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