Monday, 30th November 2009

Facts about file-sharing
Rory Cellan-Jones attempts to shed some light on just how much unlawful file-sharing is going on in the UK and what effect is it having on the creative industries. He asks Geoff Taylor of the BPI  and Jim Killock of the Open Rights Group to answer five questions about file-sharing, supplying the journalist with a little bit of evidence on each of them.

Source: BBC News

Monday, 30th November 2009

The media mix: how to make money from paid-for media content
Moving online users accustomed to "free" access is not proving easy. And there is a big gap between the amount of money being earned online versus offline. How that gap is going to be filled is still unclear. The most pertinent advice seems to be: build a large audience of users with a free-access principle supported by advertising and sponsorship and then find ways to charge for added-value services.

Source: The Guardian

Monday, 30th November 2009

Online video: "no single model will prevail"
Online video is growing. But how do you make it pay? Do you take the safe free option, go for ad-based offerings and hope to expand your viewer base, or gamble with a subscription model? Or are hybrid models based on current TV offerings inevitable?

Source: The Guardian

Monday, 30th November 2009

Virgin Media to trial filesharing monitoring system
Virgin Media will trial deep packet inspection technology to measure the level of illegal filesharing on its network, but plans not to tell the customers whose traffic will be examined.

Source: The Register

Monday, 30th November 2009

Pub fined £8,000 for customer's illicit downloads, ZDNet reports
A pub owner has had to pay £8,000 after someone used its open wireless hotspot to download copyrighted material unlawfully, says the managing director of the hotspot provider The Cloud. A legal expert told that if the Digital Economy bill passes in its present form then the problem for hotspot providers could get worse, because under its rules the owner of the copyrighted material would simply target the internet address of the hotspot and look no further. In this case, that would be the pub.

Source: The Guardian

Friday, 27th November 2009

Minister puts intellectual property at the heart of UK economic recovery
Archana Venkatraman asks David Lammy, the minister for higher education and intellectual property, about his vision for a holistic copyright system for the UK.

Source: PC Mag

Friday, 27th November 2009

3D high-definition TV trials kick off
While Britain will have to wait until some as-yet-unannounced time in 2010 to enjoy the full benefits of 3D TV courtesy of Sky, high definition 3D TV trials are about to start in Korea.

Source: Tech Radar

Friday, 27th November 2009

Taking the Bat to Copyright-Theft
Cricket has often been accused of being steeped in customs and traditions, but the sport is embracing its role in one of the biggest battles of the digital age after launching an effort to combat online copyright-theft.

Source: WSJ

Thursday, 26th November 2009

Illegal filesharing: a problem the government can’t solve?
Charles Arthur writes that the government’s pursuit of illegal file-sharers has put it in conflict with ISPs and the creative industries.

Source: The Guardian

Thursday, 26th November 2009

BBC iPlayer available on Freesat
The iPlayer is to be made available on Freesat, the free satellite group created last year by the BBC and ITV, by Christmas. The BBC is also talking to other satellite services about offering catch-up programming. A spokesman for BSkyB said that the BBC should make its content available without access being conditional on the use of the iPlayer. All existing Freesat HD television equipment will be able to receive the iPlayer service. ITV's catch-up service, ITV Player, will launch on Freesat in the first half of next year.

Source: Metro

Thursday, 26th November 2009

TiVo switches back on to British television in Virgin Media tie-up
TiVo, the US company partly responsible for popularising PVRs, is teaming up with Virgin Media to launch a HDTV service in the UK, pitting it against BSkyB and, potentially, Project Canvas. The first TiVo and Virgin branded boxes will be released sometime next year. The companies will develop the high definition set-top boxes that will allow Virgin subscribers to record programming on the box's hard drive, and access online content through a broadband connection.

Source: The Independent

Wednesday, 25th November 2009

European internet law
The European Parliament has approved telecoms laws under which internet users can be disconnected for illegal filesharing, if found guilty. The new laws had been held up by attempts to enshrine internet access as a "human right". After a compromise, the laws have been passed and national regulators have until next May to implement the regulations. The new laws ensure that no person will be "arbitrarily or immediately" cut off from the internet.

Source: Times

Wednesday, 25th November 2009

BBC launches web-only version of EastEnders
The BBC is releasing its first internet-based spin-off soap as it continues to expand its online empire. The show, called EastEnders E20, has its roots in flagship show East-Enders but is targeted more at a youth audience. But it will not appear on TV screens - meaning licence fee payers may be funding the programme despite being unable to see it.

