Welcome

This week, Google and Viacom have been bickering over copyright infringement, Microsoft has been showing off Windows 7, and we report on the growing problem of e-waste.

Also this week, we reveal how IBM is planning to take advantage of Second Life, why rural parts of the UK are better connected to broadband, and report on a very artistic hoax.

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Hazel Butters, CEO - Prompt Communications

Technology News

Google and Viacom lock horns over YouTube
By Duncan Heaney

The BBC reports that Viacom is taking legal action against YouTube because of what it regards as rampant copyright infringement across the video sharing website. YouTube owner Google is fighting the one billion dollar lawsuit, claiming that the action threatens internet freedom.

Viacom believes that Google is doing "little or nothing" to stop its property ending up on YouTube. The company says that it discovered at least 15,000 unauthorised clips on YouTube, including snippets from popular TV shows such as South Park, SpongeBob SquarePants and MTV Unplugged. Another property that Viacom highlighted was the Al Gore documentary 'An Inconvenient Truth', which it claims had been viewed "an astounding 1.5 billion times."

Google, naturally, refutes Viacom's claims. The search giant's lawyers say that YouTube goes above and beyond legal requirements to protect copyright and removes illegal material promptly. In court documents, Google legal eagles also state that Viacom's lawsuit "threatens the way hundreds of millions of people legitimately exchange information."

Viacom started legal action in 2007 but has recently rewritten the lawsuit, which Google says it will fight all the way to the Supreme Court. Looks like this spat could go on for a while…

The fight against the growing e-waste mountain
By Fatima Khanum

The Guardian has reported on the increasing number of computers being dumped by Western countries in the developing world, and Africa in particular. Despite international legislation to contain the problem, electrical waste, or e-waste, continues to be the fastest growing type of waste, posing serious health risks, especially for those employed to work in the toxic scrap heaps.

E-waste comprises technology goods such as mobile phones, televisions and games consoles as well as computer systems, which contain hazardous elements such as lead, arsenic, cobalt and mercury.

International regulations for handling and managing e-waste include The Basel Convention, a global environmental agreement aimed at reducing the movement of hazardous waste between nations, primarily from developed to less developed nations.

The European Union has also enacted directives on product recycling and introduced restrictions on the movement of e-waste. One such directive, RoHS (Restriction on the use of Hazardous Substances) sets out limits on the use of certain materials and bans electronic equipment in the EU market containing more than those agreed levels.

However, such measures fall short in their objectives, according to the United Nations Environment Programme, which found that discarded electronic goods still accounts for approximately 50 million tonnes of waste each year. In addition, a report commissioned by Greenpeace earlier this year, 'Toxic Tech: Not in Our Backyard', estimated that out of the 8.7 million tonnes of electrical waste created within the EU each year, only an estimated 2.1 million tonnes is collected. It is unknown what happens to the remaining 6.6 million tonnes, or where it ends up. The shocking figures serve to demonstrate that despite calls for manufacturers to take more responsibility, the e-waste mountain remains a growing problem.

Apprentice UK Quote of the Week

"Helene has no impact on anybody. She's there but... quite unmemorable."

Sir Alan's aide, Nick Hewer, suggests the future may not be so bright for Helene.

US Media News

By Oliver Greaves

Charles Gibson, whose contract as anchor of World News on ABC is due to expire soon after the presidential election, said this week that the network had asked him to remain on the job for the foreseeable future, and that he was considering doing so.

"We're figuring this out," Mr. Gibson, 65, said on Tuesday, at the conclusion of an interview arranged to promote the networks' forthcoming cancer telethon. "They've asked me to stay. We'll see."

One hundred staffers at the Washington Post are on their way out after accepting buyout packages. Legendary journalist Bob Woodward, who passed on Post buyouts the first two times the company offered, has a complicated exit package, according to the Washington City Paper. It's also notable who's not leaving the Post newsroom, namely managing editor Len Downie. Former Post newsroom boss Ben Bradlee thinks Downie will leave soon however, while the New York Times reports that Post management are already interviewing possible replacements. Radar critic Charles Kaiser also believes Downie will be out by Inauguration Day 2009.

UK Media News

By Oliver Greaves

Tim Ingham has moved from Intent Media's MCV magazine to the MCV website, MCVUK.com. His new role will involve writing daily news, features and opinion pieces, as well as collating copy from members of the global video games business. Before joining Intent Media, Ingham was a news and features writer with Metro newspapers. "Business-to-business journalism is all about writing for an educated audience," said Ingham. "You won't necessarily ever know as much as your most important readers - but make sure you know enough to be able to communicate the news of the day to them on a level they understand."

Elsevier has appointed Rob Stringer as the new assistant editor of Infosecurity magazine and Metal Powder Report. Stringer, who started his new role in April, is now responsible for editing, writing, interviewing and attending exhibitions, he told journalism.co.uk. "The biggest challenge for me will be organising my time between the two magazines. One minute I'm checking formulas, the next I'm researching Facebook. It's fast-paced stuff, and always interesting," said Stringer.

