The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has told eight major credit card companies that the fees they are charging for late payments are too high. Charges up to £25 are being imposed and the OFT has given the companies three months to adjust them. If the firms do not comply, they could be prosecuted and fined.

The OFT launched an investigation into late payment fees in October 2003. It discovered that the sum generated from the default charges was greater than the costs incurred by the companies in managing late payment. It said that as the law restricts damages that can be awarded to compensate for loss suffered as a result of a breach of contract, the late payment fees were disproportionately high.

Credit card companies maintained that the charges were fair, throughout the investigation.

The companies under investigation are guaranteed anonymity under OFT rules. However, Barclaycard and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) came forward to defend the need to impose the late payment charges.

A spokeswoman for RBS credit cards said: “Only a very small proportion of customers attract a default charge and as a responsible lender we must have a process in place to manage late payments”.

Barclaycard supported the statement from RBS, but said it would fully co-operate with the OFT to address the issue of late payment charges.

Microsoft has introduced new measures to reduce software piracy. Anyone downloading updates for Windows XP is now required to verify that their copy of the operating system in genuine. However, this does not apply when security updates are downloaded.

According to the Business Software Alliance, a third of software worldwide is fake. Microsoft estimates that over a third of its software is counterfeit, representing billions of dollars of lost income.

Windows accounts for 90% of operating systems sold worldwide and reducing piracy is one of the few ways that Microsoft is able to expand its business.

If a customer has a pirated copy of Windows, a free version will be provided if they fill out a counterfeit report identifying the source of the software, provide proof of purchase and return the counterfeit CD.

If they are unable to provide all the information, they can fill out a report and receive a copy of Windows XP Home Edition for the reduced price of £56 or Windows XP Professional Edition for £86.

The strategy is part of the company’s Windows Genuine Advantage scheme, which was set up in September to encourage the use of legitimate software. Microsoft has been offering incentives such, as photo slide-show software, to attract users to the service. Approximately 45 million copies of Windows have been verified via the system so far.

Alex Hilton, anti-piracy manager for Microsoft, advises customers to only purchase Windows XP from trusted shops and websites.

According to a report from the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR), UK house prices will fall 5% by 2007.

House prices, which have risen for ten years, are expected to stop rising this year, at an average of £163,353, and then to fall to £155,329 in two years’ time. Annual house price inflation may decline from 18.3% in 2004 to 4.2% this year.

The reports suggest a number of factors have adversely affected the housing market, including higher interest rates, fewer new homes built, rising house prices, stealth taxes, student loans, higher stamp duties and tighter rules on inheritance tax and capital gains tax.

Costs could increase further in 2007, when Home Information Packs are introduced, requiring sellers to provide a survey, searches and inspection reports at an expected cost of £1,000.

Nationwide economist Fionnuala Earley said the CEBR report broadly supported the building society’s forecasts. However, Ed Stansfield, an economist at Capital Economics, suggested that that prices could fall by as much as 6-7% by the end of the year.

The CEBR does not, however, expect negative equity to return. It expects prices to begin to overtake levels seen this year, by 2010, and then to begin to grow faster than average earnings, at approximately 4.7% a year.

The reports authors were Mark Pragnall and Thushani Gajasinghe.

Domino’s Pizza UK and Ireland recorded a 34.7% increase in pre-tax profits after one-off items to £5.5m for the 26 weeks to 3 July, helped by a 64% increase in online sales, with orders worth £6.5m. Online sales now make up 10.6% of the company’s business.

Sales were also helped by record store openings of almost one a week during the period.

The group’s website contributed most to e-commerce sales, with other orders from TV links on Sky and NTL. Online orders were 25-30% higher in value than those made by phone. Leo Ginsberg, Domino’s finance director attributed this to customers having more time to browse the menu online.

E-commerce developments also helped to increase in-store efficiency. A system whereby phone orders are taken centrally and sent to the nearest delivery store online enabled staff to focus on making and delivering meals rather than answering the phone.

Like-for-like sales increased by 8.4%, compared with 4.9% in the same period last year. The company attributed this to the successful launch of its new cheese melt pizza.

The company aims to open a total of between 800 and 1,000 Domino’s Pizza stores in the UK and Ireland.

