Digital Media News: April 2009

April 2009

DVDs/Copyright:

A court case starts about the legality of ‘RealDVD’, a technology allowing users to copy their DVDs onto their hard drive. RealNetworks claims it retains DRM and even adds extra protection but the MPAA and DCCA oppose it (30^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/apr/30/realdvd-trial-dvd

Surveillance:

The government plans to monitor all internet use, asking communications forms to record all contacts between people (27^th April): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8020039.stm

Youtube:

Britain’s Got Talent contestant Susan Boyle becomes a Youtube internet sensation (26^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/apr/26/susan-boyle-youtube-itv

Social Networking:

A Swiss women is fired after her employers spotted her using Facebook when she had claimed to be too ill to use a computer (25^th April): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8018329.stm

Broadband:

The government’s plans for universal broadband continue. They’re considering capping the amount of radio spectrum owned by Britain’s mobile phone companies (25^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/apr/25/lord-carter-digital-britain-broadband

Print:
A revolutionary new ‘Espresso Book Machine’ launches in London. It will be able to print any book on its database in the shop as the customer waits (24^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/apr/24/espresso-book-machine-launches

Apps:

Apple removes a baby-shaking game form its iPhone Apps store (24^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/apr/24/apple-iphone-baby-shaker-application

Google:

Google Street-View gets the go ahead from the UK’s Information Commissioner who rejected privacy complaints (23^rd April): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8014178.stm See also (23rd April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/apr/23/google-street-view-data-protection-cleared

Citizen Journalism:

A piece on the rise of sousveillance – ‘when all video all’ – and the use of cameras by ordinary people to hold the police to account during the G20 protests (21^st April): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8010098.stm

Crime/Security:

Almost 2 million PCs globally, including machines inside the US and UK governments have been taken over by hackers as part of a botnet operated from the Ukraine (21^st April): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8010729.stm

Politics/Blogs:

The BNP admits that some of its members are oddballs and liars in a memo to activists. Aware of the reputation of some of their members and their poor English they are dissuading them from officially linking themselves to the BNP in blogs and online postings, advising them that independent-looking postings are more persuasive (20^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/apr/20/bnp-handbook-european-elections

Newspapers:

Peter Preston argues for an internet license fee to help save newspapers and traditional journalism (19^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/apr/19/internet-licence-fee

Cyberwar:

Apple’s Ipod Touch is being given out to soldiers to help them make sense of data from drones, satellites and ground sensors (18^th April): http://www.newsweek.com/id/194623

Piracy:

A Swedish court hands down prison sentences and fines to four men behind the Pirate Bay website (18^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/apr/18/pirate-bay-prison-sentences-sweden

Mobile Phones:

Nokia, the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturer, saw profits fall 90% in the first three months of 2009 as cash-strapped consumers held onto their existing handsets or opted instead for Apple’s iPhone (17^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/apr/17/nokia-profits-drop-iphone-apple

CyberCrime/CyberWar:

An article on cybercrime and nationalist attacks from China (16^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/apr/16/china-cybercrime-hacking

Cyberwar:

A survey of cyberwarfare today (16^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/apr/16/internet-hacking-cyber-war-nato

Online Advertising:

Amazon opts out of Phorm’s targeted advertising over the privacy fears of users (16^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/apr/16/amazon-phorm-targeted-advertising

Surveillance:

The European Commission calls for the UK’s privacy laws to be strengthened to protect internet surfers, as it launches legal action against the government for breaching data protection and ePrivacy rules (15^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/apr/15/internet-privacy-eu-legal-action

Future technology/Interfaces:

A demonstration of MIT’s new ‘SixthSense’ wearable, gesture-driven computing platform (14^th April): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7997961.stm

Amazon:

Amazon is discovered to have stripped many books of their sales rank, removing them from their charts and affecting customer search results. The books all have an adult content but gay and lesbian texts are hit especially hard. Complaints force an apology and an explanation (13^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/apr/13/amazon-gay-writers

See also (14^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/apr/14/amazon-gay-sex-ranking (19^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/apr/19/amazon-com-adult-content

Apps:

On the rise of the iPhone applications (12^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/apr/12/iphone-applications-music-industry