Gareth Jones has been promoted by Haymarket and is now the editor of Revolution. Jones arrives from Marketing Magazine where he served as both news editor and digital editor. Prior to joining Haymarket, Jones worked for New Media Age as deputy news editor, for MediaTel as an editor, and as a broadcast journalist for BBC Radio 4.

Tech Totals

By Zachariah N. Hofer-Shall

6%
Amount of the US defined as "Digital Savvy", according to Scarborough Research in its "Understanding the Digital Savvy Consumer" study (Big PDF warning!).

32%
Amount of the general US population without internet

3%
The percentage of the Digitally Savvy consumer without internet

14%
The amount of the general US population that report themselves as soccer fans

24%
The percentage of the Digital Savvy that are soccer fans

Microsoft Announces Windows Vista's Replacement
By Zachariah Hofer-Shall

In an attempt to emphasize the "success" in "successor", Microsoft unveiled its follow up to its unpopular Vista operating system. The new technology was showcased to a rather sceptical crowd this week at The Wall Street Journal's "D: All Things Digital" conference in Carlsbad, California.

Currently titled "Windows 7", it is speculated that the operating system will see much deeper redevelopment than the simple redesigns done for Vista, which many argue was no improvement over Microsoft's Windows XP. As highlighted in this video you can see that the newest component to Windows 7 will be the multi-touch interface, similar to the revolutionary form the iPhone introduced last summer.

Tech analysts predict that Windows 7 will be available in about 18 months and I predict that the first service pack and critical bug fix updates will be available in about 19 months. Either way, XP will still be sold on computers through 2010.

Phase 1: IBM joins Second Life, Phase 2: ?, Phase 3: Profit
By James Gerber

IBM is implementing a plan to be innovators in Second Life. IBM's Second Life project will make it the first company to offer a virtual world to its employees for collaboration and teleconferencing. Employees will be able to voyage from the firewall-protected private area into the public area to interact with non-IBM users. GameSHOUT reveals IBM's plans to go live with the scheme within several weeks. The company has been active in Second Life already and over 6,000 IBM employees have avatars.

I must confess - I'm dubious. The problem with Second Life is that the technology may not be advanced enough for business. Its main benefits are done better in other ways. The avatars aren't realistic, it is noticeably slower than other internet applications and it looks dated in internet terms.

To IBM: you're a Fortune 500 company using Second Life for conferencing? Have you seen technology like HP's Halo HD videoconferencing? Why not just use a virtual whiteboard and an old-fashioned conference call like I'm sure you were doing just fine with before? It's much easier and way more functional. Second Life is a nice gimmick right now, but until the technology catches up with its ambitions, and a fluid, easy-to-use and more realistic interface is created, it will be unsuitable for business. IBM, I urge you to take a second look at the idea of using Second Life.

Tractor Boys 1, City Slickers 0
By Dave Wilby

It's official: rural areas of the UK are now better connected to broadband than urban areas. According to a report by Ofcom, 59 per cent of rural households now have broadband compared with 57 per cent of homes in urban areas. The communications watchdog is heralding the news as an end to the 'digital divide' between country and town. The figures are included in Ofcom's 'Communications market report for the nations and regions of the UK'.

Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards told the Independent: "Our report highlights a closing of the geographic digital divide in the UK. Rural households are today as well connected to broadband as their urban neighbours. It also shows that across the UK take-up of all communications services continues to grow with more people watching digital television and listening to DAB digital radio, and consumers are benefiting from convergence and using new ways to access traditional services."

'World's biggest drawing' just a hoax
By Dave Wilby

The Swedish art student who had claimed to have created the "biggest drawing in the world" using a GPS device and DHL's international delivery service has now admitted he invented the whole thing. Erik Nordenankar claimed he had packaged a GPS device in a briefcase on 17 March and sent it on a 55-day trip around the world with specific travel instructions on the route required to create a drawing spanning 62 countries.

Sceptical visitors to the Biggest Drawing in the World website had questioned the intricacy of the claimed route and the ability for the GPS to send and receive signals through the briefcase and hulls of transport vehicles. Nordenankar has since posted a message on the site saying: "This is a fictional work. DHL did not transport the GPS at any time."

Website of the Week

By Sean McManus

Brandtags

A brand is more than a logo - it's about what an organisation is seen to represent. Companies invest heavily in marketing to encourage prospects and customers to see them as they want to be seen, but how effective is it? This website invites visitors to tag brands by entering the first thing that comes into their heads when they see the logo. It's not a scientific study, but the aggregate results are revealing nonetheless. Amnesty International would be proud of its close association with human rights and freedom, but also has a strong link to the word 'hippies'. Bank of America is seen by many as corporate and boring, but inspired many presumably disgruntled customers to blurt out swearwords on seeing the logo. Google's guiding principle is supposed to be 'don't be evil', so they'd be disappointed to see 'evil' as a prominent tag, even if more people thought Google was cool and awesome. Take part by tagging some brands and then browse the site to see what tags others entered.

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