2003

2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2003rd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 3rd year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 4th year of the 2000s decade.
2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Freshwater.
In 2003, a United States-led coalition invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War.
The world population on January 1, 2003, was estimated to be 6.272 billion people and increased to 6.353 billion people by January 1, 2004. An estimated 134.0 million births and 52.5 million deaths took place in 2003. The average global life expectancy was 67.1 years, an increase of 0.3 years from 2002. The rate of child mortality was 6.85%, a decrease of 0.27pp from 2002. 25.54% of people were living in extreme poverty, a decrease of 1.31pp from 2002.
There were approximately 10.6 million global refugees at the beginning of 2003, and the number was reduced to 9.7 million refugees by the end of the year. Afghanistan was the largest source of refugees, with a total of 2.1 million at the end of the year.
There were 29 armed conflicts affecting 22 countries in 2003. This was a net decrease from 31 conflicts in 2002. The deadliest conflicts were in Iraq, Kashmir, Liberia, Nepal, and Sudan.
The Colombian conflict against two Marxist militant groups—the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the National Liberation Army—escalated in 2003. The government negotiated an agreement for the right-wing militant group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia to disband as a means to deescalate the conflict.
The First Ivorian Civil War was halted in 2003 amid a ceasefire while France and the states of ECOWAS intervened. Peace talks fell apart on March 7 until the ceasefire was restored on May 3, only to be broken again on September 23. The war was left in a frozen state at the end of 2003 with rebels controlling parts of the country. The Second Liberian Civil War against Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy escalated when the Movement for Democracy in Liberia split off as its own faction. President Charles Taylor resigned on August 2, allowing a peace agreement to take place on August 18.
The Indonesian insurgency in Aceh escalated when a demilitarization agreement failed and the government renewed its offensive in May. The Moro conflict in the Philippines deescalated when the Philippine government agreed to peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in July, though conflicts with other groups continued.
The Sri Lankan Civil War continued in 2003 as peace talks failed, and long-running civil wars in Burundi and in Uganda both escalated. The Second Sudanese Civil War escalated as new militant groups joined the conflict, though a security agreement was reached between the National Islamic Front and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement on September 25. The Second Chechen War continued in Russia: the Russian government held a referendum for a new Chechen constitution and offered amnesty for Chechen rebels, but terror attacks continued.
Only two inter-state conflicts took place in 2003: the Iraq War and the Kashmir conflict. The Kashmir conflict saw progress toward resolution in 2003 as negotiations began and a ceasefire took effect on November 23. A coalition of countries led by the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia led an invasion of Iraq beginning on March 20, warning that Iraq had been operating a program to develop weapons of mass destruction. The subsequent Iraq War became the most publicized conflict in 2003. The coalition quickly defeated the Iraqi Armed Forces, and American president George W. Bush gave a speech on May 1 declaring victory in the war. The subsequent Iraqi insurgency proved more deadly than the invasion by the end of the year. By this time, doubts were raised about whether Iraq had been developing the weapons of which it was accused.
Al-Qaeda remained active, launching suicide bombings in Afghanistan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. On September 10, its leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri released their first video statement since 2001, celebrating the September 11 attacks. Al-Qaeda figures Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Riduan Isamuddin were captured in March and August, respectively.
The Second Intifada continued into 2003 as conflict between Israel and Palestine killed 400 people in suicide bombings by Palestinians and military strikes by the Israel Defense Forces. Israel constructed the West Bank barrier, which it described as a measure to prevent suicide bombings and Palestine described as a measure to impose segregation.
The most widely publicized art exhibition in 2003 was the 50th Venice Biennale. The most popular exhibitions were for Leonardo da Vinci and Thomas Struth, both held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where they attracted thousands of visitors each day. The "Rembrandt's Journey" collected various Rembrandt works, including etchings and drawings, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The 7000 Years of Persian Art tour took place as a rare international collaboration from the National Museum of Iran. Descent into Limbo by Andrea Mantegna was the most prominent Old Master artwork to be sold in 2003, going for US$28.6 million. Street photography made a return in the art community, and the International Center of Photography held an exhibition on the subject.
