Internet gap hinders small firms in poor countries, study shows

By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) – A study of small and medium-sized businesses around the world has found that one of the main reasons they underperform – especially in poorer countries – is that they make too little use of the Internet. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Brazil are three times less productive than big firms there while those in India are 10 times less productive

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Taxi drivers block streets of Rio in protest against Uber

Uber Technologies Inc responded by offering free rides to customers to help alleviate transport issues on what it called a “difficult day for getting around.” The company has come under fire in countries around the world, with local taxi drivers complaining that Uber drivers are not properly regulated and have fewer overhead costs, which makes them unfairly competitive. Lawmakers in Sao Paulo, Brazil's biggest city, and capital city Brasilia have already voted to ban Uber after protests by local taxi drivers

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BlackBerry to buy messaging alerts firm AtHoc to expand software base

By Euan Rocha TORONTO (Reuters) – BlackBerry Ltd said on Wednesday it is buying privately-held AtHoc, a provider of secure, networked crisis communications, as it moves to broaden its software offering and generate revenue from its BBM messaging service. San Mateo, California-based AtHoc's services are used by a number of top clients including the U.S

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Top choice blocked for U.N. digital privacy investigator post

By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) – The Estonian picked as the U.N.'s first digital privacy investigator was blocked on Friday by the German president of the Human Rights Council after activist groups said she would not be a strong enough critic of U.S. surveillance. Katrin Nyman-Metcalf was the candidate ranked first by a “consultative group” of five ambassadors – from Poland, Chile, Greece, Algeria and chaired by Saudi Arabia

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