Reg. Linux User #479288
The European Commission has fined US computer giant Microsoft for defying sanctions imposed on it for anti-competitive behaviour. Microsoft must now pay a record 899m euros ($1.4bn; £680.9m) after it failed to comply with a 2004 ruling that it abused its dominant market position.
The ruling said that Microsoft was guilty of not providing key code to rival software makers.
EU regulators said the firm was the first to break an EU anti-trust ruling.
Mike Turner, CEO of BAE Systems was out today cap in hand begging for more taxpayers cash to help fund his weapons of mass destruction.
Mr Turner said the government must find the money for planned weapons programmes or risk Britain losing the industrial capability necessary to defend itself, The Sunday Times reported.
Turner’s comments come as the Ministry of Defence struggles to resolve a 1.5 bln stg budget crisis that threatens several big defence programmes.
‘If you want to keep a defence industrial base, and operational sovereignty in the UK, then you are going to have to fund it, and research and development. If you don’t do that, you are dead,’ said “Mad” Mike in an interview with the paper.
He failed to mention how he feels knowing his companies products are directly responsible for millions of deaths a year - nor did he feel he should comment on Teflon Tony’s decision to drop the SFO investigation into the bribes made by his company.
Discredited former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, put “irresistible pressure” on investigators and “stepped over the boundaries of what was permissible” to call off a criminal investigation into allegations of corruption surrounding an arms deal with Saudi Arabia, the High Court here has been told.The Court is hearing an appeal from two anti-arms campaign groups — Corner House Research and the Campaign Against Arms — who want the investigation to be resumed.
The case relates to accusations that BAE Systems, Britain’s biggest arms supplier, paid more than £1 billion in bribes to members of the Saudi royal family to clinch a £43-billion defence deal in 1985.
Prince Bandar, son of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and former Ambassador to Washington, is among those accused of benefiting from the alleged “kickbacks.” The BAE as well as the Prince have denied any wrongdoing.
Continue reading ‘Tony Blair “stepped over the boundaries of what was permissible”.’
People in the UK who go online and illegally download music and films may have their internet access cut under plans the government is considering. A draft consultation suggests internet service providers would be required to take action over users who access pirated material via their accounts.
If made law the insane proposal would give ISPs, the UK government and any corporate entity free reign to inspect downloaded packets and prevent individual’s access to the internet.
Some HSBC customers in a Dorset village will no longer be able to see their bank manager as the branch turns into one of the most exclusive in England. At its Canford Cliffs branch, the self-titled “world’s local bank”, which made around £11 billion in profits last year, will only allow face-to-face banking for its “premier” customers.
The move, which starts in June, means Canford Cliffs will be the country’s only exclusively “premier” HSBC branch.
An HSBC spokesman said it has no plans to introduce such a service elsewhere.
The cheapest house currently on the market in Canford Cliffs, near Poole, is priced at £330,000 with the most expensive priced at more than £8m.
To be eligible for the face-to-face banking service at Canford Cliffs, customers must have:
Other customers will have to visit nearby branches in Poole or Westbourne, although they will still be able to deposit and withdraw funds from cash machines at Canford Cliffs, which does not have a cashier service.
One customer, who did not want to be named, said: “That’s what this area is all about - money, it’s the way it’s going. HSBC have made millions from illegal bank charges and now they ban the same people they charged.”
An HSBC spokesman said: “The reason we are doing it is because Canford Cliffs is a very wealthy area and well serviced by HSBC. It’s a unique location.
“A high percentage of customers at this particular branch are premier customers.”
