Politech mailing list archives
FC: Slovenian official resigns over Y2K advice
From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2000 11:35:01 -0500
********* [I will be on KPFA 94.1 in the Bay Area today at 12 pm PT to talk about online privacy. Webcast at http://www.kpfa.org/. Many politech members submitted the following article. Thanks. --DBM] *********
From: Paul McMasters <Pmcmasters () freedomforum org> To: "Declan McCullagh (E-mail)" <declan () well com> Subject: Y2K abroad Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2000 10:44:57 -0500 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2650.21) Declan, I don't know whether these items, passed along to me by my colleague Gene Mater, would be of interest to Politech or not. Your call. -pkm ------------------------------------------ Slovenian official resigns over Y2K advice ------------------------------------------ A senior official responsible for dealing with the millennium transition in Slovenia has resigned following media charges that he exaggerated the risks of the Y2K computer bug. Bojan Usenicnik, head of the Office for Protection and Rescue, came under fire for recommending last week that Slovenians buy emergency reserves of food, water, batteries, candles and medicines. The former Yugoslav republic has so far reported no problems involving computers failing to recognise the year 2000. In a statement Mr Usenicnik rejected the criticism but nevertheless said he would step down. ''After yesterday's television report...and following other commentaries, I have decided to resign,'' he said. He said his office, one of the main government agencies responsible for the Y2K problem, had issued the same advice as similar agencies in other countries. ''Our recommendations were no different from those in developed countries,'' Usenicnik said. His resignation will only be valid if accepted by Defence Minister Franci Demsar. Source: http://www.centraleurope.com/news.php3?id=122482 - Central Europe Online / Reuters ----------------------------------------------- Belgian newspaper creates its own Millennium Bug ------------------------------------------------ The front page of Belgian national newspaper La Libre Belgique was deliberately printed in scrambled and illegible type Monday in a jibe at the absence of millennium-related computer chaos. ''At the Libre Belgique...a computer problem suddenly hit the page layout system around midnight,'' the paper said in one of the few legible lines in an otherwise meaningless muddle of letters. Like most Belgian papers, La Libre Belgique led with the story that the ''bugalypse'' - an apocalypse caused by the millennium bug - had not surfaced as feared. In the absence of any major computer problems caused by the date change from 1999 into 2000, La Libre Belgique made almost its entire front page illegible and even had a photograph of midnight revels seeming to melt down the page. Source: http://www.mediacentral.com/channels//allnews/01_03_2000.rittz0620-story-bct echykbelgium.html - Media Central / Reuters ----------------------------------------------- Old browsers stop Swedes using Internet banking ----------------------------------------------- Thousands of Swedes were unable to access their bank accounts over the Internet following the turn of the year because they were using outdated browser software, banks said Monday. Bank spokesmen said the problem affected some 100,000 people, about 10 per cent of Sweden's online banking customers, who had not upgraded their browsers to the latest versions. They said it was not the millennium bug that stopped people accessing their cash or investment balances but the fact that they were using a version of the Netscape browser due to expire at the end of 1999. The Netscape homepage warns users of older browsers that the programme's security certificate, used for Internet banking, expired on December 31. Swedish banks are world leaders in Internet banking and the country boasts one of the highest levels of Internet connections. Handelsbanken and Finnish-Swedish banking group MeritaNordbanken said they had not experienced any problems. Swedbank said it took measures ahead of the year-end to ensure browser software was upgraded. Source: http://www.mediacentral.com/channels//allnews/01_03_2000.rittz0714-story-bct echyksweden.html - Infobeat / Reuters
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