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French Reject Internet Piracy Bill …For Now
The French government thought it would be a foregone conclusion that its tough Internet anti-piracy bill would pass the National Assembly Thursday which is why so few lawmakers showed up for the vote. But more opposition Socialists showed than President’s Sarkozy’s people and so in a real “show of strength” the law got turned down 21-15.
Oops, said the embarrassed government, but not to worry, once everyone returns from the Easter recess on April 27 the government will resubmit the bill. And make sure, no doubt, this time it has enough Assembly members present to get it passed.
The Socialists opposed the Bill on a civil liberty basis because the Bill would cut off access to the Internet by those who try for a fourth time to make illegal piracy downloads, having been warned each of the three times before. The law creates the world’s first government agency set up to track illegal usage and punish offenders -- first-time offenders getting caught on their fourth such download would probably receive a two-month Internet cut-off. ISPs are required under the law to provide usage information to the agency.
Not surprisingly, the law is supported by the film and music industries. (ED NOTE: Mrs Sarkozy is, er, a recoding artist)
Italy organizing digital harmony
And more multiplexes
By the time analogue television is shut-off in Italy one part of the fabled digital dividend will be apparent. Five new digital multiplexes will be auctioned under a complex decision of the regulator.
The plan, according to telecom regulator AGCOM, will upgrade existing television transmission networks and add five new multiplexes. Eight multiplexes will be for conversion from analogue and eight will be for conversion from older digital standards. Once this is accomplished five new multiplexes will be available.
Those will be auctioned. Three of the five will be set aside for new entrants. The other two will be open to any bidders. Of course, there are limits. Most conspicuously, no operator may hold more than five multiplexes. All of this was negotiated with the European Commission to guarantee incumbent operators (read: Mediaset and RAI) aren’t overly advantaged. EC Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes and Info Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding threatened the Italian government with infringement of several EC rules. (See more on media in Italy here)
It gets even more complicated. If an operator of three analogue networks receives an additional digital network it must allocate 40% of that networks capacity to independent content providers. And, if an operator of two analogue networks is granted two new digital multiplexes the 40% of the capacity of one must be granted to independent providers.
Italian Undersecretary for Communications Pablo Romani, quoted by ANSA (April 8), said the AGCOM decision “represents the first formal step of a journey undertaken in full harmony with the European Commission after months of intense and constructive confrontation. This measure would enable the Commission to suspend any further formal step in the infringement proceedings.”
The Ministry of Economic Development will issue a tender for the new DVB-T multiplexes… soon. Unclear is what happens with three, four or more DVB-H multiplexes. (JMH)
Twitter a revolution
Access denied
In the wake of mass protests in Moldova the Romanian Center for Investigative Journalism reports (April 8) Moldovan authorities blocked entry to reporters Tuesday night (April 7). The Moldovan authorities gave the usual reasons: no invitation, no medical insurance and a computer ‘malfunction’. The reporters from several Romanian media outlets including Realitatea TV and Evenimentul Zilei were turned away at the Moldova-Romania border.
Protests in the Moldovan capital turned violent Tuesday (April 7). RFE/RL reported that text messaging on Twitter and Facebook “played a key role in driving young people into the streets.” (See RFE/RL release here) Protests have continued since elections Sunday (April 5).
Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin referred to the protests as a ‘coup d’etat’ and blamed Romanians. Discord has been simmering in Moldova for years and the government has become more defensive. Last January Pro TV, owned by Central European Media Enterprises (CME) and viewed as an independent outlet, had its license in Moldova threatened. (See that story here)
The website of the Moldovan Independent Journalism Center was not accessible Thursday morning (April 9). (JMH)
Farewell Press Gazette
How bad is the newspaper industry in the UK? Bad enough that Press Gazette, its trade publication, is closing down.
It had been around for 43-years as a weekly – including several brushes with bankruptcy-- until last August when it was turned into a monthly, with breaking news appearing online. The monthly cost £115 ($170 annually) but that didn’t deter some 2,500 subscribers from signing up and the web site increased its number of unique visitors by 50%, but it just wasn’t enough to sustain the operation that on the news side had just three full-time staff -- the editor, the news editor and a reporter.
