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(BBC) The BBC has warned that its regional channels BBC Wales and BBC Scotland will be demoted to positions on the Sky on-screen guide alongside porn channels such as Playboy if TV watchdogs don't intervene. The corporation claimed BSkyB has threatened to relegate BBC1 and BBC2 to slots 214 and 215 on Sky's electronic version of the Radio Times, which 6.6 million subscribers must use find and tune into channels. The threat was made after the corporation decided to go it alone and not pay BSkyB for encryption and its slots on the programme guide. Viewers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland would have to trawl through hundreds of channels to find their local versions because they would be listed in the 900s next to adult channels such as Playboy TV and Fantasy TV.
(RAPID) Site sharing in itself does not raise competition concerns. The Commission' investigation has furthermore revealed that national roaming between licensed network operators benefits consumers by allowing the operators involved to offer better and quicker coverage, especially in less built-up and more remote areas of the UK. It also helps the launch of innovative 3rd Generation ("3G") services. Roaming will not include the top ten cities in the UK but be limited to smaller cities and rural areas.
(Spiegel) Die ambitionierten Online-Engagements der öffentlich-rechtlichen Anbieter ARD und ZDF stoßen auf immer härteren Widerstand. Länderregierungen fordern von den Sendern eine Schlankheitskur, eine Staatsvertrags-Novelle soll Grenzen ziehen und die Lobby der Privatsender klagt in Brüssel.
(Droit et Nouvelles Technologies) Le Luxembourg s’apprête à transposer la decision-cadre du Conseil européen du 13 juin 2002 relative au mandat d'arrêt européen et aux procédures de remise entre États membres. Nous saisissons l’occasion pour brièvement rappeler le contenu de ce texte méconnu mais qui contient pourtant des dispositions qui intéressent au premier chef les juristes de l’internet. Certaines infractions, si elles sont punies dans l'État membre d'émission d'une peine ou d'une mesure de sûreté privatives de liberté d'un maximum d'au moins trois ans telles qu'elles sont définies par le droit de l'État membre d'émission, donnent lieu à remise sur la base d'un mandat d'arrêt européen, aux conditions de la présente décision-cadre et sans contrôle de la double incrimination du fait. Parmi ces exceptions, on trouve : 1. L’exploitation sexuelle des enfants et la pédopornographie ; 2. La cybercriminalité.
(AP) Judge Stephen W. Thompson, who has sat on the New Jersey Superior Court bench since 1989 and heard hundreds of criminal cases, was arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child for possessing child pornography.
(AP) The Federal Trade Commission has joined with 33 state and local law enforcement agencies to target auction con artists with actions ranging from criminal prosecutions to warning letters.
(CSA) La diffusion de programmes de catégorie V (les oeuvres cinématographiques interdites aux mineurs de 18 ans ainsi que les programmes pornographiques ou de très grande violence) ne demeure possible qu'entre minuit et cinq heures du matin. Pour la diffusion en mode numérique doit être mis en oeuvre un dispositif efficace de verrouillage d'accès à ces programmes, qui nécessite la composition d'un code parental fourni, avec des garanties appropriées, aux seuls majeurs titulaires de l'abonnement.
(RAPID) Protecting Europe's fast-growing electronic pay-services (paid for services provided via TV, radio and internet) against piracy will be an important contribution to making the EU more competitive as 21st century knowledge-based economies are expected to rely increasingly on electronic pay services, says a report by the European Commission. Piracy is far from a victimless crime: legitimate users end up paying higher prices, operators can go bankrupt and governments are deprived of tax revenue. see On the legal protection of electronic pay services. Report from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the European Economic and Social Committee on the implementation of Directive 98/84/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 November 1998 on the legal protection of services based on, and consisting of, conditional access COM(2003)198.
(CNET News.com) The recording industry is turning file-swappers' own tools against them with a new campaign to send warnings to people who are offering copyrighted materials online. Tapping into the chat functions built into software programs such as Kazaa and Grokster, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) started sending automatic messages to people who are providing copyrighted songs online, warning them that they're breaking the law.
(BBC) Four US students have agreed to pay damages after the American music industry's trade group sued them for making money from illegal downloading. The four students will pay between $12,000 (£7,500) and $17,500 (£11,000) each to the RIAA, although the industry body had originally sought damages for $150,000 (£93,000) per song.
(CDT) ENUM is a technology "protocol" that allows the translation of normal telephone numbers into a format that can be used to store and retrieve Internet addressing information, which can in turn be used to route communications over the Internet. This technology has the potential to allow large and small users to save money and increase control over and flexibility in their communications. But ENUM's potential benefits also bring risks in terms of privacy and other public policy concerns. Full report.