Politics/Blogging:

A crisis engulfs Gordon Brown’s government as a key aide is forced to resign after leaked emails reveal his attempt to provide sexual smears against Conservative politicians for a pro-Labour blog (12^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/apr/12/damien-mc-bride-labour-smear

Citizen Journalism:

On 1^st April 2009 Ian Tomlinson collapses and dies at the G20 protests in London. What follows is a remarkable example of old and new media working together. The Guardian follows up claims that he was struck by police before he died and their story attracts footage by people at the protests that cause the story offered by the police and much of the media’s account to collapse. Traditional journalism boosted by citizen journalism pursuing the facts of the case revealed considerable police mistreatment of protestors. Follow the story at:

(27^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/apr/27/ipcc-police-g20-death-media

(26^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/apr/26/g20-police-blog-assault

(21^st April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/apr/21/g20-video-protest-policing

(20^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/apr/20/police-assault-g20-protests

(19^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/apr/19/police-g20-tomlinson-assault

(18^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/apr/18/g20-ian-tomlinson-death

(18^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/apr/18/ian-tomlinson-g20-police-officer

(17^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/apr/17/ian-tomlinson-new-pictures-g20

(15^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/apr/15/g20-police-assault-tomlinson-ipcc

(11^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/apr/11/video-g20-ian-tomlinson

(9^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/apr/09/g20-ian-tomlinson-police-video

(9^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/apr/09/g20-police-assault-ian-tomlinson-g20

(9^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/apr/09/g20-video-ian-tomlinson-death

(8^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/apr/08/ian-tomlinson-g20-police-assault-footage

(8^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/apr/08/ian-tomlinson-cameraman-inquiry

(7^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/apr/07/video-g20-police-assault

Citizen Journalism:

An opinion piece on the ‘unstoppable rise’ of the citizen cameraman (11^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/apr/11/public-camera-video-technology

Broadband:

The UK government’s plans for broadband for all are at risk (10^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/apr/10/telecoms-broadband

Economics:

Microsoft and Yahoo revive talks about a search engine partnership to combat the growing power of Google (10^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/apr/10/microsoft-yahoo-merger-talks

Television:

An article about how online content is going to enter the home through the TV (9^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/apr/08/intenet-on-demand-tv-youtube

Virtual Worlds/Video Games:

An article about Sony’s new virtual world for kids ‘Free realms’ (9^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/apr/09/sony-games-free-realms

Archives:

An article on the World Digital Library to be launched this month (9^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/apr/09/world-digital-library

Gambling:

US prosecutors strike a deal to end a three-year clampdown on online gambling sites (8^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/apr/08/online-gambling-partygaming-settlement

Twitter:

An uprising in Moldova is dubbed the ‘Twitter revolution’ after mass protests which began as a flash mob organised by Twitter, SMS and other social networking sites (8^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/08/moldova-protest-election-chisinau See also (16th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/15/moldova-activist-hiding-protests

Music:

Amazon’s challenge to iTunes continues. After launching its own DRM-free MP3 download store it now slashes prices on some downloads to 29p (8the April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/apr/08/amazon-itunes-music-downlads-mp3

Broadband:

The Australian government launches a plan to extend broadband access across the country (7^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/07/broadband-internet-australia

Newspapers:

US news agency Associated Press threatens legal action against websites appropriating its content (7^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/apr/07/associated-press-legal-action

Newspapers/Blogs:

The Huffington post, the New York based Liberal blog, sets up a fund to hire staff to preserve journalistic standards (6^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/apr/06/huffington-post-us-newspaper-industry

Music:

The head of new service Spotify says fans will still buy music (6^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/apr/06/spotify-digital-music-downloads

Wikipedia:

John Naughton defends Wikipedia (5^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/apr/05/digital-media-referenceandlanguages

Twitter:

Demi Moore used twitter to intervene in the case of a woman who was feeling suicidal (4^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/apr/04/demi-moore-twitter-avert-suicide-california

File-Sharing:

Swedish internet use plummets after the introduction of a law banning online piracy (4^th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/apr/04/sweden-pirate-bay-filesharing-internet

Google/Privacy:

Villagers in a UK town force the Google streetview camera car to retreat (3^rd April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/apr/03/google-street-view-broughton