Source: Metro

Monday, 24th November 2009

Sweden sees music sales soar after crackdown on filesharing
Record labels are pointing to the dramatic rise in music sales in Sweden, just months after the country introduced anti-piracy laws, as evidence of what a similar crackdown in Britain could do to the flagging market.

Source: The Guardian

Monday, 24th November 2009

Pro-copyright groups lobby MPs for digital economy bill
The New Alliance Against Intellectual Property Theft pushes for legal protection against filesharing copyright-theft.

Source: The Guardian

Monday, 24th November 2009

Music industry is moving with the times
Adam White from Universal Music argues that the music industry is moving with the times.

Source: The Guardian

Monday, 24th November 2009

When copyright-theft isn’t theft
Alexandros Stavrakas contends that the argument over file sharing is redundant, as creative businesses must change, and the social value of free must be recognised.

Source: The Guardian

Monday, 24th November 2009

TalkTalk: Copyright-theft law infringes human rights
TalkTalk argues that content providers should make legal music and film downloads cheaper and easier to access, instead of cutting people’s internet access.

Monday, 23rd November 2009

Call it by its name – this is theft
Article by Richard Scudamore, the chief executive of the Premier League and a member of the Creative Coalition, who writes that the Digital Economy bill must pass safely or the creative industries will start to die.

Source: The Guardian

Monday, 23rd November 2009

Digital economy bill: A punishing future
Article on the comment section of the Guardian website which says that the digital economy bill is misnamed. A more honest title for the legislation would be the copyright protection and punishment bill. It is less about creating the digital businesses of the 21st century than protecting the particular 20th century business models used in music and film.

Source: The Guardian

Monday, 23rd November 2009

The Digital Economy Bill - does it add up?
Rory Cellan-Jones looks at the DEB and says that given the fuzzy timetables and determined opposition will be the two big ideas in this bill - that content owners should be able to pursue file-sharers with severe punishment, and that major public investment should go into next generation broadband come to anything?

Source: BBC News

Monday, 23rd November 2009

Treasury secretary defends government's online piracy plans
Stephen Timms claims piracy powers necessary to 'future-proof' government proposals to safeguard the UK's creative industries

Source: The Guardian

Monday, 23rd November 2009

Hidden tax strangles independent film
A letter to the Sunday Telegraph by a number of film studios states that the Video Recordings Act 1984 needs to be reformed because the technology has changed so much since then. It says: "the Government should allow unrated films to be sold to adults. This would bring Britain into line with America, Norway and Germany, and help the development of a vibrant independent film culture."

Source: MediaGen

Friday, 20th November 2009

Mandelson seeks to alter copyright law to curb file-sharing
Concern is rising among Labour MPs that if Lord Mandelson succeeds in amending copyright laws, which would give the government new powers against people who illegally download, it could give a future Tory government the ability that Rupert Murdoch wants to quash Google.

Source: The Guardian

Friday, 20th November 2009

Industry bosses tackle internet copyright-theft and BBC pay
As the Media Festival kicked off in Manchester, execs including Five boss Dawn Airey and incoming BBC arts editor Will Gompertz tackled issues of internet piracy, BBC pay levels and charging for online content.

Source: Broadcast Now

Friday, 20th November 2009

Stephen Timms explains (a bit) why the government wants to change
the copyright act
Charles Arthur speaks to Stephen Timms, the financial secretary to the Treasury, who is also involved in the Digital Economy bill, about why the government wants to change the copyright act.

Source: The Guardian

Thursday, 19th November 2009

STV tries to stop ITV signing video-on-demand deal
STV is attempting to block ITV from striking a much-anticipated deal with US video-on-demand venture Hulu.

Source: Telegraph

Thursday, 19th November 2009

Sony to let PS3 users in Europe download films
Sony will allow PlayStation 3 users in Europe to download movies through their consoles from today, stepping up its battle with Microsoft over games machines.

Source: FT

Thursday, 19th November 2009

The strange death of illegal downloading
Victor Keegan argues that while the government and the music industry posture about illegal filesharing, smaller, smarter companies are simply out-competing it.

Source: The Guardian

Thursday, 19th November 2009

Government lays out digital plans
The government has laid out its plans to deal with illegal file-sharers as part of its Digital Economy Bill, outlined in the Queen's Speech.

Source: BBC News

Thursday, 19th November 2009

Powers to disconnect copyright-thieves in Digital Economy Bill
Illegal file-sharers could have their internet connections cut off under measures included in the Digital Economy Bill.

Source: Telegaph

Thursday, 19th November 2009

Digital Economy Bill promises action on copyright theft, games and ITV regional news
The Digital Economy Bill offers a clampdown on illegal file-sharing, tougher rules on video game age ratings and powers for Ofcom over ITV regional news.