(Transfert) 25 organismes et associations européennes ont décidé de lancer un projet de label européen d'accessibilité du web pour les personnes handicapées. Pour cela, les 25 partenaires ont signé un protocole d'accord pour la création d'un consortium, baptisé "Euro accessibilité".
(RAPID) The EU has tabled in the WTO a detailed list of sectors where it is offering companies and individuals in third countries further opportunities to offer services in the EU market. The further opening of trade in a number of areas, ranging from telecommunications, to banking, insurance, environmental services or distribution will contribute to growth and employment in the EU. A particular focus of the offer aims to give developing countries a better deal especially in sectors of interest for them via the temporary entry of foreign nationals into the EU to provide services. Telecoms: the EU offers to guarantee to third countries' operators full access to the internal market, while fully safeguarding the right of the EU, for example, to define its universal service objectives. The EU also removes restrictions, such as prohibitions for telecom companies to engage in non-telecom activities (e.g. computer related services) in Greece, restrictions on foreign ownership in Portugal or prohibitions against providing telecom services across borders in several Member States. Audiovisual services: The current regime is unchanged: no commitment in this sector, and maintenance of all exemptions to the Most-Favoured Nation clause listed by the EU during the Uruguay Round to cover cultural policies, such as co-production agreements and privileged treatment accorded to audio-visual works originating from the EU and other European countries. Trade in services: Conditional offer from the EC and its Member States (PDF).
(MDA) Singapore's National Internet Advisory Committee (NIAC) advises the Media Development Authority (MDA) on the regulation of electronic information services and the development of the industry. The Committee also assists MDA in the development of its regulatory framework for the Internet. MDA is formed by the merger of the Singapore Broadcasting Authority, the Films and Publications Department, and the Singapore Film Commission, on 1 Jan 2003. See report for 2002.
(Washington Post) Virginia launched a crackdown on unsolicited bulk e-mail yesterday with a new anti-spam statute that enables prosecutors to seize the profits, computers and other assets of high-volume offenders. Gov. Mark R. Warner traveled to the Dulles headquarters of America Online, the world's largest Internet service provider, to ceremonially sign recently enacted legislation that establishes five-year prison terms and other criminal penalties against chronic, large-scale senders.
(CNET News.com) The top three e-mail service providers are pooling their resources and technical expertise to reduce unwanted commercial solicitations, or spam, that is inundating their systems. America Online, Yahoo and Microsoft sketched a broad outline that calls for technical changes to e-mail to make it more difficult to send the widely reviled messages. Among the steps are plans to hinder spammers from creating multiple fraudulent e-mail accounts in bulk and to determine the real identity of the senders.
(CNET News.com) It's not every day people bet their jobs on the effectiveness of a law--let alone an antispam law. Many U.S. states have already enacted such e-mail laws, and spam keeps flooding in. But that's exactly what Larry Lessig, a Stanford University law professor and one of the most prominent liberal voices online, has done. A few months ago, Lessig made an unusual wager: If Congress enacts an antispam law that offers bounties for the reporting of spammers, and the law fails to "substantially reduce the level of spam," he will resign from his dream job at a top law school.
(IDG News Service) Two proposals aiming to curb unwanted commercial e-mail being considered by Congress don't go far enough to eliminate spam, say some antispam advocates. The country needs federal antispam legislation, agreed most of the group of eight panelists at the Federal Trade Commission's recent Spam Forum. But all disagreed with a proposal recently offered by Representative Zoe Lofgren, and most said they didn't support a bill offered by Senators Conrad Burns and Ron Wyden. Spam and a Case of Dyspepsia (Washington Post) Spam e-mail problem worse than imagined and Conference concludes spam is here to stay ... for now (AP)
(Heise) Die Internet-Plattform www.mut-gegen-rechte-gewalt.de ist vom Stern und der Amadeu-Antonio-Stiftung gestartet worden. Der Internet-Auftritt berichtet über die Entwicklung beim Rechtsextremismus in Deutschland. Die Bundesregierung wird für den Kampf gegen den Rechtsextremismus in diesem Jahr 45,5 Millionen Euro bereitstellen. Die Idee einer Internet-Plattform gegen Rechtsradikalismus ist nicht neu:. Siehe Netzgegenrechts.de, hagalil online und Zusammen gegen Rechts im Internet (ZgR).
(BBC) A website has been honoured for its role in helping former child soldiers in Sierra Leone recover from their ordeal. Childsoldiers.org has won a Cable and Wireless Childnet Award, which recognises the best websites for children from all over the world. The Sierra Leonean site allows former child solders to talk about their experiences through writings, drawing or music, as well as exchange e-mails with other teens from around the world.
(Reuters) Apple unveiled its long-awaited online music service, promising to make the process of buying music on the Internet simple and cheap enough to compete with file-swapping sites the record industry blames for its slump. Apple said that its Internet-based iTunes Music Store software would allow users to download music for 99 cents per song without subscription fees.
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