The credit card industry has launched a new website called “choosing and using”, which advises people on the best card to suit their spending behaviour. It also aims to help prevent people building up excessive debt, and offers help for those already experiencing credit card debt.

Approximately 1,500 credit cards are available in the UK, making it difficult for people to choose the right one.

The site was set up by UK payments association Apacs, which represents all of the major UK credit card issuers

The website helps to match the features on offer, to a person’s spending behaviour. For example people who clear the balance each month are advised that the interest rate is less important than features such as no annual fee and a rewards programme.

As the website does not look at specific cards, BBC personal finance reporter Richard Scott, advises that people should still use comparison tables in newspapers or on the internet in order to make their choice.

China’s yuan gained against the US dollar in its second session of trading since currency limits were relaxed last week.

On Monday, the yuan ended trading at 8.1097 against the dollar, up from 8.11 on Friday.

China revalued the yuan following pressure to let it appreciate – it had been pegged at 8.28 per US dollar. The US and European Union said that this undervalued the yuan and made Chinese goods unrealistically cheap. The yuan is now allowed to float within a narrow 0.15% band either side of a level set by a basket of currencies.

According to US diplomatic sources, the reform of the yuan was a victory for US Treasury Secretary John Snow and his style of “quiet diplomacy”.

Analysts are more cautious, saying that the revaluation is too little to have a significant impact on trade flows between China and more developed economies, and is unlikely to reduce the US trade deficit.

According to analysts at Capital Economics, the currency reform may be based on political reasons rather than economic.

In a note to investors, the company said: “By changing the peg well in advance of President Hu Jintao’s visit to Washington in September, Beijing may be able to avoid giving the impression of bowing too obviously to US pressure, while still doing the bare minimum necessary to defuse trade tensions.”

Chinese officials say that China’s economy is too fragile to absorb rapid currency-related shocks.

Europe and the US welcomed the revaluation and there are hopes that further exchange rate flexibility will follow.

A new Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) report suggests that Britons should work until they are 67 before receiving a state pension, with the higher age being introduced between 2020 and 2030.

Peter Robinson, the report’s author, said: “Raising the state pension age is vital if the UK pensions system is to remain sustainable and cope with the pressure of an ageing population.” In October 2004, the commission estimated that over 12 million people in the UK were not saving enough for their retirement.

Mr Robinson noted an unwillingness among members of the public to accept that life expectancy is rising. He said that most people wanted to retire at or before the age of 65.

The IPPR believes it will be difficult to increase the pension age without a clear political consensus. Mr Robinson said that this could be achieved by linking an increase in pension age with an increase in the value of the basic state pension.

Stephen Timms, the Minister for pension reform, said that the government had no plans to increase the state pension age but would welcome more choice for people planning for their retirement.

The Trade Unions Congress expressed concern that poor people would be the most severely affected by planned reforms.

Nigel Waterson, the Conservative pensions spokesman, called for more flexibility to allow those who want to work for longer to do so. He said the government should provide incentives to encourage people to work for longer.

The Pensions Commission is expected to publish its final report in the autumn.

The US Navy’s website to provide information on Guantanamo Bay has been hacked.

A message puporting to be from an Iranian source complains about the US treatment of Muslims in Guantanamo Bay:

IRAN HACKERS SABOTAGE Was here

all muslim’s nation condemned all terorist activities
in everywhere even in londen or america Do you think that all muslims are terrorists? we are for peace…humanity. friendshp,kindness this is wrong.. we all are brothers, Muslims has been more harmed by this kinde of actvities than the other believes Dont you guys see what has been hapenning to muslims in the last 50 years in Israel? Dont u see in iraq how many casualties have muslims pr day? Dont u see the attitude of americans towards muslims in goantanamo?

The apparent hacking of such a high profile US military website will almost certainly be embarrassing.

However, it is not believed that the website itself is directly connected to any otherwise classified military networks, and so is unlikely to jeopardise US national security.

The incident comes at a time when 52 inmates at the prison are reported to be on hunger strike.

Detention occurs on Guantanamo Bay because it is beyond the reach of normal US civil rights protections, which would otherwise likely be granted to the men to ensure that they were held to account at a fair trial on specified charges.

