Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom (shown above in his Twitter image) is out of jail and ready to start his next venture—but from the looks of things it’s not much different than his last.
Dotcom debuted Mega on Thursday, which essentially is the same type of service as Megaupload. Mega, which Dotcom said in September would appear soon, will allow for the sharing of large files much like its predecessor when it launches later this year. There’s one key change, though: it will handled stored data much differently.
Mega encrypts all files before uploading, and each downloader receives a unique decryption key to read the file once it’s downloaded. This means the site itself cannot readily view the files themselves, which Dotcom and his associates claim will clear them of any liability.
The site’s structure pushes any liability onto the uploader themselves. He or she has full control over who may have access to their files rather than Mega itself. Furthermore, none of the encryption keys will be stored on Mega’s servers.
“If servers are lost, if the government comes into a data center and rapes it, if someone hacks the server or steals it, it would give him nothing,” Dotcom told Wired in an interview. “Whatever is uploaded to the site, it is going to be remain closed and private without the key.”
How Mega's data is to be stored
Another key change is how data is stored: Mega will store copies of its files in two different servers across two countries, which it hopes will prevent the kind of data loss that occurred after the FBI seized its servers during a raid early this year.
With the new system, all that's different will be the encryption. Now, a file is encrypted on the server but the encryption keys are not stored on the server, and access is controlled by the uploader. That user has a secondary key to decrypt the file which he or she provides to anyone who wants to download the content.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Right idea? Wrong implementation? Do people want to save money?
Power Hogs Targeted by France in Big Brother Legislation
By Tara Patel
October 19, 2012
Heating a French home could soon require an income tax consultation or even a visit to the doctor under legislation to force conservation in the nation’s $46 billion household energy market.
A bill adopted by the lower house this month would set prices that homes pay based on wages, age and climate. Utilities Electricite de France SA and GDF Suez SA (GSZ) will use the data to reward consumers who cut power and natural gas usage and penalize those whom regulators decide are wasteful.
“It’s Orwellian,” opposition lawmaker Daniel Fasquelle said by telephone.
“The law will create huge inequalities and infringe on people’s individual freedoms. It won’t work.”
Socialist President Francois Hollande is pushing boundaries of privacy and privilege in carrying out a campaign promise to reduce energy costs. France, which built the world’s biggest reliance on nuclear power as other nations buckled under public anxiety over atomic energy, is now seeking support to reward homes for “negawatts,” or not using a kilowatt of power.
The law would be unique to France and is symbolic to the Socialists, a government official who declined to be identified said yesterday. Households bought 35 billion euros ($46 billion) of energy in 2011, including power, gas and other heating fuels.
The legislation drew criticism from trade unions and industry groups. It will add layers of bureaucracy to a power system already attacked in court and antitrust probes for being oppressive for customers and competitors of EDF (EDF) and GDF Suez, the former state monopolies that still dominate supply, opponents said.
While the government said the changes won’t cut earnings at EDF and GDF Suez, the uncertainty may weigh on their shares that investors have already marked down by 1.2 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively, in the past three months while the Bloomberg European Utilities Index (BEUTIL) gained 5.2 percent.
The proposed law was adopted by the National Assembly on Oct. 4 and is set for Senate debate later this month. Opposition from Communist members has pushed a Senate commission to postpone its examination until Oct. 23 so some revisions can be made. The draft contravenes the principle of equal access to energy across France and should be completely revised, Communist senators said in a statement late yesterday.
EDF and GDF Suez would be the most exposed because of their dominant positions. EDF supplies power to 28 million household clients in France, while GDF Suez provides gas to 9.4 million customers, giving them respective market shares of 93 percent and 90 percent by volume, according to the regulator.
“It won’t be beneficial for the utilities, it will be neutral at best,” Emmanuel Retif, analyst at Raymond James Euro Equities in Paris, said by e-mail. “If it were to be beneficial, heating bills would have to rise and that’s not what the government is trying to do.”