The Amber Room of Catherine Palace, which existed from 1717 to 1945, finished reconstruction in 2003. The Albertina art museum in Vienna reopened, and the Asian Civilisations Museum was established in Singapore. The government of the Netherlands began returning items from its collection of works it acquired from Nazi Germany, the Nederlands Kunstbezit-collectie.
Plans to replace the World Trade Center remained a focus of the architecture world in 2003. Architects David Childs and Daniel Libeskind were placed in charge of the project. An inquiry was opened into the ongoing construction of the Scottish Parliament Building when its expected cost increased tenfold. The Walt Disney Concert Hall opened in Los Angeles to positive reception after sixteen years of development. The Gherkin finished construction in London and the Silodam housing complex opened in Amsterdam. Construction of the new Olympic Stadium of Athens went slower than expected, causing concern that Athens would not be ready to host the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Museums and libraries were looted during riots in Baghdad following the invasion of Iraq. About 10,000 items were taken from the Iraq Museum, though many were returned by the end of the year, and several items were taken from the Mosul Museum. The Iraq National Library and Archive was burned down, destroying 500,000 books and 12 million Ottoman documents. The lost treasure of Tillya Tepe was found in Saddam Hussein's position.
The highest-grossing films globally in 2003 were The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Finding Nemo, and The Matrix Reloaded. The highest-grossing non-English film was Bayside Shakedown 2 (Japanese), the 39th highest-grossing film of the year. Critically acclaimed films from 2003 include Finding Nemo, Lost in Translation, and Master and Commander.
Music sales in 2003 amounted to about 2.7 billion units, a decline of 6.5% from 2002. DVD music video thrived in 2003 at the expense of singles and cassettes. CD sales overall saw a large decline in favor of internet downloads. Globally, the best-selling albums of the year were Come Away with Me by Norah Jones, Get Rich or Die Tryin' by 50 Cent, and Meteora by Linkin Park. No non-English albums were among the global top fifty albums sold in 2003.
When decentralized peer-to-peer file sharing replaced the centralized platform Napster as a means to pirate music, the Recording Industry Association of America began directing legal action against individual users who uploaded pirated songs rather than the platforms themselves, filing a total of 382 lawsuits. The iTunes Store launched on April 28 and was immediately successful, selling over 10 million songs over the next four months. This was touted as a possible solution to music piracy.
The GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox remained the most popular video game consoles, although the GameCube faced poor sales. Nokia introduced the N-Gage, which functioned as both a phone and a handheld game console.
The popularity of the Harry Potter franchise meant that the publication of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was the largest literary event in 2003, with the book itself becoming one of the longest children's books ever published at 768 pages.
Composer Sergei Prokofiev was honored in many performances throughout the world for the 50th anniversary of his death. Ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev was similarly honored in Europe for the 10th anniversary of his death. The opera industry was negatively affected by a decline in tourism and other economic factors in Europe and North America, and many productions were canceled.
Through the internet, flash mobs developed as a social trend in 2003.
The England national rugby union team won the 2003 Rugby World Cup, making them the first Northern Hemisphere team to do so. Australia won the 2003 Cricket World Cup, coming out victorious in every match they played, while Kenya had upset victories that took them to the semi-finals. In tennis, players Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, and Juan Carlos Ferrero won their first Grand Slams in 2003, while Martina Navratilova tied with the record of twenty Wimbledon titles set by Billie Jean King. Lennox Lewis successfully defended his status as the heavyweight boxing champion against Vitali Klitschko.
The transfer of footballer David Beckham from Manchester United F.C. to Real Madrid CF for £17.25 million was widely publicized. The UEFA Euro 2004 qualifications took place in 2003, where Turkey's defeat in a game against Latvia came as an upset after Turkey had been semi-finalists in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Other major upsets took place in golf when Ben Curtis defeated some of the sport's top players in his first major competition at the 2003 Open Championship, and in Major League Baseball when the Florida Marlins defeated the New York Yankees in the 2003 World Series.
The 2003 World Championships in Athletics saw Hicham El Guerrouj become the fourth man to win four successive world track titles and Carolina Klüft become the first woman in seven years to score more than 7,000 points in the heptathlon. Athletics was plagued with the discovery of THG steroids, which the United States accused the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative of providing to athletes. Michael Schumacher remained the dominant driver in the 2003 Formula One World Championship, winning 11 of 17 races and claiming his sixth championship. Lance Armstrong won the 2003 Tour de France, giving him his fifth victory.
