Note 12 - Other Assets

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Other Assets Disclosure [Text Block]

12.   OTHER ASSETS

	December 31
	2012		2011
Deferred charges	$	1,353	$	2,513
Land use rights		1,207		1,236
Refundable deposits		789		706
Deferred income tax assets - noncurrent		125		159
	$	3,474	$	4,614

Deferred charges are advance payments for consulting, maintenance, and engineering service contracts and are amortized over the terms of the contracts from 2 to 5 years.  Amortization expense of the deferred charges for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011, and 2010 was approximately $1,299,000, $1,150,000, and $914,000, respectively.  An impairment charge of $115,000 was incurred as a result of the impairment analysis on the Network Security Group’s deferred charges for the year ended December 31, 2010.  In addition, as a result of dissolution activities of the Intelligent E-Commerce Group, a loss on asset write-off of $660,000 on deferred charges was incurred for the year ended December 31, 2012.  Please see discussions in note 3.

All land within municipal zones in China is owned by the government.  Limited liability companies, joint stock companies, foreign-invested enterprises, privately held companies and individual natural persons must pay fees for granting of rights to use land within municipal zones.  Legal use of land is evidenced and sanctioned by land use certificates issued by the local municipal administration of land resources.  Land use rights granted for industrial purposes are limited to a term of no more than 50 years.

Land use rights are recorded at cost less accumulated amortization.  Amortization is provided on a straight-line basis over the term of the land use rights agreement which is 49.7 years.  Amortization expense of the land use rights for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011, and 2010 was approximately $29,000, $28,000, and $29,000, respectively.