| WTO ruling revives debate over China's rare earths trade Jan 31st 2012, 14:37  China suffered another setback at the WTO yesterday, thanks to a ruling that could spell trouble for its controversial rare earths industry. In a decision issued Monday, a WTO panel determined that the Chinese government has been acting in violation of international trade rules, due to export restrictions on a number of raw materials. These restrictions, the panel said, allowed Beijing to inflate global market prices, while giving an advantage to domestic producers. As a result, China will likely have to adjust its trade policies to comply with WTO regulations. In a statement, the country's Ministry of Commerce said it "deeply regrets" the decision, but confirmed that the People's Republic will adhere to it. This week's ruling applies to materials like bauxite, coke, magnesium, manganese and zinc, but, most notably, does not apply to rare earths -- a group of 17 elements critical to the production of tablets, smartphones and myriad other gadgets. China has maintained a rather tight grip over the world's rare earths market, thanks to a slew of export controls, quotas and government-erected barriers to entry. The country has come under intense international pressure in recent years, with the US, EU and Mexico filing complaints with the WTO, arguing that China's price-inflating restrictions violate international trade agreements. Beijing, for its part, has long maintained that its export controls are designed to minimize the environmental impact of rare earth mining, while meeting the country's surging domestic demand. It's an argument that's come up a lot during this debate but one that the WTO, on Monday, deemed illegitimate, stating that China has thus far been "unable to demonstrate" the environmental benefits of its policies. The decision won't have any immediate bearing on these policies, but some observers are hopeful that it may be a sign of things to come. Michael Silver, CEO of rare earth processor American Elements, told Reuters that the ruling "confirms the existence of the two-tiered price structure that has caused so much concern," with EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht adding that the decision should force China to remove restrictions on both the aforementioned raw materials and rare earths, alike. Others, however, aren't so optimistic, pointing out that, with a full 95 percent of the rare earths market under its aegis, China could realistically afford to ignore any decisions handed down from the WTO in the future. WTO ruling revives debate over China's rare earths trade originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  Reuters | Email this | Comments | | HTC Ville gets hands-on en Francais, is presumably practicing its Spanish for MWC (video) Jan 31st 2012, 14:13  While we're still a few weeks away from annual phone festival, MWC, it's these weeks in the run-up that often draw out blurrycam appetizers of what we'll see over in Barcelona. This time, it's no other than the HTC Edge Ville, that rumored divergent mix of quad-core processing bulk and slimline form-factor: something we don't typically see the unibody-armored HTC family. In the leaked video, you'll be getting a look at a heavily disguised version of Ice Cream Sandwich, covered in contentious (but new!) Sense sauce. The mysterious handset mole is also kind enough to pay a visit to the phone's specification list, confirming, at least if this is the finished article, an eight megapixel camera, 4.3-inch qHD display and a 1.5GHz dual-core processor. Alas, it looks like this isn't going to be the rumored quad-core debut from the Taiwanese phone maker, although going on past form, it won't shock us if the company reveals a whole line-up of handsets for us to meddle with next month. Take the tour yourself -- it's right after the break. Continue reading HTC Ville gets hands-on en Francais, is presumably practicing its Spanish for MWC (video) HTC Ville gets hands-on en Francais, is presumably practicing its Spanish for MWC (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink  SlashGear | HTC-Hub | Email this | Comments | | Sony's 3D Experience channel tops 10 million views, some people like the extra dimension Jan 31st 2012, 13:44  Since kicking off its free 3D Experience channel, Sony has managed to notch up 10 million viewers in just short of six months. The channel offers up samples of music, movies, sports and documentaries for free, in an effort to tempt viewers into ponying up cash for the full experience. The channel, available on its Bravia 3DTV range and Blu-ray players, has now expanded from its five initial launch countries to 60. It's currently offering tastes of forthcoming Sony titles like The Amazing Spiderman and content from last year's World Cup, with a total of around 100 free snippets to peruse on the Japanese iteration of the channel. You hear Sony well up with pride in the PR below. Well, it's had a pretty tough time recently. Continue reading Sony's 3D Experience channel tops 10 million views, some people like the extra dimension Sony's 3D Experience channel tops 10 million views, some people like the extra dimension originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Sony Japan (translated) | Email this | Comments | | Google clarifies what isn't changing with new privacy policy Jan 31st 2012, 13:19 As you may remember, roughly a week ago Google issued a major overhaul of its privacy policies -- condensing some 60 scattered terms of service into a single document covering a vast majority of its internet empire. Of course, this raised concern, confusion and led to stories circulating the web about the inherent danger of the revised TOS. Truth be told, most of the wild-eyed fear mongering was done by those who either had not read or had not understood what the simplified policies mean (though, we hardly fault them for being suspicious). Google is looking to allay those fears however, and has released the full text of a letter written to congress clarifying the new TOS. The important information here is presented on the Google Public Policy Blog as bullet points and that is what's not changing. Users will still be able to search without signing in, opt out of targeted ads, export their data and maintain fine-grained control over their private data. Oh and Google will never, we repeat never, sell your information to advertisers. Hit up the source link if you're still in need of more details. Google clarifies what isn't changing with new privacy policy originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Google Public Policy Blog | Email this | Comments | |
