Gun lobby releases shooting game

15 January 2013 Last updated at 06:27 ET

The US National Rifle Association has launched a target range game for the iPhone and iPad, a month after the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy.

The game, which simulates a shooting practice, has been approved for children as young as four.

US Vice-President Joe Biden is expected to make recommendations on gun control to the White House on Tuesday.

President Barack Obama has announced he will lay out his plans for tackling gun violence later this week.

There have been calls for gun law reform after 26 children and teachers died at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

NRA: Practice Range, billed as the NRA's "new mobile nerve center," says it "strikes the right balance of gaming and education" and delivers a "one-touch access to the NRA network of news, laws, facts, knowledge, safety tips, educational materials and online resources".

The player can practise shooting at targets, including some in the shape of coffins, and has a choice of nine firearms. Some of the guns can be upgraded for $0.99 (£0.62) each. The game is available in the UK.

The NRA was unable to be reached for comment.

The tragedy reignited debate over gun control in the United States, and Mr Obama asked Mr Biden to head a government task force to look at ways to reduce gun violence.

'Scapegoating'

Last week Mr Biden met with video game makers to discuss gun violence in popular media.

The video game industry has defended the use of gun violence in its games, saying that any attempt to regulate digital media was futile.

In open letter to Mr Biden, the Entertainment Consumers Association's vice-president Jennifer Mercurio wrote: "With the recent tragedy on everyone's minds, some people are looking for a cause and culprit other than the shooter.

"Unfortunately some are blaming media, including video games, for violent behaviour in individuals. We know this isn't the case; banning or regulating media content even more won't solve the issue."

International Game Developers Association chairman Daniel Greenberg also said the government should not be "scapegoating" the video game industry for society's ills.

"The US government did irreparable damage to the comic book industry in the 1950s by using faulty research to falsely blame juvenile delinquency and illiteracy on comic books. The comic book industry never recovered in sales to this day," he added.

"Censoring violent comic books did not reduce juvenile delinquency or increase literacy, it decimated the production of one of the few kinds of literature that at-risk youths read for pleasure. Censoring video games could have similar unintended consequences that we cannot currently foresee."

23.58 | 0 komentar | Read More

China mobile users in botnet warning

15 January 2013 Last updated at 07:23 ET

Security researchers say they have discovered a huge botnet running on the smartphones of more than a million unsuspecting mobile users in China.

The devices had been infected by a Trojan-based attack first discovered in 2011, news agency Xinhua reported.

The botnet can allow the smartphones to be hijacked remotely and potentially used for fraudulent purposes.

The warning comes as mobile internet use in the country has soared, growing by more than 18% in the past year.

There are now more than 420 million mobile users, according to the China Internet Network Information Center (Cinic).

The surge has attracted the attention of Apple chief executive Tim Cook, who met with the chairman of China Mobile last week.

Details of the meeting were scant, but a China Mobile spokesman said it was regarding "matters of co-operation" in the region.

While Apple already has deals with two Chinese mobile operators - China Unicom and China Telecom - it is yet to strike a partnership with China Mobile, the biggest operator in the world in terms of subscriber volume.

Security weaknesses

But this latest Trojan warning inflames worries over unlicensed third-party app stores - and the poor awareness among users over possible threats.

Unlike Apple's closed system for apps, in which the company must approve all products in its store, Google's platform is far more open.

In China specifically, local authorities even went as far as to warn operators to clean up security weaknesses in their mobile app stores.

Security firm Kingsoft Duba said last year that the Android.Troj.mdk Trojan had been found in more than 7,000 apps downloaded from non-Google-owned stores.

Despite warnings at the time, it is believed that the Trojan is still very much active and enabling the growth of the botnet.

Users have been advised to monitor their call and data logs for unusual activity.

23.58 | 0 komentar | Read More

Game makers released from Greek jail

15 January 2013 Last updated at 10:23 ET

Two Czech game developers arrested on suspicion of spying while on holiday in Greece have been released on bail.