The magazine’s big money spinner is the annual British Press awards held at an expensive London Hotel in which all the national newspapers (unless there was a spat at losing the year before) would buy dinner tables at exorbitant prices for their staff as they vied for a variety of awards which, of course, got not only prominent play in the magazine, but also in the newspapers themselves. This year The Times was won the highest award – newspaper of the year -- but if you read the Daily Mail’s lead on the ceremony you might have thought something else – “The Daily Mail and our sister paper the Mail on Sunday scooped a magnificent SEVEN top accolades at this year's prestigious British Press Awards.” That gives you an idea of how the event plays.
The magazine’s closure was announced a week after this year’s awards so management made sure 2009 income was secure. Wilmington Group, Press Gazette owner, says it will continue with the awards, but will Fleet Street continue to play along if Press Gazette is no more?
Canada’s Largest Media Company Gets Another Two Weeks Of Life
So much attention has focused on the plight of the US and British media that happenings in Canada may have passed under the radar, but it was a close run thing this week whether Canada’s largest media company, Canwest Global Communications, would escape bankruptcy. As it is, it got a just a two-week breather from its lenders.
Senior lenders have agreed to extend talks until April 21 and in the meantime certain borrowing conditions of their loans are waived. The company is seeking to have those waivers extended for a longer period as it tries to recapitalize.
Looming is an April 14 $30.4 million interest payment on its 8% senior subordinated notes. It already has missed its March 15 payment.
Canwest is the largest publisher of English language paid daily newspapers in Canada, including 10 major market dailies and 23 smaller market daily, weekly, and community papers. It also publishes the National Post - a national newspaper published Monday through Saturday, and it owns the Global television network.
Eurovision and Wogan: Together Again!
Revenge or parting shot
For 37 years the esteemed BBC Radio presenter Sir Terry Wogan delighted audiences with his charmed commentary (and scathing criticism) during each Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) broadcast. That ended last year. Sir Terry passed on the baton, so to speak, to Graham Norton for the Moscow presentation of the 2009 ESC. (See that story here)
As fate would have it – always possible in television – there will be an encore, sort of. Eurovision invited Sir Terry to stand before the crowd. He accepted. This time the venue will be the annual Eurovision Television Summit, a gathering of public television broadcasters next month in Lucerne, Switzerland. Sir Terry will present a keynote opening a day of presentations open to the public. (See Eurovision presser here)
Sir Terry was “a little nervous” about the idea, said Eurovision TV director Bjorn Erichsen at EBU headquarters in Geneva (April 7). Whinging and complaining aside, Wogan probably created more interest in the Eurovision Song Contest than any other single person. He will deliver a short speech on his experiences then take questions from the 700 assembled public TV people.
We cannot wait! (JMH)
Magazine, TV Ads More Effective Than Online Banners
Here’s what’s missing from the above headline – the survey was commissioned by one of the biggest publishers of magazines and distributors of TV programming, so consider the source. Having said that, the survey by McPheters & Co., using eye-tracking software claims that 30-second TV spots and full-page, four-color magazine ads are far more effective than standard online banner ads.
And there was some pretty startling information on how we pass by Internet banner ads, like 63% of banner ads on a page were not seen by the user. Respondents' eyes "passed over" 37% of the Internet ads and "stopped" on slightly less than a third, the survey claims.
But for TV and magazines it seems we really do notice and remember the ads.
Full-page, four-color magazine ads were valued at 83% of the worth of a 30-second television commercial, while a typical Internet banner ad was worth only 16%, according to the survey.
But then again, the banner ad is a whole lot cheaper and the survey, while addressing what we might notice the most, didn’t really touch on value for money, even if so many of us pass by that banner ad, when all the math is done.
France Set to Pass Internet Anti-Piracy Law
France is looking for a National Assembly conference committee on Thursday to agree terms of an anti-piracy Internet law aimed at stopping illegal downloads of music, films and the like, and a user who is caught, and who has received two warnings, can suddenly find Internet usage cut-off for a couple of months, if not more.
