Jan-March digital media news

March 2008


Video Games:
The government backs TV psychologist Dr Tanya Bryon’s suggestions for film-style ratings overseen by the British Board of Film Classification to be introduced for video games… (28th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/mar/28/childprotection.internet


Crime:
An article on new ‘fast flux’ techniques making internet crime more difficult to detect (27th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/27/security.hacking


Surveillance:
The online ad company Phorm defends its system which tracks what users do online to provide better targeted advertising (27th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/mar/27/advertising.digitalmedia


Internet:
Parents are to be shown how to protect children online. TV psychologist Dr Tanya Bryon’s report for the Government will set out a national strategy for child internet safety (27th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/27/privacy.childprotection


Internet:
Cuba blocks access to the country’s most popular blog signalling a crackdown on a new generation of cyber critics (26th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/26/cuba.news


Internet:
A new report warns parents of the dangers of children effectively being ‘raised online’, spending all their time on social networking sites (25th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/mar/25/children.socialnetworking


Internet:
A US internet service suspends the site hosting Dutch politician Geert Wilder’s controversial anti-Qu’ran film (24th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/24/netherlands.usa


Future/Theory:
A Wired article on Ray Kurzweil (24th March): http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2008/02/cyber_command?currentPage=all


Internet:
Youtube presents its second annual video awards (22nd March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/22/youtube.news


Television:
ITV is to re-launch its own online TV service as a rival to the BBC’s iplayer (18th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/mar/18/itv.digitalmedia


Video Games
The banned game Manhunt 2 has been granted a certificate after a 9 month court battle (15th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/15/games


Internet:
Bebo sold to AOL for $850m (£417m) (14th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/mar/14/bebo.web20


Internet:
China overtakes the US as the country with the most internet users (14th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/14/internet.china


Cinema:
On a new generation of 3D films (13th March): http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2264536,00.html


Television:
The BBC’s iPlayer is hacked (13th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/13/digitalvideo.television


Music/Economics:
An article on the rise of ‘free’ in music (13th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/13/internet.google


Robots:
Swarms of tiny robots could join together to tackle jobs (13th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/13/robots.artificialintelligenceai


Television:
On the success of Freeview – more than 3.8m devices that can receive Freeview were sold in the last quarter of 2007, according to figures to be released today. For the year as a whole 9.7m TVs, set top boxes and personal video recorders were sold that can receive Freeview's more than 40 free to air channels, up 64% on the previous year and also a new record. The success of Freeview compares with 167,000 new subscribers for Sky in the last three months of 2007, which took its total customer base above 8.8 million, and 61,100 new subscribers for Virgin Media's cable TV service. It now has 4.8 million customers (11th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/mar/11/digitaltvradio.television


Television:
The Japanese are working on a high-definition TV system with 33 times more detail than the best available systems today (11th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/11/television.bbc


Robots/War:
The RAF buys American robot planes for use in Afghanistan (10th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/mar/10/military.afghanistan


Music:
Sony joins We7, a free, advertising-supported music service, agreeing to license more than 250 000 tracks to Peter Gabriel’s company (10th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/10/sony.netmusic


Internet:John Naughton on how Flickr became a classic Web 2.0 success story (9th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/mar/09/web20.internet


Journalism:
Peter Preston poses the question, when news is free who’ll pay the journalists (9th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/mar/09/pressandpublishing4


Privacy:
An article on Phorm, a new company that will track surfing patterns to serve targeted ads (6th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/06/internet.privacy

Security:
Nato says cyber attacks and cyber war are as great a threat today as a missile attack (6th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/06/hitechcrime.uksecurity


Future Technology:
News of a computerised mind-reading machine … (6th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/mar/06/medicalresearch


Print:
Penguin audio-books are to be released without DRM copy-protection (4th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/04/digitalmusic.booksnews


Searching:
An article about how online communities sharing recommendations help people to find material they’ll like and the implications of this for the advertising and PR industries (3rd March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/mar/03/marketingandpr.digitalmedia


