Information Policy

Russia Agrees To Shut Down AllOfMP3.COM

Russia has agreed to shut down Allofmp3.com and other music sites based in that country that the U.S. government says are offering downloads illegally. The nation has struck the agreement with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative as it seeks entry to the World Trade Organization. The U.S. has suggested that it would hold up Russia's acceptance in the WTO unless leaders there took action against illegal digital activities.

http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-6139350.html

TeliaSonera Projects End of Fixed-Line Telephony in Next Ten Years

The challenge for traditional telecoms operators is to adapt their strategies to the fast-changing business environment and explore new growth opportunities.

Nordic telecoms group TeliaSonera forecasts the death of traditional fixed-line telephony in the next decade.

The key for telecoms operators is to embrace new growth opportunities in the wireless and broadband sectors.

New opportunities for fixed-line incumbents include mobile services, IP-based services, OSS/BSS (operational support systems/business support systems) and geographical expansion in high-growth emerging markets.

http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/21363?7649

Is Old-Media Influence Really Declining?

ICOM asked its member agencies whether any traditional media choices were on the decline with no chance of recovery as a result of new ways of reaching audiences. Of the responding agencies around the world, 42% said that newspapers were in decline, more than twice as many that named any other media type.

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?1004229

E-government estimated to contribute to GDP growth at 2% in the European Union in 2005-2010.

Corsi et al. (2006), in a study commissioned by the European Commission for the e-government unit, note that ‘Given the large share of PS in European countries’ GDP, efficiency in PAs is an objective per se and a major driver of international competitiveness and economic welfare.’ (PS=public sector, PAs=public administrations). According to them, e-government enhances GDP growth through four channels: (i) growth of PS productivity, (ii) growth of PS total output, (iii) efficiency of public administration (contributes directly to the efficiency of the economy as a whole and to the productivity of the private sector in particular), and (iv) as part of aggregate demand (ibid.). They estimate the overall GDP growth attributable to e-government in the period 2005-2010 at 2%

http://217.59.60.50/eGEP/Static/Contents/final/D.3.3_Economic_Model_Final_Version.pdf

Wikistudy

Wikistudy is the home to free textbooks published by the Wikibooks project that are directed towards specific syllabi and academic exams. The main part of Wikistudy is for books dealing with core subjects. There is also a section for non-core subjects.

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikistudy

Take Back The Tech

Take Back the Tech is a campaign running from 25 November to 10 December 2006 to raise awareness of the role that information and communication technologies (ICTs) can play in ending violence against women.

http://www.takebackthetech.net/

EU Wants To Step Up Fight Against Spam

The European Commission said yesterday that spam continues to plague Europeans and accounts for between 50 and 80 percent of all messages sent to mail inboxes. EU Media Commissioner Viviane Reding called on EU governments to step up their fight against spam, spyware, and other illegal online activities and implement EU rules to improve Internet safety.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/16107813.htm

The telecentre.org's E-Book contest winners declared

telecentre.org and TakingITGlobal announced the winners of the From the Ground Up living e-book contest! Contestans were invited to submit their telecentre story to the living e-book From the Ground Up, and now their telecentre stories are shared with the world online, and through the CD-ROM version of the e-book. The organizers thank all the participants for their submissions and we received some really fantastic entries to the contest! It was challenging to pick out the best entries to the contest, but our judges have decided on the winners. First place: Mukunda Bogati (Nepal), Voice from Conflict, wins a video iPod. Second place: Ghada Khalifa (Egypt), The Women of Sheikh Moaaz ibn Gabal Village, wins a digital camera. Third place (tie): Shipra Sharma (India), e-Learning in the South Asian Region and Sagi Mihaly from Telecottage Temerin for the emailed submission "Bridges within the community and to the world" they both win a digital camera.

http://community.telecentre.org/en-tc/node/25471

French National Assembly will use open source desktops

A number of deputies had asked the president of the Assembly to consider the use of open source software, the statement said. The move is a concrete response to the desire of numerous deputies to see open source software used more widely in the public sector in France, it said.

http://www.infoworld.nl/idgns/bericht.phtml?id=002570DE00740E180025722F0039F4D9

Internet commerce: Truth in advertising

The problem is that many of the clicks on internet advertisements are bogus. The ability to aim such advertisements so that they pop up, for example, when a user searches for a particular word, is what makes them so valuable≈and makes fraud so lucrative. American law firms, for instance, are prepared to pay as much as $30 each time someone clicks on an advertisement after searching for "mesothelioma" he name of an obscure asbestos-related disease. It is, after all, quite an efficient way to find sufferers who might be interested in launching a money-spinning compensation lawsuit.

http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?story_id=8319505&fsrc=RSS