Ivan Buchta and Martin Pezlar, who work for games firm Bohemia Interactive, were arrested in September 2012 on the island of Lemnos.

They were accused of flouting locals laws that prohibit people from taking pictures of military bases and installations.

The pair denied the charges and said they were visiting as tourists.

The decision to release them came as a direct result of diplomatic work by both the Greek and Czech governments, said a report on a webpage set up to co-ordinate the campaign to get the men released.

Czech newspapers said the pair would be able to return home on payment of bail of 5,000 euros (£4,160).

The two men got into trouble while on Lemnos for, they claim, accidentally shooting video and taking pictures of a military airbase and were accused of spying by Greek authorities. If found guilty, Mr Buchta and Mr Pezlar faced spending up to 20 years in jail.

The two men are thought to have been arrested because their employer, Bohemia, has in the past got into trouble with Greek authorities for taking pictures and shooting video for use in its games.

Bohemia is famous for producing games, such as Arma 3, which use very detailed and realistic virtual worlds. The disputed images and video shot in Greece were going to be used to help build one of its game worlds.

Despite this, Mr Buchta and Mr Pezlar said they were on Lemnos as tourists when they were arrested. They said they wanted to visit the island after getting to know it on earlier visits as part of the Bohemia data-gathering team.

The release of the two men does not mark the end of the case. They will have to return to Greece later in 2013 when it comes to court. It is not known when that will happen because many Greek court cases are being delayed because judges in the country have been on strike.

23.58 | 0 komentar | Read More

Paying by text to launch spring 2014

15 January 2013 Last updated at 11:58 ET

UK mobile users will be able to send and receive money by sharing only their phone number by spring 2014, the Payments Council has said.

Account owners will be asked by their banks if they want to opt-in to a database that will allow the sending of money by text message.

The scheme is being backed by eight major financial institutions.

Its launch will bring the UK up to speed with technology long in use in the developing world.

Many African nations use systems such as M-Pesa, typically seen as a secure way to transfer funds quickly between individuals and businesses.

A spokesman for the Payments Council told the BBC it had taken the UK longer to catch up due to the technical challenge of building and testing a new database to power the system.

Mobiles in the UK are already being used for a variety of online banking tasks, with services such as Barclay's PingIt simplifying sending money to and from accounts.

But this new set-up will be the first to not require users to set-up a separate account with a mobile wallet service.

Account holders who do not wish to have their details in the database will be able to refuse - only customers who opt-in will be signed up.

The scheme will be administered by the Faster Payments service - which processed more than 800 million online and phone banking transactions in 2012 - and the Link network, which processed 3.1 billion cash machine withdrawals last year.

Joined-up accounts

The system will mean people can send and receive money to others by sharing just their mobile number - rather than having to swap other details such as sort code or account number.

However, the Payments Council said a passcode or similar security measure would ensure the system could not be abused.

Also, banks will have the ability to remotely disable accounts suspected of misuse.

The Payments Council told the BBC that limits regarding how much money could be transferred with the service would be put in place, but that the amount had not yet been decided.

Research would be conducted to make sure the limit represented a blend of "convenience and security", the spokesman added.

The Payments Council said it was working on getting the remaining financial institutions who are not yet involved in the project on board.

The eight institutions already backing the service are:

• Barclays
• Cumberland Building Society
• Danske Bank
• HSBC
• Lloyds Banking Group
• Metro Bank
• Royal Bank of Scotland
• Santander

23.58 | 0 komentar | Read More

Facebook unveils social search tools

15 January 2013 Last updated at 13:24 ET By Dave Lee Technology reporter, BBC News

Facebook has announced a major addition to its social network - a smart search engine it has called graph search.

The feature allows users to make "natural" searches of content shared by their friends.

Search terms could include phrases such as "friends who like Star Wars and Harry Potter".

Founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg insisted it was not a web search, and therefore not a direct challenge to Google.