The act of detention of foreign nationals at Guantanamo Bay has been roundly condemned by a range of human rights and civil liberties protection groups around the world.

According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, London is becoming a major hub for Islamic banking and investment that conforms to Islamic law, or Sharia.

In a report published Thursday, RICS said that 90 percent of Islamic investors favored London for the location of Sharia funds due to factors such as its political environment, legal and institutional framework, human capital, and expertise.

Islamic banking and finance is growing quickly, worth $500 billion worldwide now and expected to grow by 12 to 15 percent over the next ten years.

Real estate is an especially fast-growing part of this movement, with investment from the Middle East in European real estate at £827 million in 2001, an advance of 225 percent over 2000.

Commercial and industrial properties are the most popular types of real estate investment for Sharia funds. But care must be taken in selecting properties, centering on what kinds of businesses rent them.

Sharia law prohibits the renting of properties to entities that engage in certain businesses relating to not only pornography and alcohol consumption, but also those that have to do with tobacco, pork, gambling, arms, or the cinema.

One of the most popular investments is in properties that deal with care and leisure activities for the elderly, which are compatible with Sharia law.

According to provisional data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), GDP grew by only 0.4% between April and June. As a result year-on-year growth was 1.7%, the worst performance since the first three months of 1993.

The slowdown is expected to increase concern that the Chancellor Gordon Brown’s target of 3% - 3.5% growth in 2005 will not be achieved.

Analyst Howard Archer of Global Insight expects growth to reach 1.8% this year, due to a weak manufacturing sector, lower exports and business investment and the effects of the recent London bombing. He also said that uncertainty over job prospects could unsettle the economy and thought that, despite strong growth in retail sales in June, a sustained marked improvement was unlikely.

During the quarter, the manufacturing sector moved into recession, contracting 0.7% in the second quarter - following a 0.9% decline in the previous three months. Service industry growth also slowed during the quarter, from 0.7% to 0.6%.

James Knightley at ING Financial Markets said “the slowdown is in line with a decline in confidence in the sector revealed by the British Chamber of Commerce earlier this month.

“Today’s release again highlights the deteriorating economic situation in the UK and should reinforce the view that the Bank of England will cut interest rates next month despite yesterday’s stronger than expected retail sales figures”.

Blue Security, an Israeli technology firm, has established a scheme to flood spam websites with thousands of complaints.

People who join Blue Security’s Do-Not-Intrude registry can have messages sent to up to three e-mail addresses monitored. As well as these e-mail addresses, Blue Security will create a number of fake addresses to tempt spammers into sending more messages.

Junk mail sent to the real and fake addresses is analysed for accompanying websites where people can buy the goods or services being offered. A software program downloaded by those signing up then visits the spammers’ websites and fills in any online order forms it finds with complaints about the unsolicited mail.

The scheme aims to block spam websites with large amounts of mail, making the job of being a spammer more expensive and time consuming. Several thousand people signed up to the scheme in its opening days. Several hundred thousand will need to sign up to make it effective.

The scheme has been criticised by John Levine, a board member of the anti-spam Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail, as amounting to vigilantism.

Blue Security defended the scheme by saying that Spam sites were warned before complaints were sent.

Multimedia search firm Blinkx is the latest company to use Really Simple Syndication (RSS) to make it easier for people to find video and audio on the Internet.

RSS allows users to look for any word uttered in news videos, podcasts and video blogs.

Blinkx’s service uses smart voice recognition technology to scan video and audio on the web. It then automatically creates a searchable transcript. Users can save a search for a key word and enter it into a webfeed reader. It the word comes up in a podcast or news video indexed by Blinkx, the user will be notified.

Suranga Chandratillake, the founder of Blinkx, said that because there was so much audio and video on the net, particularly with the introduction of podcasting, it was sensible to make search and delivery automated.

Blinkx has secured contract with companies such as BBC, Bloomberg, CNN and Fox to index the content.

Video search services from Google and Yahoo do not analyse the content with voice recognition or play the programmes. They only search description information from host sites, or closed caption information. Closed caption information is usually only done for content that appears on TV first, while there is an increase in websites producing web-only video.

Although broadcasters such as the BBC are obliged to include closed caption information in broadcasts as part of a commitment to accessibility, the information provided is often inadequate.