Television:
The Guardian publish a section devoted to TV and commercial broadcasting in the digital age (3rd March): http://media.guardian.co.uk/tvtoday


Internet:
Youtube is set to take on established TV broadcasters by offering its own live channels (2nd March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/02/youtube.realitytv


Internet:
An article on the success of parenting websites (2nd March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/02/internet.parentingwebsites



February 2008


Law:
The EU fines Microsoft a record £680m for imposing unreasonable prices on rivals for access to its dominant Windows software, bringing the total fine by the EU to date to 1.7bn euros (28th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/feb/28/microsoft.news


Economics:
Chris Anderson’s Wired article on why ‘free’ is the future of business (25th Feb): http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/16-03/ff_free


Censorship:
Pakistan bans Youtube over anti-Islamic clips (25th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/25/pakistan.youtube


Internet:
A Swiss bank wins a court case this week against the whistle-blower website Wikileaks (23rd Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2008/feb/23/internet.usa


Television:
BSkyB launches an appeal against the ruling that it must reduce its stake in ITV from 17.9% to under 7.5% (23rd Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/feb/22/bskyb.itv


Internet:
Facebook sheds 400 000 users between December 2007 and January 2008. Commentators claim that people are ‘falling out of love’ with the site but the more likely explanation is that the wave of publicity attracted users who got bored within a month or so. It doesn’t yet seem to represent a turn away from networking or that particular site (22nd Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/22/facebook.facebook


Mobile Phones:
The UK Sentencing Guidelines Council urges stiffer sentences for ‘happy slapping’ attacks (21st Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/feb/21/law.ukcrime


Music:
An article on the Government’s threat to force ISPs to police illegal P2P sharing of copyright material over their networks (21st Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/21/piracy.digitalmusic


Videogames /Interfaces:
An article on how neurofeedback devices could be used for gaming and other applications (21st Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/21/research.games


Television:
BBC shows will now be available to download from itTunes to be watched on ipods, under a new agreement between the BBC and Apple (20th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/20/ipod.apple


Security:
A British company has patented laptop software to protect stolen laptops. It photographs the thief, pinpoints their location and destroys sensitive data (20th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/feb/20/ukcrime.news


DVDs:Toshiba are expected to pull the plug on HD-DVD after the recent success of Blu-ray. An analysis of the market and the format war (19th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/19/television.games


Video Games:
An article on music in video games (15th Feb): http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,2256333,00.html


Mobile Phones:
A 15 year old girl is convicted of aiding manslaughter by agreeing to film a fatal attack on her phone (15th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/feb/15/ukcrime See also (14th Feb): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_yorkshire/7244782.stm Sentencing takes place in March: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bradford/7294680.stm and http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bradford/7302959.stm


Mobile Phones:
T-Mobile drops Google in favour of Yahoo as its partner in the UK for search technology (13th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/13/google.yahoo


Privacy:
A story about a Chinese celebrity sex scandal, with thousands of photos copied from a star’s macbook, showing him engaged in sexual activity with a number of actresses and singers, being made available online (13th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/13/china.news


Mobile Phones/Television:
T-Mobile and Orange plan to test a new mobile phone TV technology that may allow users to view up to 100 channels (12th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/12/mobilephones.telecoms


Mobile Phones:
Nokia begins to look into touch screen technology (12th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/12/mobilephones.telecoms1


Radio:
A story about the problems and future of digital radio in the UK (12th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/feb/12/radio.commercialradio


War:
A Wired article on cyberwar in the US (11th Feb): http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2008/02/cyber_command?currentPage=all


Mobile Phones:
An article on the battle for a share of the mobile phone market, especially with the rise of the phone as media player and of the mobile internet (11th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/11/mobilephones.telecoms


Radio:
An article on the state of digital radio in the UK (11th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/feb/11/digitaltvradio.radio


Mobile Phones:
Vodafone tries to avoid a clash with regulators by cutting its charges for mobile internet use abroad (9th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/09/mobilephones.mobileworldcongressbusiness


Censorship:
An article on China’s ‘great firewall’ (9th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/09/internet.china