Investor wariness of the planned progressive and social power rates stems from 4.5 billion euros in payment arrears that have accumulated on EDF’s books as of June 30, mostly because of renewable energy subsidies.
The draft legislation encourages households to use less energy either by changing their habits or insulating their homes. Thrifty energy consumers will be rewarded with lower rates while wasteful ones will have to pay more. The law is supposed to be financially neutral for utilities, according to the draft.
Power and gas bills in France and elsewhere typically vary according to the size of a dwelling, type of heating and whether it’s on a windy Alpine ridge or the warmer Mediterranean coast.
The new French law will add income and the number and age of occupants to the mix. Having a medical condition that requires electricity-powered equipment like respirators or wheelchairs will also enter into the equation.
“The principle is good, but the law raises a whole series of practical problems,” Nicolas Mouchnino, head of energy and environmental issues at French consumer group UFC-Que Choisir, said by phone. “It’s very difficult to tell the difference with any degree of certainty between energy use that is essential and that which may be superfluous.”
The rules could make relations between property owners and renters more antagonistic and open the way for fraudulent claims about energy use, he said.
The law as it stands would create an incentive system for energy use.
Households would be granted a base volume of power or gas considered appropriate for the dwelling. This volume would be determined by fiscal and social security authorities from tax returns and other documents such as income statements, studies of local weather and medical records.
Households meeting certain criteria could be among 4 million -- a fourfold increase under the planned law -- that will be eligible for reduced “social” rates for energy. The rest will have their prices adjusted according to volumes consumed.
The government and regulator will set the reward and penalty incentives under which households using less than their allotted base volume of energy get rebates while those surpassing the limits pay higher rates. The difference could be as much as 60 euros a megawatt-hour, according to the draft.
This could translate into penalties of 600 euros a year for a home “leaking heat” compared to a well-insulated one, according to opposition lawmaker Antoine Herth. Environmental Minister Delphine Batho told senators the government will provide its own simulations of the effects on household bills, which will be “reasonable” so as to act as an incentive.
Renters will be able to deduct from their monthly payments a part of the higher costs of heating a home deemed to have low energy use efficiency, maybe because it’s poorly insulated, while the elderly or households with certain yet-to-be specified heating installations will get higher base volumes of energy.
“It’s so complicated I don’t think it will ever be implemented,” said Laurent Langlard, a spokesman on energy issues for the Confederation General du Travail. The biggest union in the energy sector backs lower energy rates for consumers but this plan is “unworkable,” he said.
The law would necessitate the state-bank Caisse des Depots et Consignations to oversee a specially-created fund designed to make the system financially neutral for utilities.
France will become the first country to reward consumers for “negawatts” or power they don’t use, Batho said.
“The measure will necessitate a lot of personal data,” CNIL Chairwoman Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin said in an interview in Paris. “When you get inside people’s homes there is the possibility to collect a lot of data on individuals. This has to be done by respecting peoples’ rights and giving them guarantees that this will be the case.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Tara Patel in Paris at tpatel2@bloomberg.net
By Tara Patel
October 19, 2012
Heating a French home could soon require an income tax consultation or even a visit to the doctor under legislation to force conservation in the nation’s $46 billion household energy market.
A bill adopted by the lower house this month would set prices that homes pay based on wages, age and climate. Utilities Electricite de France SA and GDF Suez SA (GSZ) will use the data to reward consumers who cut power and natural gas usage and penalize those whom regulators decide are wasteful.
“It’s Orwellian,” opposition lawmaker Daniel Fasquelle said by telephone.
“The law will create huge inequalities and infringe on people’s individual freedoms. It won’t work.”
Socialist President Francois Hollande is pushing boundaries of privacy and privilege in carrying out a campaign promise to reduce energy costs. France, which built the world’s biggest reliance on nuclear power as other nations buckled under public anxiety over atomic energy, is now seeking support to reward homes for “negawatts,” or not using a kilowatt of power.
The law would be unique to France and is symbolic to the Socialists, a government official who declined to be identified said yesterday. Households bought 35 billion euros ($46 billion) of energy in 2011, including power, gas and other heating fuels.
