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EUROPEAN TECH WIRE - Nov. 18, 2004
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To Subscribe: http://www.europeantechwire.com
o Poland Withdraws Support for Software Patents Directive
o Report: European VC Investment Drops 9% in Third Quarter
o BT Group Escapes Break-Up in Telecommunications Review
o U.K.-Based Digital Bridges Closes Third Round of Funding
o Ireland's Norkom Technologies Acquires Belgium's DATA4s
o Bristol Council Dumps Microsoft for Open Source Desktops
o Briefly Noted: VeriSIM-Mervyn Farrant, The Cloud-Swedish
Railway Wi-Fi, RadioSolution Software AG-Radiotracker,
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o Poland Withdraws Support for Software Patents Directive
Warsaw -- The Polish government withdrew its support for the
controversial European software patents directive on Thursday, with
the Polish Cabinet saying the current directive fails to limit patents on
software and business methods as it was originally designed to do.
"Because of numerous ambiguity and contradictions respecting the
current directive project, Poland cannot support the text which was
accepted in the vote of the Council on 18 May, 2004," the Polish
government said. Poland's decision to oppose the Directive on the
Patentability of Computer-Implemented Inventions has been cheered by
anti-patent groups across Europe, as Poland's 16 votes will now prevent
pro-directive lawmakers from reaching a qualified majority. All that
said, Poland did emphasise that it would be prepared to support a
directive clearly stating that computer-implemented inventions, but not
computer programmes, would be patentable.
http://www.kprm.gov.pl/441_12649.htm
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o Report: European VC Investment Drops 9% in Third Quarter
Brussels -- According to a recent report published by Ernst & Young
and VentureOne, approximately 769 million euro (£539 million) were
invested in 224 European deals in the third quarter -- a 9% drop in
capital invested and a 13% drop in number of deals compared to the
third quarter last year. The report attributed the decrease in deals and
capital invested to a seasonal drop-off, as the amount invested in the
first three quarters of this year combined were slightly higher than the
same period last year. VC activity in the U.K., however, slowed
considerably, with deals dropping from 76 in the second quarter to 56
in the third, a decline of 26%. U.K. deal value fell even further, from
323 million euro (£226 million) to 204 million euro (£143 million), a
decline of 37%. "VC activity across Europe has stagnated, and until we
see good quality exits through an improving M&A and IPO market,
confidence will remain fragile," said Ernst & Young's Stuart Watson.
"The one exception is France, which now looks like it could be in a
position to threaten the U.K. as the leading VC market in Europe."
http://makeashorterlink.com/?N56C220D9
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o BT Group Escapes Break-Up in Telecommunications Review
London -- Ofcom, the U.K. media and communications watchdog, on
Thursday decided against breaking up telecommunications giant BT
Group Plc, a move that took many industry experts and investors by
surprise. Most pundits had been expecting Ofcom to recommend that
BT Group's retail and wholesale units be spun off, but the regulator told
BT only to increase competitor access to its networks. In its first major
review of the U.K. telecommunications industry in more than a decade,
Ofcom said full deregulation would be too disruptive and expensive
and that it would not necessarily encourage greater competition. It
preferred instead a "staged withdrawal" from certain areas of
regulation. The U.K. watchdog warned BT that an antitrust
investigation of the incumbent would be launched if it failed to grant
competitors genuinely equal access to its networks.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?Q21A320D9
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o U.K.-Based Digital Bridges Closes Third Round of Funding
London -- Digital Bridges, a U.K.-based mobile entertainment firm,
announced on Thursday that it has concluded a third round of funding
led by Apax Partners and Argo Global Capital. Digital Bridges said it
would use the £9.7 million raised to step up its expansion into the
North American and Asian mobile-games markets over the next 12
months. "Our 2004 (third-quarter) revenue grew by more than 30%
over (the second quarter), making us one of the fastest growing
companies in the sector," said Digital Bridges CEO Brian Greasley.
"Digital Bridges has strengthened its management team, is growing its
presence in key markets and, with this most recent round, is well
funded to continue its aggressive expansion plans." Digital Bridges is
headquartered in London and has offices in Paris, New York and
Dunfermline, Scotland.
http://www.digitalbridges.com/
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041118/ukth008_1.html
_____________________________________________
o Ireland's Norkom Technologies Acquires Belgium's DATA4s
Dublin -- Norkom Technologies Ltd., an Ireland-based software firm,
announced that it has acquired DATA4s, a Belgium-based company
that provides software for money-laundering detection, fraud
prevention, operational risk management and revenue assurance.
Financial terms for the deal were not disclosed. Privately held Norkom
said it made the acquisition to strengthen its position in the risk
management and compliance software market. "By consolidating two
leading European players, this acquisition will accelerate Norkom's
position as the number one European player in the risk management,
fraud and compliance marketplace," said Norkom CEO Paul Kerley.
Under the terms of the deal, Kerley will remain at the helm of the
newly merged company, while DATA4s CEO Herman Verrelst will
become Norkom's director of European operations.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?M239260D9
_____________________________________________
o Bristol Council Dumps Microsoft for Open Source Desktops
Bristol, England -- The Bristol City Council announced this week that
it has decided to migrate about 5,000 computer desktops from
Microsoft Office, Corel Word Perfect and Lotus 1-2-3 to open-source
system StarOffice 7. The council, which stands to save about £1.4
million over the next five years with the move, said it switched to open
source in order to improve efficiency and ensure a more consistent use
of software systems across its departments. "Our IT specialists have
spent three years evaluating the options and investigating in detail the
technical, financial and cultural issues involved in switching the
majority of our desktops to StarOffice," said Bristol Councillor John
Bees. "We are convinced that this is the right way forward and will
offer benefits all round."
http://makeashorterlink.com/?H298150D9
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o Briefly Noted:
(Edinburgh) VeriSIM, a Scotland-based provider of strategic
simulation solutions to the financial services sector, announced on
Thursday that it has appointed Mervyn Farrant -- who has served on the
boards of more than 25 companies in the IT sector -- as non-executive
chairman. The privately held firm said Farrant's appointment follows its
successful completion of a £1.2-million funding round led by Albany
Ventures and Scottish Equity Partners in June. VeriSIM's customers
include the Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Sainsbury's Bank,
Intelligent Finance, Standard Chartered, Halifax, Dunfermline Building
Society, Bank of Scotland and Tesco Personal Finance.
http://www.verisim.com/press/releases.asp?id=16
(London) The Cloud, a U.K.-based wireless Internet service provider,
announced on Thursday that it has signed a deal to install Wi-Fi
hotspots in 178 railway stations in Sweden. The company said it
expects to have hotspots running in at least 55 stations by the end of
January. The company also said the project in Sweden was the
beginning of an expansion programme for next year that will see The
Cloud move into France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the
Benelux region.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?J3AB520D9
(Karlsruhe, Germany) RadioSolution Software AG, a German audio
software developer, announced this week the release of Radiotracker, a
program that purports to legally enable users to record songs played on
more than 6,000 Internet radio stations to their hard drives. The
application also uses ID3 tags to include data such as artist, titles and
album covers. The company is offering the full version of the software
for £9.
http://www.radiotracker.com
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