Broadband providers under the new law will have to turn over customer usage data to the government. The law goes after the offending ISP address, so if Mum and Dad don’t know what teenager is up to, then the whole family could lose Internet access. There’ll be a directory of banned families so no use applying at a different ISP if usage is cut off.
Assuming the law goes through it could mean that Internet usage in France could drop by up to 50%, based on the experience at the beginning of the month when Swedish Internet usage dropped dramatically after its anti-piracy law went into effect.
Now if only they could do something really useful and pass laws aimed at getting rid of spam, no matter which country it originates from.
At What Free Press Price A Dane Heads NATO?
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has earned high marks for his freedom of the press stand over the years – particularly during the 2005 cartoon crisis when Danish embassies in the Moslem world were being attacked because the Jyllands-Posten newspaper printed cartoons said to be sacrilegious in the Moslem world and Rasmussen refused to apologize. He also has particularly earned the wrath of the Turks because he has continued to allow, against Turkish protests, a Kurdish satellite TV station to broadcast from Denmark, and the Turkish establishment absolutely hates that station.
As with most things in life, if one waits long enough payback time comes along. In this case NATO wanted the Danish prime minister for its new secretary general beginning August 1 and all NATO countries but one – guess which one – agreed. But the decision had to be unanimous so Turkey really turned the screws.
Lots of phone calls to the Turkish President by European leaders to get the Turks to agree, President Obama is said to have gotten involved, and then at literally the last minute – actually later than the last minute since the news conference to announce the new secretary-general had to be delayed for 2 ½ hours -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan finally agreed. But at what price?
Rasmussen said later he would do what he could to smooth things over with Turkey, that he considered positive relations with the Moslem world to be a must, and he promised a review of the Roj-TV Kurdish station broadcasting from Denmark. Denmark’s previous position had been it would not hinder the station.
So will Rasmussen, in his short time remaining as prime minister, pay back the Turks for their vote by stopping the station’s transmissions? Stayed tuned.
AP Caves In On Rates
The AP has announced it will reduce its US newspaper rate assessments by $35 million next year in addition to the $30 million promised this year. And it will offer newspapers a discount if they continue with their two-year revolving notice contracts (the contract is canceled two years from when the cancellation letter is sent), but it will implement one-year notice contracts (but no discount).
Not clear how AP is going to make up such a huge revenue shortfall, but AP staffers no doubt are not feeling so secure in their jobs given this announcement. The cuts means revenue from US newspapers will fall by some 30% from 2008 through 2010. US newspaper revenue makes up only about 25% of AP’s total revenue – management obviously saw this writing on the wall some time ago and branched out.
The AP says it is also going to get legally tough against websites that are “stealing” AP material.
Murdoch says ‘Make them pay!’
Don’t get mad, get even!
Speaking at a cable TV industry event, The Elder barked about several of his pet peeves. First on the list: US newspapers giving away news content for free on the Web. “That's got to change,” he entoned.
According to Murdoch’s calculus, online ad revenue for US newspaper publishers won’t keep up with costs…much less shareholders’ profit demands. He mentioned that the New York Times, which he’d like to bury with the retooled Wall Street Journal, gave up charging for online content because the ad basis – page views – dropped.
What he did not mention is online advertising cost per thousand in the US has dropped from US$25 to US$4 in the three years since he’s owned the WSJ. It’s that supply and demand thing. But publishers might want to review another microeconomic principle: marginal utility. The price one (advertiser or consumer) is willing to pay depends on perceived usefulness.
Mr. Murdoch also joined in the aging traditional media chorus bleating on about Google. "The question is, should we be allowing Google to steal all our copyright... not steal, but take,” he said quoted by Reuters. (JMH)
BBC fined…again
“gratuitously offensive”
UK media regulator OFCOM lowered the boom on the BBC for breaching broadcasting rules to the tune of £150,000 (€165,000, US$222,000, RUB 7.4 million, CHF 252,000, PLN 736,000). The “gratuitously offensive, humiliating and demeaning”incident took place last October on BBC Radio 2. (See my personal recommendation here)
The offending, high-priced talent remains employed by the BBC. (JMH)
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