Many observers in business reckon that South Africa's labour laws are too restrictive and actually hamper employment and damage business. Well, be that as it may, the Labour Relations Act is now being amended - this time to address labour broking and child labour (among other things), so it remains to be seen whether its critics are correct as our
labour laws set a new course.On the digital TV front, it appears the plans are in place... But
where's the money? The Department of Communications is confident it can successfully "kick-start" the rollout of digital terrestrial television (DTT) despite the funding shortfalls experienced by some of its key entities. However, as Democratic Alliance MP Marian Shinn said: "One wonders why funding was not secured before projects were embarked on... if one looks at DTT, (the deadline) is a couple of months away and set-top boxes have not been acquired." A fair question - it's usually a good idea to have all the funding arranged
before beginning a project.
Kudos for Cape Town:
Amazon Web Services is ready to expand to the Mother City. The new AWS Developer Support office will provide technical assistance for customers.
Here's a bit of a surprise on the environment front... Scientists have reported that
the Arctic Ocean could be a significant contributor of methane. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and the scientists report finding concentrations of the gas close to the ocean surface, especially where sea ice had cracked or broken up.
Now it's our turn to help... Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (OUTA) went 'outa' to bat for us against e-tolling but, as you know, those legal eagles don't come cheap and
now the alliance needs cash to continue the fight. It's running an SMS fund-raising campaign this week to raise the money needed to continue its battle, so it's time for us to break out those wallets...
Remember, whatever you donate will be a darn side less than you motorists would be dishing out to Sanral as tolls.
Rod Baker, content director
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BRUSSELS, BELGIUM: Executives from news media, publishing, TV, film, music, IT and internet media businesses (see list below) have got together with existing standards and licensing organisations to work in coalition on a cross-media global project that will result in better and easier management of copyright in the online world. 
SAN FRANCISCO: Google on Tuesday (24 April 2012) launched a long-anticipated "Drive" service that lets people store photos, videos, and other digital files in the Internet "cloud." 
LONDON, UK: Mintel has announced a new series of reports examining consumer behaviour with brands both online and offline. 
Dimension Data has been awarded number one EMC partner status in South Africa. This accolade was presented on the back of a recent acknowledgement as part of an elite group of integrators to participate in the EMC Velocity2 Signature Solutions Centre Partnership Programme. 
NEW YORK, US: "Tradition" is the watchword when it comes to gift giving for Mom this year, as nine of 10 consumers (90%) plan to celebrate Mother's Day. Total spending is estimated to reach nearly US$17.2bn, according to the annual Brand Keys Mother's Day survey. 
TOKYO, JAPAN: comScore, Inc has released data from the 
Telkom and KT Corporation have completed a diagnostic review and harmonised their respective findings and are now in the process of finalising the terms of the Potential Strategic Venture. 
The Department of Communications is confident it can successfully "kick-start" the rollout of digital terrestrial television (DTT) despite the funding shortfalls experienced by some of its key entities. 
