The Times: Tech column - Xbox Live/Child tracking/EU data retention
By David Rowan
WHEN Sega first launched its Internet-enabled Dreamcast console, it advertised itself as suitable for "up to 6 billion players". It was an over-optimistic hope. Online gaming attracted only a few million people. But things are different now.
With new consoles from Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo it has gone from being a cult pastime to mainstream industry. On Monday Microsoft announced Xbox Live, an online games service designed for its Xbox console. When it launches this summer, subscribers with fast Net connections will be able to compete online in an enclosed community of adventure that the company compares to Disneyland. Last week Nintendo released its plans for online gaming via the GameCube, requiring a £25 adapter and a monthly fee. And Sony plans to sell a £30 adapter to connect the PlayStation 2 to the Net for a service due to launch in August.
In the world of gaming, a world that earned Britain £1.6 billion last year, this is huge news. Since the Web arrived, online games such as Lineage and EverQuest have attracted up to 100,000 simultaneous players, their loyalties burnished through membership of thousands of "clans" and by making home-made digital films known as "machinima". But now the big boys are betting that multiplayer gaming will entice the entire family. Microsoft is investing $1 billion in its new service, hoping that enough of us will pay around £35 for a game's software, on top of the monthly subscription fee. You need not play to enjoy the benefits of the online gaming revolution. Eventually, every PC user may be grateful for the by-products. Sony, for example, has developed a webcam that negates the need for a mouse or joystick for online communication. You move your hand over a screen, and the camera - on display at the Barbican's GameOn exhibition - interprets the movements as commands. Still, it is a huge financial risk, and Bill Gates knows it. Sega, the pioneer, dropped its Sega.net online service long ago and it will be a while before the newcomers get close to making a profit. Nintendo is focusing on the US market rather than Europe, where it thinks poor broadband penetration makes an online service unviable. Sony is limiting itself to Japan. Britain is left behind again by its laughable progress towards the "broadband future".
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MISSING children are often in the news, so a California company is launching a product designed to play on parental worries. The Wherify GPS Personal Locator for Children is a digital watch that tracks them wherever they may be, using the global positioning satellite system. For about £300, plus an £18 monthly subscription, the system, initially just in the US, lets anxious parents monitor their children's movements via a website. It advises you to "choose a standard street map or custom aerial photo", then zoom in and assuage your fears. You can also phone the firm's HQ to check that the child has reached a pre-set destination. In these anxious times, the market for personal-location trackers is looking up - but do we really want to burden our children with the technology that tags paroled prisoners?
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Newspapers often warn of threats to our liberty. Here is another. Next Wednesday the European Parliament will vote on whether to force telephone companies and Internet service-providers to monitor e-mails and phone data - and to store the information for years, just in case the authorities ever demand to see it. Unless MEPs vote to throw out this proposal, it could be goodbye to data-protection laws because we would all be susceptible to continuous surveillance of our online activity. It is worrying that there has been little debate in Britain on such a crucial matter, but if you value your freedom from state snooping, you might wish to visit www.statewatch.org to learn more before lobbying your MEP. Unless, that is, you are happy for European governments to know who you choose to e-mail or phone for years to come.
(The Times, May 22 2002)
WHEN Sega first launched its Internet-enabled Dreamcast console, it advertised itself as suitable for "up to 6 billion players". It was an over-optimistic hope. Online gaming attracted only a few million people. But things are different now.
With new consoles from Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo it has gone from being a cult pastime to mainstream industry. On Monday Microsoft announced Xbox Live, an online games service designed for its Xbox console. When it launches this summer, subscribers with fast Net connections will be able to compete online in an enclosed community of adventure that the company compares to Disneyland. Last week Nintendo released its plans for online gaming via the GameCube, requiring a £25 adapter and a monthly fee. And Sony plans to sell a £30 adapter to connect the PlayStation 2 to the Net for a service due to launch in August.
In the world of gaming, a world that earned Britain £1.6 billion last year, this is huge news. Since the Web arrived, online games such as Lineage and EverQuest have attracted up to 100,000 simultaneous players, their loyalties burnished through membership of thousands of "clans" and by making home-made digital films known as "machinima". But now the big boys are betting that multiplayer gaming will entice the entire family. Microsoft is investing $1 billion in its new service, hoping that enough of us will pay around £35 for a game's software, on top of the monthly subscription fee. You need not play to enjoy the benefits of the online gaming revolution. Eventually, every PC user may be grateful for the by-products. Sony, for example, has developed a webcam that negates the need for a mouse or joystick for online communication. You move your hand over a screen, and the camera - on display at the Barbican's GameOn exhibition - interprets the movements as commands. Still, it is a huge financial risk, and Bill Gates knows it. Sega, the pioneer, dropped its Sega.net online service long ago and it will be a while before the newcomers get close to making a profit. Nintendo is focusing on the US market rather than Europe, where it thinks poor broadband penetration makes an online service unviable. Sony is limiting itself to Japan. Britain is left behind again by its laughable progress towards the "broadband future".
++++
MISSING children are often in the news, so a California company is launching a product designed to play on parental worries. The Wherify GPS Personal Locator for Children is a digital watch that tracks them wherever they may be, using the global positioning satellite system. For about £300, plus an £18 monthly subscription, the system, initially just in the US, lets anxious parents monitor their children's movements via a website. It advises you to "choose a standard street map or custom aerial photo", then zoom in and assuage your fears. You can also phone the firm's HQ to check that the child has reached a pre-set destination. In these anxious times, the market for personal-location trackers is looking up - but do we really want to burden our children with the technology that tags paroled prisoners?
++++
Newspapers often warn of threats to our liberty. Here is another. Next Wednesday the European Parliament will vote on whether to force telephone companies and Internet service-providers to monitor e-mails and phone data - and to store the information for years, just in case the authorities ever demand to see it. Unless MEPs vote to throw out this proposal, it could be goodbye to data-protection laws because we would all be susceptible to continuous surveillance of our online activity. It is worrying that there has been little debate in Britain on such a crucial matter, but if you value your freedom from state snooping, you might wish to visit www.statewatch.org to learn more before lobbying your MEP. Unless, that is, you are happy for European governments to know who you choose to e-mail or phone for years to come.
(The Times, May 22 2002)
posted by David Rowan at Wednesday, May 22, 2002
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