04 January 2009
DE - Zentralstelle für Jugendschutz im Internet bekommt mehr Geld
(Heise)Die Zentralstelle der Bundesländer für den Jugendschutz im Internet erhält künftig deutlich mehr Geld. Auf Initiative von Rheinland-Pfalz beschloss die Jugendministerkonferenz, jugendschutz.net künftig mit 350.000 Euro im Jahr zu unterstützen. Damit bekomme die in Mainz ansässige Organisation jährlich 95.000 Euro mehr aus Haushaltsmitteln der Länder als bislang, teilte das rheinland-pfälzische Bildungsministerium heute mit. In der Folge verdoppelten die Landesmedienanstalten ihre festen jährlichen Zuwendungen an jugendschutz.net auf rund 500.000 Euro pro Jahr.
Labels: Protection_of_minors
CZ - Czech move to stop cyber bullying
(BBC)The Czech education ministry has drawn up guidelines for teachers to halt the spread of cyber bullying in schools. Some Czech children have attempted to blackmail teachers or classmates by posting video clips of them on the internet. The guidelines offered schools more options than simply confiscating mobile phones or banning their use during classes.
Labels: Cyber-bullying
27 December 2008
EU - Economic and social impact of software and software-based services
(TED)Call for tenders. The purpose of the study will be to identify the potential economic and social impact of software and services within the future Internet; the elements that are determinant for growth and competitiveness; and the actions that need to be taken to implement them. The study is expected to provide a substantial result, directly implementable through policy actions, after considering the state of the software and services sectors throughout the EU. (Deadline: 02/02/2009)
Labels: Call_for_proposals
US - Internet Overtakes Newspapers as News Source
(Pew Research Center)The internet, which emerged this year as a leading source for campaign news, has now surpassed all other media except television as a main source for national and international news. Currently, 40% say they get most of their news about national and international issues from the internet, up from just 24% in September 2007. For the first time in a Pew survey, more people say they rely mostly on the internet for news than cite newspapers (35%). Television continues to be cited most frequently as a main source for national and international news, at 70%.
Labels: Statistics_and_research
UK - Intellectual Property Office announces strategic review of copyright
(Press Releae)The Intellectual Property Office has set out a framework to guide the UK's copyright policy for the 21st century. The Intellectual Property Office is seeking input from key players in the creative industries and a series of engagements, programmes and forums will look to develop a copyright agenda that supports creativity, investment and jobs and which inspires the confidence of businesses and users. The period of stakeholder engagement will run until February 2009. It will look to engage with hard to reach stakeholders like SMEs and consumers as well as the traditional creative industry sector. The Intellectual Property Office are looking to publish the final report before summer 2009. The new Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property (SABIP) will play an important role in the development of this work. Issues paper.
Labels: Copyright_trademarks_and_patents
no. 395 - 27 December 2008
UK - Website age ratings 'an option'
(BBC)Film-style age ratings could be applied to websites to protect children from harmful and offensive material, Culture Secretary Andy Burnham has said. Mr Burnham said the government was looking at a number of possible new internet safeguards. He said some content, such as clips of beheadings, was unacceptable and new standards of decency were needed. He also plans to negotiate with the US on drawing up international rules for English language websites. Mr Burnham, a father of three young children, believes internet service providers should offer child-friendly web access.
Labels: Content_Regulation, Rating_and_filtering
25 December 2008
PEER - Invitations to tender for research now available
(STM)Invitations to Tender for the Behavioural Research and Usage Research aspects of the PEER project are now available. 1. Behavioural Research: Authors and Users vis-à-vis Journals and Repositories 2. Usage Research: Journals and Repositories. Tenders for both areas of research must be received by the Max Planck Digital Library by 17.00 on Tuesday 17 February 2009. PEER (Publishing and the Ecology of European Research), of which STM is a partner, will investigate the effects of the large-scale systematic depositing of authors' final peer-reviewed manuscripts (so called Green Open Access or stage-two research output) on reader access, author visibility, and journal viability, as well as on the broader ecology of European research. PEER is supported by the EC eContentplus programme.
Labels: Call_for_proposals, Digital_content
DE - D Telekom switches tack on broadband
(FT)Deutsche Telekom has abandoned a contentious plan to build its own ultra-fast broadband network in its domestic market and has instead linked up with rival Vodafone to develop the next-generation network across Germany. The move follows years of criticism from the European Commission, which feared that DT's go-it-alone approach, linked to a demand to keep rivals off its network, would lead to a new monopoly in Europe's largest telecoms market.
Labels: Competition, Internet_access_and_use, Telecommunications
24 December 2008
FR - Free fait bande à part dans les télécoms
(01net.)La filiale d'Iliad quitte la Fédération française des télécommunications pour cause de divergences sur des « sujets de fond » avec les autres opérateurs.
Labels: Self-regulation_Codes_of_Conduct
VN - Vietnam tightens rules on blogs
(BBC)Vietnam has tightened restrictions on internet blogs, banning bloggers from raising subjects the government deems inappropriate. Blogs should follow Vietnamese law, and be written in "clean and wholesome" language, according to a government document seen by local media. Internet service providers will be held accountable for the content of blogs they host.
Labels: Content_Regulation
EU's new online library reopens
(BBC)The European Union's huge digital library Europeana, which crashed last month just hours after its launch, is back online. The website's server capacity has been quadrupled to cope with demand, European Commission spokesman Martin Selmayr told reporters. But the homepage - at www.europeana.eu - warns that "the user experience may not be optimal in this test phase".
Labels: Digital_content
23 December 2008
ICANN - US questions net overhaul plans
(BBC)Plans to offer hundreds of new web addresses as alternatives to .com have been criticised by the US government.The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which oversees net addresses has floated plans for the radical change to the existing system. But the US Commerce department has questioned both the benefits and the costs of such a scheme. Officials have also raised concerns about whether the plans will destabilise the current system.
Labels: Domain_names
22 December 2008
IE - New guide warns parents of bullying by mobile phone
(Irish Times)Parents can help protect their children and teenagers from mobile phone-based bullying, according to a new guide produced by the Irish Cellular Industry Association (ICIA). The mobile operators in Ireland - Vodafone, O2, Meteor and 3 - have come together to publish Mobile phones: A parent's guide to safe and sensible use. The booklet warns that young people using mobile phones can be bullied, communicate with people they should not, view online content that is unsuitable for their age and waste money. However, when the owner of an account is a child, operators offer parents a service called "dual access". This means parents can check the numbers their child has been calling and texting, and keep an eye on the amount of money spent. Parents can also ask operators to block certain services.
Labels: Mobile_and_wireless, Protection_of_minors
21 December 2008
Project Playlist: some major labels block while Sony BMG strike deal
(TechCrunch)MySpace is getting back into the business of blocking third party widgets - they've banned embedded music widgets from the fast growing Project Playlist under threat of litigation from the major labels. MySpace they confirmed the ban, noting that they have received infringement notices from "major music companies". But see Good news for Project Playlist: Sony BMG strikes deal (CNET News). Project Playlist has struck a deal with Sony BMG to bring the label's catalog to its streaming-music service. It's the first major-label deal for Project Playlist.
