Indian search engine Just Dial’s initial public offer to raise $174 million was oversubscribed nearly 12 times in what marked the country’s biggest IPO this year, stock exchange data showed Thursday.

The figures were released after the share offer, one of the largest to date by an Indian Internet firm, closed Wednesday.

The Mumbai-based firm, which launched in the mid-1990s as a telephone-based directory and later expanded its operations to the Internet, got bids for 157.7 million shares — close to 12 times the 13.5 million shares available.

Just Dial had said it aimed to raise up to 950 billion rupees ($174 million) from the offering whose shares were priced at up to 543 rupees ($10).

Founded by the company’s managing director, V.S.S. Mani, Just Dial features 9.1 million Indian business listings on its website and nearly three-quarters of its revenues come from advertisers.

Mani established Just Dial, which posted profit last year of 523 million rupees ($9.5 million), with seed capital of just $1,000. Its growth has been fuelled by India’s explosive expansion of mobile and Internet subscribers.

“When we launched (the Internet site) in 2007, we had 60,000 users a day. Now, we have a million-plus (users). Over 60 percent of our queries come from our website,” Mani told the Economic Times newspaper recently.

Backers of Just Dial, which now has 4,000 employees, include investment firms Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital and SAP Ventures.

Internet mogul Kim Dotcom said Thursday he was considering taking legal action against tech giants such as Twitter, Google and Facebook for infringing copyright on a security measure he invented.

Dotcom, who is on bail in New Zealand as US authorities seek his extradition in the world’s biggest copyright case, said he invented “two-factor authentication”, which many major sites have adopted as a security feature.

Twitter became the latest major player to introduce the measure on Wednesday following a series of cyber-attacks which saw hackers take over the accounts of high-profile targets such as media organizations and send out fake tweets.

“Twitter introduces Two-Step-Authentication. Using my invention. But they won’t even verify my Twitter account?!,” Dotcom tweeted.

“Google, Facebook, Twitter, Citibank, etc. offer Two-Step-Authentication. Massive IP (intellectual property) infringement by U.S. companies. My innovation. My patent,” he added.

To back his claim, the 39-year-old posted a US patent describing the authentication process filed in 1998 by Kim Schmitz — Dotcom’s name before he legally changed it — and published in 2000.

Dotcom said he had never sought to enforce copyright on his invention but was now reconsidering in light of the US case accusing him of masterminding massive online piracy through his now-defunct Megaupload file-sharing site.

“I never sued them. I believe in sharing knowledge & ideas for the good of society. But I might sue them now cause of what the U.S. did to me,” he said.

However, he said a more productive approach would be if the tech giants helped cover his legal bills to fight prosecution under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA), which he estimated would exceed US$50 million.

“Google, Facebook, Twitter, I ask you for help. We are all in the same DMCA boat. Use my patent for free. But please help fund my defense,” he tweeted.

“All of our assets are still frozen without trial. Defending our case will cost US$50M+. I want to fight to the end because we are innocent.”

The authentication process works by sending a text message containing a verification code to the user’s mobile phone when they login, which must be entered to gain access to the account.

The US Justice Department and FBI want Dotcom to face charges of racketeering, fraud, money-laundering and copyright theft in a US court, which could see him jailed for up to 20 years.

He denies US allegations the Megaupload sites netted more than US$175 million in criminal proceeds and cost copyright owners more than US$500 million by offering pirated copies of movies, TV shows and other content.

The German national is free on bail ahead of an extradition hearing scheduled for August and launched a successor to Megaupload called Mega in January this year.

Internet mogul Kim Dotcom said Thursday he was considering taking legal action against tech giants such as Twitter, Google and Facebook for infringing copyright on a security measure he invented.

Dotcom, who is on bail in New Zealand as US authorities seek his extradition in the world’s biggest copyright case, said he invented “two-factor authentication”, which many major sites have adopted as a security feature.

Twitter became the latest major player to introduce the measure on Wednesday following a series of cyber-attacks which saw hackers take over the accounts of high-profile targets such as media organizations and send out fake tweets.