The global economy was weak in the first half of 2003 as uncertainty arose from Middle Eastern conflict, the spread of SARS, and major corporate scandals in 2002. It improved in the second half of the year as it recovered from the early 2000s recession, brought about by low interest rates and expansionary fiscal policy. The United States led the recovery, while China and Japan also made significant contributions. The economic situation improved in Latin America and Africa, while Western Europe saw slower recovery. The Eurozone had a GDP low growth of 0.5%. Argentina emerged from its economic crisis after four years, reaching the year's highest GDP in the Western Hemisphere with 7% growth.
The gross world product increased by 2.5% in 2003, and international trade increased by 4.75%. The prices of non-fuel commodities, such as metal, minerals, and agricultural materials, increased during the year. The price of gold rose following conflict in the Middle East. The Italian food company Parmalat and the Dutch supermarket company Ahold were the subjects of major corporate scandals in 2003. These were among a series of corporate corruption scandals over the previous years that led the United States and a coalition of European countries to reform their policies on the matter.
2003 tied with 2002 as the second hottest year on record, behind only 1998. The year began during an El Niño period that continued until April. A major heatwave occurred in Europe during the summer, causing approximately 70,000 deaths, 14,000 in France alone. Severe cold weather affected Asia, North America, and Peru. 2003 saw low precipitation, causing droughts in Australia, the United States, and Zimbabwe. The previous year's droughts in Asia were alleviated by heavy precipitation in the region.
Several reports were published in 2003 forecasting severe negative effects of global warming. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change determined that approximately one million species risked extinction if no preventative measures were implemented, and the World Wide Fund for Nature determined that the fresh water access of 7 billion people would be at risk by 2050 because of global warming and other causes. Reports also warned about the potential destruction of the Amazon rainforest and provided evidence that widespread destruction of coral was taking place. The 3000-year-old Arctic Ward Hunt Ice Shelf split in September, draining the lake that it had held in place, though global warming was not the primary factor in its destruction. The oil company BP was the subject of scrutiny when one of its well-heads exploded in Alaska. The sinking of Soviet submarine K-159 caused worries about leakage of its spent nuclear fuel, but no such leakage was found.
Major earthquakes in 2003 included a magnitude 6.8 earthquake in Algeria on May 21 that killed over 2,200 people and a magnitude 6.6 earthquake in Iran on December 26 that killed about 50,000 people.
The 2003 Atlantic hurricane season was above average in activity, including sixteen named storms of which seven were hurricanes. The most severe hurricanes were Hurricane Fabian, Hurricane Isabel, and Hurricane Kate. Tropical Storm Ana was the first recorded North Atlantic tropical storm to occur in April, and 2003 was the first year since 1887 to have two tropical storms occur in December. The 2003 Pacific typhoon season was slightly more intense than average, though the overall number of tropical storms was below average with 23 total storms. The most destructive typhoons were Typhoon Dujuan, which made landfall in Guangdong, China, on September 2, and Typhoon Maemi, which made landfall in South Korea on September 12.
International agreements about the environment that came into force included the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety on September 11, the Aarhus Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants on October 23, the Protocol on Heavy Metals on December 29.
Construction began on MOSE, a set of sea gates in Venice designed to prevent the city's perpetual flooding. China began use of the Three Gorges Dam along the Yangtze. The overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq ended his project to construct a dam that would have flooded the ruins of Assur.
The World Health Organization set "shaping the future" as its health focus for 2003, seeking to improve health systems and primary health care for the poor. It adopted its first international agreement, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Global food production increased from 2002 but fell short of the amount produced in 2001. Much of southern Africa was dependent on food aid early in the year following drought-related crop failures in 2002.
SARS became a major health concern by April following the spread of SARS-CoV-1. Fearing a pandemic, the World Health Organization issued a recommendation to avoid non-essential travel to Guangdong and Hong Kong. The spread ended with fewer than 800 deaths. Cases of monkeypox occurred in the Western Hemisphere for the first time when 28 prairie dogs infected with the monkeypox virus were imported to Wisconsin. Avian influenza spread to poultry in Europe, and a human case was diagnosed in Hong Kong, leading to the patient's death. Two instances of bovine spongiform encephalopathy was diagnosed in cows in Canada and the United States.
