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I N T E R N E T

WIRE REPORTS

Asian Film Fireworks for the Fourth (Time) ... has grown from 11 features in 2002 to more than 50 this time, and includes movies not just from Japan and China but also Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Tamil state of India. Few of these titles are likely to get a U.S. release, which is a shame, but there's always the Internet. Be a cinema sleuth and track down some of these titles; you'll say Wow, too. Source : Time (subscribe) Everything suggests that the American bonds seized at Chiasso are real (qwstnevrythg.com) Asia News Official U.S. sources continue to say they are fakes, but there is no news that American experts have inspected them in person. Arrested for another matter, the director of a U.S. radio who says the bonds are real and Japan was trying to sell in Switzerland, not trusting the ability of the United States [...] Source : qwstnevrythg.com (subscribe) JapanToday: Japan News and Discussion ジャパントゥデイ:日本のニュースを英語で読む (Japan Today) Softbank Corp. plans to go national next month with sales of Flet’s Hikari-branded fiber-optic broadband services from the Nippon Telegraph & Telephone group. The decision effectively marks the end of Softbank’s challenge to NTT.

DAILY REPORTS

Jun 30 Net-enabled TVs strike a spark in consumer electronics market (Japan Times) Manufacturers are promoting sales of flat-screen TVs through discounts and other incentives, and thanks to their efforts sales are rising. However, now the TV makers have to stem the ongoing fall in prices. To address the issue, the manufacturers are turning out a new generation of television sets that allow consumers to view videos transmitted via the Internet, while Net companies deliver a wider range of movie and drama titles through their video-on-demand services. Jun 24 Mixi faces challenges as competition grows (Japan Times) Early last month, Mixi CEO Kenji Kasahara came under intense pressure. That was on the day that his company, Japan's biggest social-networking operator, announced its financial results and forecast for the year: Its profit would fall by 15 percent from the previous year, the first such decline in growth since the company went public. Jun 23 Government OKs Google Street View (Asahi) The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said Monday that Google's Street View service does not infringe on individual privacy and portraiture rights and gave its approval for the service to continue. Jun 23 Free up Net for elections (Asahi) Imagine, if you will, that tomorrow is voting day for the Lower House election. To decide how to cast your ballot, you go to the Internet to compare each party's manifestoes. But you can't. Something that seems so natural is out of reach. This is because the Public Offices Election Law does not allow political parties and candidates to post their manifestoes on their websites, or allow voters to download them from the Internet. Jun 18 Virtual supermarkets delivering the goods (Yomiuri) A user clicks an "enter the shop" button on a personal computer screen and the colorful interior of a supermarket appears--a bread section on the right, a ready meals section on the left and fresh fruits at the end of the aisle. This is a scene from an online supermarket operated by Okuwa Co., which as of April 1, was running 143 supermarkets in the southern Kinki district, centering around Wakayama Prefecture. Dec 28 E-shopping site to open in China for Japan goods (AP) Dec 27 Japanese firms to open Chinese virtual mall (Reuters) Dec 25 Website of Yasukuni Shrine partially altered by hacker (Kyodo) Dec 20 5 international social networks to keep an eye on (CNET) Dec 19 Japanese group asks Google to stop map service (Reuters) Dec 18 Wi-Fi coming to Japan's bullet trains next year (PC World) Dec 18 Japan convicts 1st pirate subtitler (Variety) Dec 18 Online sale of pills in spotlight / 19-year-old used sedative bought via Internet in suicide attempt (Yomiuri) Dec 17 Culture panel seeks download ban (Japan Times) Dec 12 A guide to buying your wine online in Japan (Japan Times) Dec 11 Japanese Site Asks You to Track Your Sniffs (gizmodo.com) Dec 07 Kaguya moon images posted on YouTube (Yomiuri) Dec 06 Dow Jones to launch Japanese site (guardian.co.uk) Dec 02 Fortune telling is big business for Japan Web firm (Reuters) Dec 01 NHK starts on-demand Internet distribution of TV programs (Kyodo) Dec 01 Baidu to launch Japanese service (FT.com) Dec 01 Internet rife with child pornography (Yomiuri) Nov 27 Yahoo tops in Japan, Google close behind (CNET) Nov 26 YouTube Offers Japanese Content Owners Way to Make Money (PC World) Nov 25 Europeana digital library overwhelmed by traffic on first day (Mainichi) Nov 25 Govt to test software blocking child porn (Yomiuri) Nov 24 Sony's Crackle.com set to roll out new Web shows (Reuters) Nov 21 Internet bullying emerging as serious problem (Mainichi) Nov 21 Japan's Music Downloads Rise 30 Percent in Q3 (PC World) Nov 20 Radiohead special video in Japan (wowow.co.jp) Nov 17 MySpace Japan bets on world demand for J-Pop, games (Reuters) Nov 17 Japan lacks teeth against online child porn (Yomiuri) Nov 16 Where Are the Japanese Googles? (ecommercetimes.com) Nov 16 Ask the Internet: It knows everything (Japan Times) Nov 13 Japan police crackdown videos a hit online (Reuters) Nov 13 3 held for spreading child porn on Net (Yomiuri) Nov 13 Jackpot! Catch a criminal with new Japanese game (AFP) Nov 12 Yahoo Japan launches 'myzo' service (Hollywood Reporter) Nov 12 Softbank, Alibaba announce new B2B service (AFP) Nov 11 Convenience, free delivery behind surge in online supermarket shopping (Mainichi) Nov 11 Hacking arrests doubled in Japan in 2007 (PC World) Nov 10 The day Japan�s netizens turned news on its head (Japan Today) Nov 09 Flash drive viruses spreading fast: poll (Japan Times) Oct 31 Google Street View raises privacy fears (Yomiuri) Oct 30 Amazon opens food store on its website (j-cast.com) Oct 29 Expert questions effectiveness of making Internet users identify themselves (Mainichi) Oct 29 Tokyo police post bank scam artists' voice on website (Kyodo) Oct 29 Japanese exchange trials carbon-neutral power trade (Reuters) Oct 27 Most female students at junior high and high schools have read a 'mobile phone novel' (Mainichi) Oct 25 Japanese mobile music site admins arrested for infringement (arstechnica.com)