Sunday 3 May 2009

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 (30th 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 (27th 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 (26th 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 (25th 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 (25th 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 (24th 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 (24th 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 (23rd 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 (21st 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 (21st 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 (20th 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 (19th 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 (18th 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 (18th 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 (17th 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 (16th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/apr/16/china-cybercrime-hacking

Cyberwar:

A survey of cyberwarfare today (16th 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 (16th 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 (15th 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 (14th 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 (13th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/apr/13/amazon-gay-writers

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

Apps:

On the rise of the iPhone applications (12th 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 (12th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/apr/12/damien-mc-bride-labour-smear

Citizen Journalism:

On 1st 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:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(7th 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 (11th 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 (10th 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 (10th 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 (9th 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’ (9th 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 (9th 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 (8th 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 (8th 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 (7th 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 (7th 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 (6th 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 (6th April): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/apr/06/spotify-digital-music-downloads

Wikipedia:

John Naughton defends Wikipedia (5th 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 (4th 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 (4th 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 (3rd 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 (3rd 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 (2nd 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 (2nd 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 (2nd 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 (2nd 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 (1st 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 (31st 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 (31st 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 (31st 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 (30th March):

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

Social Networking:

Myspace shrinks as rivals grab its users (29th 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 (27th 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 (27th 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 (26th 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’ (25th 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 (23rd 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 (23rd 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 (23rd 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 (21st 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 (21st 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 (20th 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 (19th 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

(20th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/mar/20/google-street-view And (21st 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 (19th 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 (17th 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 (12th 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 (11th March): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/7937945.stm

Social Networking:

Facebook launches an Arabic version (11th March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/mar/10/facebook-launches-arabic-version The BBC reports new versions in both Arabic and Hebrew (12th 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 (11th 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 (10th 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 (9th 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 (5th 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 (5th 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 (5th 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 (4th 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 (4th 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 (4th 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 (3rd March): http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/mar/03/musicindustry-useconomy

Mobile Phones:

How mobile phones have transformed Africa (3rd 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 (3rd 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 (2nd 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’ (2nd 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 (29th 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 (27th 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 (27th 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 (26th 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 (25th 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 (23rd 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… (21st Feb): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7903169.stm

Future Technology:

The iCub robot makes its UK debut (20th 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 (19th 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 (18th 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 (18th 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 (17th 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 (16th 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’ (16th 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 (15th 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 (15th 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’ (14th Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/feb/14/pirate-bay-trial A few days later half the charges are dropped (17th 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 (13th 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 (12th 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 (12th 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 (11th 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 (10th 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 (9th 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 (6th 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 (6th 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 (5th 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 (4th 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 (4th 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 (1st 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 (1st Feb): http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/feb/01/google-earth-oceans-project