Several treatments for cancer were tested or approved in 2003, including Avastin, Erbitux, Genasense, and Velcade, with mixed results. Developments in HIV/AIDS prevention included the unsuccessful AIDSVAX vaccine by VaxGen and the beginning of trials for enfuvirtide. The RTS,S malaria vaccine began trials for children in Mozambique after it was shown to be safe for adults in several nations, while human trials began in the United States for an Ebola vaccine.
Several studies were published in 2003 warning of health effects for hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal women, causing fear around the procedure. Analysis of retroviral gene therapy for severe combined immunodeficiency found that its life-threatening side effects were caused by the retrovirus affecting the LMO2 gene. Study of bone marrow cells cast doubt on cellular differentiation in stem-cell therapy, moving focus toward cell fusion.
A conference held by the World Trade Organization in September resulted in a dispute between nations that cast doubts on whether the agreements of the Doha Development Round were sustainable. Developing nations alleged that their input was being excluded by Western powers. The use of farming subsidies, particularly by Europe, Japan, and the United States, was challenged here because of their effect on developing nations. This dispute led to the creation of the G-21 (later the G20 developing nations).
Ten European countries signed accession agreements in April that would make them members of the European Union in May 2004. Several free trade areas were proposed or negotiated in 2003, including separate zones for the Andean Community, ASEAN, Central America, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Southern Cone Common Market, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, and the Western Hemisphere's Free Trade Area of the Americas. Some of these were conditional on political reform and democratization.
Liberian president Charles Taylor fled the country on August 1 and was replaced by Gyude Bryant, a compromise between the different factions of the Liberian Civil War, on October 14.
North Korea became the first nation to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and on February 6 it announced the restoration of its nuclear weapons program. Several nations engaged in tenuous negotiations with North Korea throughout the year, but no agreements were made. Iran announced its own nuclear program in violation of its agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, disclosing this as an attempt to avoid sanctions.
A series of protests took place in Hong Kong following the implementation of laws by China that limited the rights of the Hongkongers.
Russian businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested on October 27 in what was seen internationally as political persecution by the government to exercise control over Russian oligarchs.
The leader of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi, admitted fault in the 1988 downing of Pan Am Flight 103 and offered reparations to the victims' family members, prompting the United States to petition for the removal of international sanctions against Libya. He also agreed to end any plans for a nuclear weapons program in Libya as scrutiny of nuclear programs around the world increased.
Serbian prime minister Zoran Đinđić was assassinated on March 12, prompting a crackdown on a criminal organization that supported former dictator Slobodan Milošević, whom Đinđić had ousted.
The secular Shinui party gained influence in Israel following a public debate on the role of Judaism in Israeli politics.
The American-led invasion of Iraq dominated discourse around international law and sparked debate about when such actions are justified. Military intervention was supported by countries such as Australia, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, and much of Eastern Europe, while its strongest opponents included China, France, Germany, and Russia. The United States argued that it was legally authorized under United Nations Security Council Resolution 678 (1990), as well as Resolution 687 (1991) and Resolution 1441 (2002). This was challenged on the basis that Resolution 678 could no longer be assumed to apply and that the Security Council had not affirmed Iraq was in violation of its order. The Iraqi president Saddam Hussein went into hiding as the invasion took place, but he was discovered and arrested six months later.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) accepted two new cases in 2003: a border dispute case between Malaysia and Singapore and a dispute over the United States' application of the death penalty against Mexican nationals. It declined to impose any provisional measures in an ongoing case regarding France's claim of universal criminal jurisdiction. The United Nations General Assembly requested an advisory opinion from the ICJ regarding the construction of the West Bank barrier by Israel. A case filed by Libya against the United Kingdom and the United States regarding the 1988 downing of Pan Am Flight 103 was settled outside of court. The ICJ ruled in the Oil Platforms case that American force was not justified in the 1987 attacks on Iranian oil platforms but that it had not broken the 1955 treaty as Iran alleged. It rejected appeals of a 1992 border dispute between El Salvador and Honduras and a 1996 decision that the ICJ had jurisdiction in Yugoslavia at the time.
