Ufone Muft May Offer – Free Calls in Month of May: ProPakistani

Ufone Muft May Offer – Free Calls in Month of May
Software Theft in Pakistan Totals $217million in 2010
Cybernet Hardens its Network with Fortinet UTM Solution
Akbar Associates to Get Prodea’s Broadband Solution
Playing With Innocent Souls: Phone Scams

Ufone Muft May Offer – Free Calls in Month of May

Posted: 11 May 2011 04:48 AM PDT

Ufone Muft May Offer – Free Calls in Month of May is a post from: ProPakistani

Ufone gives mass free minutes in Ufone Muft May offer. Now you can call free to all ufone numbers for whole month of May after fulfilling the simple requirement.

All you have to do is to spend a balance of Rs. 30 more than the one used in the month of April.

e.g if you have used the balance of Rs. 100 in April, you will be able to get 20,000 free minutes, after subscribing this offer, if you spend a balance of Rs. 130 or more.

How To Subscribe:

Dial 205 to subscribe to Ufone Muft May Offer

Charges:

Offer has a subscription charges of Rs. 5 + tax

How to Check the Balance Used in April:

After subscribing to this offer, you will be notified about how much balance you have used in the month of April.

Terms & Conditions:

One time subscription charges are Rs. 5 + tax
Free minutes can only be used until 31st May, 2011.
Customers need to spend Rs. 30 balance more in May, 2011 than for the month of April, 2011. Upon doing so, free minutes will be transferred to customers' account within 24 hours
Customers who have switched to Ufone network and customers who have purchased new Ufone SIM must spend Rs. 30 extra balance, in addition to the existing Rs. 100 balance.
This offer can only be availed by prepaid customers only.
Free minutes will not be applicable on calls made on short codes and free numbers.
Ufone reserves the final rights in matter of all entries.
Customers who have availed (SIM Lagao Offer) as of 1st April, 2011, are not eligible to avail this offer.
Free minutes are limited to 20,000
Terms & conditions apply
19.5% FED on usage and 11.5% withholding tax at recharge or bill applies.

Software Theft in Pakistan Totals $217million in 2010

Posted: 11 May 2011 03:49 AM PDT

Software Theft in Pakistan Totals $217million in 2010 is a post from: ProPakistani

From 2009 to 2010, installations of unlicensed software on personal computers (PC) in Pakistan remained constant at 84%, putting Pakistan in 15^th place among the countries with the highest piracy rates.

However, the commercial value of this illegal software amounted to $217 million, its highest level since 2006.

This was said in an annual report published by Business Software Alliance (BSA), an international association representing the global software industry.

The study is conducted in cooperation with market research firm, IDC, and incorporates 182 discrete data inputs for 116 countries and regions around the world.

The usage of pirated software in Pakistan is blocking the progress of the country and preventing it from benefitting from a huge investment opportunity in software development arena.

"The findings show that there is still much more work to be done to combat software piracy in Pakistan," said Salman Siddiqui, BSA spokesperson for Pakistan "The results reinforce the need to educate users that software downloaded from P2P networks is often illegal, and installing software purchased for one computer on multiple PCS at home or office is piracy.The results also highlight the need for Pakistani government to take leadership in enforcement of IPR laws so that a healthy IT eco-system can be promoted."

Emphasizing on the need for close coordination between the government and private sector to avoid software piracy Mr. Kamal Ahmed, Country General Manager, Microsoft, Pakistan said

"Software piracy has been an impediment in the way of foreign investment in the sector. Although the government has taken some initiatives to raise awareness in regard with elimination of software piracy and the protection of intellectual property, but clearly it is not enough.

Perhaps, the government and private sector need to enhance level of cooperation on this particular front so that a shared vision may be achieved and to educate the people about the benefits of using genuine software."

Globally, the value of software theft grew to a record $59 billion which is nearly double that when the study began in 2003. Half of the 116 geographies studied in 2010 had piracy rates of 62 percent or higher, with the global average piracy rate at 42 percent.Emerging economies have become a driving force behind PC software piracy.

Piracy rates in the developing world are 2.5 times higher than those in the developed world, and the commercial value of pirated software ($31.9 billion) accounts for more than half of the world total. The most cited advantages of licensed software globally are access to technical assistance (88 percent) and protection from hackers and malware (81percent).

Among the common ways people to engage in piracy is to buy a single copy of software and install it on multiple computers. Strong majorities of PC users around the world believe intellectual property rights and protections produce tangible economic benefits: 59 percent globally say IP rights benefit local economies, while 61 percent globally say IP rights create jobs.

Cybernet Hardens its Network with Fortinet UTM Solution

Posted: 11 May 2011 12:16 AM PDT

Cybernet Hardens its Network with Fortinet UTM Solution is a post from: ProPakistani

CYBERNET has announced the induction of FortiGate® Unified Threat Management (UTM) Cluster Solution from Fortinet® to enhance its network security and threat management.

"With the increased level of threats emanating from the Internet, security has become the highest priority of our enterprise clients. The FortiGate platform will enable us to meet and exceed our customers' security demands,"

said Shahid Ahmed Khan, CEO of CYBERNET.

"We are very excited to have this best-in-class system become a part of our network. Deployment of this solution is in line with our objective of continuously enhancing the security of our infrastructure so that we can provide uninterrupted services to our enterprise customers. In addition, this partnership will enable us to provide customized security solutions to our clients be it based on specific security requirements for Applications or for protection from the wide variety of threats to our clients' networks in general.," he added.