The legislation drew criticism from trade unions and industry groups. It will add layers of bureaucracy to a power system already attacked in court and antitrust probes for being oppressive for customers and competitors of EDF (EDF) and GDF Suez, the former state monopolies that still dominate supply, opponents said.
While the government said the changes won’t cut earnings at EDF and GDF Suez, the uncertainty may weigh on their shares that investors have already marked down by 1.2 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively, in the past three months while the Bloomberg European Utilities Index (BEUTIL) gained 5.2 percent.
The proposed law was adopted by the National Assembly on Oct. 4 and is set for Senate debate later this month. Opposition from Communist members has pushed a Senate commission to postpone its examination until Oct. 23 so some revisions can be made. The draft contravenes the principle of equal access to energy across France and should be completely revised, Communist senators said in a statement late yesterday.
EDF and GDF Suez would be the most exposed because of their dominant positions. EDF supplies power to 28 million household clients in France, while GDF Suez provides gas to 9.4 million customers, giving them respective market shares of 93 percent and 90 percent by volume, according to the regulator.
“It won’t be beneficial for the utilities, it will be neutral at best,” Emmanuel Retif, analyst at Raymond James Euro Equities in Paris, said by e-mail. “If it were to be beneficial, heating bills would have to rise and that’s not what the government is trying to do.”
Investor wariness of the planned progressive and social power rates stems from 4.5 billion euros in payment arrears that have accumulated on EDF’s books as of June 30, mostly because of renewable energy subsidies.
The draft legislation encourages households to use less energy either by changing their habits or insulating their homes. Thrifty energy consumers will be rewarded with lower rates while wasteful ones will have to pay more. The law is supposed to be financially neutral for utilities, according to the draft.
Power and gas bills in France and elsewhere typically vary according to the size of a dwelling, type of heating and whether it’s on a windy Alpine ridge or the warmer Mediterranean coast.
The new French law will add income and the number and age of occupants to the mix. Having a medical condition that requires electricity-powered equipment like respirators or wheelchairs will also enter into the equation.
“The principle is good, but the law raises a whole series of practical problems,” Nicolas Mouchnino, head of energy and environmental issues at French consumer group UFC-Que Choisir, said by phone. “It’s very difficult to tell the difference with any degree of certainty between energy use that is essential and that which may be superfluous.”
The rules could make relations between property owners and renters more antagonistic and open the way for fraudulent claims about energy use, he said.
The law as it stands would create an incentive system for energy use.
Households would be granted a base volume of power or gas considered appropriate for the dwelling. This volume would be determined by fiscal and social security authorities from tax returns and other documents such as income statements, studies of local weather and medical records.
Households meeting certain criteria could be among 4 million -- a fourfold increase under the planned law -- that will be eligible for reduced “social” rates for energy. The rest will have their prices adjusted according to volumes consumed.
The government and regulator will set the reward and penalty incentives under which households using less than their allotted base volume of energy get rebates while those surpassing the limits pay higher rates. The difference could be as much as 60 euros a megawatt-hour, according to the draft.
This could translate into penalties of 600 euros a year for a home “leaking heat” compared to a well-insulated one, according to opposition lawmaker Antoine Herth. Environmental Minister Delphine Batho told senators the government will provide its own simulations of the effects on household bills, which will be “reasonable” so as to act as an incentive.
Renters will be able to deduct from their monthly payments a part of the higher costs of heating a home deemed to have low energy use efficiency, maybe because it’s poorly insulated, while the elderly or households with certain yet-to-be specified heating installations will get higher base volumes of energy.
“It’s so complicated I don’t think it will ever be implemented,” said Laurent Langlard, a spokesman on energy issues for the Confederation General du Travail. The biggest union in the energy sector backs lower energy rates for consumers but this plan is “unworkable,” he said.
The law would necessitate the state-bank Caisse des Depots et Consignations to oversee a specially-created fund designed to make the system financially neutral for utilities.
France will become the first country to reward consumers for “negawatts” or power they don’t use, Batho said.