However, it was integrating Microsoft's Bing search engine for situations when graph search itself could not find answers.

Mr Zuckerberg said he "did not expect" people to start flocking to Facebook to do web search.

"That isn't the intent," he said. "But in the event you can't find what you're looking for, it's really nice to have this."

Finding folks

Earlier speculation had suggested that the world's biggest social network was about to make a long-anticipated foray into Google's search territory.

"We're not indexing the web," explained Mr Zuckerberg at an event at Facebook's headquarters in California.

"We're indexing our map of the graph - the graph is really big and its constantly changing."

In Facebook's terms, the social graph is the name given to the collective pool of information shared between friends that are connected via the site.

It includes things such as photos, status updates, location data as well as the things they have "liked".

Until now, Facebook's search had been highly criticised for being limited and ineffective.

Continue reading the main story

It's going to help drive connections within the network between individuals and between companies and pages"

End Quote Mark Little Ovum

The company's revamped search was demonstrated to be significantly more powerful. In one demo, Facebook developer Tom Stocky showed a search for queries such as "friends of friends who are single in San Francisco".

The same technology could be used for recruitment, he suggested, using graph search to find people who fit criteria for certain jobs - as well as mutual connections.

Such queries are a key function of LinkedIn, the current dominant network for establishing professional connections.

"We look at Facebook as a big social database," said Mr Zuckerberg, adding that social search was Facebook's "third pillar" and stood beside the news feed and timeline as the foundational elements of the social network.

Perhaps mindful of privacy concerns highlighted by recent misfires on policies for its other services such as Instagram, Facebook stressed that it had put limits on the search system.

"On graph search, you can only see content that people have shared with you," developer Lars Rasmussen, who was previously the co-founder of Google Maps, told reporters.

Test case

Mark Little, principal analyst at research firm Ovum, said he was "underwhelmed" by the announcement.

"I think probably people were looking for something a little bit more strategic," he said, adding that graph search might well be a bridge to a more comprehensive search offering in the future.

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

The BBC's Rory Cellan-Jones explains how the new search tool will work

"On the plus side I think it's going to help drive connections within the network between individuals and between companies and pages," he said. "If you are increasing connections between friends and pages you are effectively increasing the reach of advertisers."

In his demonstration, Mr Stocky showed how graph search could help any attempt to go back over old content that a user may want removed. For instance, it could let someone use search queries - such as pictures taken at a certain location, such as a night club - and untag them en masse.

Mr Zuckerberg said that graph search would launch immediately as a beta test, and would roll out "very slowly". The tool will be usable from the blue banner that sits at the top of every Facebook page.

"We're going to put an encouragement on the home screen of everyone's account so that everyone has the chance to look through these tools.

"We're going to do this before graph search is fully rolled out."

He added that external developers would eventually have access to the data in graph search - but access wasn't available yet.

"There's a very long list of things that we didn't do for version one. We have years and years of work ahead of us."

23.58 | 0 komentar | Read More

Alibaba boss Jack Ma to step down

15 January 2013 Last updated at 23:37 ET

One of China's best-known businessmen, Jack Ma, will step down as chief executive of Alibaba, the hugely successful e-commerce firm he founded.

In a letter to employees, Mr Ma said he would appoint a successor and act only as an executive chairman from 10 May.

The move comes just days after Alibaba said it was breaking up its business into 25 different units that will be led by different executives.

Alibaba, founded in 1999, is one of the world's biggest online companies.

"I see that Alibaba's young people have better, more brilliant, dreams than mine, and they are more capable of building a future that belongs to them," Mr Ma said in the letter, adding that the decision had been a difficult one.

Alibaba Group is the parent company behind Alibaba.com, an online marketplace for small businesses, Taobao, a shopping site for consumers as well as Alipay, an online payment service.

'Biggest challenge'

Continue reading the main story

Jack Ma may not be running the day-to-day activities... he will still have an influence in where the company should be headed,"

End Quote Frederick Wong Avant Capital Management (HK)

China is the world's biggest internet market with more than 500 million users.

