PETALING JAYA: The National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) is in favour of the call by a consumer group to ban the use of cellphones in schools by students under 12 years old.  

NUTP president Ismail Nihat said cellphones are unnecessary for children that age. “There are public phones available in school compounds and if it is really urgent, students are allowed to use phones in the teachers' lounge,” he said.  

According to the NUTP, cellphone use by the young students should be discouraged because the devices can interrupt lessons or may be a distraction in class.  

Ismail was commenting on the recent call for the ban by Perak Consumer Affairs Committee chairman, Datuk G. Rajoo. A local daily reported that the committee has urged the the Energy, Water and Communications Ministry to consider banning cellphones in primary schools.  

Rajoo was quoted as saying that “the evils of the cellphone far outweighs its benefits” and that the students were sending SMSes (short message service) and downloading “unsuitable” photographs instead of paying attention in class. 

Source: Star-InTech

PETALING JAYA: Barely a month old, Jaring's new broadband Internet service is experiencing some hiccups, with potential customers claiming that the new service is not living up to their expectations.  

Lee Yan Chun, 25, said his hopes of getting Jaring’s Internet broadband service were dashed when the company said there were no DSLAMs (Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer) in the area where he stays. 

“This was the same excuse given to me by another broadband service provider last year,” the customer service representative told In.Tech in an e-mail. 

Lee claimed Jaring misled the public when it said the company was offering a “blanket nationwide coverage,” when it only covered areas where incumbent telco, TM Bhd's DSLAM broadband ports were available.

Source : TheStar

The recording industry today unveiled the biggest escalation yet in its campaign against illegal internet file-sharing, announcing over 2,100 new legal cases against individuals and extending the actions to five new countries in Europe, Asia and - for the first time - South America.

File-sharers in Sweden, Switzerland, Argentina, Hong Kong and Singapore are for the first time at risk of criminal penalties and payment of damages in an international campaign that has already seen thousands of people - the majority of them young men between the ages of 20 and 30 - pay sums of US$3,000 or more for uploading copyrighted music on peer-to-peer networks (p2p).

Source

The country's recording industry says pirated discs from 12 of the 44 factories licensed by the government have been exported abroad.

The suspect plants continue to operate despite complaints while illegal plants have been shut down, the industry says.

Malaysia is thought to be the world's largest exporter of pirated discs.

Pirated discs produced in Malaysia have been found across Europe, Asia, Latin America and, most recently, in South Africa.

Source: BBC, UK