CA business as usual

Computerworld reports that analysts say Computer Associates International`s management shake-up is unlikely to affect customers or dramatically change the company`s product plans. This follows Sanjay Kumar`s ouster as chairman and CEO.

The analysts say by removing Kumar, CA has defused pressure to clear its executive ranks of all involved in its past accounting violations. More than a dozen employees have been pushed out of CA in the past six months as the company tries to put behind it years of questions and investigations into bookkeeping practices used before a November 2000 business model change.

Analyst Michael Dortch at the Robert Frances group is quoted as saying Kumar in his three years as CEO expanded CA`s management team and improved customer support, which will help CA survive the transition period as it searches for a new leader.

ZDNet says the researcher who uncovered vulnerabilities of the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) says reports that the Internet was vulnerable to collapse were exaggerated.

Paul Watson, a security specialist for Rockwell Automation says the TCP flaw was addressed by most large Internet service providers in the past two weeks and presents little danger to major networks. "The actual threat to the Internet is really small right now."

CNet reports that US Federal regulators have ruled that AT&T must pay traditional local access charges to complete Internet phone calls, making the long-distance carrier liable for billions of dollars in deferred fees.

The report says telecommunications companies closely watched the Federal Communications Commission decision for its potential impact on voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services that use high-speed Web connections to carry phone calls, bypassing the traditional phone system.

The report says AT&T had argued that it was not required to pay the access fees to local landline companies for completing long-distance calls when those calls travel partly over the Internet, but the FCC disagreed.

General Motors has bought a supercomputer from IBM that the companies say is the fastest in the automotive industry and will more than halve the time it takes to get a vehicle on the market, reports Associated Press.

The new supercomputer, based on IBM`s Power 4 and Power 5 technology, more than doubles the computing capacity of the world`s largest automaker, and is expected to slash the time it takes to get a vehicle to market from 48 months to 18 months.

Reuters reports that online dating site Tickle has launched a new People Search service that combines Web search results from Ask Jeeves with search results from Tickle`s own social networking service.

Tickle says there are more than two million profiles in its social network, which is one of the Web`s largest. Its People Search service aims to deliver personalised search results and will carry keyword search ads from Ask Jeeves partner, Google.