Source: The Guardian

Thursday, 19th November 2009

Digital Economy Bill proposes legal mandate for Channel 4 film investment
The UK Film Council yesterday welcomed measures announced in the Queen’s Speech that would place a statutory commitment on Channel 4 to invest in film.

Source: Screen Daily

Thursday, 19th November 2009

TV KO'S DVD
A study by Mintel has found that TV subscription channels have overtaken DVDs and cinemas as our favourite way to watch films.

Source: Mediagen

Wednesday, 18th November 2009

Sony discusses Blu-ray success and 3D
Eric Kingdon from Sony discusses how Blu-ray has done since its launch and how the format will be important for 3D viewing.

Source: The Guardian

Tuesday, 17th November 2009

Channel vision
The current 3D week on Channel 4 - starting with a 50-year-old film - may herald a new age of 3DTV, according to Vicky Frost and Stuart O'Connor.

Source: The Guardian

Monday, 16th November 2009

High definition 1080p video coming to YouTube next week
YouTube is introduce support for 1080p high-definition (HD) video from next week, allowing film shot in HD quality to be uploaded and viewed on the site.

Source: The Guardian

Monday, 16th November 2009

Zune to launch outside US
Microsoft is looking to rebrand the digital movie service on its Xbox 360 games console as Zune. Today, Microsoft will introduce instant on-demand movie streaming to the Xbox, so consumers will not have to download a video file before watching it. The Zune-branded service - which includes the most popular films from MGM, Paramount and Universal - will be available in 18 of its largest western markets, including the US, UK, France, Germany and Australia.

Source: FT

Monday, 16th November 2009

Mobile TV: Ready for take-off?
So far in the UK - and across Europe, as far as I can see - mobile television is the personal jet-pack of consumer technology: something that looks fun but has stubbornly refused to take off. Now, though, there's a new wave of interest, sparked by the proliferation of smartphones with bigger screens, notably the iPhone.

Source: BBC News

Monday, 16th November 2009

Music site for unsigned bands Ooizit finally goes live
Unsigned British bands could reach the top of the charts, through a new music download site that has won approval from the Official Chart Company to register its tracks as sales. Ooizit.com, which went live this week, costs £9.97 per month to bands, which can promote and sell their music direct to fans through links to Facebook and MySpace pages. The artists keep all of the royalties.

Source: The Guardian

Friday, 13th November 2009

Real life stories from the film front line
Even in a recession, the annual American Film Market remains the place to go for finance for your film, but these are tough times in the independent film world.

Source: The Independent

Friday, 13th November 2009

Xbox console ban is ‘permanent’
Thousands of Xbox 360 owners who have been cut off from Microsoft’s Xbox Live service for modifying their consoles to play unauthorised copies of games will have to buy a new console if they want to play online again.

Source: BBC News

Friday, 13th November 2009

Modifying the rules of the game
Zoe Kleinman reports on Microsoft’s efforts to combat copyright theft through Xbox Live.

Source: BBC News

Friday, 13th November 2009

Xbox ban: Gamers speak out
BBC website readers have been writing in their reaction to Microsoft cutting off thousands of gamers from its Xbox live service for modifying their consoles to play unauthorised copies of games.

Source: BBC News

Thursday, 12th November 2009

Diana choirboy: I’ll sink copyright-thieves
Interview with the chief executive of the British Phonographic Industry's Geoff Taylor, who is determined to stamp out illegal downloads.

Source: Daily Mail

Thursday, 12th November 2009

Microsoft disconnects Xbox gamers
Thousands of gamers may have been cut off from Microsoft’s online gaming service Xbox Live for modifying their consoles to play unauthorised copies of games. Online reports suggest that as many as 600,000 gamers may have been affected.

Source: BBC News

Thursday, 12th November 2009

Fry enters the fray of online downloading
Stephen Fry has chided business secretary Lord Mandelson for his recent comments regarding illegal downloading. Fry argues that instead of prosecuting people, the Government and record companies should be “thinking of new models to fix the problem”.

Source: News Media Age

Wednesday, 11th November 2009

The BBC and C4 must raise spending on content
Peter Bazalgette writes in the FT on the decline in investment in original television content : "New figures from analysts Oliver & Ohlbaum show the total spend on content (at 2008 prices) has fallen from £3.4bn in 2004 to £2.8bn this year.”

Source: FT

Wednesday, 11th November 2009

BBC anti-copyright theft plans squashed by Ofcom
Ofcom has told the BBC that it will not yet allow the broadcaster to add Digital Rights Management to its HD TV broadcasts. It will not permit the BBC to encode HD broadcasts with DRM until the broadcaster can explain how it will benefit consumers and what it will do to address potential disadvantages.

Source: Mirror

Tueday, 10th November 2009

Sony to Offer Film on Internet TV, Then DVD
In a nod to its vision of the future, Sony  will make its animated hit “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” available to consumers directly through Internet-enabled televisions and Blu-ray players before the movie is released on DVD. It is the latest experiment in Hollywood’s effort to find a way to compensate for the steep decline in profits from home entertainment.

Source: NY Times

Monday, 9th November 2009

Spotify reduces illegal downloading in UK
Spotify has reduced illegal downloading in the UK, according to a survey by Moneysupermarket.com. The website’s research found that two in three self-confessed illegal downloaders reduced their number of downloads after using Spotify. In their survey they also found that one in three people under 20 admitted to illegal downloading with significantly more male culprits than female.

Source: t3.com

Monday, 9th November 2009

DVDs’ days are numbered as viewers run for the stream
DVD sales continue to fall, with manufacturers preparing themselves for the death physical format. Mike Harvey says: "Consumers are getting more ways of finding home entertainment with just a few clicks instead of travelling to a video rental store or waiting for a disc to be delivered through the post."

Source: Times Online

Friday, 6th November 2009

British-style regulators would cut US down to size
Dan Sabbagh worries that the public will be the ultimate losers if television content becomes available on one, online platform.

Source: Times

Friday, 6th November 2009

Need to know: Technology
The Times reports that the European Parliament has removed one of the final barriers to plans by Lord Mandelson to impose sanctions on illegal file sharers.

Source: Mediagen

Friday, 6th November 2009

Europe carves out anti three strikes legislation
The Guardian reports that Lord Mandelson’s three strikes legislation may be at odds with the courts in Europe after a compromise to a proposed new telecommunications bill.

Source: The Guardian

Thursday, 5th November 2009

‘Don’t use a stick to beat file sharers – try a carrot’
Mike Mansnick discusses proposed file sharing legislation.

Source: Telegraph

Thursday, 5th November 2009

Project Canvas throws open online scheme
Any media or telecommunications company will soon be able to join Project Canvas, the joint venture led by the BBC, ITV and BT to bring internet video to Britain’s television sets.

Source: FT

Thursday, 5th November 2009

Joss Stone: Lily Allen is not a singer
Joss Stone has criticised Lily Allen's anti-filesharing stance, saying she is more of a personality than a singer and needs the record sales.

Source: The Guardian

Wednesday, 4rd November 2009

Is access to the internet now a human right?
James Harkin reports on the increasing use of P2P networks and on the threat by government to remove internet access from filesharers.

Source: Times

Wednesday, 4rd November 2009

The fame formula
Rhodri Marsden on how filesharing can be harnessed to assess the next trend in music.

Source: The Independent

Wednesday, 4rd November 2009

Image copyright theft campaign launched
Stock-image website Vivozoom is urging surfers to increase their awareness of online image copyright theft.

Source: Web User

Wednesday, 4rd November 2009

The Pirate Bay effect causes copyright theft related sites to surge
The number of new file-sharing sites hosting unauthorised content skyrocketed over the last three months, according to McAfee's Q3 Threats Report.

Source: The Tech Herald

Tuesday, 3rd November 2009

Can creative industries survive digital onslaught?
Ian Brown writes about the competing rights of content producers and file-sharers, arguing that new business models will help creative industries survive the digital onslaught, not blocking users.

Source: FT

Monday, 2nd November 2009

Who’s making money from the internet revolution?
Lord Mandelson last week  announced the timetable for legislation that will get tough with illegal downloaders. Article looks at who among the creative industries is doing well, or badly, from the internet revolution? Looks at the film industry and says that the sheer size of films and relative complexity of Bittorrent has kept it comparatively safe from widespread piracy. But as connections get faster, film companies can't rely on selling physical disks; Apple already offers near real-time streaming of films, though its Apple TV box hasn't been a success. The saving grace in the UK is the penetration of Sky and Virgin, which offer pay-per-view for films.

Source: The Guardian

Monday, 2nd November 2009

Do legal messages make a difference?
Article which looks at the copyright messages that are at the beginning of DVDs and asks if they make a difference and do they really need to be there? The article includes a comment by Eddy Leviten and references the You Make the Movies campaign.

Source: BBC News

Monday, 2nd November 2009

Illegal downloaders 'spend the most on music', says poll
People who illegally download music from the internet also spend more money on music than anyone else, according to a new study. The survey, published yesterday, found that those who admit illegally downloading music spent an average of £77 a year on music – £33 more than those who claim that they never download music dishonestly.

Source: The Independent