Information Policy

OECD: The role of communication infrastructure investment in economic recovery

Policy makers need to evaluate the costs and benefits of any public investment in telecommunication infrastructure and select projects which can stimulate current demand but simultaneously expand the productive capacity of the economy in the longer term.

http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/4/43/42799709.pdf

Online Classifieds Use Doubles in Past Four Years: Pew survey

The number of online adults who have used online classified ads has more than doubled in the past four years. Almost half (49%) of internet users say they have ever used online classified sites, compared with 22% of online adults who had done so in 2005. On any given day about a tenth of internet users (9%) visit online classified sites, up from 4% in 2005.

http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/7--Online-Classifieds.aspx

EU consults on state aid rules for high-speed Internet

The European Commission 19 May launched a public consultation on draft guidelines that will determine when governments can grant public funds for rolling out high-speed broadband networks.

http://euractiv.com/en/infosociety/eu-consults-state-aid-rules-high-speed-internet/article-182537

India: Structured for Success

With 342 million mobile subscribers at the end of December 2008, India is the second largest mobile market in the world after China. India is also the fastest-growing telecom market in the world.

Mobile telecom services were introduced in India in late 1995 and were marked by low demand and high tariffs due to large license fee commitments and capital expenditure requirements of service providers.

In March 1998, there were merely 0.88 million mobile subscribers in the country, more than half of those being from Delhi and Mumbai. A series of positive interventions by the government, together with well-run operations by telcos, have led to the phenomenal success in the Indian mobile market. Tremendous growth in the subscriber base since then has contributed to the gradual increase in the average earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) margin for mobile operators, from approximately 14% in 2000 to around 37% in 2007.

India, along with other Asia-Pacific countries like China and Indonesia, has very low average revenue per user (ARPU) compared to the United States (US) and European countries. A major reason for the differentials in ARPU across regions is the differentials in GDP (gross domestic product) per capita, and, consequently, the per capita telecom spending, which usually is a factor of the per capita GDP. However, EBITDA margins enjoyed by these Asia-Pacific operators are similar to those of their US and European counterparts.

https://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/100/35622?7649

Brazil: Fighting against cyber surveillance

Brazilian cyberactivists are again taking action against online surveillance in defence of the netcitizen rights. The Mega Não! protest has been triggered by the controversial digital crimes bill which aims to control cybercrime, raising serious issues on digital rights management and the free use of digital devices. There will be another demonstration tomorrow, 25th of May, this time in Rio Grande do Sul State. Check their twitter coverage out.

http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/05/24/brazil-fighting-against-cyber-surveillance/

.Tel Hits 200,000 Registrations

Telnic, the operator of the .tel domain name, today announced that it has over 200,000 domain names registered. The company reported 100,000 .tel domains were registered a day after general registration became available in March. (Domains were available at higher prices prior to the general launch).

http://domainnamewire.com/2009/05/20/tel-hits-200000-registrations/

.ME Domains Hit Quarter-Million Milestone

The .ME Registry announced today its popular ccTLD extension has hit 250,000 domains registered. Montenegro's .ME Registry has seen significant growth since it launched the domain extension worldwide just over one year ago. In fact, .ME is the fastest growing new ccTLD.

http://www.nic.me/news.php?news=170

BBC Worldwide launches new channels on YouTube

BBC Worldwide and YouTube have announced the renewal of their global partnership for BBC Worldwide YouTube channels and short-form videos. The extension ensures that the BBC's most watched programming will remain available to YouTube's massive online audience. In addition, BBC Worldwide has launched its new YouTube channel Explore with BBC Worldwide with clips making their YouTube premiere from renowned BBC factual shows including 'Amazon with Bruce Parry' and the Louis Theroux series such as 'Gambling in Las Vegas'. Other new clips include 'The Race for Everest' and 'Extreme Dinosaurs'. The channel joins recently launched Food from BBC Worldwide with clips from classic cookery programmes. In the coming weeks, BBC Worldwide will unveil dedicated channels for comedy and natural history clips and a US only channel - BBC America.