The size of the market is expected to grow even further as more users in rural areas get access to the internet.

Alibaba, one of the early entrants in the market and one that has benefited tremendously from the boom, has said that it was restructuring its business to ensure that it continues to grow and dominate the market.

Analysts said that ensuring a smooth transition in the business model will be key to the next chief executive's success.

"The biggest challenge a new chief executive officer faces is making sure the new business units can effectively coordinate among themselves," said Yang Xiao, a Beijing-based analyst with research firm Analysys International.

"As they are supposed to be able to work independently, it remains to be seen how effective and authoritative the new CEO can be."

However, other analysts were of the opinion that despite stepping down as the boss, Mr Ma will continue to have a big say in the firm.

"Jack Ma may not be running the day-to-day activities... he will still have an influence in where the company should be headed," Frederick Wong, executive director of Avant Capital Management (HK).

23.58 | 0 komentar | Read More

App charges cause anger for parents

16 January 2013 Last updated at 07:11 ET

Anger over huge phone bills caused by purchases made within mobile applications has grown.

Regulator PhonepayPlus has noted a 300% increase in complaints from consumers faced with an unexpectedly large phone bill.

Many apps can be downloaded for free, but users are then encouraged to buy extra items.

Other free apps contained malware that tricked users into running up bills, the regulator added.

Children's "naivety" on social media was also causing concern among parents, PhonepayPlus said.

The regulator said it was working with Facebook to make sure rogue offers and promotions were removed from the site as quickly as possible.

In most mobile app stores, it is free games that make their way to the top of the most downloaded charts, so many games makers have opted for the in-app sales business model.

Burning holes

Many titles, such as the massively popular Angry Birds, give players the chance to progress more quickly in the game by spending small amounts of money.

Continue reading the main story

There are several steps parents can take to protect against the "bill shock" caused by in-app purchases:

• Register the phone as a child's phone with your mobile network before you give it to them.
• Talk to your mobile network about the controls available, for example a pay-as-you-go account or blocking certain services, and make sure you are clear and happy about what is being offered - for example "unlimited texts" is highly unlikely to include premium rate texts.
• Teach your child to stop and think before they input their mobile number online or on a social media site - entering numbers online can give permission to charge that number and can compromise privacy.
• Know which apps your child is downloading and how much they cost, including the cost of upgrades in free apps.
• Contact your mobile network straight away if you get an unexpectedly high bill or if your child is accessing inappropriate services. If you are unsatisfied, contact PhonepayPlus on 0800 500 212 or at www.phonepayplus.org.uk.

Source: PhonepayPlus

PhonepayPlus said its figures suggested that two in three 11- to 16-year-olds had downloaded their own apps.

The regulator warned that parents could see bills of "hundreds or even thousands of pounds" as a result of these in-app purchases.

In one of the more extreme cases, it was reported that children had downloaded counterfeit versions of games from Google's Android app store.

These games were infected with malware which, whenever opened, billed £15 to the user's phone bill without their knowledge.

PhonepayPlus' chief executive Paul Whiteing said parents must be vigilant.

"Connected devices will define the age in which today's children live and we are determined to ensure that they can receive the benefits while being protected from the risks," he said.

"Smartphones in children's pockets can burn holes in parents' wallets, so we are working with partners across industry and other agencies to prevent this.

"This is a real challenge for parents and for us as a regulator, but this plan meets that challenge head on."

23.58 | 0 komentar | Read More

US employee 'outsourced job to China'

16 January 2013 Last updated at 08:50 ET

A security check on a US company has reportedly revealed one of its staff was outsourcing his work to China.

The software developer, in his 40s, is thought to have spent his workdays surfing the web, watching cat videos on YouTube and browsing Reddit and eBay.

He reportedly paid just a fifth of his six-figure salary to a company based in Shenyang to do his job.

