The Television Industry CAN be Saved

According to Ashley Highfield, Microsoft UK's Managing Director of Consumer and Online, the television industry can be rescued if it embraces a few ideas from the internet, most especially "the democratisation of programming".

As a representative of a software company it is of course no surprise that monetisation and copyright protection will have to be central elements to this rescue.

The full report, from the Guardian UK, also says that Highfield is dismissive of Hulu's likelihood of success if they were to attempt to enter the UK market. In a related report, MSN's video player service has proved quite popular in its first days.

Source

Microsoft's Ashley Highfield: 'We must face piracy head on'
(LINK)
Microsoft's MSN Video Player nears 170,000 show views in first 11 days
(LINK)

Google Books

In 2007, while I was a student in University College Cork, I authored a paper entitled "Don't Be Evil - The Google 'Book Search' Project". The paper dealt with an examination of Google's "Book Search" Project and whether it would pass a "fair use" copyright test. I was pretty proud of my work, and it was even shortlisted for the prestigious Matheson Ormsby Prentice Undergraduate Prize in Information Technology Law. As a result, I have tried to keep an eye on the Project and so, even though it may not fit in with the overall theme of this blog, I will from time to time include any updates here.

The first of these updates is the news that Google has struck a deal to scan and digitize in copyright, but out of print works, including "orpan" works, i.e. works where it is almost impossible to identify the copyright holder(1).

The second update is that the US Government is close to scuppering the deal with their concern about the possibility of a Google monopoly over "orphan" works.

The third update is that the French National Library is allowing Google access to its archive, after the library's calls for a European Union online book repository were ignored.

The fourth update is that Google's rivals (Microsoft, Yahoo and Amazon) are also trying to defeat the deal with a view to preventing Google becoming a "book gatekeeper". [Can anyone smell irony?!]

Commentators are divided on the issue, saying on the one hand that if Google has the resources and the capability to save "orphan" works then it should even if the motivation is profit. On the other hand, a monopoly of orphaned works might lead to more difficulties.

As I stated in the conclusion to my paper, "After all, as George Orwell wrote: “Who controls the past controls the future”, and Google could be said to be going a long way towards this end... Similarly it could be seen as creating the need for more responsibility from corporations such as Google, who are now effectively acting as the stewards of information for the public. But these worries might well be unfounded seeing as Google believes, at least informally, in the phrase: “Don’t be evil”.

A copy of my paper can be found HERE.

Footnote

(1) "Orphan" Works, Wikipedia Entry, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphan_works

Source

Can Microsoft, Yahoo and Amazon help scuttle Google's book settlement?
(LINK)
Lawyer files a full-throated attack on Google Books deal
(LINK)
Google annexes Bibliothèque Nationale de France
(LINK)
Just let Google give us the books already!
(LINK)
Justice inquiries into Google Book Deal show it's all but dead
(LINK)

Is Online TV Better for the Environment?

A joint Microsoft/Intel effort to investigate the effects of information technology on energy and the environment has found that it is more environmentally friendly to download music via the internet through a service like iTunes.

Comparisons may be drawn with the way people view television i.e. it is more eco-friendly to watch the first season of Lost on iTunes than to purchase the physical DVD box set.

The report is examined more closely in the article below, and the other articles in the series can be found HERE.

Source

Eco-ears: Why downloading your music from the Internet is inherently more green
(LINK)

Rare Good News Day for Irish Company

The world economy is in freefall, and Ireland has been particularly vulnerable to the downturn due to an over-reliance on foreign multi-nationals, i.e. Dell's Limerick Plant closure. However, one piece of good news is that Microsoft has licensed its anti-piracy technology to a Dublin based company, IrishTech. The better news for that company is that Microsoft intends to be a customer. Congratulations, IrishTech, and thanks for the brief respite from the doom and gloom.

Source

Microsoft sheds its third-party anti-piracy technology
(LINK)
The real cost of Dell blow
(LINK)