Video Games:
The Government plan to introduce a cinema-style classification system for video games (9th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/09/games.digitalmedia


Television:
ITV’s falling share prices impact upon the value of BskyB’s stake (7th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/feb/07/bskyb.itv


Mobile Phones:
A short article on how digital technology is vital to the developing world (7th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/feb/07/globaleconomy.mobilephones


Mobile Phones:
A new study claims that mobile phones don’t increase the risk of cancer (6th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/06/mobilephones.health


Mobile Phones:
The number of texts sent in the UK rose 40% in the last year, with 57bn messages being sent in 2007 (and 5000 every second in December!) (6th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/06/mobilephones


Internet:
Hackers declare war on the Church of Scientology, following their claimed pressure on Youtube to withdraw an embarrassing clip of Tom Cruise describing the religion as ‘a blast’ (4th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/04/news


Music:
An article on the music industry in the digital age (3rd Feb): http://music.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2251409,00.html


Economics:
Microsoft launches a $44.6bn bid for Yahoo in an attempt to create an online search and advertising group that would rival Google (2nd Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/feb/02/microsoft.yahoo Yahoo rejected the offer a few days later (12th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/12/yahoo.microsoft The Yahoo board are said to be split over the rejection (16th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/16/yahootakeover.yahoo An article from 3rd Feb analyses Microsoft’s reasons (3rd Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/03/billgates.google


Internet:
The notorious pirate website ‘The Pirate Bay’, based in Malmo, faces a copyright lawsuit from Swedish prosecutors (1st Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/01/piracy.digitalmusic


Internet:
How one clumsy ship cut the cables connecting 75m people to the World Wide Web (1st Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/feb/01/internationalpersonalfinancebusiness.internet See also (Jan 31st): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/31/internet.blackout.asia



January 2008


Internet:
Youtube announce plans to share ad revenue with their video posters (31st Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/31/youtube.digitalmedia


Television:
BSkyB plan to appeal after business secretary John Hutton supported the Competition Commission’s ruling that it must sell more than half its stake in ITV (30th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jan/30/itvbusiness.bskyb


Mobile Phones:
The EC begins to look at lower charges for texting in Europe (30th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/30/mobilephones.news


Internet:
Video of the German navy ramming its own boats finds its way onto Youtube, embarrassing the German Government and military (30th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jan/30/germany.internet


Music:
U2’s manager calls on artists to join him infighting online music piracy (29th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jan/29/musicnews.music


Music:
Music publishing, which generates revenue when songs are sold or played is thriving according to new figures, though the recording industry figures are down (29th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jan/29/netmusic.piracy

Music:
An article about the claimed launch of QTrax, set to offer 25m tracks to download for free, paid for by advertising. It quickly emerges that the major labels are not on board for this project (28th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/28/piracy.digitalmedia


Internet/Music:
The record labels call for legislation to force ISPs to police P2P filesharing over their networks (25th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jan/25/media.internet


Cyberwar:
Estonia fines a 20 year old ethnic Russian man for taking part in a ‘cyberwar’ against Estonia in April-May 2007 (25th Jan): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7208511.stm


Television:
BBC3 focuses on social networking and UGC in its makeover (23rd Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jan/23/bbc.television


Internet:
A local Bridgend MP suggests social networking sites could be influencing the spate of suicides in young people in the area. The ‘memory walls’ created for the dead are romanticising suicide, she says (23rd Jan): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7204172.stm


Music:
Last.fm announces a deal with the 4 major record companies and independent to allow users to listen to music for free on ‘the world’s biggest free jukebox’ (23rd Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jan/23/commercialradio.radio


Internet/Mobile Phones:
An article about schoolgirl bullying, often taking advantage of mobile phones and online sites (20th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jan/20/pupilbehaviour.gender


Internet:
An article on griefers in Second Life (18th Jan): http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds/magazine/16-02/mf_goons


Cinema/Internet:
How silent cinema is thriving online on video websites for whom its brief slapstick scenes are perfect. Happy slapsticking anyone? (18th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/18/internet.digitalvideo


