Straw in the wind?
On 22 July, 2010, the Editor & Publisher website commented on third quarter results announced by Canwest's new owner, Postmedia Network. The results were illuminating.
Net censorship finds a new expression
A recent item on the website of the NUJ's London Freelance branch rehearses the recent history of the Spinprofiles affair (we suppose you could call it 'Spinprofilesgate'), in which a website was rendered inaccessible after an individual complained about it to the registrar for the site's domain name.
This represents a potentially worrying new form of censorship.
A threat or perceived threat concerning possible defamation is directed not at the authors or publishers of the offending item (the writer or website itself) and not even at the 'distributors' (the hosting service for the website or the service providers who make it available to the public), but at the organisation which effectively licenses the name of the site. It's as though you could threaten Companies House because a company registered there has offended you.
BT and TalkTalk take Digital Economy Act to court
Charles Dunstone, chairman of TalkTalk, managed to collect over 35,000 signatures for his web campaign against the Government's internet disconnection proposals to reduce piracy, writes Emma Barnett, Technology and Digital Media Correspondent for the online Telegraph.
Google Helps Booksellers
According to a report in the New York Times, 30 June 2010, Google's move into electronic book publishing could rescue independent booksellers.
Independent bookstores were battered first by discount chains like Barnes & Noble, then by superefficient Web retailers like Amazon.com, writes NYT reporter Brad Stone. Now the electronic book age is dawning. With this latest challenge, these stores will soon have a new ally: the search giant Google.
Later this summer, Google plans to introduce its long-awaited push into electronic books, called Google Editions. The company has revealed little about the venture thus far, describing it generally as an effort to sell digital books that will be readable within a Web browser and accessible from any Internet-connected computing device.
Other stories
Knight Foundation Pushes Neighbourhood News
Publishing's new digital divide
Canwest Settles Freelancers' Suit
EU Commission welcomes 'Digital Agenda'
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