Newspapers:

An article on the problems of local journalism and the possible impact on local democracy (3^rd April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/apr/03/local-newspapers-journalism-democracy

Cinema:

A rough edit of the new X-Men movie Origins:Wolverine is leaked onto the internet a month before its release (2^nd April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/02/wolverine-xmen-leak-online-piracy

Online Advertising:

The digital technology company Phorm is facing a setback with many major dotcom companies considering boycotting its online advertising technology due to privacy concerns (2^nd April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/apr/02/dotcom-boycott-advertising-phorm

Virtual Worlds:

An article about changes at Second Life to rejuvenate its business (2^nd April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/apr/02/second-life-mark-kingdon

Privacy:

An article about the threat to privacy the mobile phone industry (2^nd April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/apr/02/google-privacy-mobile-phone-industry

Newspapers:

The Guardian’s April fool joke is its claim that it’s switching to Twitter, digitising its archive and compressing every story into less than 140 characters. What’s good here is the obvious anxiety of the ‘old’ medium at the social use and significance of the newer one (1^st April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/apr/01/guardian-twitter-media-technology

Digital Media News: February-March 2009

March 2009

Online Advertising:

The EU signals new rules to protect privacy against online advertisers (31^st March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/31/online-adverts-eu-privacy-law

Surveillance:

The government is backing a project to install a ‘communication box’ in new cars to track their whereabouts anywhere in Europe (31^st March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/mar/31/surveillance-transport-communication-box

Music:

Google launches a free music site in China as part of an attempt to compete with the dominant Chinese search engine Baidu (31^st March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/mar/31/google-china-digital-music

Social Networking/Crime:

Police warn that a Facebook page showing CCTV images of a rape suspect could affect a prosecution. The woman’s partner put the images online in an attempt to identify the rapist (30^th March):

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/mar/30/rape-suspect-facebook-police-warning

Social Networking:

Myspace shrinks as rivals grab its users (29^th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/mar/29/myspace-facebook-bebo-twitter

Music:

An article praising the virtues of the 45rpm vinyl single (27^th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/mar/27/45rpm-vinyl-singles

Newspapers:

The creator of the TV show The Wire warns about an explosion of corruption by politicians if the newspaper industry and journalism is allowed to collapse (27^th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/mar/27/david-simon-wire-newspapers

Future Technology:

An article on China’s investment in nanotechnology research (26^th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/mar/26/nanotechnology-china

Education:

In a shake-up of the primary school curriculum children will no longer have to study the Victorians and WWII but will be required ‘to master Twitter and Wikipedia’ (25^th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/mar/25/primary-schools-twitter-curriculum

Surveillance/Security:

On the use of virtual border patrol deputies on the US-Mexico border. With cameras that can be watched from any internet connection (23^rd March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/23/texas-mexico-patrol-webcam-australia

Surveillance:

The right to privacy is being broken by a quarter of the public databases, according to a new report (23^rd March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/mar/23/dna-database-idcards-children-index

Newspapers:

A good article on the problems faced by the newspaper industry (23^rd March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/mar/22/newspapers-layoffs-online-advertising

Television:

BSkyB is granted leave to appeal against the court ruling against its stake in ITV (21^st March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/mar/21/bskyb-itv

Mobile Phones:

Sony Ericsson issues a profit warning due to a slump in mobile phone sales with the recession (21^st March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/mar/20/sony-mobilephones

Bloggers:

An Iranian blogger dies in prison from an overdose a month after receiving a two and a half year sentence for insulting the country’s religious leaders (20^th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/20/omidreza-mirsayafi-iran-blogger-rouznegar

Google Street-View:

Google launches street-view in the UK, soon coming under attack for its claimed invasion of privacy (19^th March+): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/mar/19/google-street-view-uk See also: (20th March) http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/mar/20/google-street-view1

(20^th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/mar/20/google-street-view And (21^st March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/mar/21/google-street-view-privacy-images

Virtual Worlds:

The UK Home Office has defended its use of taxpayer’s money to set up an ‘innovations centre’ on Second Life (19^th March): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7952213.stm

Google:

