Teilweise neu: 2002-02-22 Contents of this issue:
1. IBC Remains 2. Internet Claim 3. Dengue Bites 4. Cheap Fares Extended 5. Government Walkout 6. Costly Surf 7. Hospital Courtroom ======================================================================== Old contents were: 1. Stop Press 2. Internet Claim 3. Dengue Bites 4. Cheap Fares Extended 5. Government Walkout 6. Costly Surf 7. Hospital Courtroom February 22nd, 2002 1. IBC Remains: Niue's Cabinet has decided to continue its international business companies activities.After two days of intense talks with the registry's sole agent Mossack Fonseca represented by Chritoph Zollinger the island's Cabinet announced its intentions to continue with its offshore ibc registrations which reaps the island about $2m a year. The future of the ibc registry as part of Niue's offshore finance centre was in doubt up until yesterday. Finance Minister and Premier Sani Lakatani publicly announced last week that if the ibc registrations and the offshore banking had to be closed to satisfy the OECD and have the nation removed from an international blacklist then all offshore activities would b closed down. Its understood major aid agencies are delaying payouts until Niue is removed from the blacklist. Mr Lakatani initiated the island's offshore banking centre i 1994 but recently buckled to international pressure and threats of sanctions to be imposed on February 28. Only the offshore banking legislation will be repealed on March 7 and the present three bank licences will lapse. Meanwhile its been revealed that previous funds from Mossack Fonseca destined for Niue and blocked by two US banks have been released. Niue 's Premier previously announced a Washington based law firm was lobbying to have the funds transferred and at one stage was considering legal action against the banks. 2. Internet Claim: New Zealand's free internet provider i4free has filed a claim for $18.16 million in damages from Telecom NZ for alleged anticompetitive behaviour. The claim was filed in the High Court at Wellington under Section 36 of the Commerce Act. The case dates back to June 1999 when Telecom announced an Internet dialling regime that forced all Internet users to use a "0867" prefix or risk incurring a 2c per minute charge. Annette Presley, chief executive of i4free, which now operates as a paying Internet service called Slingshot, said the introduction of "0867" meant the company had to delay the launch of its free service by nine months. That is reflected in the claim, which details revenue over an 18-month period from June 1999 to December 2000 - even though i4free was launched in April 2000. The claim, lodged by i4free owners CallPlus and Attica Communications, shows i4free would have received $27 million over that period against costs of $8.9 million. And in the smallest nation of the planet, Niue where internet connectivity is free, the island government has instigated a Commission of Inquiry into the e mail and internet services. The Commission headed by NZ Judge David Ongley sits March 11-18 on the island. The ccTLD dot NU is administered by the Internet Users Society- Niue. (Various/NZPA). 3. Dengue Bites: The dengue epidemic on Rarotonga has taken a dramatic turn for the worse with the news that 250 cases have now been recorded.The massive jump over th last two weeks is partly due to backdated confirmations of the disease from private doctors, but the hospital has also been inundated with patients in recent days. Health Ministry Secretary Tupu Araiti said non-emergency operations were being postponed to free up medical staff. He said that at the moment there were between 20 and 25 cases being treated at the hospital, and he added that many of the patients were passing through the system within a couple of days. But he admitted that he was "stunned" when he was given the latest figures, although he has vowed to continue battling the disease. Meanwhile there have been no reported cases of dengue on neighbouring Niue.(PR). 4. Cheap Fares Extended: Air New Zealand is offering a wider range of discount e.saver fares that are only available on the internet. It says due to the popularity of low-level internet fares, introduced in January, the airline is now offering special web-based fares to a wider range of destinations. "The first fares we introduced have proved very popular among our customers. As a direct result of this great response, we've decided to extend a similar initiative to other main destinations around the country," says Norm Thompson, senior vice president sales and distribution. The current low-price internet fares were available only for flights between Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. But with the extended internet fares Air New Zealand travellers will now be able to book flights to these three main destinations from Hamilton, Palmerston North, Rotorua, Nelson, Queenstown, Dunedin and Invercargill. Niue has asked Air NZ to provide an Auckland-Niue-Tonga-Auckland jet service in a bid to revive an ailing tourist industry which is facing total collapse. ( Various /NBR) 5. Government Walkout: Fiji's Parliament was sealed off by police yesterday after the Government walked out of a debate in which they were accused of being behind the 2000 coup. Police cleared the compound and refused access to anyone because of unspecified "security concerns." The police action came after Opposition MP Lekh Ram Vayeshnoi, who was held hostage in 2000, said he had been told by reliable sources that Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase knew the coup would happen. 