http://www.ejc.net/media_news/bbc_worldwide_launches_new_channels_on_youtube/

International multimedia news lab launched in Prague

Representatives of World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and PPF Group have launched the International Multimedia News Lab in Prague. The training and educational centre, combined, with the editorial house, is called FUTUROOM - newsroom of the future. WAN is PPF's founding partner in this landmark project, which focuses on the challenges facing the newspaper industry from the financial crisis and competition from new methods and multiple channels of communication. FUTUROOM is part of a larger PPF Media project in the area of hyperlocal news, both print and online, which is soon to be launched in the Czech Republic. Through the World Editors Forum (WEF), WAN will provide advisory and consulting services, as well as top speakers for FUTUROOM conferences, seminars and masterclasses. The first conference, entitled, 'Brave new world: media and businesses facing the crisis', is to take place at FUTUROOM on May 26th. FUTUROOM, the multimedia news lab in PPF's Prague premises, will offer media education and training aimed at local news reporting and modern day journalism in a purpose built newsroom that features advanced technologies. PPF partners also include Google and Atex, which will provide technology, know-how and best practices for editorial software and web-focused tools.

http://www.wan-press.org/article18141.html

Google changes AdWords policy to allow trade marks in text of US adverts

Google will allow companies to use other people's trade marks in search engine adverts without their owner's permission for the first time, it has said. Use has previously been restricted to the use of trade marked terms as triggers for the ads.

Google has said companies which sell branded goods will be able to name those brands in their adverts on Google, even if the brands are trade marks and the consent of the trade mark owner has not been received. The change will only apply in the US.

Google's AdWords is a keyword advertising system by which companies bid for the right to have their text ads displayed alongside the search results for certain keywords.

Google has long allowed US companies to pay to use other people's trade marks as keywords, so that their ads will be displayed beside the search results of another person's trade mark. It previously said, though, that companies are not allowed to use the trade marked term in the actual adverts.

That has now changed in the US, according to an announcement by Google AdWords employee Dan Friedman.

"Under certain criteria, you can use trademark terms in your ad text in the US even if you don't own that trademark or have explicit approval from the trademark owner to use it," said Friedman on a Google blog. "This change will help you to create more narrowly targeted ad text that highlights your specific inventory."

"For example, under our old policy, a site that sells several brands of athletic shoes may not have been able to highlight the actual brands that they sell in their ad text. However, under our new policy, that advertiser can create specific ads for each of the brands that they sell. We believe that this change will help both our users and advertisers by reducing the number of overly generic ads that appear across our networks in the US," he said.

Google has recently been liberalising its trade mark policies in relation to AdWords. Earlier this month it expanded from four to 194 the number of countries in which it would not stop AdWords advertisers from using other people's trade marks as keywords. Last year it had expanded that policy from the US and Canada to the UK and Ireland.

"We believe that this change will offer you the opportunity to provide users with more relevant information, choice and options while respecting the interests of trademark owners," said Friedman.

Trade mark law expert John Mackenzie of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind OUT-LAW.COM, said that sometimes trade mark use will be reasonable, but that Google's policy change will still cause companies headaches.

"It is clear that there will be some cases where the use is legitimate, for example for businesses that are selling someone else's goods," he said. "But it does cause a greater problem for trade mark owners because it is more material for them to police."

"I think we can expect to see some of them challenging Google themselves, saying that it is profiting from trade mark infringement," said Mackenzie.

Google began to take adverts containing others' trade marks last Friday, and the adverts will go live from the middle of June.

Google outlined the circumstances in which it would not stop advertisers from using other people's trade marks in their ads. It said that it would be permitted when the term is used in a descriptive or generic way and not in reference to the trade mark owner; when the term is used by a reseller of the trade marked or a supplier of components corresponding to a trade mark; and where the advertiser is an information resource that does not compete with the trade mark owner. The new policy does not appear to endorse comparative advertising.

US courts had previously drawn a distinction between the use of a trade mark as a keyword and its use in the text of an ad. Insurance company Geico lost its case against Google in 2004 when it tried to stop Google selling its trade marks as keywords.

The judge in that case, though, allowed the issue to go to a further trial on whether or not Geico's trade marks should be allowed to appear in the text of adverts. Google and Geico later settled that part of the case on terms that were kept private.

http://www.out-law.com/page-10025