“Twitter introduces Two-Step-Authentication. Using my invention. But they won’t even verify my Twitter account?!,” Dotcom tweeted.

“Google, Facebook, Twitter, Citibank, etc. offer Two-Step-Authentication. Massive IP (intellectual property) infringement by U.S. companies. My innovation. My patent,” he added.

To back his claim, the 39-year-old posted a US patent describing the authentication process filed in 1998 by Kim Schmitz — Dotcom’s name before he legally changed it — and published in 2000.

Dotcom said he had never sought to enforce copyright on his invention but was now reconsidering in light of the US case accusing him of masterminding massive online piracy through his now-defunct Megaupload file-sharing site.

“I never sued them. I believe in sharing knowledge & ideas for the good of society. But I might sue them now cause of what the U.S. did to me,” he said.

However, he said a more productive approach would be if the tech giants helped cover his legal bills to fight prosecution under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA), which he estimated would exceed US$50 million.

“Google, Facebook, Twitter, I ask you for help. We are all in the same DMCA boat. Use my patent for free. But please help fund my defense,” he tweeted.

“All of our assets are still frozen without trial. Defending our case will cost US$50M+. I want to fight to the end because we are innocent.”

The authentication process works by sending a text message containing a verification code to the user’s mobile phone when they login, which must be entered to gain access to the account.

The US Justice Department and FBI want Dotcom to face charges of racketeering, fraud, money-laundering and copyright theft in a US court, which could see him jailed for up to 20 years.

He denies US allegations the Megaupload sites netted more than US$175 million in criminal proceeds and cost copyright owners more than US$500 million by offering pirated copies of movies, TV shows and other content.

The German national is free on bail ahead of an extradition hearing scheduled for August and launched a successor to Megaupload called Mega in January this year.

A high-powered commission said Wednesday that intellectual property theft was costing the United States the equivalent of all its exports to Asia and urged a tougher approach to China.

The 11-month study led by high-ranking former US officials said that theft of software and other US-developed products was costing the US economy more than $300 billion each year — as much as the United States sells to Asia.

“The scale of international theft of American intellectual property today, we believe, is unprecedented,” commission co-chair Jon Huntsman, the former US ambassador to China and presidential candidate, told reporters.

He said that the United States would have the equivalent of 2.1 million more jobs if foreign intellectual property standards were enforced to their fullest.

The commission said China accounted for between 50 and 80 percent of the stealing and alleged that the problem lay with policy decisions by Beijing — which has long made exports the key to its economic growth strategy.

The report said that US efforts have proven inadequate, with trade agreements failing to address intellectual property theft and China moving too slowly on pledges to the United States and other trade partners to take action.

The commission called for tougher measures by the United States including scrutinizing foreign companies’ treatment of intellectual property when they seek approval for investments in the world’s largest economy.

“You’ve got to have leverage in the game,” Huntsman said. “IP theft needs to have consequences and with costs sufficiently high that state and corporate behavior and attitudes that support such theft are fundamentally changed.”

The commission also recommended structural changes, including assigning the president’s national security adviser to coordinate the US response to intellectual property theft.

Commission co-chair Dennis Blair, the ex-director of national intelligence, said governments should also toughen laws to prevent a “cyber war going on well outside the control of governments, the consequences of which no country wants.”

The damning report comes ahead of talks between Presidents Barack Obama and Xi Jinping at a California resort on June 7-8, their first meeting since the Chinese leader took office.

Cyber issues are expected to be high on the agenda amid growing US accusations that China has waged a campaign of online espionage against US companies and the government.

Twitter said Wednesday it was stepping up its security measures for the popular messaging service following a series of high-profile breaches by hackers hitting media organizations and others.

Twitter said it would implement a new login verification system, which is “a form of two-factor authentication” which is “a second check to make sure it’s really you.”