Blinkx also uses voice recognition technology from Autonomy, which is said to be 96-97% accurate on broadcast quality video.

Microsoft, the world’s largest software manufacturer is producing a new version of its operating system, which will be known as Windows Vista.

The software is scheduled for release towards the end of 2006, five years after Windows XP was launched. This will be the longest ever gap between releases of new Windows systems.

To achieve the deadline, Vista will be launched with some key components missing. Once they have been released, probably as service packs, the operating system will have an improved filing system, a new way to render graphics and greater Internet connectivity. Vista aims to provide seamless integration with a full range of devices such as media centres and wireless music players.

According to Brad Goldberg, general manager of Windows product development at Microsoft, the name ‘Vista’ aims to communicate the idea of clarity. The product will be launched with the slogan “Clear, Confident, Connected; Bringing clarity to your world”.

Security will be an integral part of Vista, rather than just being an add-on. This is a new approach for Microsoft, whose Window’s software is used on approximately 90% of personal computers worldwide.

A test version of the software is scheduled for release by 3 August.

On Thursday Microsoft recorded fourth-quarter net profits of $3.7bn for the three months to 30 June 2005.

According to Microsoft’s chief financial officer, Chris Liddell, the company expected significant benefits from new products in the next financial year.

The European Commission has blocked Chinese sweater imports after limits on imports were breached. China was permitted to export 69 million sweaters to the EU from 11 June to the end of the year, but the Commission stopped issuing import licenses after 12 July because China had reached its limits. China’s full quota of sweater imports for 2005 was 181.5 million units. This is due to increase to 200 million in 2006.

An EU trade spokeswoman said the issue was being discussed with Chinese authorities and (EU) member states.

China has promised to limit its rapidly growing textile trade with the West, following complaints from officials in Europe and the US that low-priced Chinese imports were damaging their own industries. Leaders in both regions welcomed China’s announcement on Thursday that it was revaluing its currency and allowing a limited float.

The currency changes may make Chinese goods more expensive in Western markets, and prove more effective than quotas in limiting the impact of Chinese textile exports.

Research carried out by PC Pro magazine found that consumers could be paying more than necessary for hi-tech gadgets and software. The research involved pricing a basket of hi-tech products which someone establishing their own business might buy.

The study found that a basket of gadgets and software costing £3,500 from UK shops, could be purchased for £1,000 less from US websites - some US prices were half those in the UK.

Tim Danton, PC Pro editor, said the price discrepancies were too big to justify.

A copy of Microsoft Office 2003 is £362 from stores in the UK, but can be purchased from some US web shops for only £211. Gadgets such as digital cameras were, on average, 40% cheaper in the US.

Many US web retailers will supply goods direct to customers in Britain, but PC Pro recommends that consumers should check shipping details and import duties, as these can offset savings on the basic price of goods. The magazine also recommends investigating warranties and returns policies for goods before purchasing them.

James Roper, chief executive of the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) which represents web retailers, said that the Internet was both a leveller and enabler. He welcomed the fact that people could find a better deal via the net and said it was up to retailers to attract customers to their products.

The IMRG said web sales of electrical goods increased five fold in the three years to Christmas 2004. Web sales now constitute 20% of all retail sales and influence a further 40%.

A report by the National Audit Office (NAO) has found that passenger revenue forecasts for the £5bn Channel Tunnel Rail link between London and Kent, made in 1998 and 2001, underestimated the cost. As a result taxpayers may have to make up the shortfall.

According to the report “The economic justification for the project remains marginal”.

The NAO says the government should take measures to minimise potential risks to taxpayers by reviewing costing forecasts more regularly. This would enable the Department of Transport to estimate the value and timing of future lending to London and Continental Railways more realistically. London and Continental Railways is building the link.

The NAO did acknowledge that Section 1 and 2 of the scheme had been completed on schedule and within budget.

Edward Leigh, chairman of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee called on the Department of Transport to monitor the scheme carefully.

He said “This project is a sorry tale of something that started off in the expectation that all the risks would be borne by the private sector and has ended up today as one where they are all backed financially by the government”.

