Ofcom, the UK uber-regulator, has today announced that they have removed the licensing restrictions on the frequency that radio frequency identification(RFID) tags use.
The currently spectrum available is limited to the range 869.4 to 869.65 MHz. The new position will make the range much wider, stretching between 865-868 MHz range.
The extension isn’t a great surprise as, for a number of years, there has been great excitement in industry as to the possible uses of RFID. The much used example is to improve the efficiency of handling goods in a warehouse, where items within a crate are wirelessly read, and their number deducted from the known stock list automatically as they leave the warehouse.
Many have voiced concerns about the privacy problems of information being remotely read about a person, using RFID, without their knowledge, or complicity. Their oft cited, but basically harmless example is of each item of clothing that a person is wearing being read as they walk into a shop.
Ofcom say that when coming to their decision, they considered two main issues. The first, the potential of interference from RFID devices, concluding that current legislation of output levels covered this. Secondarily, the economic costs and benefits. We quote
Ofcom conducted an impact assessment which found that the potential net benefits to businesses (through better inventory management and improved security) and consumers (if savings were reflected in lower prices) would be £100 – £200 million over 10 years
Benefits are clear for business, as efficiency is improved, by removing employees from the equation. Those to the consumers are less clear, as we can see Ofcom effectively acknowledge in their bracketed ‘if savings were reflected in lower prices’. Given what we know about the pursuit of profit, we see this as a very large If.
Perhaps the revealing section in Ofcom’s announcement is that they “seek to deregulate in order to increase the amount of licence-exempt spectrum used by businesses to bring new technologies and services to the market.” (Our stress).
It could be argued that Ofcom are losing site of their statutory dutiesunder the Communications Act 2003 – to look after the interests of the public. Specifically, quoting from the Ofcom site (again our stress).
3(1) It shall be the principal duty of Ofcom, in carrying out their functions;
(a) to further the interests of citizens in relation to communications matters; and
(b) to further the interests of consumers in relevant markets, where appropriate by promoting competition”
The above is listed on the ‘about section’ on Ofcom’s site .
Accton Technology has unveiled a Skype-enabled Wi-Fi phone, the SkyFone WM1185-T in Tokyo.
This is exactly the type of deal that we thought that Skype would be doing and fits perfectly into our thought of 
The commercial rivalry between two UK online retailers has spilt over into the world of advertising, or more precisely the heady world of UK advertising adjudication, run by the Advertising Standards Authority.
The ASA batted the first complaint aside, but felt the second held water despite Tesco putting up the follow argument. Their long winded thinking can be cut down to … As no single CD or DVD was priced over £19 (thank goodness – our addition), to qualify for the Amazon free delivery, it entailed ordering more than one item.
But this jiggery pokery didn’t get them off the hook and the ASA found against them.
Grokster, the online music sharing service, much legally embattled, has decided to shut the service and pay $50 million to settle claims against it.
There is a plan to launch a service that they say will be a “safe and legal service” under the name Grokster 3G.
Certainly, it will put significantly more pressure on StreamCast Networks Inc., which distributes Morpheus, and Sharman Networks Ltd., which distributes Kazaa, who were co-defendants of the original court case.
We first reported the news of the 
Well today, Nokia are announcing its actual availability and they’ve expanded its capabilities to enable Web browsing using Bluetooth via your mobile.
For Linux hackers everywhere, there’s the great excitement that the 770 will be running Debian Linux, with the new platform – derived from the Linux GNOME UI – going under the name “maemo”. Development on maemo has continued since May and the end of October saw the release of maemo 1.1 Release Candidate 5. They’ve even given it the fancy new name of Nokia Internet Tablet 2005, if you please.
VoIP was hinted at back in May. It’s now been confirmed by our old mate Janne Jormalainen, “During the first half of year 2006 we will launch the next operating system upgrade to support more presence based functionalities such as VoIP and Instant Messaging.”
TiVo and Yahoo are linking up to provide a reasonably extensive collaboration.
We understand that both companies see this as a cross-promotion service, so moines haven’t been exchanged. Proof of the promotion for TiVo are see at the bottom of the Yahoo page explaining the service, where non-TiVo owners are given the chance to buy a machine for $49 after rebates.
The programming your Tivo remotely part of the deal mirrors the deal they did with AOL a number of years ago, but as we mentioned, gives Yahoo an output in peoples TV rooms.
The alleged ‘commander’ of a 400,000 strong botnet has been arrested in the US, in the first US case brought.
He looks like he’s in pretty big trouble as he’s been charged with 17 counts, including conspiracy, transmission of code to a protected computer, to a government computer, and multiple counts of fraud and money laundering.
Among the computers infected were some from the Weapons Division of the US Naval Air Warfare Center, and machines belonging to the US Department of Defense’s Defense Information Systems Agency, according to a statement from Debra Wong Yang, US Attorney for the Central District of California.
Exclusive animated footage from Gorillaz Demon Days Live in Manchester will be available ‘on demand’ via the red button on digital television for seven days, courtesy of BBC Radio 1.
Dan Duncombe, Digital Media Manager at Parlophone, comments, “Giving fans the ability to access content across a number of digital platforms is a key part of the Manchester events. These shows are groundbreaking and working with Radio 1 has allowed us to take this further in terms of reach as well as interactivity. Gorillaz fans throughout the world can access and interact with this exclusive audio and visual content, making it a truly global and multi platform event.”
This morning, Homechoice, the currently London-focused DSL-based VOD announced that they had appointed CSFB (Credit Suisse First Boston, as was) to raise new capital for their expansion around the UK.
Their newly-announced ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) figures are impressive at £430, being considerably higher than Sky’s £384 (announced in 3 August 2005), but lower than Telewest’s £538 and ntl’s £477 (reported to ofcom, Q2 2005).