This week in 1999: Mobiles, Microsoft and online taxes

NEWS This week last year the debate over the harmful effects of mobile phones stepped up with the announcement of a full-scale government backed investigation. The Minister for Public Health, Tessa Jowell, called for the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) to convene an expert working group to look at previous research and identify areas where more extensive research is required. Jowel was prompted by criticism of a Bristol University report the previous day, which claimed mobile phones do not damage a user's health. The heightened concern over harmful effects of mobile phones encouraged many users to adopt hands free sets. However, a report out this week in 2000 claims that hands free sets are actually more damaging than the handsets themselves. Also this time last year the UK government launched a scheme aimed at small businesses that enabled them to file their tax returns online. It incorporated Microsoft's TaxSaver 99 that was distributed through retail bank NatWest. The software package enabled SMEs to calculate returns, file the returns and also save data so it could be used for this year's tax returns. Microsoft was also in the news this week in 1999 as the presiding judge at the Microsoft anti-trust trial gave the software giant an unusual reprieve and offered it extra time to settle the case out of court. However, Jackson's efforts were in vain and the case ran its full course. This week the judge found Microsoft guilty of anti-competitive practices, and it is yet to decide if the giant will be forced to separate into several different companies.