January 2010

France, Grudgingly, Imagines Google as a Partner on Digital Media Projects

As France slowly brings its cultural past and present into digital form, it is realizing that the job will require support from a company often viewed with deep suspicion here: Google.

Google is highly popular with many Internet users in France, where it controls about 80 percent of the search market. But the French cultural elite has not always been as welcoming, because Google's growing presence demonstrates France's dependence on the company to develop its digital media business. As a result, France has yet to find a successful way of involving Google in various projects. First, France tried a coercive approach, suggesting that Google ought to help aid the beleaguered music industry, and recently even threatened an antitrust investigation into the company. Then it tried a more conciliatory move, proposing a partnership with Google to accelerate the development of a viable French digital library. But even on projects agreed to by both sides, the details have often hindered progress.

Concern About Fees Threatens to Delay Olympic Bidding

After years of bidding up fees for the rights to televise sports, U.S. media companies are putting on the brakes.

Richard Carrion, a member of the International Olympic Committee's executive board, said the organization is seriously considering delaying until next year the bidding for the U.S. media rights for the 2014 and 2016 Olympics because of the ongoing struggles of broadcasters hurt by a rocky advertising market. The IOC had planned to sell the TV rights this spring following what they and TV executives believe will be strong U.S. ratings for the Vancouver Games. "There is sufficient instability in the market that we may wait a bit," Mr. Carrion said.

Meanwhile, executives at the National Collegiate Athletic Association are still casting around for a new long-term deal to broadcast their post-season men's basketball tournament, known as March Madness. The NCAA can opt out of its current deal with CBS Corp. if it finds a better offer. However, the NCAA's request for proposals sent to media companies late last year has generated a lot of dialogue rather than a fervent bidding war.

Viewership for football, the Olympics and other major sporting events remains robust, but media executives say they are rethinking whether the ratings are worth the financial hit.

$133 million ad campaign promotes census participation

Over the next few months, it will be hard to escape hearing about the 2010 Census.

The Census Bureau unveiled a $133 million advertising campaign Thursday that urges people to mail back the questionnaires that will be sent out in mid-March. The ads, in 28 languages, aim to save taxpayers' money by reducing the need for temporary workers to survey people who don't return their forms. Some ads will be featured on high-viewership television shows such as the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday and the Super Bowl in early February. But more than half of the budget has been set aside for media outlets that target groups undercounted in previous censuses, including African Americans, Hispanics and others that have many recent immigrants who may not speak English.

In nation of exhibitionists, there's still a demand for privacy

Just weeks after the Supreme Court took a landmark case featuring a demand for greater communication privacy, many took to Facebook to reveal the color of the bra they were wearing. It is the paradox of the cyber era: A nation of exhibitionists demanding privacy. The real revolution of the Internet has been to make personal disclosure routine. Some, via Twitter, Facebook and the like, have taken to afflict others with a constant stream of their random thoughts -- an avocation that a columnist has no business to criticize. Less understandable to me are the revelations once reserved for the most intimate friends. Transparency has become disconnected from intimacy.

Washington Post sets policy for newsroom participation in sponsored events

Six months after a scandal that tarnished The Washington Post's reputation, the newspaper said Thursday that its journalists will not participate in company-sponsored events with newsmakers unless the proceedings are on the record.

As a "general rule," the guidelines say, newsroom staffers will participate in Post conferences or events only when there are "multiple sponsors." Participation in single-sponsor events "can create the appearance that we are trying to further that sponsor's individual interest, especially if that sponsor has a direct financial or political interest in the topic." The executive editor, however, can grant exemptions -- if, for example, a company were to underwrite a conference on a topic far removed from its business. The guidelines say that sponsors will not determine the content or structure of any event, and that The Post will decide whether the proceedings are worthy of news coverage. Post reporters can be consulted on potential guests but should not personally extend the invitations, the rules say.

