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2009.07.10

OhmyNews appeals to readers for cash

The founder of the South Korean citizen journalism site, OhmyNews, has appealed to readers for financial contributions to keep the business afloat in the global economic downturn. In an open letter published on the OhmyNews site Wednesday, Oh Yeon-ho disclosed that the site lost KRW 50,000,000 (EUR 28,209) this year amid fears of heavier losses as advertisers keep slashing their marketing budgets. "For a news media to remain healthy, it will have to earn at least 50 percent of its income from the sales of content or paid subscriptions. Despite our best effort, OhmyNews still relies on advertisers for more than 70 percent of its revenue," Oh said. He added that if 100,000 readers joined the venture contributing KRW 10,000 a month, OhmyNews would be able to survive without relying on advertising revenues. Founded in 2000, OhmyNews proclaimed a new model of journalism with the motto "every citizen is a reporter". Most of the content for OhmyNews comes from ordinary citizens and only about a third comes from the 55-person staff.

http://www.ejc.net/media_news/ohmynews_appeals_to_readers_for_cash/

Google partnership makes 3,300 Council of Europe books available online

A partnership between Council of Europe Publishing and Google Books Search has made 3,300 books available online in 2009.

Council of Europe books available in the database received 230,000 visits in 6 months, with around 2.1 million pages viewed. The most highly-viewed books are legal dictionaries, key extracts of case law from the European Court of Human Rights and titles from the "Ethical Eye" series.

Google Book Search is a tool that searches the full text of books that Google scans, converts to text using optical character recognition, and stores in its digital database. This allows users to view up to 20% of the content of the books and link to the publisher's website and to other booksellers.

Council of Europe Publishing mainly produces works on human rights and international law. It also publishes works on health, social affairs, bioethics, education, culture, youth, sport, architectural heritage and environment.

Its publications include topical debates, comparative studies, monographs, proceedings of colloquies, international legal instruments, official texts etc.

https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1470105&Site=DC&BackColorInternet=F5CA75&BackColorIntranet=F5CA75&BackColorLogged=A9BACE

2009.07.08

Google to launch desktop OS

Google has announced that it is developing an open source operating system (OS) based on its Chrome browser for use with netbooks.

The Google Chrome OS will be available on netbook computers in the second half of 2010, with the code for the project to be open sourced later this year.

Google says that the key features of the OS are speed, security and simplicity; it has been designed to get users from system start up to the web within a few seconds, has a minimal user interface and features a redesigned security architecture.

"Users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work," Sundar Pichai and Linus Upson of Google write on the search engine's official blog.

They add: "Any time our users have a better computing experience, Google benefits as well by having happier users who are more likely to spend time on the internet."

The OS will run on x86 and ARM chips and will be as web based as possible; all online apps will work automatically and new apps can be created using web technologies, Google states.

These apps will be able to be used with any standards based browser across the Windows, Mac and Linux platforms. Google stresses that the Chrome OS is an entirely separate project to its Android OS for mobile devices, however.

It is hoped that the Chrome OS will eventually be able to be expanded to power full sized desktop systems.

Chrome currently accounts for 1.75 per cent of the global browser market, according to StatCounter.

http://www.iabuk.net/en/1/googletolaunchdesktopoperatingsystem080709.mxs

Nielsen: Kids spending more time online

Young kids are getting online at a faster rate than their parents and older siblings. A new study from Nielsen Online found that nearly 16 million U.S. children ages 2 to 11 were online in May. They made up about 9.5 percent of Internet users. The youngest of the set — 2, 3, and 4-year-olds — probably aren't yet updating their Twitter accounts with 140-character messages, or posting quiz results to Facebook. Rather, they are sitting in a parent's lap in front of a computer, being exposed to the Internet that way, said Peter Grunwald, president of Grunwald Associates LLC, which specializes in researching kids and technology. In the past five years, Nielsen said, the number of kids online has grown by 18 percent, compared with just a 10 percent growth among all Internet users. And this growth comes as the total number of U.S. kids under 14 is declining. In all, the time children spend online grew 63 percent in the past five years, from nearly 7 hours in May 2004 to more than 11 hours online this past May. Nielsen also found that boys spent 7 percent more time online than girls, but girls viewed 9 percent more Web pages than boys did in May 2009. Grunwald said kids are also beginning to produce their own content rather than use the Web as a passive viewer.