“The measure will necessitate a lot of personal data,” CNIL Chairwoman Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin said in an interview in Paris. “When you get inside people’s homes there is the possibility to collect a lot of data on individuals. This has to be done by respecting peoples’ rights and giving them guarantees that this will be the case.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Tara Patel in Paris at tpatel2@bloomberg.net
Sony to reduce workforce in Japan by 2000.
Struggling Japanese tech giant Sony has detailed restructuring plans for its Japan-based business as it seeks to slim down operations by closing a lens factory and shedding 2,000 jobs via an early-retirement scheme.
The company says that it is making the changes to “revitalize and grow” its electronics business and it says that it is expecting to save $378 million (30 billion yen) annually from next year. The basis of the changes was laid back in April when the firm announced that it would reduce its headcount by 10,000 — including 3,000-4,000 in Japan — as it implements a $945 million (75 billion yen) restructuring program.
The Minokamo-based plant produces lenses for digital SLR cameras, lens blocks and mobile devices, and — alongside customer support — the 56,713 metre squared site houses some 840 employees. As part of its focus on mobile — which saw it buy out former partner Ericsson for $1.29 billion earlier this year — Sony will transfer some activity from Minokamo to other sites but others will be laid to rest. The company is not detailing precisely what will kept just yet though
The early-retirement plan is set to have the greatest impact on the gaming giant’s head office, where it says that 20 percent of the workforce will have departed by the end of the year – thanks to a series of streamlining initiatives.
The effects of the organizational changes, which has consolidated the firm and cut excess services and divisions, have also prompted it to establish Sony Corporate Services (Japan) Corp, which it says will provide ‘horizontal’ operations support for its businesses in Japan.
The restructuring hasn’t just been about slashing budgets and the firm ploughed $644 million into Olympus, in a move that will consolidate the two firm’s camera technologies and focus on opportunities in the medical imaging industry.
The first streamlining measure that impacted its home market came when it announce in August that it would cut 1,000 global jobs from its handset division, which is relocating to Japan from Sweden.
The PlayStation-maker is haemorrhaging cash and its most recent financial results, published in August, saw income before tax plummet 59 percent to hit $118.5 million (9.4 billion yen). Net losses for the three-month period grew to $310 million (24.6 billion yen), up from $195.3 million (15.5 billion yen) a year previous.
Sony sold its chemical products business for $730 million in June.
Image Credit: Koichi Kamoshida/Getty
The company says that it is making the changes to “revitalize and grow” its electronics business and it says that it is expecting to save $378 million (30 billion yen) annually from next year. The basis of the changes was laid back in April when the firm announced that it would reduce its headcount by 10,000 — including 3,000-4,000 in Japan — as it implements a $945 million (75 billion yen) restructuring program.
The Minokamo-based plant produces lenses for digital SLR cameras, lens blocks and mobile devices, and — alongside customer support — the 56,713 metre squared site houses some 840 employees. As part of its focus on mobile — which saw it buy out former partner Ericsson for $1.29 billion earlier this year — Sony will transfer some activity from Minokamo to other sites but others will be laid to rest. The company is not detailing precisely what will kept just yet though
The early-retirement plan is set to have the greatest impact on the gaming giant’s head office, where it says that 20 percent of the workforce will have departed by the end of the year – thanks to a series of streamlining initiatives.
The effects of the organizational changes, which has consolidated the firm and cut excess services and divisions, have also prompted it to establish Sony Corporate Services (Japan) Corp, which it says will provide ‘horizontal’ operations support for its businesses in Japan.
The restructuring hasn’t just been about slashing budgets and the firm ploughed $644 million into Olympus, in a move that will consolidate the two firm’s camera technologies and focus on opportunities in the medical imaging industry.
The first streamlining measure that impacted its home market came when it announce in August that it would cut 1,000 global jobs from its handset division, which is relocating to Japan from Sweden.
The PlayStation-maker is haemorrhaging cash and its most recent financial results, published in August, saw income before tax plummet 59 percent to hit $118.5 million (9.4 billion yen). Net losses for the three-month period grew to $310 million (24.6 billion yen), up from $195.3 million (15.5 billion yen) a year previous.