6. Costly Surf: Eleven public servants in New Zealand were sacked and many others given warnings in the past three years for misusing work Internet and e-mail facilities. But these figures include only the 37 government departments and police, and don't encompass the wider State sector. News about the widespread accessing of porn comes as High Court judge Robert Fisher is under pressure to resign after admitting he used a work computer to look at a pornographic video 15 months ago. Public servants have guidelines on the use of the Internet and e-mail in the form of the public service code of conduct, issued by the State Services Commission. This outlines that public servants should avoid activities which bring their department and the public service into disrepute. All departments also have separate codes of conduct and policies. Most Pacific Island governments are now using computers which give public servants and politicians access to the internet. Its common knowledge many of them use e-mail services to send personal messages and surf the Net during work time. That's a matter for state employed information and technology employees to sort out and set down policy then make sure the policy is managed and supervised say information technology specialists.. "Its the same with computers in the home. If people want to control what others see parents need to supervise and manage the sites the family has access to." Pornography sites and on line casino gambling appear to be popular with government employees, according to internet service providers who say there is nothing they can do to restrict government employees access to sites. In many regional jurisdictions looking at porn sites is not unlawful but publishing and circulating porn is an offence. Because of the mounting costs of communications in the region some Pacific Island government departments have been forced to restrict employees use of internet and e-mail services. "When we first started using e mail and the internet there were many discussions over who should have access and who was going to decide who had access to e-mail and internet connections, said one public service boss. But its not hard to police computers in government offices. Firewalls can be installed to prevent access to any sites. Do many government departments run a check on the use of their computers? Highly unlikely, say regional specialists, although it can be done efficiently and legitimately, says one information technology specialist. Some governments would " get a big shock" if they did a random check on the sites workers entered during a day. In some cases that would not be the politically correct thing to do." Not all government employees or regional organisations abuse the use of their computers..For most, the internet is a valuable tool to transfer data quickly - weather, law enforcement, agriculture, fisheries surveillance and on-line education. 7. Hospital Courtroom: A small corner of Middlemore Hospital briefly became a courtroom, then a prison cell, during an unusual murder hearing today reports NZ Herald writer Scott McLeod.. Mangere Bridge labourer Lamonai Ahau, aged 27, is charged with murdering his wife, Langaola Ahau, 23, at a house in Crawford Ave on Wednesday. Tongan-born Ahau was recovering in the hospital's intensive care ward from severe throat injuries and was too ill to attend his first Manukau District Court hearing - so the court went to him instead. Ahau's eyes were half-open at around midday as he lay in bed with his neck heavily stitched. A doctor and nurse stepped aside as district court judge Robert Kerr, prosecutor Steve Bonnar, defence lawyer Kevin Ryan QC and assorted police and courts staff filed into Ahau's room. Judge Kerr leaned over Ahau's bed and said slowly: "My name is Judge Kerr and I'm making this room part of the court." Ahau did not reply, but appeared to indicate with his face that he understood. The lawyers asked that Ahau be remanded in custody until March 8 for a psychiatric report. Judge Kerr then said: "This would be designated as a prison." Mr Bonnar said Ahau should be fit enough to leave hospital within a week. It was decided that he would be kept in a prison cell when that happened. Detective Sergeant Neil Grimstone said the cause of Mrs Ahau's death was determined to be a cut throat and multiple stab wounds. Detectives were still investigating the scene, but no more people were being sought. __END__