President Obama Welcomes CEOs to White House Forum on Modernizing Government

As part of his commitment to change how business is done in Washington and instill a new sense of responsibility for taxpayer dollars, the President welcomed more than 50 of the country's top CEOs to the White House Forum on Modernizing Government.

Information technology has transformed how the private sector operates - and revolutionized the ease, convenience, and effectiveness by which it serves its customers. The government has a lot to learn from the private sector. That's why the President called for this Forum; he wanted to hear from those on the frontlines -from those far removed from Washington - who are using technology to save money and improve performance.

"I want us to ask ourselves every day, how are we using technology to make a real difference in people's lives," said President Obama. "Improving the technology our government uses isn't about having the fanciest bells and whistles on our websites - it's about how we use the American people's hard-earned tax dollars to make government work better for them."

Fighting Illiteracy in Chicago, With Enthusiasm

Twice a month, Ava Zeligson stands in front of 55 strangers and, with her infectious enthusiasm, explains why each of them can make a difference in the battle against Chicago's deeply entrenched illiteracy rate. Zeligson is the volunteer coordinator for Open Books, the latest addition to the city's crowded field of literacy organizations. The fact that nearly everyone who attends an Open Books orientation session goes on to volunteer is testament, at least in part, to her powers of persuasion. The fact that anyone shows up in the first place shows the wide appeal of Open Books' mission and its relentlessly upbeat, cheerfully aggressive approach to voluntary recruitment. The new River North headquarters of Open Books is in a renovated Schwinn bicycle factory. The heart of the space is the bookstore, brightly painted and stocked with more than 50,000 used books. Upstairs are offices for the small staff and classrooms for tutoring and other activities by Open Books' army of some 3,000 volunteers. Their ranks are growing at a rapid clip — up 30 percent from last year, said Becca Keaty, the group's director of marketing and public relations. While the increase may be partly a result of the recession — widespread layoffs mean more qualified people with time on their hands — Open Books clearly benefits from its savvy approach to volunteerism: respond quickly to offers of help; make volunteers feel their efforts, no matter how small, are worthwhile; and make the experience fun for everyone involved.

Lawmakers Urge Action On Net Freedom Bill

After Google announced that it may pull its operations out of China, a group of House members called on Congress Thursday to pass legislation that supporters say would give information technology companies like Google cover under U.S. law to allow them to resist efforts by foreign governments to censor their operations in those countries.

Rep Christopher Smith (R-NJ) says a bill he sponsored, the Global Online Freedom Act, would require the State Department to release an annual list of countries designated as "Internet-restricting countries," require U.S. firms to notify U.S. officials of requests from foreign governments to filter or censor information, and would prohibit U.S. Internet firms from jamming U.S.-government Web sites such as the Voice of America. In addition such firms would be required to store personally identifiable information outside of countries that impose Internet restrictions.

Rep Smith and the other U.S. lawmakers urged other information technology companies to join Google's example. They also called on the State Department to use funding Congress has appropriated to support Internet freedom around the world to fund efforts to defeat China's Internet firewall, which blocks information opposed by the government.

RIAA: Network neutrality shouldn't inhibit antipiracy

The lobbying group for the top four recording companies wants to make sure that when regulations on Network Neutrality are adopted, they don't impede antipiracy efforts.

Hey FCC: Don't Sacrifice Network Neutrality to Content Owners

[Commentary] Proposed Network Neutrality regulations rules have a gaping "copyright loophole." They exempt any activity designed to block copyright infringement. This is a problem.

A major reason for Network Neutrality rules in the first place is to prevent Internet service providers from doing unreasonable things, like throttling bittorrent, in the name of making the world safe from copyright infringement. There is no reason to specifically exempt attempts to block copyright infringement from Network Neutrality rules. This is because the rules do not apply to copyright infringement. The rules specifically refer to lawful activity, which does not include copyright infringement. In fact, that is why the Network Neutrality rules are so important.

Benton

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