The International Criminal Court was inaugurated in March, and the UN Security Council granted the United States a one-year extension of its exemption for American UN Peacekeepers.
The UN Security Council determined that two separate prosecutors should be appointed for the criminal tribunals for Rwanda and for Yugoslavia instead of keeping them under a single prosecutor. The tribunal for Rwanda confirmed the conviction of Georges Rutaganda, and it convicted Elizaphan Ntakirutimana as the first of several clerics it was prosecuting. It also sentenced several journalists to prison for their role in the Rwandan genocide, marking the first conviction of crimes against humanity for journalists since the Nuremberg trials. The tribunal for Yugoslavia sentenced Biljana Plavšić to 11 years in prison and Milomir Stakić to 20 years for crimes against humanity, while Stanislav Galić was convicted of terrorism for attacks on civilians in the Siege of Sarajevo. Terms for the creation of a Khmer Rouge Tribunal in Cambodia were agreed on in June.
The Migrant Workers Convention came into effect on July 1. The United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, the first UN measure on the issue, came into force on September 29. The United Nations Convention Against Corruption opened for signing on December 9.
A week of celebrations were held in Vatican City for the 25th anniversary of the election of Pope John Paul II. The events included the beatification of Mother Teresa. John Paul II became the first pope to enter a mosque when he visited the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus on May 6. The church's sexual abuse scandals continued into 2003.
The Anglican Communion was embroiled in debate about its stance on homosexuality when the liberal archbishop Rowan Williams was made Archbishop of Canterbury on February 27 and expressed interest in reforming the policy against it. Jeffrey John was nominated as Bishop of Reading in May, but his relationship with a man caused controversy and prompted him to decline. A similar debate took place regarding divorce when the divorced canon Gene Robinson was made Bishop of New Hampshire on November 2.
Many saw the American-led invasion of Iraq was seen as an attack on Islam. Organized efforts were made by political and religious leaders in the Muslim world to differentiate typical Islam from extremism. Religious strife occurred in Saudi Arabia where Wahhabi Muslims supported stricter application of Islamic law—some engaging in civil unrest and suicide bombings—while other denominations spoke in favor of tolerance for minority religions and women. French society and the French government, especially within the National Front, took a hostile approach toward Muslims in 2003. A proposal was made to ban religious attire in schools, while at the same time the country's first Muslim-run school was opened in Lille.
Controversy erupted in the Hindu world after the reprint of Ganesa: Lord of Obstacles, Lord of Beginnings by Paul Courtright and the publication of Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India by James Laine. Both of these books were seen as offensive by some Hindu groups, causing the writers and publishers to receive threats and harassment.
Judaism was marked with disputes between different sects, both in Israel and the United Kingdom. Israel debated whether Haredi Jews should be allowed to retain exemptions to certain laws. The British Masorti Rabbi Louis Jacobs was not permitted in an Orthodox ceremony for his granddaughter's marriage on the orders of the beth din in London, reigniting the Jacobs Affair of the 1960s.
The 2002 discovery of the James Ossuary, the suspected resting place of James, brother of Jesus, was challenged by the Israel Antiquities Authority when it accused Oded Golan of fabricating the discovery. A Liao dynasty coffin was opened during a live televised broadcast in Mongolia, revealing the remains of a nobleman.
Other discoveries announced in 2003 include a religious burial site from c. 9000 BC in Kfar HaHoresh, a sanctuary to Zeus in the Greek city Dion, the first Pleistocene cave art to be found in Great Britain at Creswell Crags, Bronze Age weapons and jewelry in Tyrol, Viking treasure from c. 1020 on the Isle of Man, six 4th-century Roman shoes near Amsterdam, a Spring and Autumn period tomb in Henan, a wall of Mandan defensive fortifications at Double Ditch in North Dakota, a Mississippian building in Illinois, Olmec seals that are among the oldest New World writing, burial sites in Teotihuacan, and the 1898 wreckage of the Portland off the coast of Massachusetts.
The Herto Man fossils, first discovered in Ethiopia in 1997, were dated to approximately 160,000 years ago and proposed as a human subspecies Homo sapiens idaltu. The findings provided additional evidence for the theory that humans originated in Africa. A set of skulls, first discovered in Mexico in 1959, were dated to approximately 13,000 years ago.
