Trade groups protest Chinese procurement rules

In today's podcast: Trade groups protest Chinese procurement rules; Oracle holding talks with EC over Sun acquisition; and FCC needs better oversight of mobile operators.

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Trade groups are protesting an "unprecedented" new Chinese policy that gives local IT products preference for government contracts there, arguing that the rules will actually hamper innovation in China. The Chinese government's Indigenous Innovation Product Accreditation Program, detailed in a Nov. 15 notice, would create a national catalog of products that would get preference in government contracts, according to the Business Software Alliance (BSA), one of 34 trade groups signing a letter protesting the new policy. Six product categories would initially be covered: software, computer and application devices, telecommunication products, new energy and equipment, highly energy-efficient products and modern office equipment.

Oracle is expected to portray its planned acquisition of Sun Microsystems, and more specifically of Sun's MySQL unit, as a pro-competitive move necessary to balance the might of Microsoft in the low end database market during a two-day hearing in Brussels that opened Thursday. The hearing is being hosted by Europe's top antitrust authority, the European Commission, which last month declared its opposition to the deal on grounds that it would cause a serious reduction of competition in the market for computer databases. Oracle and the Commission appeared to have reached an impasse concerning MySQL ahead of the hearing. However, competition commissioner Neelie Kroes Wednesday expressed optimism about brokering that will not harm competition.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission needs to improve its oversight of mobile telephone carriers, because the agency has no way to measure the outcomes of the tens of thousands of complaints it receives each year, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a report released Thursday. Even though 84 percent of U.S. mobile-phone customers are very or somewhat satisfied with their service, many U.S. residents aren't aware that they can complain about problems to the FCC, and a significant number of customers have had problems with billing, terms-of-service contracts, or customer service, said the GAO, based on surveys it conducted.

Acer plans to launch as many as six new smartphones with Google's Android mobile operating system in the first half of next year, a company executive said Thursday. The world's second largest PC vendor this week started rolling out its first Android handset, the Liquid smartphone. The device went on sale via Hong Kong operator CSL on Wednesday and at Far EasTone Telecommunications of Taiwan on Thursday. Acer plans to unveil Android mobile phones for three price levels, top-end, mid and low-end, as well as models aimed at business users and consumers, he said. The executive declined to say when Acer's second Android mobile phone will be available.

...And those are the top stories from the IDG Global IT News Update, brought to you by the IDG News Service. I'm Sumner Lemon in Singapore. Join us again later for more news from the world of technology.