Sony sold its chemical products business for $730 million in June.
Image Credit: Koichi Kamoshida/Getty
FB updates its Android app.
Facebook doesn’t yet have a native app for Android — well, not native in the true sense of the word — but that doesn’t mean they aren’t pushing out regular updates to improve the app as it is currently.
Yesterday the company pushed out another photo-centric update, this time making it easier to tag photos. You can now also choose a previously-created or new album when uploading individual or grouped photos, something that was previously possible only through the iPhone Facebook Camera app.
For an app build almost entirely in HTML5, Facebook for Android is actually quite spritely, especially when run on more modern hardware. We’re excited for the day when Facebook for Android is built on native code, but for the time being enjoy your improved photo uploading experience.
Facebook also made the “biggest overhaul of [its] Android SDK so far,” making it easier for developers to integrate the social network into third-party apps. These features include the Friend Picker and Places Picker, which apps can use to access the Open Grap in more comprehensive ways.
Yesterday the company pushed out another photo-centric update, this time making it easier to tag photos. You can now also choose a previously-created or new album when uploading individual or grouped photos, something that was previously possible only through the iPhone Facebook Camera app.
For an app build almost entirely in HTML5, Facebook for Android is actually quite spritely, especially when run on more modern hardware. We’re excited for the day when Facebook for Android is built on native code, but for the time being enjoy your improved photo uploading experience.
Facebook also made the “biggest overhaul of [its] Android SDK so far,” making it easier for developers to integrate the social network into third-party apps. These features include the Friend Picker and Places Picker, which apps can use to access the Open Grap in more comprehensive ways.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Google releases quarterly results draft early.
(Reuters) - Google Inc inadvertently released its draft quarterly results hours ahead of schedule, missing expectations on both revenue and earnings and wiping 9 percent off the market value of the Internet search and advertising leader.
Google said its financial printers, RR Donnelley, filed its draft results statement without authorization. The company said it was working now to finalize the statement.
The surprise announcement, which had been expected after the market close, pushed its shares down 9 percent to $687.30 before trading was halted by Nasdaq.
Google, which has been struggling to turn around loss-making cellphone maker Motorola Mobility that it bought for $12.5 billion, reported a 20 percent dive in net income to $2.18 billion. Excluding certain items, it earned $9.03 a share, vastly underperforming the $10.65 analysts had expected, on average.
"We have been saying this thing was ripe for a pullback. It's not like they're Google not being Google, but you still have some major issues," said BCG analyst Colin Gillis.
"Click prices declined for the fourth consecutive quarter after rising for eight consecutive quarters before then. That's a negative. This is the mobile problem.
"The other bit is the Motorola millstone had been ignored by the market, and - boom - now you've got weak revenue from Motorola. When you acquire a business and you're about to whack all kinds of people and close offices, you know what happens to the employees? They take their eye off the ball. Sales are down."
Google reported net revenue - excluding traffic acquisition costs - of $11.3 billion for the third quarter, below Wall Street's expectations for about $11.9 billion.
For the fourth consecutive quarter, the company reported a decline in average cost-per-click, a critical metric that denotes the price advertisers pay Google.
Average CPC declined 15 percent from a year ago and 3 percent from the second quarter of this year. Analysts say that Google, like many of its peers in the Internet industry, has been struggling to adapt to the rapid consumer uptake in mobile devices. Advertisers pay far less for adds on smartphones and tablets than for similar ads on desktop computers.
"The core business seems to have slowed down pretty significantly, which is shocking," said B. Riley analyst Sameet Sinha. "The only conclusion l can look at is, search is happening more and more outside of Google, meaning people are searching more through apps than through Google search."
"That could indicate a secular change, especially when it comes to ecommerce searches. The big fear has always been, what if people decide just to go straight to Amazon and do their searches? And potentially that's what could be happening."