Operator Verizon says the scam came to light after the US firm asked it for an audit, suspecting a security breach.

According to Andrew Valentine, of Verizon, the infrastructure company requested the operator's risk team last year to investigate some anomalous activity on its virtual private network (VPN) logs.

"This organisation had been slowly moving toward a more telecommuting oriented workforce, and they had therefore started to allow their developers to work from home on certain days. In order to accomplish this, they'd set up a fairly standard VPN concentrator approximately two years prior to our receiving their call," he was quoted as saying on an internet security website.

The company had discovered the existence of an open and active VPN connection from Shenyang to the employee's workstation that went back months, Mr Valentine said.

And it had then called on Verizon to look into what it had suspected had been malware used to route confidential information from the company to China.

"Central to the investigation was the employee himself, the person whose credentials had been used to initiate and maintain a VPN connection from China," said Mr Valentine.

Further investigation of the employee's computer had revealed hundreds of PDF documents of invoices from the Shenyang contractor, he added.

The employee, an "inoffensive and quiet" but talented man versed in several programming languages, "spent less than one fifth of his six-figure salary for a Chinese firm to do his job for him", Mr Valentine said.

"Authentication was no problem. He physically FedExed his RSA [security] token to China so that the third-party contractor could log-in under his credentials during the workday. It would appear that he was working an average nine-to-five work day," he added.

"Evidence even suggested he had the same scam going across multiple companies in the area. All told, it looked like he earned several hundred thousand dollars a year, and only had to pay the Chinese consulting firm about $50,000 (£31,270) annually."

The employee no longer worked at the firm, Mr Valentine said.

23.58 | 0 komentar | Read More

Japan emergency hits Dreamliners

16 January 2013 Last updated at 10:18 ET

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

The ANA flight made an emergency landing at Takamatsu

Japan's two main airlines have grounded their Boeing 787 Dreamliners after one was forced to make an emergency landing because of battery problems.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) grounded its fleet of 17 Dreamliners when its flight NH 692 from Yamaguchi Ube was forced to land shortly after take-off.

Japan Airlines followed suit, saying it would ground its fleet of seven 787s from 16 January until further notice.

This is the latest setback for Boeing and its problem-hit Dreamliner planes.

Shares in Boeing fell more than 3% at the start of trading in New York following the Japanese announcements on Wednesday.

In recent weeks, Dreamliners have suffered issues including fuel leaks, a cracked cockpit window, brake problems and an electrical fire.

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

There have been six separate safety incidents with Japanese-owned 787s in the last week and a half. But they are not all equal.

The incident today was by far the most serious. Smoke inside an aircraft while in-flight is always a serious matter. That's why the plane was so quickly diverted, and probably why ANA and JAL have now ordered their fleets to be grounded.

It also looks like this incident may not be isolated. It appears very similar to an electrical fire on board a Japan Airlines 787 in the United States last week.

The source of that fire was the 787's lithium Ion battery pack. All the way back in 2007, the US Federal Aviation Administration expressed concern about the installation of Lithium Ion batteries on board the 787 because of their known problem with so-called "thermal runaway". It's a problem that has caused mobile phones and laptop computers to catch fire in the past.

The 787 is not the only aircraft to use Lithium Ion battery packs. The Airbus A380 uses a smaller number. And the upcoming Airbus A350 will use a much larger number

"You're nearing the tipping point where they need to regard this as a serious crisis," said Richard Aboulafia, a senior analyst with the Teal Group in Fairfax, Virginia.

"This is going to change people's perception of the aircraft if they don't act quickly."

Battery malfunction

On Wednesday, ANA's flight NH 692 left Yamaguchi Ube in western Japan at 08:10 local time (23:10 GMT) and headed for Tokyo's Haneda airport.

Earlier reports that smoke was seen in the cockpit were inaccurate, ANA said. The pilots saw a warning on their computer screen telling them there was smoke inside one of the electrical compartments, the airline said. The source of the smoke is not yet known.

