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APEC ministers gather under cloud of faltering WTO talks
Pusan: The Apec (Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation) meeting of 21 Pacific rim nations, starting in the South Korean port town of Pusan hopes to inject new life into the floundering World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks.

Trade ministers representing 47 per cent of the world's trade begin their meeting with the intent of breaking down trade barriers in the region, but their focus will also be on the seemingly imminent breakdown of global trade talks.

The WTO's trade liberalisation talks known as the Doha round are meant to reach a broad outline of agreement in a meeting scheduled for Hong Kong in December.

But some Apec ministers are striking a hopeful note saying that the "sheer size" of Apec, with the world's largest economic, military and political powers, meant it could make a difference.

Apec was intended to create a free-trade zone among the developed nations on the Pacific rim by 2010. Ministers agree this is unlikely to be achieved, but say the forum has still made important progress in trade liberalisation and stabilising the region politically.

Apec members include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Taipei, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.
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Japan's current account surplus widens on the back of rising exports
Tokyo: With exports rising to record levels Japan's September current account surplus has widened unexpectedly, reinforcing expectations that growth in the world's second- largest economy will accelerate.

The surplus increased 6.5 percent to 1.86 trillion yen (US$15.8bn) compared with the same month a year ago, the Ministry of Finance said in a report released in Tokyo. The surplus comes on the back of exports climbing 8.9 percent from a year earlier.

According to analysts, rising exports, combined with climbing consumer and corporate spending, will help the economy sustain the longest period of expansion in eight years. Consumer spending and business investment, as opposed to exports and government outlays, have fueled Japan's growth for the first time in 14 years, according to figures from the Cabinet Office.

Exports rose to a record in September, the ministry of finance said last month, amid higher demand from the U.S. and China. Exports to China increased 14.4 percent in September from a year earlier and shipments to the U.S. increased 5.8 percent, the ministry of finance's report last moth said.

The increase in Japan's import bill slowed as the price of crude oil declined. Import growth slowed to 19.7 percent from 24.1 percent in August. Crude oil has declined 17.1 percent since reaching a record high of $70.85 a barrel on Aug. 30.
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Sony puts CD copy protection software under abeyance
New York: After Sony BMG's use of copy protection technology on music CDs exposed PC users to hackers, the company has put the software under abeyance. It said it would "temporarily suspend" use of the controversial software and apologised to PC users for "possible inconvenience" it may have caused.

PC security firms earlier found a "Trojan" email virus designed to exploit software that some of Sony BMG's music CDs install on their owners' computers when they are played. The copy protection software limits the number of copies that can be made from the original CD and is designed to deter "casual piracy", typically friends copying each other's music CDs.

Sony BMG is believed to have installed XCP on millions of CDs since it began using the software earlier this year and now faces a number of lawsuits in the US related to the use of the software. The company has recently acknowledged that the software could render PC users vulnerable to attack.
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Google to launch Google Analytics
New York: Google will soon launch Google Analytics, a free service that measures the effectiveness of websites and online marketing campaigns.

The company has developed Google Analytics from software acquired from Urchin, a web analysis company, which Google acquired in March. Urchin was charging US$199 a month for an on-demand version of the product and offered enterprise installations for Fortune 500 companies such as Procter & Gamble.
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Microsoft seeks US backing in EU antitrust battle
Brussels: Microsoft is trying to persuade the US administration and US businesses to intervene in its long-running antitrust battle with the European Union.

Recently Microsoft officials met White House and Department of Justice staff and asked them to back the legal challenge launched by the group against last year's landmark antitrust ruling by the European Commission, the EU's executive body.
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