p2pnet World Headlines: May 26, 2010
Jamaica shoot-out death toll ‘rises to 44′ BBC
At least 44 people have died during fighting between police and gunmen in the current anti-drug offensive in Kingston, Jamaica’s ombudsman says. The city has seen days of running battles between security forces and fighters loyal to a suspected drug trafficker sought by the US. The whereabouts of alleged drug lord Christopher “Dudus” Coke is unknown. Police, backed by armoured cars and helicopters, have detained 200 people and seized guns in the operation.
Tell Your Lawmakers: “Anti-Counterfeiting” Treaty Is a Sham EFF
The U.S. Trade Representative has spent the past two years working with other developed nations on a secret agreement allegedly designed to reduce the flow of fake physical goods across borders. However, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is really a ruse that gives the entertainment industry its wishlist of Internet copyright regulations and enforcement power.
Apple Is Said to Face Inquiry About Online Music New York Times
The Justice Department is examining Apple’s tactics in the market for digital music, and its staff members have talked to major music labels and Internet music companies, according to several people briefed on the conversations. The antitrust inquiry is in the early stages, these people say, and the conversations have revolved broadly around the dynamics of selling music online. But people briefed on the inquiries also said investigators had asked in particular about recent allegations that Apple used its dominant market position to persuade music labels to refuse to give the online retailer Amazon.com exclusive access to music about to be released.
Researchers Find ‘Million-Follower Fallacy’ in Twitter Wired Campus
Drawing a huge following on Twitter does not necessarily mean that your tweets will have much influence. It turns out that some noncelebrities with meager followings have the greatest ability to start discussions and spread ideas. That was the conclusion of a team of researchers who analyzed some two billion public Twitter messages to see which users had the most influence, measured by the number of times the tweeters were mentioned by others or their messages were forwarded to others (or “retweeted,” in the language of Twitter use). The scholars presented a paper on their findings Monday at a conference on “Weblogs and Social Media” organized by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. “Having a million follows may not be everything in terms of influence,” said Meeyoung Cha, of Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Software Systems, in the presentation, held at George Washington University. In relative terms, she said, one of Twitter’s most influential users turned out to be a librarian who had few followers but a high rate of success at having messages mentioned or forwarded.
Steve Jobs Reinvents the CEO With E-Mail Campaign Wired
Most Fortune 500 CEOs are about as accessible as Kim Jong Il, but Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been breaking the mold. He’s sent terse e-mail replies to more than a dozen customer inquiries — and one journalist — in the past few months. It’s not that he’s become unusually friendly. Rather, the legendary entrepreneur is carefully reinventing his role as CEO. Jobs typically shies away from the public spotlight, but with these e-mails he has been transforming his public persona into that of a leader who’s well-connected with his followers, as opposed to a man running a business, says Brian Solis, a new-media branding and public relations expert. ‘What he is trying to do is strategically pick the right people that are going to literally spread his word verbatim,’ Solis said. ‘With just one e-mail he’s able to talk to the entire world.’
‘Green Party voters most likely to change sides’ The Local
Almost a quarter of Green Party support could consider voting for one of the centre-right Alliance coalition parties, a new survey has shown. The Green Party, part of the centre-left “red-green” coalition, has been the major success story in the opinion polls in recent months with support running above 10 percent, double the figure achieved at the 2006 general election. The party’s coalition parties have been able to ride on the success of the Green Party’s attractive force among the urban middle-classes as both the Social Democrats and Left Party persistently poll below their 2006 election results. But a new survey by Novus Opinion has shown that much of this new found support is fickle, with 24 percent of respondents indicating that they would be prepared to switch sides in a general election and back one of the centre-right Alliance coalition parties.
Duchess Of York Apologizes Over Newspaper Sting NPR
Melissa Block talks to Kelvin MacKenzie, former editor of the British tabloid The Sun, about the newest scandal involving Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York. The former wife of Prince Andrew was tricked by the News of the World tabloid into offering to sell access to her ex-husband. The exchange was captured on video, where Ferguson tells the reporter, representing himself as a wealthy tycoon, that she will put him in contact with the prince for about $750,000.
Forbes Buys Blogging Start-Up True/Slant Daily Finance
Over the last couple years, Forbes has shed scores of writers and editors in multiple rounds of downsizing. Now, with the stroke of a pen, it has added hundreds of new ones. Forbes Media, parent company of the 93-year-old business magazine, has acquired True/Slant, a blogging community for journalists founded last year by former AOL executive Lewis Dvorkin. “Some start-ups continue on as separate entities and build a business,” wrote Dvorkin in a blog post announcing the sale. “Others become entrepreneurs within a larger company to effect change through technology innovation, new processes, creative thinking and more.”
Mulroney-Schreiber report to be released Monday Canwest News Service
Justice Jeffrey Oliphant’s report on the once secret business dealings between Brian Mulroney and Karlheinz Schreiber will likely be made public on Monday. Barry McLoughlin, a spokesman for the Oliphant commission, said the judge will deliver the report to the Conservative government on Monday, and that, pending formal approval by the Privy Council Office, the report will be made public on the same day. Oliphant was asked to get to the bottom of the bottom of when and why Mulroney accepted envelopes stuffed with thousand dollar bills from the German-Canadian lobbyist.
May, 2010
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