http://www.ejc.net/media_news/nielsen_kids_spending_more_time_online/

2009.07.06

World’s oldest bible goes online

The oldest bible in the world, the Codex Sinaiticus, written in Greek in the fourth century but now scattered between the British Library, Germany, Russia and St Catherine's monastery in Egypt's Sinai desert, will be reassembled online today in a GBP 1m scholarship exercise. Nobody alive has seen all the pages together in one place. The pages of the codex, described as 'a jewel beyond price' by Scot McKendrick, head of western manuscripts at the British Library, which has the largest part, have been scattered for over 150 years. From today, scholars or the merely curious anywhere in the world will be able to search all the surviving text, down to thumbnail-sized fragments found at St Catherine's, free online. The pages can be searched in facsimile, transcribed or translated. The digital photography is of such high resolution that insect bites and scars of some of hundreds of animals whose hides became the vellum pages can be seen. An exhibition which opens today at the British Library traces the history of the manuscript, and the project that involved collaboration between the British Library, the monks in the Sinai, Leipzig University library, the national library of Russia in St Petersburg, and the Institute for Textual Scholarship and Electronic Editing at Birmingham university.

http://www.ejc.net/media_news/worlds_oldest_bible_goes_online/

2009.06.30

YouTube offers reporting tips from top journalists

YouTube opened an online journalism training hub on Monday featuring tips from some of the top names in the business including Bob Woodward of Watergate fame. The YouTube Reporters' Center, located at youtube.com/reporterscenter, hosts a series of short video tutorials on subjects such as investigative journalism, citizen journalism, journalism ethics and how to conduct an interview. The five-minute video on investigative journalism is presented by Woodward, who along with a fellow Washington Post reporter uncovered the Watergate scandal which led to president Richard Nixon's resignation. CBS News anchorwoman Katie Couric offers tips on 'how to conduct a good interview' while Ariana Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post website, talks about 'citizen journalism.' New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof provides instruction on reporting from a conflict zone 'without getting shot.' Other tutorials include 'How to Capture Breaking News on Your Cell Phone' and 'How to Build Your Audience on YouTube.' YouTube described the venture as a bid to help 'citizen reporters' learn more about how to report the news. The Google-owned video-sharing site also invited users with reporting experience to upload 'how-to' videos to YouTube to 'share your knowledge with citizen journalists around the world.'

http://www.ejc.net/media_news/youtube_offers_reporting_tips_from_top_journalists/

2009.06.22

New service tracks online interest in TV shows

Web site creation service Wetpaint has launched a measurement system that tracks fan interest in popular TV shows. Billed as the first measurement tool of its kind, TV Fandex tracks the level of "fan engagement" of popular programs on Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Webpaint's own network of 1.5 million user-created fan sites. "It's clear there is a fundamental decentralization under way in how consumers experience TV programing, but the measurement tools have remained substantially the same," Wetpaint CEO Ben Elowitz said. "Fans now have the tools to connect and evangelize, and they are using them with gusto. The TV Fandex provides networks and producers with the first gauge of the winners and losers in creating and retaining an online audience." There are existing ways to measure a brand's online popularity, including BuzzMetrics from Nielsen. Fandex is billed as the first system built specifically around providing an apples-to-apples comparison of TV series interest among social media networks.

http://www.ejc.net/media_news/new_service_tracks_online_interest_in_tv_shows/

2009.06.19

Spanish and Estonian sites sign the Safer Social Networking Principles for the EU

Tuenti and Rate are popular social networking services for young people in Spain and Estonia. By committing themselves to the "Safer Social Networking Principles for the EU" they take a step forward in keeping their online services safe.

Signatories to the Principles committed to send to the European Commission a self-declaration, highlighting the way they implement the provisions of the Principles.

As of 17 June 2009 the following companies have sent their self-declarations: Arto, Bebo, Dailymotion, Facebook, Google, Hyves, Microsoft Europe, MySpace, nasza-klasa.pl, Netlog, One.lt, Piczo, Rate.ee, Skyrock, StudiVZ.de, Sulake/Habbo, Tuenti ,Yahoo! Europe, Zap.lu.

These declarations are available online.

The European Commission will monitor the implementation of the Principles and it will publish the results of its assessment in February 2010.

The "Safer Social Networking Principles for the EU" is a self-regulatory agreement signed on 10 February 2009 by 18 major social networking providers active in Europe. These Principles have been developed by SNS providers in consultation with the European Commission, as part of its Safer Internet Programme, and a number of NGOs, to provide good practice recommendations for the providers of social networking and other user interactive sites, to enhance the safety of children and young people using their services.

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5054

Belarussian KGB uncovered eight websites promoting religious extrimism

Belarussian KGB agents discovered eight webistes promoting radical religious extrimism during operation "Proxy" which was carried out from 15th of March to 15th of May.

Since 15th of March to 15th of May under the aegis of the organisation of the collective security pact within the bounds of internation operation "Proxy" a complex of measures was taken directed at fighting crimes in the sphere of informational technologies.

