China opens Internet addiction clinic

China has opened its first officially licensed clinic for Internet addiction in Beijing to deal with the effects of the online frenzy that has accompanied the nation`s economic boom, reports USA Today.

Doctors say all the children at the clinic have left school because they were playing games or in chat rooms everyday and consequently suffering from depression, nervousness, fear, panic, agitation and unwillingness to interact with others. Many say their online obsessions helped them escape day-to-day stress.

State media has highlighted cases of obsessed Internet gamers, some of whom have committed suicide or murder. Nonetheless, Internet cafes continue to thrive, with outlets found in even the smallest and poorest of villages.

While China promotes Internet use for business and education, government officials also say Internet cafes are eroding public morality.

UK electrical goods retailer, Dixons, has been dragged into the legal dispute between rival computer chipmakers, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Intel.

Last week AMD submitted a 48-page complaint against Intel to the US District Court in Delaware. It alleges that Intel, the world`s leading chipmaker, engages in anti-competitive and monopolistic practices.

AMD`s complaint also alleges that Dixons has been discriminating against it in return for payments from Intel, reports Business Telegraph. Dixons is one of many computer retailers that AMD states has been subject to financial "coercion" from Intel.

Dixons has denied the allegation, saying the reference to the Dixons Group in the AMD suit is factually incorrect. Dixons says in the interest of providing customers with the best price and widest range or products, the company has long-standing, commercial relationships with both Intel and AMD.

Sweden has outlawed the downloading of copyrighted movies, games and music in an attempt to curb rampant piracy, reports BBC News.

The report says about 10% of Swedes freely swap music, games and films on their computers, which is one of the highest rates in the world.

With no law banning file-sharing, Sweden had become a hotbed of piracy where films, music and software were readily swapped, but experts believe the law will change little and that Swedes will remain rampant downloaders.

Before the new law was passed, it was only illegal to make copyrighted material available to others via the Net, whereas downloading the content was allowed.

The new law was drawn up to bring Sweden into line with EU directives and is also part of a wider crackdown on Net piracy. It comes a day after the US Attorney General`s office announced an 11-nation operation to catch and shut down Net piracy groups.