The FortiGate consolidated network security appliance integrates essential security and network functionalities such as high-performance Firewall, VPN, Intrusion Prevention, Web filtering, Antivirus, Anti-Spam, Data Leakage Protection, Application control, Traffic shaping and WAN acceleration.

This is the first step in enabling Cybernet to offer the next level of breach-proof, secured network infrastructure to its customers.

The FortiGate platform is kept up-to-date automatically via Fortinet's FortiGuard subscription services, which provide updates that are released within hours of a threat being discovered, helping ensure timely protection against the most damaging, content-based threats from the Internet and even from within unsecured corporate Intranets.

Akbar Associates to Get Prodea’s Broadband Solution

Posted: 10 May 2011 09:55 PM PDT

Akbar Associates to Get Prodea’s Broadband Solution is a post from: ProPakistani

Akbar Associates Group (AAG) has announced that it entered into a definitive agreement with Plano, Texas based Prodea Systems, Inc. to deploy Prodea's broadband value-add services platform for its clients in Pakistan, including PTCL.

After the deployment, AAG clients will be able to offer a turnkey, white label solution for traditional and alternative service providers who require continuous and timely delivery of new and innovative services to their subscribers over the existing broadband infrastructure.

Prodea's solution will enable carrier-grade services to be delivered directly to a variety of fixed appliances in the home or automobile, as well as mobile lifestyle devices including smart phones, portable media players or laptops.

Jamal Akbar Ansari, Group Chief Executive Officer of Akbar Associates Group, said:

Akbar Associates Group is extremely excited about the opportunity to bring Prodea's solution to the Pakistan telecommunications market.

Prodea's is the first solution we have found to be uniquely designed for service providers focused on making the broadband connected home a reality for the mass market. Our service provider clients and their subscribers will soon benefit from an unparalleled suite of entertainment, communications, and lifestyle services, all delivered over a basic internet connection.

Prodea's solution, known as ‘ROS’, is an end-to-end managed services platform which is delivered with an "appstore" of value-add services, applications and content, catering to every age group and demographic.

Services range from video on demand and Internet TV, to security, eHealth, home automation and eLearning. It was built from the ground up to integrate into service providers' infrastructure and operations, enabling them to extend their brand and service bundles to new domains and service verticals.

Anousheh Ansari, CEO of Prodea Systems, said:

"We are honored to work with Akbar Associates Group in bringing our connected home solution to the Pakistan market. AAG's strong reputation and history with telecommunications providers make them the ideal partner for us as we jointly deliver a turnkey service and technology offering through service providers in Pakistan.

Akbar Associates Group's associated company 'KHL' has extensive experience in providing the turnkey infrastructure, which brings high speed Internet to the people of Pakistan, as with the recently announced PTCL Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) Project.

AAG is expecting to begin deployments of the ROSTM solution through leading Internet service providers starting in 4th quarter of 2011.

via PR

Playing With Innocent Souls: Phone Scams

Posted: 10 May 2011 09:55 PM PDT

Playing With Innocent Souls: Phone Scams is a post from: ProPakistani

By Irum Ali

My cell phone rings and when I answer, a pleasant male voice tells me that I have won Rs. 10 lakh cash prize through a lucky draw. A million bells go off in my head, but since I am in a good mood, I decide to humor the poor guy congratulating me on my amazing luck.

Interestingly enough, he tells me to call another number (of the same cellular service provider) in order to get details. Still amused, I call the other number and another male voice begins weaving a fantasy-like scenario for me being the luckiest person alive to have such fortune – along with a promise of fame.

I almost burst out laughing when he asks me if I have any objection in appearing on television to narrate my success story, but yes, by this time, the wheels of fantasy are turning in my head, and I am getting excited by the minute.

But then reality hits. He conveniently adds that I will have to pay a "small" fee in order to cover government taxes. "Only a nominal amount", he reassures me, "just Rs 10,000 miss, but when the media shows up tomorrow morning at your house to interview you, we will reimburse you double the amount you spend".

So there is the catch. He wants me to spend 10 grand on scratch cards which I'm not allowed to use until tomorrow morning. Definitely fishy. The alarm bells are back again, ringing in full force inside my brain.

Well, the truth is these telephone scams are more common today than the average toothache, and fast turning into a profession hugely beneficial to such thieves.

Thieves they are because they steal our most secret fantasies and guilty desires and throw them in our faces, forcing us to come to terms with our deprivations. Thus having triggered the desire for the forbidden fruit these schemers use cleverly formulated speeches and moving words to draw us into their net.

Not surprisingly, many people fall prey to such vultures in pursuit of long forgotten dreams of being rich and having an easy life: even I couldn't help my imagination spreading like a wildfire when I was offered all that money – in my mind I had already been around the world in eighty days, staying in the best hotels, travelling in the most luxurious cars and eating the most exotic of foods.

But of course, I sadly came crashing back to reality, but luckily enough without having to experience the trauma of such a horrifying fraud; many other people however, may not have been so lucky and fallen victim to such frauds.

So the best thing to do next time one gets a call offering millions of rupees (or any other currency) in a jackpot or lucky draw, or you might be offered with air tickets, Ummrah package, job or anything – I would suggest the following:

Take a deep breath, shut your mind to the possibility of such a thing ever happening;
Make sure you don't give out your particulars for security reasons; and
Pull a smart one over the person who is trying to make a fool out of you: vent, abuse, shout, insult, or anything else that makes you feel better…

But if none of the above actually happens, hang up, and go back to your normal life. (Informing your operator about such scammers can do a little good to other mobile users as well)