On a positive note, Mr Leigh said that the plans to provide a fast link between London and the Channel Tunnel in Folkestone were “bold and prestigious” and had been a factor in helping the UK secure the 2012 Olympics. The link will be used to carry spectators from central London to Olympic sites.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show that , the largest monthly growth since November 2004. The increase contradicted recent signs of a decline in spending and raised the annual growth rate to 1.6% from 1.3% in May.

According to retailers, the upturn was due to stores starting summer sales earlier than usual. The ONS said that the heatwave in late June stimulated sales of summer clothing and sportswear.

On a three-monthly basis, sales were 0.7% higher than the previous quarter. However, compared with the same period a year ago, sales in the three months to June increased by only 1.6%, the lowest annual growth since February 1999.

On a three-monthly basis, sales of clothing were up 3.5% and food sales increased by 2.5%. All retail sectors achieved sales growth in June, except household goods sales, which may be suffering the effects of a slowdown in the housing market.

Analysts said the monthly sales figures should ease fears that consumer spending has stalled but also said that the upturn in monthly sales volumes should be treated with caution.

The latest figures are unlikely to influence the Bank of England’s expected reduction in interest rates next month. Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec, said he thought that the rates would still be reduced by a quarter-point.

Other analysts, however, believe that a recovery in consumer demand may delay anticipated interest rate cuts.

China has revalued its currency, the yuan, in a move welcomed by the US, which has been a long-term critic of the country’s exchange-rate policy.

The reform is considered an initial step towards the liberalisation of China’s tightly controlled currency.

The yuan will no longer be linked at a fixed rate to the US dollar, but will be allowed to trade in a tight range of 0.3% against a basket of foreign currencies. It will also appreciate against the dollar, which should help address concerns that the cheap yuan has supported Chinese exports to the detriment of manufacturers in both the US and UK.

The revaluation was welcomed by US Treasury Secretary John Snow, who said “reform of China’s currency regime is important for China and the international financial system”.

China’s currency had been pegged at 8.28 against the dollar, but the revaluation strengthens it by 2.1%, to 8.11 to the dollar.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that it is ready to “work with the authorities on the continuing evolution for the exchange rate system”. Following the announcement, the euro was placed under pressure by the Japanese yen, which rallied sharply across the board - including against the US dollar.

The dollar dropped against several Asian currencies following the Chinese announcement, declining from 112.50 yen to 110.38 yen, its lowest level since 30 June.

Malaysia has also stopped its currency’s link with the dollar. The Malaysian ringgit had been pegged at 3.8 to the dollar since September 1998.

Cornice, the hardware manufacturer, has launched a 4GB disk drive, which at 2.5cm in size will easily fit into mobile phones, GPRS devices or very small MP3 devices.

The new Storage Element uses an innovative architecture which lowers cost by using only one side of the disk for storage and removing surplus components. This reduces space, weight and complexity.

The Storage Element also includes Crash Guard II, a set of features designed to improve reliability –

In a statement, Rob Enderle, principal analyst for the Enderle Group, said “The market is demanding increasing capability in ever smaller devices. The ideal capacity for most of these devices, today, is 4GB because it provides the best balance between capacity and manageability.”

Manufacturers developing handsets to incorporate hard drives include Samsung, which launched a smart phone with a 1.5GB hard drive late last year.

The 4GB SE with Crash Guard II technology will be available in July 2005. It will be priced at $65 (£37) per unit in quantities of 10,000.

Software company Microsoft has sued Google for hiring one of its vice presidents, Dr Kai-Fu Lee to establish a research centre in China.

According to web consultancy Shanghai iResearch, Google holds 21.2% of the Chinese search market where the two companies, which provide online and desktop search tools, are in fierce competition. Google is the third most popular web search engine in China, after Baidu.com and Yahoo.

Dr Kai-Fu Lee played a key role in the development of Microsoft’s search tools. According to Microsoft, his contract prohibits him from working for direct rivals for one year. Google, however, says the claim has no merit.

Dr Lee has been appointed president of Google’s expanding Chinese business. Microsoft is seeking a court order to enforce the confidentiality and non-compete agreements in Dr Lee’s contract. Microsoft also claims that Google intentionally assisted Lee in disobeying the terms the contract.

The Chinese internet market is second only in size to the US market. There are expected to be 135 million internet users in China by the end of the year.