What Rand and his colleagues found is that at the right intensity, when light is traveling through a material that does not conduct electricity, the light field can generate magnetic effects that are 100 million times stronger than previously expected.
Update, 15:55: I was fascinated that in the House of Lords debate today, Lord Puttnam said that he believed Jeremy Hunt as culture secretary could intervene to block News Corporation's bid to own all of BSkyB, on the grounds News Corp would not be a "fit-and-proper" owner (in the light of the recent revelations about conduct at the News of the World).