How can we make sure we have the right information technology to avoid, in the future, the delayed reaction by firms to problems with their balance sheets that was partly responsible for the current financial crisis? That’s the question a ZDNet interview with three execs from Sybase (who recently co-authored a book on managing real time risk in capital markets) seeks to answer. In the interview, Sybase Director of Business Development Sinan Baskan points out that the degree of readiness to financial markets can be improved if information is managed as a strategic asset, and one key to achieving this goal is the tying together of formerly siloed applications. To read the rest of the conversation, go here.
The Washington Post claims that President Obama will likely announce late this week that he will create a “cyber czar,” a senior White House official who will have broad authority to develop strategy to protect the nation's government-run and private computer networks. The announcement is expected to coincide with the long-anticipated release of a 40-page report that evaluates the government's cyber security initiatives and policies. The report is intended to outline a “strategic vision” and the range of issues the new adviser must handle, but it will not delve into details, according to administration officials.
SFGate.com reports that EU antitrust regulators told the music industry this week to move quickly and change licenses that currently restrict online music stores such as iTunes from offering the same songs for sale across Europe. Because music rights are sold separately in each country, Apple has so far been unable to set up a single iTunes store to service all of Europe. EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said that because iTunes music offerings differ in the various EU member states, European consumers are currently not “fully benefitting from the opportunities that the Internet provides.” Kroes urged publishers and music copyright groups — also called collecting societies — "to move quickly to adapt their licensing solutions to the online environment," saying she would review progress.
In an attempt to roll back a ban on Internet gambling enacted when Republicans led Congress, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) this week introduced legislation that would allow the Treasury Department to license and regulate online gambling companies that serve American customers. Currently, financial institutions are banned from handling transactions made to and from Internet gambling sites. According to the New York Times, when Frank introduced the legislation, he said that the government could collect increased tax revenues if Internet gambling was regulated. More importantly, however, he said that gambling should be legal as a matter of personal liberty that the government should neither encourage nor prohibit.
The New York Times has an interesting op-ed on the benefits of trade and the dangers of increased protectionism that has been triggered in many countries by rising unemployment.