■ Japan
US beef still a no-no: poll
Over two-thirds of Japanese oppose resuming imports of US beef, the crux of a bitter 22-month trade rift over mad-cow-disease fears, a poll showed yesterday. A panel of Japanese scientists studying the safety of North American beef imports indicated on Monday they are likely to recommend lifting the embargo, but failed to reach a final decision on the wording of their report. The public remains wary of US beef, with 67 percent against a resumption of imports and just 21 percent in favor, according to a poll conducted by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper over the weekend. Some 12 percent were undecided, according to the poll of 1,998 people. The percentage of respondents opposed to the resumption of US beef imports increased by four percentage points from October last year, the Asahi said.
■ Internet
iMesh offers music sharing
Popular peer-to-peer, file-sharing service iMesh introduced new software that allows users to legally share and buy music online. The service introduced on Tuesday offers access to 17 million music files. About 15 million will be available for free. Another 2 million protected releases will be sold for US$0.99 per song, with the company paying record labels a portion of the revenue from each downloaded or shared song. The new service is being offered free for a 30 day to 60 day introductory period, and will cost US$6.95 a month after that. "This takes the peer-to-peer experience, turns it on its ear and it becomes a pay service," said Bob Summer, executive chairman of iMesh. The move comes after New York-based iMesh paid US$4.1 million to the recording industry in July last year to settle a copyright-infringement lawsuit.
■ Japan
Rakuten tightens TBS screw
Japanese online shopping mall Rakuten has raised its stake in major Japanese broadcaster TBS to over 19 percent in an apparent move to pressure TBS to accept its merger proposal, Jiji Press reported yesterday. Rakuten said on Oct. 13 it had ac-quired a 15 percent stake in TBS and proposed setting up a single parent company for the two firms to marry their strengths in traditional and new media. TBS has also received a management buyout proposal from one of its investors -- an invest-ment fund operated by former bureaucrat Yoshiaki Murak-ami that held a 7.45 percent stake in TBS as of the end of last month. TBS is now studying both proposals, reportedly in a cautious manner. TBS's anti-takeover panel was due to hold a meeting later yesterday to discuss an anti-takeover scheme.
■ Computers
DataSafe for dummies
Dell Inc announced an all-inclusive way yesterday to help consumers who've accidentally deleted precious photos or lost valuable data because of a hard-drive crash. Starting in November, Dell will install its "DataSafe" option on new Dimension E310 and E510 and XPS 400 desktop computers. For US$99, consumers get a second, 80-gigabyte hard drive inside the computer which acts as a mirror, continually backing up data on the primary drive. Larger disk sizes are planned. While consumers could conceiv-ably buy an extra hard drive and third-party software and do the same thing, the idea was to make it simple for consumers, spokesman Liem Nguyen said. Included software will monitor the health of the drives and alert users to any problems.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft