For your paying eyes only

Rupert Murdoch’s speech to the US Federal Trade Commission about the ‘Future of Journalism’, on 3 December, has accelerated an unavoidable development at a time where a the internet is maturing. 

The News Corporation Chairman told US regulators that ‘there is no such thing as a free news story’, and users will have to start paying for online news content - aggregation by websites and search engines should be considered as theft. Undoubtedly, once Murdoch has made the step to put his content behind a wall, many agencies and publishers will follow promptly. 

After all, the making of news is not free. How are all those journalists and reporters paid? It is hardly ‘fair trade’ when dozens of websites and search engines, such as Google and Yahoo!, enjoy the ‘free ride’ they currently have. They do not employ huge editorial teams, while they include News Corporation and other sources in their news pages - team Murdoch called it ‘Kleptomania’ - and they are making vast amounts of money with advertising, while they hardly have any labour costs. Quality journalism costs money and free content cannot keep the news industry going. Free is too expensive.

Strong terms of use

A recent decision of a US federal court in favour of Facebook (Facebook v Power Ventures) highlights the importance for popular websites of using strong terms of use to prevent copying. 

After Power Venture’s website (Power.com) and Facebook unsuccessfully tried to reach an agreement to share information, Power.com created its own Facebook account, agreed to Facebook’s terms of use and approached other users as an ‘ordinary user’. The fact that Power Ventures copied ‘entire pages’ (proprietary data) was considered to fall within the scope of Facebook’s terms of use, and was therefore deemed illegal. 

The judge, however, did not refer to protecting users’ information when this is not covered by terms of use, and when non-proprietary information is copied. If this is the case, and users have given their consent to the copier, the website in question cannot do much about it. Facebook already allows thousands of other companies limited access to the Facebook platform through its ‘Facebook Connect’ service, as it realises the vast amounts of information it manages attract many businesses. Currently, strong and explicit terms of use seem to be the most powerful tool to prevent information being copied legally.  

Agree to disagree

Poland approved this month a new law effectively banning online gambling in the Eastern European nation. In September 2009, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that countries can run state monopolies for online sports betting. 

Although ECJ judges recognised certain Member States have laws regarding online gambling that are not compatible with European principles, they ruled this ‘may be justified by overriding reasons relating to the public interest’, such as the high risks of fraud and other criminal activities. A month later, France announced it would give up its monopoly and proposed a law which will, on paper, open up its market to foreign gambling operators. 

At the same time, Denmark is putting forward new rules to regulate its online gambling market, as are Spain and Sweden - while Greece, Germany and Norway keep running their state betting monopolies. The ECJ ruling effectively gave Member States a tool to challenge the European Treaty, which guarantees an open market and freedom of services. The implementation of a European policy and single market for online betting across all 27 Member States seems therefore further away than ever. 

US move closer to end online gambling ban

The debate on online gambling heated up in the US, after a Congress hearing for two bills (HR2266 and HR2267), aimed at legalising online gambling, was scheduled for 3 December. HR2266 aims to delay by one year the entry into force of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). UIGEA was due to come into effect on 1 December, but its implementation has been delayed until June 2010.

HR2267, known as the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act (IGRCP), aims to legalise online poker games in the US. The bill would give the US Treasury Department the authority to establish regulations and license internet gambling operators. Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., President of the American Gaming Association (AGA), said, in a speech at the Global Gaming Expo in Last Vegas, last month, that online gambling could be a good alternative to generate new tax revenues.“Any Congressman or Senator who introduces a piece of legislation that is going to cost something will also have to show how they are going to pay for it”, said Fahrenkopf. “They will be looking around at a place to get additional revenue.”

A study by Pricewaterhouse Coopers demonstrated that taxes on regulated internet gambling could collect up to $63 billion in the next ten years. Senator Ron Wyden (Oregon) proposed an amendment to HR2267 in September, stating that tax revenue generated through the bill should be dedicated to health care reform. Wyden withdrew the proposal a week later, saying “he did not want to increase any controversy already facing the health care package”. Michael Waxman, spokesperson for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative, said: “The Senate Finance Committee should approve the resolution, finally putting an end a failed prohibition on internet gambling that leaves Americans unprotected and unlicensed offshore operators as the only beneficiary in a thriving marketplace”. 

The 1961 Wire Act was the basis for the US online gambling ban in the past. However, the US Court of Appeals confirmed in 2002 in ‘Thompson v. Mastercard’ a lower court’s ruling according to which casino games are legal. Although enforcement of the UIGEA has been delayed until June 2010, section eight of the Safe Port Act 2006 makes it illegal for banks and credit card companies to process payments on gambling websites, effectively banning online gambling.

Latest radio 1 show

My latest radio 1 show, from last Thursday, in Dutch; about Jordan, the jungle, Alex Reid, cross dressing, boobs that are too big and why Britons cannot get enough of this.

Scroll to 1:21:30 (1 hr, 21 mins, 30 sec) for my item

http://player.omroep.nl/?aflID=10345309

Latest radio 1 show

http://player.omroep.nl/?aflID=10336030 my radio 1 show in Holland, last Thursday.

A false French bet

Following pressure from the European Union and private operators, France has proposed a new gambling law, presenting it as a historic proposition that will open up the French gambling market for the first time in history. 

The bill should put an end to the state monopoly of two operators, PMU and Française des Jeux. French officials claim the new law will meet European Union demands for liberalisation and will fully open up its market, which is worth an estimated five to six billion Euros a year.

The UK-based Remote Gambling Association (RGA) said in a statement that ‘the French bill will fail to achieve any of its stated objectives’. It is a safe bet to say the RGA is right. Under the new bill, operators need a licence and can only obtain one if they close down their accounts for six months. This basically means giving away your customers to the French monopolists or competitors. Even if such a drastic move is made, another clause forbids applicants to have a sister or daughter company in an offshore tax haven. Ladbrokes and William Hill’s move to Gibraltar still fresh in mind, which self-respecting online gambling business does not have one? It is unlikely anything will change. Only if the Senate removes these clauses and if France softens its approach, the market can truly open up.

Latest Radio 1 show (in Dutch)

My latest BNN Radio 1 show in Holland. Scroll to 0:22 (22 mins) for my item about drugs abuse and policy in the UK.

http://player.omroep.nl/?aflID=10273615

50 jobs in 50 states in 50 weeks

Everyone who thinks it is a tough time out there, with more people being made redundant than finding new jobs, will be inspired by the story of Dan Seddiqui.  

The former financial analyst was unable to get a job and when he did not even have a place to call home anymore, he was sent to therapy by his parents to help him prepare properly for the job hunt.  

Dan was so encouraged by his sessions he wanted to prove there are plenty of jobs out there. Perhaps his therapist was a bit too good value for money: Dan decided he wanted to try as many jobs as possible in one year. In 50 weeks he worked in all 50 American states and tried everything from being surf instructor (Hawaii), photographer (Alaska), wedding planner (Nevada), weatherman (Ohio) as well as a real estate agent (Idaho). 

In Illinois he worked as a ticket agent, in Oregon as a logging logger and in California he was a cellar master. Now he has announced he is going to write a book and publishers are queuing up for the rights. His book, titled ‘Living the Map’, will be published at the end of the year. Dan said he did find his dream job, being a dietician, a job that he did for a week whilst in Mississippi.  

www.livingthemap.com

Latest radio 1 show

My latest radio 1 show in Holland, about the British paparazzi, Amy Winehouse and the new documentary StarSuckers.

Scroll to 0:35 (35 mins) for my item.

http://player.omroep.nl/?aflID=10254177

Roller skating babies becomes YouTube sensation

A few weeks ago someone sent me a cute video of a bunch of babies rollerskating around New York City’s Central Park. Now it turns out the dancing babies have become a You Tube sensation after more than 11,5 million people watched the video within the last two months. That is almost 200.000 people a day, 8500 people every hour!

"It's one of the cutest things I've ever seen," one YouTube viewer comments. Reviewer Saul Relative says, "You'll find yourself watching this feel good video commercial again and again."
The international advertisement for the French Evian mineral water, featuring roller-skating babies to a remix of the Sugarhill Gang’s song Rapper’s Delight, is one of the biggest hits in the advertisement industry in recent times.

Euro RSCG, responsible for the campaign, launched the web video advertisement early July and the ad has been aired on television in France, Belgium and Canada. According to Evian’s website there are plans to bring the roller-skating babies to the US and UK television screens later this year.

Curious? Check it out on You Tube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQcVllWpwGs

Alleged ghost hunt in Toronto ends in death

A Canadion woman fell to her dead when she was hunting ghosts on the roof of a University of Toronto building.

29-year old Leah Kubik was exploring the university building with a friend around 2 am on September 16. She fell to her death after she tried to jump from one section of the building to the next. She missed and made a three-story fall. Although she was taken to a local hospital, she was pronounced dead upon arrival. According to the Toronto Star, the pair had been drinking heavily and when they were walking home they decided to go ‘ghost hunting’. The building was built in 1874 and used by Know College until the university bought the property 37 years ago.

Latest radio 1 item

My latest radio show in Holland, scroll to 1:23 (1 hour and 23 minutes) for my item
http://player.omroep.nl/?aflID=10193103

Woman in coma gives birth to baby boy

A miracle has happened in Germany. For the first time in living memory a woman who had been in a coma for the last 22 weeks of her pregnancy has given birth to a healthy baby.

The 40-year old woman, who fell pregnant before she suffered a heart attack that left her comatose, gave birth to a boy in a German hospital last year. "Given the mother's age and the completely normal state of the child, this case is extraordinary in the scientific world and very pleasing," Matthias Beckmann from the University Clinic in the southern German city of Erlangen said on Wednesday in the British newspaper Metro. The baby is now 18 months old. Beckmann: "We wanted to keep the spectacular case secret for as long as possible to demonstrate that we're not experimenting on people and that the child is still healthy." Less than 25 cases of women who are brain death or in a coma have been known since the 1970s. All of them ended in miscarriages or deformed babies. It is most likely the boy will grow up without a mother though. Doctors have said they have "almost no hope" for the mother. More bad news came for the child when he was placed in a home, after his father decided he was unable to care for him as he had to travel often for his job.

Driver fined after following GPS to edge of cliff in England

A driver in the United Kingdom has been fined after he followed the directions given by its satellite navigation system, leading him to the edge of a huge cliff drop in Yorkshire, Northern England.

In March 2009 Robert Jones was driving his BMW as he was trying to get home to Doncaster, in South Yorkshire. Since he did not know the route he followed his GPS system. Despite being directed onto a narrow dirt track which can hardly be called a road he continued following the information by his TomTom. Jones became so distracted by his GPS he struck a fence on the edge of a 30 meter cliff. The battery of his phone had died, so he got out and walked to a village nearby for help.

Yesterday, 43-year old Robert Jones represented himself in Calderdale Magistrates Court. He was prosecuted for driving without due care and attention because ‘he followed his TomTom so much it led him up path which was clearly not designed for the use of cars, although he continued to follow the directions of his GPS.’ Mr Jones was fined £370 and got six points on his licence.