUS Warlock elul21 coll1er seven." (Source: cnet.com ) A spokesperson from the company has confirmed that an unauthorized change was made in Comcast's ... (view more)

Amazon recently filed papers with the New York State Supreme Court declaring a problem tax provision to be "invalid, illegal, and unconstitutional." This was an expected response by a retailer attempting to redefine what constitutes the physical ... presence of a company within the geographical boundaries of a state. Confused? So is the state of New York, which contends that Amazon ought to be held responsible for the collection of local sales taxes because the company pays out referral commissions to its affiliates who are registered to a New York address. The provision is part of New York's $ ... (view more)

Google CEO Eric Schmidt announced that his company's top priority this year is to make the YouTube video-sharing site a more profitable enterprise through the introduction of new advertising strategies. In an interview that aired on CNBC on ... Wednesday, Schmidt said, "I don't think we've quite figured out the perfect solution of how to make money, and we're working on that. That's our highest priority this year." Google Inc.'s acquisition of YouTube in 2006 represented a $1.65 billion investment in the video-sharing site but internal earnings reports demonstrate that the purchase has yet to ... (view more)

Online payment processing giant PayPal has recently announced security measures that it will implement to protect customers from falling victim to phishing attacks. PayPal is particularly affected by these attacks, because the core of its business ... encompasses the transfer of funds, which presents a tempting target to criminals. Michael Barrett, PayPal's chief security officer, explained the company's plans to delegates meeting at the RSA security conference in San Francisco. (Source: zdnet.co.uk ) Barrett emphasized the need for cooperative action between individuals as well as companies ... (view more)

New York's state legislature passed a budget earlier this month that includes a provision requiring online retailers to collect all applicable taxes at the behest of the state. Individuals shopping online had previously been able to dodge paying ... local taxes since online retailers were not responsible for their collection. Instead, New York as well as most other states require individuals to voluntarily declare items bought from out of state retailers, in their annual income tax filings. The 'Use Tax' puts the onus on the individual to pay their owing taxes on items purchased. In reality, ... (view more)

Wal-Mart's online store has undergone a major redesign that makes its massive catalogue of songs entirely DRM-free. Digital rights management (DRM) is a term used to identify restrictions placed on digital media to prevent piracy. Wal-Mart's online ... store had previously made use of the Windows Media DRM, limiting the playback of songs to devices sanctioned by Microsoft. However, the growing popularity of mobile media devices such as the iPod, which cannot play songs limited to the Windows Media DRM, has forced the retailer to carry out a complete switch-over. Wal-Mart had announced its ... (view more)