The pilots also received a warning that there was a fault in the battery system. ANA said the battery in the forward cargo hold was the same type as the one involved in a fire on another Dreamliner at a US airport last week.

The ANA flight landed at Takamatsu airport at 08:47 on Wednesday after the pilot saw an error message in the cockpit.

"There was a battery alert in the cockpit and there was an odd smell detected in the cockpit and cabin, and [the pilot] decided to make an emergency landing," said Osamu Shinobe, an ANA vice president, at a news conference.

ANA said that the 129 passengers and eight crew were evacuated, with a number of people sustaining minor injuries.

The Reuters news agency reported that five people were injured, while Bloomberg said that one person was sent to hospital. ANA officials were not immediately available to confirm the figures.

The BBC's correspondent in Tokyo, Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, said that local television footage showed emergency chutes were deployed from the plane. There were also fire trucks on the runway.

Paul Lewis, a spokesman for Boeing, told the BBC that the planemaker was "aware of the diversion of a 787 operated by ANA to Takamatsu in western Japan".

He added that Boeing "will be working with our customer and the appropriate regulatory agencies".

Dreamliner's technical problems Continue reading the main story

CLICKABLE

Fuel tanks

Electronics

Engines

Brakes

Cockpit

Fuel tanks

8 Jan 2013: Take-off aborted after about 150 litres of fuel spill from Japan Airlines Dreamliner in Boston

13 Jan: Same aircraft experiences another, separate fuel leak while undergoing tests in Tokyo

Electronics

4 Dec 2012: A United Airlines 787 makes emergency landing in New Orleans after electrical problems

13 Dec: Qatar Airways 787 grounded after electrical power distribution problems

17 Dec: United finds electrical problem in second aircraft

7 Jan 2013: Fire starts in lithium ion battery pack of Japan Airlines 787 in Boston

8 Jan: United Airlines also finds faulty wiring to battery

Engines

July 2012: Fan shaft on engine fails during runway tests at Charleston International Airport

11 Jan 2013: Oil leak found in engine of All Nippon Airways 787 flight

Brakes

9 Jan 2013: All Nippon Airways cancels flight when computer wrongly reports a brake problem

Cockpit

11 Jan 2013: Cockpit window on an All Nippon Airways Dreamliner cracks during a Japanese domestic flight. The plane lands safely with no injuries

15 Jan: Another Dreamliner operated by ANA makes an emergency landing at Takamatsu in Japan after a smoke alert goes off

Market Reaction

The concerns have spread beyond Japan, however, not least because the Dreamliner was seen as Boeing's flagship new aeroplane and had attracted orders from many of the world's biggest and best-known airlines.

The 787 is said to be one of the most fuel-efficient in the industry, and Boeing delivered 46 Dreamliners to customers in 2012.

Following Wednesday's landing, India's aviation regulator said it would review the Dreamliner's safety and talk to parts makers.

The regulator said it was in contact with Boeing but as yet had no plans to ground the five Dreamliners that are currently being used by Air India.

Continue reading the main story

Dreamliners in use

• Air India: 5
• All Nippon Airways (Japan): 17
• Ethiopian Airlines: 4
• Japan Airlines: 7
• LAN Airlines (Chile): 3
• Lot Polish Airlines: 2
• Qatar Airways: 5
• United Airlines (US) 6
• Total: 49

Source: Boeing

Australia's Qantas Airways said its order for 15 Dreamliners remained on track. Its subsidiary Jetstar is due to take delivery of the first of its aircraft in the second half of this year.

United Airlines is the only US carrier currently flying Dreamliners, and the carrier said it was not taking any immediate action.

Closer look

Even before Wednesday's emergency landing, Boeing was facing an inquiry by Japanese and US authorities over its Dreamliner issues.

Last week, the US Federal Aviation Administration started a joint review with Boeing of the design, manufacturing and assembly of the Dreamliner.