Google, which recently overtook Microsoft Corp to become the second-largest U.S. technology company by capitalization, had been due to release its results after the market close.
The second paragraph of the press release merely read "Pending Larry quote," suggesting that space was reserved for comment from CEO Larry Page.
"Earlier this morning RR Donnelley, the financial printer, informed us that they had filed our draft 8K earnings statement without authorization," Google said in a statement. "We have ceased trading on NASDAQ while we work to finalize the document. Once it's finalized we will release our earnings, resume trading on NASDAQ and hold our earnings call as normal at 1:30 PM PT."
Shares of RR Donnelley, the U.S. printing service company, slid as much as 5 percent. They were down 2.2 percent at $10.61 in afternoon trade.
(Reporting by Gerry Shih in San Francisco; Editing by Bernard Orr)
What is truth. It's knowing what happened, but admitting it? Who will collar the trackers?
TOKYO - Japan's most senior policeman began an embarrassing climbdown Thursday after his officers arrested four people over cyber threats issued when their computers were apparently hacked.
Emails containing threats to attack targets including a school and a kindergarten attended by Emperor Akihito's grandchildren were sent from infected computers in different parts of the country.
The computer owners were arrested and held, in one case for several weeks, in a system where custody conditions are harsher than those in other developed countries and where police rely heavily on confessions.
Two of the suspects reportedly admitted sending the emails before a broadcaster and a lawyer received an anonymous message containing information investigators conceded could only have been known by the real culprit.
The message said its sender had taken control of several personal computers to send other threats.
"There is a high possibility that we have arrested people who are not actually criminals," Yutaka Katagiri, the head of the National Police Agency, told a news conference, while adding their innocence was not certain.
"If it is found to be so, we will take appropriate action, including issuing apologies to those who were wrongly arrested," Katagiri said, adding that police would introduce "more cautious measures" for tracking down cyber crime culprits.
Japan's legal system prizes confessions, and prosecutors are generally unwilling to take on cases without the suspect having first acknowledged his guilt.
Suspects can be held for a total of 23 days before they must be charged or released.
It is not uncommon for police initially to arrest someone on a lesser charge and then re-arrest them on suspicion of a more serious crime just before the 23 days is up.
Critics charge that this system is open to abuse and gives police the right to hold people without charge for long periods. They also say the use of intimidatory tactics by officers is not uncommon.
Emails containing threats to attack targets including a school and a kindergarten attended by Emperor Akihito's grandchildren were sent from infected computers in different parts of the country.
The computer owners were arrested and held, in one case for several weeks, in a system where custody conditions are harsher than those in other developed countries and where police rely heavily on confessions.
Two of the suspects reportedly admitted sending the emails before a broadcaster and a lawyer received an anonymous message containing information investigators conceded could only have been known by the real culprit.
The message said its sender had taken control of several personal computers to send other threats.
"There is a high possibility that we have arrested people who are not actually criminals," Yutaka Katagiri, the head of the National Police Agency, told a news conference, while adding their innocence was not certain.
"If it is found to be so, we will take appropriate action, including issuing apologies to those who were wrongly arrested," Katagiri said, adding that police would introduce "more cautious measures" for tracking down cyber crime culprits.
Japan's legal system prizes confessions, and prosecutors are generally unwilling to take on cases without the suspect having first acknowledged his guilt.
Suspects can be held for a total of 23 days before they must be charged or released.
It is not uncommon for police initially to arrest someone on a lesser charge and then re-arrest them on suspicion of a more serious crime just before the 23 days is up.
Critics charge that this system is open to abuse and gives police the right to hold people without charge for long periods. They also say the use of intimidatory tactics by officers is not uncommon.
The harsh realities of global competition.
You name it, and they are walking in. They are pretty much all very well-educated, global company experience, white collar workers
WATERLOO, Ont. — Former employees of Research In Motion who were laid off during the BlackBerry-maker’s sweeping cutbacks this year are getting a hand from the City of Waterloo.
This week a jobs centre opened at City Hall designed to help the newly unemployed workers find positions at other local technology firms.