Terrorist organisations' Internet resources, their financial donors' websites and resources stirring up national and religious intolerance, as well as sites publishing information concerning manufacture and use of self-made explosives were first on the list. Accordingly, KGB found out about 8 such resources that were promoting religious extremism, and the activites of three websites outside of Belarus were stopped. Information about other three sites, used for publishing Taliban threats of terrorist acts in Belarus, is being checked by other CIS countries.

Other goals were pursued as well. In particular, activities of 280 internet resources with child pornography were stopped. 3 criminal cases were raised for creation and distribution of pornographic materials on the republic's territory.

A series of crimes dealing with electronic means of payment were discovered. 323 criminal cases were raised by the facts of illegal use of bank payment card requisites. Activities of 7 companies with signs of pseudoenterprenurship nature dealing with illegal money exports were stopped.

http://www.e-belarus.org/news/200906191.html

Digital Britain: Government vows to cut illegal file-sharing by 70%

The Government believes it can reduce unlawful file-sharing by 70% to 80% by forcing internet service providers (ISPs) to tell users that their copyright infringement has been noted and making evidence of infringement available to the courts.

It said that its policy "needs" to make that much difference, even as it came under fire from content industry bodies for not mandating the cutting off of file-sharing internet users.

In its just-published Digital Britain report, the Government said that most piracy will be wiped out by its plans. ISPs will be expected to produce a code of practice outlining how and when they will inform users of their services that they think the user has been file-sharing unlawfully and how the ISP will share data with the legal system.

If file-sharing is not reduced by its ambitious target, though, the Government said that it will give telecoms regulator Ofcom powers to force ISPs to interfere with the internet connections of suspected file-sharers.

Those include blocking individual internet connections from accessing certain sites or certain types of content, slowing down connections or placing a cap on a connection's bandwidth.

"These powers should be used if, and only if, the combination of measures set out above has been fully implemented but has not succeeded in significantly reducing the level of unlawful file-sharing," said the report.

The report outlined the problem and the Government's predictions for the effectiveness of its actions.

"It is clear that the scale of unlawful activity is a major concern for those contemplating investment in innovative content models that rely upon any form of payment. This is unacceptable," it said. "The Government considers online piracy to be a serious offence. Unlawful downloading or uploading, whether via peer-to-peer sites or other means, is effectively a civil form of theft. This is not something that we can condone, or to which we can fail to respond. We are therefore setting out in this report a clear path to addressing this problem which we believe needs to result in a reduction of the order of 70-80% in the incidence of unlawful filesharing."

The Government has stopped short of ordering ISPs to cut off users who are found to have unlawfully shared files online. Record label trade body the BPI accused the Government of 'digital dithering' because of its refusal to adopt that policy.

"Evidence shows that the Government’s ‘write and then sue’ approach won't work," said BPI chief executive Geoff Taylor. "And Government appears to be anticipating its failure by lining up backstop powers for Ofcom to introduce technical measures later. This digital dithering puts thousands of jobs at risk in a creative sector that the government recognises as the driver of the digital economy."

The Digital Britain report said that its approach would work. "There is evidence that most people who receive a notification stop unlawful file-sharing. This is backed up by survey results which found significant numbers of people say they would stop or significantly reduce their file-sharing activity upon receipt of a notification," it said.

Technology lawyer Struan Robertson of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind OUT-LAW.COM, said that the Government's approach had common sense on its side.

"Though I would be concerned if the Government was pinning all its hopes on reducing unlawful file-sharing by the very ambitious 70%, I think its first proposals for dealing with the problem are sensible. They at least force all serious action through the existing courts system," he said.

"The powers it will grant Ofcom to force ISPs to interfere with connections could be more of a worry, and there would need to be safeguards in place to ensure that the measures are fair and balanced," said Robertson.

The report will be the basis of Government's policy in digital media, telecoms and information infrastructure, it said.

"Digital Britain is about giving the country the tools to succeed and lead the way in the economy of the future," said Prime Minister Gordon Brown. “This report shows how we will ensure we have a world-class digital and communications infrastructure, that we promote and protect talent and innovation in our creative industries, that we modernise our TV and radio frameworks and support local news."

It proposes ensuring that the whole of the UK has broadband internet access by creating a 50p monthly tax on all telephone landlines. This will contribute to a fund to pay for the provision of high speed broadband across the UK, and will be topped up with surplus cash from the BBC's fund for digital television switchover, the report said.

The report also proposes for the first time the splitting of the BBC's licence fee income. Some of the digital switchover surplus will be used to fund pilots of news services in Scotland, Wales and an English region. ITV recently announced that it would pull out of regional news because of the cost.

The report also proposes a consultation on taking part of the normal licence fee and handing it to independent news organisations to provide public service news content. These could include existing news organisations, it said. That would not happen until the licence fee was up for renewal again, which will not be until 2013.

http://www.out-law.com/page-10097