The first report for the 2000 Census of Marine Life was published in October, announcing that it had catalogued 15,304 species, including 500 newly discovered during the program. A plan to breed the Iberian lynx was made in April to protect it from extinction. An alternate theory for the Permian–Triassic extinction event was proposed in a study published on November 21, suggesting that it was caused by an asteroid impact instead of the more commonly accepted theory of volcanic activity. Study of Microraptor fossils provided support for the hypothesis that dinosaurs evolved from gliding animals. The use of genetically modified crops was a controversial issue, particularly in the European Union where a moratorium on genetically modified food remained in effect. Many other countries expanded their production of genetically modified crops.
Human cloning was a subject of international scrutiny in 2003, triggered in part by the disputed claims of the Raëlist company Clonaid that they had produced human clones. Several countries supported international bans on human cloning. The cloned sheep Dolly died on February 21 after living only six years, raising doubts about the viability of cloning. A study of mouse stem cells announced the creation of artificial eggs, while another announced that adult cells could be converted into stem cells by combining them with rabbit eggs. A study on chimpanzee DNA indicated that chimpanzees share 99.4 percent of their DNA with humans, instead of the previous estimate of 95 percent.
The American Space Shuttle Columbia was destroyed in the atmosphere as it returned to Earth on February 1, killing all seven on board. NASA lost contact with the Pioneer 10 probe (launched in 1972) and ended the mission of the Galileo probe (launched in 1989) by sending it into Jupiter's atmosphere. The Voyager 1 probe became the first man-made object to reach the termination shock zone at the edge of the Solar System. China became the third country to launch a human into space with the Shenzhou 5 mission on October 15, in which taikonaut Yang Liwei was in space for 21 hours.
NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) scheduled several launches toward Mars for 2003 as the planet's orbit brought it its closest to Earth in approximately 60,000 years. NASA launched two Mars rovers, the Spirit on June 10 and the Opportunity on July 7. The ESA launched the Mars Express orbiter with the Beagle 2 lander on June 2, but contact was lost with the Beagle 2 when it landed on December 25. The ESA's Rosetta mission to the comet 46P/Wirtanen was scheduled for January 12 but set back a year for a safety evaluation of the Ariane 5 rocket following an incident the previous month. NASA launched the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (later renamed the Spitzer Space Telescope) on August 2, and the ESA launched the SMART-1 satellite on September 27 to study the Moon.
The first results from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe were published in 2003. Its measurements of cosmic background radiation indicated that the universe is 13.7 billion years old and the first stars formed 200 million years after the Big Bang. This provided evidence of the existence of dark matter and dark energy.
Intel and AMD released 64-bit processors in 2003, popularizing what was previously a niche hardware amid the more common 32-bit systems. Broadband internet and cable modems gained popularity at the expense of dial-up and DSL modems. Wi-Fi hotspots became more common, and they were increasingly found in businesses for customers' use.
Computing was the subject of multiple legal and philosophical disputes in 2003. The European Commission considered legalizing software patents, triggering strong backlash. A dispute began between SCO Group and IBM over the open source status of UNIX, triggering a lawsuit in March. The State Council of China required that government ministries move away from software developed by Microsoft in favor of locally produced software. Approximately 55 percent of emails sent in 2003 were spam emails, which led to the implementation of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive in the European Union and the CAN-SPAM Act in the United States. The United Nations World Summit on the Information Society took place in December to organize the expansion of internet access throughout the world.
The SQL Slammer worm was among several major malware programs to spread during the year through vulnerabilities in Microsoft operating systems. Its effects included the disabling of all 13,000 Bank of America ATMs in the United States and days of internet outage for customers of KT Corporation in South Korea. The Welchia worm was created to download a patch that countered the malicious Blaster worm but caused its own inadvertent system issues. The Sobig virus, transmitted through email, became the world's fastest spreading virus.
Camera phones became widespread in 2003 as millions were sold. The original Volkswagen Beetle, the most widely produced car ever designed, ended production with a final run of 3,000 cars for collectors. The Concorde supersonic airliner ended services on October 24 after operating for 27 years. The United Kingdom installed the first rotating underwater turbine in June to generate tidal power.