“Of course, even with this new security option turned on, it’s still important for you to use a strong password and follow the rest of our advice for keeping your account secure,” said Jim O’Leary of Twitter Product Security.

Some recent attacks took over Twitter feeds and delivered fake tweets using the accounts of Agence France-Presse, the Associated Press, Financial Times and other news organizations.

Australian children are accessing social media websites at an increasingly younger age, a new survey suggests, with one in five “tweens” admitting they have chatted to someone online they do not know.

The report “Tweens, Teens and Technology” by online security company McAfee found that children in the tweens age category of eight to 12 were adopting technology faster than expected, with 67 percent using a social media website.

Despite the age eligibility for Facebook being 13, one in four (26 percent) admitted to using the site — although 95 percent said they had their parents’ permission to do so.

The most popular site for tweens was Skype (used by 28 percent), but children were also using Instagram, according to the survey of 500 youngsters geographically representative of Australia’s online population.

While the survey found that one in five tweens (19 percent) said they chatted to someone online that they did not know, only seven percent said they had shared personal information.

Australia’s Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said it was troubling that children talk to strangers online.

“It shows we must remain vigilant to online threats,” he said.

The findings suggest the age at which children first use social media is falling, given a 2012 McAfee survey of teens aged 13-17 found the average age they opened their first social network account was 13.

On average, tweens were using three or four devices that can be Internet enabled, with 66 percent opting for mobile phones and/or tablets. Fifty-four percent said they used a tablet for more than an hour a day.

Most tweens use their devices to access the Internet, and on average spend about 1.5 hours a day accessing the web, the survey said.

“Both parents and schools are encouraged to keep a close monitor on their child’s online behaviour to ensure they have safe online experiences,” said Andrew Littleproud, president of McAfee Asia-Pacific.

“By working closely with child psychologists, we have seen that online behaviours become entrenched in the tween age group so proactive education is critical within eight to 12 age bracket.”

German software giant SAP has said it intended to employ hundreds of people globally with autism as software testers and programmers over the next seven years.

The company, which has already launched pilot projects in India and Ireland, said Tuesday that the move aimed to find workers “who think differently”, leading to innovation.

By 2020, one percent of SAP’s currently 65,000-strong workforce is expected to be affected by autism, a company spokesman told AFP.

In India the group said it had taken on six people with autism as software testers and that productivity and cohesiveness in key areas had increased as a result.

Under the Ireland-based pilot scheme, screening is being completed for five positions to be filled this year, it added.

SAP, which is working with Specialisterne, an organisation established in Denmark in 2004 on the scheme, said it would widen the programme globally, kicking off in the US, Canada and Germany this year.

“With Specialisterne, we share a common belief that innovation comes from the ‘edges’,” Luisa Delgado, a member of SAP’s executive board said in a written statement.

“Only by employing people who think differently and spark innovation will SAP be prepared to handle the challenges of the 21st century.”

Specialisterne aims to harness the talents of people with autism to work in technology-orientated jobs and operates internationally, the SAP statement said.

In Germany, employers with at least 20 staff members are legally required to ensure that at least five percent of these jobs go to severely disabled people.

American teenagers are sharing more information about themselves on social media sites, but taking steps to protect their privacy online, a study showed Tuesday.

The new survey showed 91 percent of those surveyed posted a photo of themselves, up from 79 percent in 2006; 71 percent post the city or town where they live; and 53 percent posted their email address.

But the survey of youth aged 12 to 17 also found 60 percent of Facebook users set their profiles to “private,” which limits who can view their data.

And 56 percent said it was “not difficult at all” to manage the privacy controls on their Facebook profile, according to the survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in collaboration with Harvard’s Berkman Center.

A relatively small percentage expressed concern about third-party access to their data: just nine percent were “very concerned.”

The researchers said focus group discussions with teens showed “waning enthusiasm for Facebook.”

“They dislike the increasing number of adults on the site, get annoyed when their Facebook friends share inane details, and are drained by the ‘drama’ that they described as happening frequently on the site,” the report said.