It’s part of a partnership between the Ontario and municipal governments as well as other local groups, including tech industry lobbyist Communitech.
Together, they’re hoping to help funnel an estimated 3,000 laid off workers in the region into new jobs at other companies.
RIM announced in June that it would cut 5,000 employees worldwide as part of an effort to save $1 billion by the end of its fiscal year in February 2013.
More than half of the company’s 16,500 employees — about 9,000 — work in the Waterloo region.
Iain Klugman, the chief executive of Communitech, says the jobs centre is a unique project because jobs programs are typically reserved for massive layoffs at auto plants and mining companies.
He says the former RIM employees all have very specific skill sets, ranging from developers and quality assurance representatives, to sales and marketing people.
“You name it, (and they) are walking in,” Klugman said. “They are pretty much all very well-educated, global company experience, white collar workers.”
We’re seeing a bunch of technology companies outside the country who are saying ’We really would love to have access to some of that great talent that’s coming out of RIM
But Klugman says he’s confident there are many other opportunities for those job seekers at more than 1,000 other technology companies in the region.
Communitech says the Waterloo region has also seen a burst of startups since RIM began its layoffs, with more than 100 new companies registering with the organization since July.
Klugman said the community has also started to get more attention from international firms who are looking to capitalize on the rush of job seekers.
“As people put a different kind of spotlight on RIM, they’re also starting to also look a little deeper into Waterloo region,” he said.
“We’re seeing a bunch of technology companies outside the country who are saying ’We really would love to have access to some of that great talent that’s coming out of RIM. We’re thinking of putting a development team up in your area.”’
Meanwhile, RIM is focusing on becoming a leaner operation as it pushes ahead with the launch of its much-delayed new BlackBerry smartphones and operating system, expected early next year.
The company, which posted a quarterly loss of US$235 million in its second quarter, anticipates a further operating loss in the third quarter as it works through the transition.
WATERLOO, Ont. — Former employees of Research In Motion who were laid off during the BlackBerry-maker’s sweeping cutbacks this year are getting a hand from the City of Waterloo.
This week a jobs centre opened at City Hall designed to help the newly unemployed workers find positions at other local technology firms.
It’s part of a partnership between the Ontario and municipal governments as well as other local groups, including tech industry lobbyist Communitech.
Together, they’re hoping to help funnel an estimated 3,000 laid off workers in the region into new jobs at other companies.
RIM announced in June that it would cut 5,000 employees worldwide as part of an effort to save $1 billion by the end of its fiscal year in February 2013.
More than half of the company’s 16,500 employees — about 9,000 — work in the Waterloo region.
Iain Klugman, the chief executive of Communitech, says the jobs centre is a unique project because jobs programs are typically reserved for massive layoffs at auto plants and mining companies.
He says the former RIM employees all have very specific skill sets, ranging from developers and quality assurance representatives, to sales and marketing people.
“You name it, (and they) are walking in,” Klugman said. “They are pretty much all very well-educated, global company experience, white collar workers.”
We’re seeing a bunch of technology companies outside the country who are saying ’We really would love to have access to some of that great talent that’s coming out of RIM
But Klugman says he’s confident there are many other opportunities for those job seekers at more than 1,000 other technology companies in the region.
Communitech says the Waterloo region has also seen a burst of startups since RIM began its layoffs, with more than 100 new companies registering with the organization since July.
Klugman said the community has also started to get more attention from international firms who are looking to capitalize on the rush of job seekers.
“As people put a different kind of spotlight on RIM, they’re also starting to also look a little deeper into Waterloo region,” he said.
“We’re seeing a bunch of technology companies outside the country who are saying ’We really would love to have access to some of that great talent that’s coming out of RIM. We’re thinking of putting a development team up in your area.”’
Meanwhile, RIM is focusing on becoming a leaner operation as it pushes ahead with the launch of its much-delayed new BlackBerry smartphones and operating system, expected early next year.
The company, which posted a quarterly loss of US$235 million in its second quarter, anticipates a further operating loss in the third quarter as it works through the transition.
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