Mar 11 - Microsoft Kinect Sells Record 10 Million Units; Proposed Bill Would Put Curbs on Data Gathering
Industry Spotlight
New Slacker Artist Showcase Station “Plain White T's” Radio Debuts on Slacker
March 10, 2011 – PR Newswire
American Idol to Sell Weekly Compilation Albums on Apple’s iTunes
March 10, 2011 - Paste Magazine
26 Year Old Becomes a Millionaire via Self-Publishing on Amazon’s Kindle
March 6, 2011 - Forbes (blog)
Microsoft Kinect Sells 10 Million Units, Sets Record
March 10, 2011 - eWeek
MTV Joins Obama's Anti-Bullying Campaign With New Movie
March 10, 2011 - MTV.com
YouTube launches summer "creators" program with USC, Columbia College of Chicago
March 10, 2011 – Los Angeles Times
Best Buy handing out iPad 2 purchase today at 4:30 PM, reservations for future pickup available
March 10, 2011 – 9 to 5 MAC
Politics & Policy
I. Intellectual Property Enforcement
Feds target popular website they say distributed pirated events, shows
Authored by Deb Feyerick on March 03, 2011 - CNN
The popular website ChannelSurfing.net has been shut down and its owner charged with distributing pirated TV shows, first-run movies, and sporting events protected under copyright laws.
The programs allegedly distributed include "South Park," "The Office," and popular football, hockey, basketball and World Wrestling events, as well as shows from the Poker Channel, and live events from MSNBC, CNBC, and Fox News.
According to the criminal complaint, Brian McCarthy, 32, of Deer Park, Texas, was arrested and charged with running ChannelSurfing.net, which allowed people to link to sites illegally streaming sporting events, pay-per-view events and other TV programming from the NFL, NHL, NBA, World Wrestling Entertainment and Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Can you go to jail for link aggregation?
Authored by Mark Gibbs on March 10, 2011 - Computerworld
"This domain name has been seized by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Special Agent in Charge New York Office in accordance with a seizure warrant obtained by the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. / It is unlawful to reproduce or distribute copyrighted material, such as movies, music, software or games, without authorization."
If you saw the text above on a Web site, replete with the seals of the Department of Justice, the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, and Homeland Security Investigations, you'd most likely think the domain belonged to some really bad people.
What could the owner have done to get their site shuttered like that? Maybe serve as an archive for the illegal distribution of box office movies? An illegal repository for commercial music? Distributing "cracked" commercial software?
In the case of Channelsurfing.net and Brian McCarthy, the owner of the site, the problem was none of those things. His site was shut down and Mr. McCarthy was arrested last week and charged with criminal copyright infringement, a crime that carries a punishment of five years in prison.
II. Online Privacy
Proposed Bill Would Put Curbs on Data Gathering
Authored by Julia Angwin on March 10, 2011 – The Wall Street Journal
Sens. John McCain and John Kerry are circulating proposed legislation to create an "online privacy bill of rights," according to people familiar with the situation, a sign of bipartisan support for efforts to curb the Internet-tracking industry.
Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican, and Mr. Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, are backing a bill that would require companies to seek a person's permission to share data about him with outsiders. It would also give people the right to see the data collected on them. The bill is expected to be introduced ahead of a Senate Commerce Committee hearing next Wednesday on online privacy.
The move comes amid widening scrutiny of the tracking industry. In the past year, The Wall Street Journal's "What They Know" series has revealed that popular websites install thousands of tracking technologies on people's computers without their knowledge, feeding an industry that gathers and sells information on their finances, political leanings and religious interests, among other things.
III. Network Neutrality
Net Neutrality, Back in Court
Published on March 6, 2011 - New York Times
It was predictable that a telephone or cable company would challenge the rules proposed last December by the Federal Communications Commission to guarantee that the Internet remains an open network.
Still, the lawsuits filed by Verizon and MetroPCS earlier this year against the F.C.C.’s net neutrality rules are disappointing. The suits fall into a swirl of antiregulatory fervor among Republicans on Capitol Hill. The continuing resolution passed by the House last week forbids the F.C.C. from using any money to put the new rules into effect.
That bill, and the lawsuits, risk stripping away the F.C.C.’s light-touch attempt to ensure that the Internet remains open — an approach carefully crafted in months of negotiations with Verizon and other companies.
IV. Increasing Access to New Media and Online Services
FCC Takes Steps To Restore Some Access Rules for the Disabled
Authored by Josh Smith on March 3, 2011 - National Journal
The FCC approved a series of measures Thursday to make it easier for disabled people to use communications devices, including one that makes it easier to for the blind to use cellphones to browse the internet and another that reinstates requirements for audio narration on television programs.
The plans call for implementing more of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010, including reinstating rules previously overturned by a court more than 10 years ago.
"There's no longer a dispute on this central point: access to technology means access to jobs and full participation in our society and the global economy," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a statement. "With access to broadband, an individual with disabilities can telecommute or run a business out of her home; receive remote health and job-related support; or gain access to online educational classes and digital books."