On Tuesday, Japanese authorities said they would conduct an inquiry after two successive fuel leaks on a different 787 operated by Japan Airlines.

On 8 January, Japan Airlines reported that a fire broke out on a 787 shortly after it landed in Boston. There have also been reports of brake issues.

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Inside the cockpit of the Dreamliner

"It is not abnormal for new aircraft to have some teething problems," said Chris de Lavigne of Frost and Sullivan in Singapore.

"There were initial issues with the Airbus A380 as well. Look where it is today; it is flying successfully and everyone seems to be happy with it."

However, he added that a lot would depend on the outcome of the two investigations.

"If it turns out to be a major issue and requires re-engineering to be done, then you may need to ground some of the planes or even the entire fleet."

23.58 | 0 komentar | Read More

Blockbuster enters administration

16 January 2013 Last updated at 11:45 ET

DVD rental firm Blockbuster has become the latest UK High Street firm to go into administration after struggling against internet competitors.

The chain has 528 stores and employs 4,190 staff.

Deloitte, the accountancy firm which will now take over running the firm, said Blockbuster UK would keep trading while it tries to find a buyer.

Music chain HMV and camera-seller Jessops both went into administration earlier this month.

It is not yet known what will happen to HMV's branches and 4,500 staff. Unusually, all of Jessops' 187 branches closed within days of administrators being appointed.

January retail administrations
	Branches	Staff
Blockbuster	528	4,190
HMV	239	4,350
Jessops	187	1,500

Electricals chain Comet collapsed before Christmas.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

It is shocking that the [Blockbuster] board and executive management failed to make bold choices"

End Quote Prof. Ajay Bhalla Cass Business School

"We are working closely with suppliers and employees to ensure the business has the best possible platform to secure a sale, preserve jobs and generate as much value as possible for all creditors," said Lee Manning, from Deloitte's Restructuring Services practice.

"The core of the business is still profitable and we will continue to trade as normal in both retail and rental whilst we seek a buyer for all or parts of the business as a going concern.

"During this time gift cards and credit acquired through Blockbuster's trade-in scheme will be honoured towards the purchase of goods."

Store closures

The first Blockbuster store in the UK opened in south London in 1989, and the firm has sought to expand its services in recent years, including with a trade-in facility for pre-owned titles.

The firm launched an online DVD rental operation in 2002, and the company's website, blockbuster.co.uk, claims to send out more discs per customer than other online DVD rental services in the UK.

However, this online rental market became increasingly crowded with rival services, and now the popularity of streaming films over the internet is growing fast.

Blockbuster UK has closed more than 100 outlets in the past few years.

Blockbuster went bankrupt in the US in 2011, but was rescued by US pay-TV provider Dish Network in a $320m (£200m) deal, which saved hundreds of stores from closing. The UK arm is also owned by Dish Network but run separately.

Before Blockbuster was bought by Dish Network, there were media reports of ambitious expansion plans, including selling electrical goods such as televisions, mobile phones, and iPods.

But business experts said Blockbuster's problems were all too similar to those hitting other retailers - failure to adapt quickly enough to a changing business environment and consumer habits.

'Altered landscape'

Professor Ajay Bhalla, of Cass Business School, said: "The company, like HMV, failed to transform its business model early enough. When it did, it found a fundamentally altered competitive landscape where the platform model had destroyed the traditional retail one.

"Firms like Blockbuster failed to face up to the enormity of the change and altered their business model on the fringes (eg selling second-hand products), rather than coming up with an innovative offering. It is shocking that the board and executive management failed to make bold choices."

Dr Steve Musson, a lecturer at the University of Reading and an expert in the economics of UK cities, added: "The retail businesses that we have seen going into administration since Christmas have a lot in common - they have large numbers of stores and have struggled to adapt to changing retail habits.

"Rents for retail businesses are usually payable quarterly, with many landlords most recently asking for payment at the end of December, which is why we often see retail failures coming in clusters."

23.58 | 0 komentar | Read More