p2pnet World Headlines: March 9, 2010: 1
Booksellers take on Ottawa over Amazon’s distribution plans Globe and Mail
Canada’s booksellers are urging Ottawa to block Amazon.com from building a distribution network in Canada, raising the stakes in a showdown over government restrictions on foreign control of the cultural industry. The Canadian Booksellers Association says it wants Heritage Minister James Moore to reject Amazon’s plan to open a new business in Canada, which industry insiders say is aimed at boosting the company’s competitiveness and giving it more control of its book distribution here. The booksellers association warned the Heritage Minister that allowing Amazon to operate here would contravene the Investment Canada Act, which requires that foreign investments in the book sector be compatible with national cultural policies and ‘of net benefit to Canada and the Canadian-controlled sector.’
Jobs Says No Tethering iPad To iPhone Slashdot
Anyone who currently owns an iPhone and was hoping they would be able to use it as a mobile Web access point for a Wi-Fi iPad just got some bad news. Reportedly, Steve Jobs has said this will not happen.
Lender putting www.sex.com domain on auction block Reuters
Sex.com, often touted as one of the most valuable Internet domain names, is due to head to the auction block next week. DOM Partners LLC, a New Jersey lender that backed a 2006 purchase of the domain name for a reported $14 million, is foreclosing on the Internet property, and is due to auction it on March 18 at New York law firm Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf LLP, according to legal notices. Bidding for the Internet property, the tumultuous past of which includes several lawsuits and two books, is due to start at $1 million.
Irish police foil plot to kill Swedish cartoonist The Local
Seven Muslims were arrested by Irish police on Tuesday on suspicions of conspiracy to murder a Swedish cartoonist who drew the prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog. The four men and three women were arrested in the southern Irish towns of Cork and Waterford following an international operation. A police source confirmed press reports that they were Muslims arrested over an alleged plot to assassinate Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, who has a $100,000 bounty on his head from an Al-Qaeda-linked group. “The operation… is part of an investigation into a conspiracy to commit a serious offence (namely, conspiracy to murder an individual in another jurisdiction),” said a statement from Ireland’s national police service. It added that the operation involved law enforcement agencies in the United States and a number of European countries.
Minister: Google must obey laws to stay China Daily
Internet giant Google must obey Chinese law if it still wishes to continue to operate in the country, said Li Yizhong, Minister of Industry and Information Technology. “If Google still plans to continue its operations in China, it must abide by Chinese laws and respect the wills of Chinese Internet users,” the minister told reporters on Monday during a plenary session of the annual legislative meeting at the Great Hall of the People. “On this matter, Google knows it best itself,” the minister said.
Why Oscar didn’t embrace ‘Avatar’ Hollywood Reporter
By the time “The Hurt Locker” won best picture Sunday night, it seemed almost a foregone conclusion since it previously earned honors from the Producer’s Guild, BAFTA, Broadcast Critics, the National Society and critics groups in New York, L.A. and elsewhere. But “Hurt Locker” was anything but a sure thing. In a historical context, its win is surprising. After all, it is the lowest-grossing best picture winner of all time; it was never on more than 535 movie screens; and it beat the highest-grossing movie in modern history, one that has continued to play on thousands of screens for nearly three months. [...] Could it be explained as the ultimate example of the split personality in Hollywood, where movie choices are mostly driven by the need to make large amounts of money but where the people behind the camera still want to be seen as making art? And was it hurt by attacks from the political right on the movie’s plot, which was seen as a dig on America’s Iraq incursion? Or were “Avatar’s” Oscar hopes doomed because it was sci-fi, a genre that rarely has been rewarded by Oscar? After all, there are precedents.
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First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
March, 2010
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