Tag Archives: Internet Service Providers

FT.com: Digital chiefs challenge House of Lords digital economy bill amendment

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A letter to the Financial Times signed by some of the highest digital figures in the UK challenges the House of Lords adoption of amendment 120A to the digital economy bill.

This clause, they argue, will lead to more cases where internet service providers (ISPs) block websites accused of illegally hosting copyrighted material – before being seen by a judge.

The writers, who include Tom Watson MP, Stephen Fry, the chief executive of Orange; the MD of Google UK, the chairman of the TalkTalk Group, BT Group’s chief executive and the MD of EBay, claim that freedom of speech will be threatened, without reducing copyright infringement.

Full letter at this link…

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Scottish Sun: Naming Baby P’s mum and step-dad

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The Scottish Sun is claiming it will name the mum and step-dad of Baby P at midnight (BST) tonight) as a reporting ban on identifying the pair expires at 11:59pm.

The article goes on to describe how their names were made available online:

“Vigilantes managed to get around the identity ban in the early weeks of their conviction by naming them on websites (…) But Scotland Yard’s e-crime unit worked with internet service providers to remove most of the content from cyberspace.”

The conditions of the reporting ban aside it’s an interesting series of events – banned, leaked, removed, reported in the ‘traditional’ press – a cycle under increasing pressure from the online world.

Full story at this link…

Advertising round-up: Ad recession to hit new low; ASA predicts and behavioural ads

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The global advertising recession will a new low point in the second half of 2009, dropping by 8.5 per cent this year, according to a new report from ZenithOptimedia, reports MediaGuardian.co.uk.

Western Europe and North America will be most affected, suggests the forecast, which can be downloaded in full at this link.

Elsewhere in the industry, Guy Parker, chief of the UK’s Advertising Standards Agency, has predicted a greater number of complaints relating to fewer campaigns in 2009.

In 2008 ASA received 26,433 complaints about 15,556 ads, but 2009 could see more than 30,000, says Parker.

Across the pond Broadcasting & Cable reports that four major US ad associations have joined forces to issue a set of guidelines on behavioral advertising – most significantly a ruling requiring internet service providers and desktop app software, such as web browser tool bars, to ask a user to opt-in before engaging in behavioral ads.

CPJ releases ‘Attacks on the Press in 2008’ report

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The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) released its ‘Attacks on the Press in 2008’ report yesterday and speaking in the preface, Carl Bernstein made two comments that neatly highlight the duplicitious nature of the web when it comes to press freedom:

“[T]he tension between technology and outright repression – the availability of satellite television, the use of the internet as impetus for growth and economic modernization – has rendered obsolete the old methods of press control and suppression of information such as media nationalization and overt censorship.

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“In China, which now has more than a quarter billion online users, self-censorship is enforced through government rules and regulations that guide Internet service providers about what news can be posted and who can post it (…) In every country following the Chinese model, internet access has been severely restricted or the plug pulled entirely during periods of potential social unrest.”

Last year CPJ’s imprisonment index noted that more online journalists were in jail than those working in any other media.

While the US’ ranking in terms of imprisoned journalists is low, the country’s actions have ‘a disproportionate impact’ on the rest of the world. With a new administration comes new hope for global press freedom, Bernstein adds.

“President Barack Obama must recognise that whenever the United States fails to uphold press freedom at home or on the battlefield, its actions ripple across the world. By scrupulously upholding press freedom at home, by ending the practice of open-ended detentions of journalists, and by investigating and learning from each instance in which the US military is responsible for the death of a journalist, Obama can send an unequivocal message about the country’s commitment to protecting press freedom. These policies might accelerate declines in the numbers of journalists killed and imprisoned. They will certainly make it much harder for governments worldwide to justify repressive policies by citing the actions of the United States.”

AP: Malaysian authorities arrest top blogger after anti-government comments

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Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin, who writes for website Malaysia Today, was seized under the Internal Security Act for allegedly posting about the ‘misdeeds’ of government leaders.

Access to Raja’s website had previously been cut off by internet service providers under a government ruling.

Bolton News suspends comments on online news

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The Bolton News is directing readers to the site’s forum area after closing commenting features on its news stories.

The site suspended the comments last month because of abusive posters, according to How-Do, but is now urging readers to contribute to the site’s forums.

A welcome post from David Crookes, part of the internet operations team at the paper, said the move would ‘bring reader reaction together in one place’.

“The changes have been made because of a minority of people who have insisted on spoiling our previous comment facilities,” wrote Crookes.

“That will leave the majority free to discuss topics, safe in the knowledge that their opinions will be respected.”

Anyone posting offensive or abusive messages will be immediately banned from the site, with persistent offenders reported to Internet Service Providers, Crookes added.