Smokes screened to protect children

A US federal appeals court has ruled that New York state was right in legislating against cigarette sales over the Internet. The bench concluded that the law (challenged by Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation) did not discriminate against interstate commerce.

Cigarettes will continue to flow into New York State in the same manner they always have, the court said. Brown & Williamson has not decided whether to appeal, but says the decision has troubling implications for online sales of other products. The state attorney general`s office called the ruling a "major victory`` in the state`s effort to keep children from smoking. [AP]

Web traffic to ABCNews.com rose a hefty 37% following the network`s televised airing of the Martin Bashir documentary with pop icon Michael Jackson, Nielsen//NetRatings showed yesterday. The site attracted 282 000 Internet surfers logging on from home on 7 February, the day after the controversial interview aired, after getting just 206 000 surfers the previous day.

Jackson sparked controversy when he discussed sharing his bed with children other than his own. Jackson has since said his remarks were taken out of context. According to Nielsen Media Research, the documentary was the top watched show that evening with more than 27.1 million viewers. [AP]

Nokia has showcased its new mobile gaming deck, the Nokia N-Gage. The deck operates a wireless multiplayer platform for local and remote gaming via Bluetooth wireless technology. Players can also link up using cell networks.

Nokia is working with game publishers including Activision, Eidos, Sega, Taito and THQ, and developers to provide a catalogue of popular games to the marketplace. Network operators and service providers can provide game-related mobile services such as downloadable game levels, additional features and game characters, or even run online multiplayer games and communities. The games are sold separately on game cards (using the MultimediaCard standard). Developers can find more information here.

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