“The stress of needing to manage their reputation on Facebook also contributes to the lack of enthusiasm. Nevertheless, the site is still where a large amount of socializing takes place, and teens feel they need to stay on Facebook in order to not miss out.”

At the same time, teens are becoming more interested in Twitter: the study found 24 percent of online teens use Twitter, up from 16 percent in 2011.

The typical teen Facebook user has 300 friends, compared with 79 followers for those using Twitter.

Girls and older teens tend to have substantially larger Facebook friend networks compared with boys and younger teens, it found.

US online giant Amazon has unveiled plans for a futuristic greenhouse style headquarters “where employees can work and socialize in a more natural, park-like setting.”

The Internet company revealed photos and sketches this week of the plan to be submitted to Seattle city officials, becoming the latest of the technology heavyweights to unveil a bold new headquarters plan.

“The generative idea is that a plant-rich environment has many positive qualities that are not often found in a typical office setting,” according to Amazon’s proposal.

The company revamped its original plan from a six-story rectilinear structure to “a series of intersecting spheres with ample space for a wide range of planting material,” the document said.

“While the form of the building will be visually reminiscent of a greenhouse or conservatory, plant material will be selected for its ability to co-exist in a microclimate that also suits people.”

The plan includes 65,000 square feet (6,000 square meters) of office space and high bay spaces on five floors capable of accommodating mature trees.

The exterior will be multiple layers of glass supported by a metal framework. It will have dining, meeting and lounge spaces, as well as a variety of “botanical zones modeled on montane ecologies found around the globe,” Amazon said.

Google, Facebook and Apple also have new headquarters planned in their respective locations in Silicon Valley, California.

US-based outsourcer iGate says it has fired chief executive Phaneesh Murthy, one of India’s best-known IT businessmen, for failing to report a relationship with an employee, the second such case he has faced.

The statement by the Fremont, California-based IT and outsourcing company, came after an investigation into “a claim of sexual harassment” against Murthy and marked the second time he has been entangled in such a situation.

In 2002, he was forced to quit India’s second-biggest software exporter, Infosys, following a similar claim.

The latest probe looked into a relationship Murthy had with a “subordinate employee” at iGate, the statement, dated Monday, said.

The “outside” investigation “has reached the finding that Mr Murthy’s failure to report this relationship violated iGate’s policy, as well as Mr Murthy’s employment contract”, the statement said.

“The investigation has not uncovered any violation of iGate’s harassment policy,” it added, paying tribute to “the significant contributions” Murthy made over the past decade to establish iGate as an industry IT leader.

Murthy’s exit was not related in any way to iGate’s financial performance which remains “strong”, added company cofounder Ashok Trivedi. iGate gets the bulk of its revenues from the United States.

“The board deliberated extensively on this matter, said iGate board cochairman Sunil Wadhwani. “However, as a result of this violation of iGate policy, we asked Mr. Murthy to step down.”

Murthy was quoted on India’s Economic Times newspaper website as saying the allegations were “completely baseless” and he would fight harassment charges “vigorously” if they went to court.

He also said he had told the company of his “personal relations” with the colleague in question.

Murthy had been seeking recently to shake up the IT sector with a new “outcome-based billing” strategy to challenge India’s outsourcing industry’s traditional method which charges for “time and material” rather than results.

The old model of outsourcers getting paid based “on a flawed metric of effort without any risk being shared is dying in today’s times”, he has asserted.

The iGate board appointed industry veteran Gerhard Watzinger, 52, as interim president and chief executive with immediate effect.

In 2003, Infosys agreed to pay $3 million in an out-of-court settlement after his personal secretary filed a sexual harassment charge against its ex-marketing head Murthy, who was the firm’s highest paid employee when he resigned.

In that case, Murthy denied involvement with the complainant.

Krishnakumar Natarajan, chairman of outsourcing industry body NASSCOM, said in televised remarks that iGate’s “quick and decisive” action to dismiss Murthy was right for a sector which prides itself on the “highest standards of governance”.