Security:
An article about how security companies are no longer sharing information on vulnerabilities with other companies, turning security into a ‘protection racket’ (17th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/17/computersecurity


Internet:
An article on how a scrabble application on Facebook is being sued for breach of copyright (17th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/17/internet.facebook.scrabulous


Television:
New findings about children’s use of TV in a digital age (16th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jan/16/television.socialnetworking


Crime:
Police are to use text message tactics to snare rape suspects, trying to make them incriminate themselves through their answers to text questions from the victim (14th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jan/14/ukcrime.topstories31


Digital Media:
A Guardian special report on trends in digital media covering virtual worlds and video gems, mobile phones and the mobile web, digital Tv and online video etc. (14th Jan): http://media.guardian.co.uk/trends08


Cyborgs:
A paralympic star has been banned from competing at the Olympic games as the IAAF ruled his prosthetic limbs give him an unfair advantage over his able-bodied competitors … (14th Jan): http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/athletics/7141302.stm


Television:
More than 1 million people use the BBC’s new iPlayer (14th Jan): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7187967.stm


Internet:
An important article on the politics of the people behind Facebook (14th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/14/facebook


Internet/Privacy:
A Cambridge admissions tutor has admitted checking up on students who apply by browsing their Facebook profiles (11th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jan/11/accesstouniversity.highereducation


Interfaces:
A new system allowing users to control their computer by waving their hands in the air is showcased (11th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/11/games.computing


Economics:
BT announces plans for improved broadband speeds in the UK (10th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/10/btgroupbusiness.internet


Internet:
Use of web video sites increases in the US during the TV writer’s strike (10th Jan): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7180889.stm


Music:
Brussels forces iTunes to cut the price of downloads in the UK (10th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/10/itunes.pricecutsintheuk


Music/Law:
The Government plans to relax copyright laws to make it legal to transfer your own music CDs onto your MP3 player. Currently it is against UK law! (9th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/09/copyrightlaws


Radio:
The internet radio station, Pandora, is shutting down its UK service because it can’t pay the fees demanded by the music industry trade bodies (9th Jan):
http://music.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2237674,00.html


DVDs:
Paramount announce they will withdraw support from Toshiba’s HD-DVD format (9th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/09/sony.digitalmedia


Security:
Introducing the iTaser – a taser gun that plays MP3s… (9th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/09/gadgets


DVDs:
Warner Bros. announce they will drop Toshiba’s HD-DVD format in favour of Sony’s Blue-ray (8th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jan/08/news.television


Music:
Napster announce they are joining the move away from copy protection (DRM) on music downloads (8th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jan/08/digitalmedia.news


Internet:
TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson loses his money after publishing details of his bank account in his newspaper column. He wanted to prove the furore over the Government’s loss of personal details on two discs was a fuss over nothing. Someone set up a direct debit with the information and transferred £500 out, with their identity being protected by Data protection Act. ‘I was wrong and I’ve been punished for my mistake’, he said (7th Jan): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7174760.stm


Print:
How newsrooms are responding to the challenge of the digital world (7th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jan/07/pressandpublishing.digitalmedia


Divides:
An article on the digital divide in modern shopping and banking caused by those unable to log on or who want to speak face to face (6th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jan/06/retail.internet


Censorship:
China targets video sites such as Youtube, blocking access die to the spread of ‘degenerate thinking’ on the internet (4th Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/04/youtube.video


Music:
3m music tracks are downloaded in the UK in the week between Christmas and New Year, double that of the same time the year before. Total UK download sales for 2007 were up 50% on 2006 to 77.6m tracks (3rd Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/03/digitalmusic.netmusic


Computing:
An article about the emergence of computing as a resource like electricity and the economics of this industry (an excerpt from Nicholas Carr’s new book, The Big Switch) (3rd Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/03/computing.internet


Computing:
A story about the UK’s fastest computer, the HECToR supercomputer (2nd Jan): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/02/computing.climatechange


Internet:
A link to Kate Hafner’s useful article on the history of ‘the Well’ and online communities (originally May 1997): http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.05/ff_well_pr.html