p2pnet World Headlines: Jan 27, 2010
Microsoft: Google likely to face questions on ad market share Associated Press
Microsoft’s top lawyer said Monday that Google will inevitably have to answer questions about its huge market share in selling advertisements linked to results from its search engine. Microsoft’s general counsel Brad Smith said the search advertising market has become “the fundamental economic engine for content online” and “the gateway to content on the Internet.” “Whenever you have a company that has more than a 90 percent market share in a key market, it is inevitable that people will have questions to ask. We say that with some experience,” he said after giving a speech in Brussels. Unlike Microsoft, Google has never been formally investigated by the European Union and the only EU scrutiny of its advertising business came when it asked regulators to approve its $3.1 billion purchase of online ad tracker DoubleClick. The EU waved through the deal in March 2008.
Is the internet destroying juries? The Guardian
Juries are a fundamental pillar of our justice system. But many believe that jurors are now routinely accessing and distributing so much prejudicial information online, that the very integrity of the system is in danger
Judge: ‘HOPE’ artist under criminal investigation Associated Press
A judge permitted the disclosure for the first time Tuesday that the artist known for his Barack Obama “HOPE” image is under criminal investigation, though details of the probe were not divulged. U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein mentioned the grand jury probe in a handwritten note denying a request by a lawyer for artist Shepard Fairey that a hearing relating to a copyright lawsuit they brought against The Associated Press be closed. Fairey sued the AP last February, asking a judge to declare that Fairey’s artwork does not infringe any copyrights held by the AP. A month later, the AP countersued, saying the uncredited, uncompensated use of one of the news cooperative’s photos violated copyright laws and signaled a threat to journalism.
Bra firm sues pants off Beyonce: Court date Austrian Times
An undies designer is suing Beyonce for a share of the booty from her new hit single after claiming she copied his knickers for her video. Award-winning Bulgarian lingerie designer Iskren Lozanov says the Picasso-inspired undies the star wears in Video Phone are a dead ringer for underwear he designed last year. Now his bosses at Triumph underwear are suing the pants off Beyonce’s record label next month for breach of copyright.
Google quickly gaining on Microsoft in lobbying spending CNet News
While Microsoft has needed all the help it could hire in Washington, D.C., after its antitrust debacle many years ago, Google is quickly catching up to it as a tech power to be reckoned with in the nation’s capital. According to the most recent public reports filed by Google with the Senate on its lobbying spending there, the search giant has significantly increased its outlay in 2009 from the previous two years.
TalkTalk ‘would fight Digital Economy Bill in court’ Telegraph
Charles Dunstone, the chief executive of Carphone Warehouse, has said he could be prepared to fight the Government in court should the anti-piracy clauses of the Digital Economy Bill become legislation.
Ultra-Orthodox seek boycott of their own Web sites Associated Press
Prominent ultra-Orthodox Israeli rabbis are targeting a new foe in the decidedly impious world of the Internet: They’ve demanded a boycott of their community’s own Web sites, accusing them of disseminating “gossip, slander … filth and abominations.” It’s the latest flashpoint in a long-simmering battle by ultra-Orthodox, or haredi, rabbis to preserve their influence over hundreds of thousands of followers in an era when the forces of technology are growing ever more powerful.
Police crack down on downtown jaywalkers Toronto Star
It cost Marco Antonio $50 to cross the street on Wednesday morning. The 15-year-old was rushing to school when he stepped off the curb at the intersection of Front St. W. and Bay St. with just two seconds remaining in the crossing time. The red hand was flashing, but Antonio didn’t notice. He also didn’t notice the 11 uniformed cops manning the intersection as part of a blitz by Toronto police to increase awareness on pedestrian safety. Officers could be seen on most of the busy downtown intersections between 9 a.m. and noon.
..… and identi.ca
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
January, 2010
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January 27th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
After the last supreme court decision don’t bother going to vote. Soon you will see the Google party and the exon oil party and the Riper Murder party. (if he is still around of course, which is doubtful at this point.)
January 28th, 2010 at 2:31 pm
Next up: Picasso estate sues Lozanov. “He was a gifted, inspirational painter. Lozanov would feel exactly the same if someone stole one of his paintings,” confided a fellow artist. Independent observers say there is an astonishing similarity between Picasso’s Girl in Front of a Mirror and the revealing lingerie being produced by Lozanov.