Google’s legal fight with Louis Vuitton over the selling of trademark terms in its advertising continues (17^th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/mar/17/google-louis-vuitton-legal-battle

Mobile Phones:

Vodafone and O2 plan to pool their networks in the biggest shake-up of the UK’s mobile phone industry since the introduction of wireless broadband at the beginning of the decade (12^th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/mar/11/vodafonegroup-mobilephones See also (23rd March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/mar/23/o2-vodafone-mobile-networks

Youtube:

A sandwich bar worker was filmed by a friend at work stuffing lettuce up his nose and the video was seen by a customer on Youtube. He avoided a jail sentence but was ordered to do 300 hours unpaid work (11^th March): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/7937945.stm

Social Networking:

Facebook launches an Arabic version (11^th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/mar/10/facebook-launches-arabic-version The BBC reports new versions in both Arabic and Hebrew (12^th March): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7939375.stm

File-Sharing:

The French government plans an anti-piracy bill that will punish downloaders by cutting off their internet access (11^th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/11/france-internet-anti-piracy

Youtube/Music:

Youtube refuses to reverse its decision to block music videos for UK users after failing to reach a new licensing agreement with the performing rights society (10^th March): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7933565.stm

Security:

A police force loses a memory stick containing information on hundreds of police investigations (9^th March): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7932228.stm

Video Games:

An article about the thousands of Chinese ‘gold farmers’ working in virtual worlds for a living (5^th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/mar/05/virtual-world-china

Television:

ITV announces job cuts and changing plans as the recession and its economic position causes problems (5^th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/mar/05/itv-television-recession-michael-grade

Future Technology:

An article about the Pentagon’s investment in research into nanotechnology (5^th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/mar/05/micro-darpa-microchips

Future Technology:

A man who lost his sight 30 years ago can now see flashes of light after being fitted with a bionic eye (4^th March): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7919645.stm

Youtube/Crime:

A man has been fined £200 after posting a video on Youtube of the cannabis plants he was growing (4^th March): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/7922737.stm

Twitter:

A young British man dies snowboarding in the Alps despite a mountain rescue operation played out over Twitter (4^th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/mar/04/twitter-death-entrepreneur-rob-william

Music:

Virgin Megastores announces it is pulling out of the US in another blow to real-world music retailing (3^rd March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/mar/03/musicindustry-useconomy

Mobile Phones:

How mobile phones have transformed Africa (3^rd March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/mar/03/mobile-phones2

Mobile Phones:

Mobile phone use passes a mile-stone as a UN report reveals that half the globe now pays to use one (3^rd March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/mar/03/mobile-phones1

Crime/Social Networking:

Facebook is targeted by malicious hackers trying to steal data from its members (2^nd March): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7918839.stm

Surveillance:

An article about Westminster council’s CCTV control room: the ‘spy capital of the world’ (2^nd March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/mar/02/westminster-cctv-system-privacy

February 2009

Newspapers:

An article on the problems newspapers face and the possibility of charging for online content (29^th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/feb/23/newspapers-online-content

Privacy:

The DNA details of 1.1m children are on the National DNA Database (27^th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/feb/27/dna-database-children-criminal-record

Social Networking:

A 16 year old from Essex is fired after describing her office job as ‘boring’ on Facebook (27^th Feb): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/7914415.stm

Mobile Phones:

O2 reports it has sold over a million iPhones in the UK (26^th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/feb/26/o2-rise-iphone

Surveillance:

An article about Sir David Omand’s new Institute of Public Policy Research paper and his warnings about a database state (25^th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/feb/25/database-state-ippr-paper

A related piece the same day traces the modes of surveillance we are moving towards: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/feb/25/data-surveillance-identity

Video:

A young Indian woman is given police protection after a video clip of her undressing in a bedroom was circulated on the internet becoming India’s most searched item on Google (23^rd Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/feb/23/privacy-law-internet-phone-video-india

Google:

Google scotches claims that users of its Google earth program have discovered Atlantis… (21^st Feb): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7903169.stm

Future Technology:

The iCub robot makes its UK debut (20^th Feb): http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hP_LvoR-T3hcpH6Mq-l0ta7ZEVZw and http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/technology/s/1097231_cute_and_clever_meet_the_icub

Privacy:

A US judge dismisses a claim by a couple that Google Street View violates their privacy (19^th Feb): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7898407.stm

Mobile Phones:

Two of the world’s largest mobile phone companies – Telefonica (owners of 02) and the UK’s Vodafone warn that without a change in the European regulatory structure their business will suffer in the recession (18^th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/feb/18/mobile-telecoms-regulators

Privacy:

Facebook backs down on changes to its terms of service after outrage online (18^th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/feb/18/facebook-u-turn-on-privacy-changes and http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/feb/19/facebook-personal-data

Mobile Phones:

Vodafone wins the race to sell the next generation of ‘Google phones’, planning to launch the ‘Magic’ phone in the spring (17^th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/feb/17/vodafone-google-phone

Music:

BSkyB announces its plans to launch a music download store to rival iTunes (16^th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/feb/16/bskyb-digital-music-service

Mobile Phones:

With sales of mobile phones down in the recession the only section of the industry showing growth is the ‘smart phone’ (16^th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/feb/15/mobile-world-congress-report-fewer-delegates

Television:

ITV puts Friends reunited up for sale as part of its cost-cutting drive in the face of the worst advertising downturn for a decade (15^th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/feb/15/itv-sells-friends-reunited A few days earlier an article discusses the problems ITV is facing (13th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/feb/13/itv-staff-hundreds-job-cuts

Advertising:

How companies are using TV spots to launch their adverts online and how ads are becoming ‘cult’ videos (15^th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/feb/15/tv-ads-internet

File Sharing:

The trial is due to start in Sweden of four men behind the world’s largest filesharing site, ‘The Pirate Bay’ (14^th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/feb/14/pirate-bay-trial A few days later half the charges are dropped (17^th Feb): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7895026.stm

Social Networking:

Facebook pays $65m (£45m) to settle a rival’s claim that the site was its idea (13^th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/feb/13/facebook-inventor-claim-payout

Video Games:

An EU report suggests video games are good for children (12^th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/feb/12/computer-games-eu-study

Wikipedia:

Following a dispute at Prime Minister’s questions as to the date of Titian’s birth a Tory party worker at Conservative Central Office amended his Wikipedia entry to reflect David Cameron’s claims (12^th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/feb/12/gordon-brown-david-cameron-titian

Music:

An article on the UK launch of ‘Spotify’, the new ad-funded music streaming service and its problems with the music industry (11^th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/feb/11/digitalmusic-downloads

Crime:

Police are bing equipped with a new generation of data extraction devices to accelerate the downloading of information from seized mobile phones (10^th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/feb/10/police-checks-mobile-phones

Newspapers:

A discussion of the rise of online ‘comments’ sections at the end of articles and their ‘abuse’ by the public (9^th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/feb/09/newspaper-comment-pages

Privacy and Surveillance:

A series of articles on a new House of Lords report on surveillance in Britain (6^th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/feb/06/surveillance-freedom-peers see also http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/feb/06/surveillance-privacy-dna-database and http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/feb/06/surveillance-privacy-dna-database2

Social Networking:

A woman discovered her marriage was over when her husband announced it on Facebook (6^th Feb): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/7874273.stm

Cyberwar:

A report on cyberwar following the DDoS attack on Kyrgyzstan’s ISPs in January (5^th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/feb/05/kyrgyzstan-cyberattack-internet-access

Mobile Phones:

Mobile phone sales are falling as customers hold on their handsets and trade-down to cheaper deals -although the article doesn’t make the point that the ‘smart phone’ market is the one part of the industry holding up well (4^th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/feb/04/vodafone-nokia-mobile-phones

Economics:

Time Warner reports a $16bn loss in the fourth quarter of 2008, with cable subscription losses in the downturn being blamed for more than half of the loss (4^th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/feb/04/time-warner-loss-16bn

Privacy:

Facebook intends to capitalise on its wealth of information it has about users by offering its 150 million-strong customer base to corporations as a research tool (1^st Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/feb/01/facebook-seeks-to-exploit-user-information

Google:

Google announces an extension of its Google earth project that will map the world’s oceans and offer underwater imagery (1^st Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/feb/01/google-earth-oceans-project