unmediated

What’s Obscene? Google Could Have an Answer - NYTimes.com

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:04:09 -0400

What’s Obscene? Google Could Have an Answer - NYTimes.com:

Judges and jurors who must decide whether sexually explicit material is obscene are asked to use a local yardstick: does the material violate community standards?

That is often a tricky question because there is no simple, concrete way to gauge a community’s tastes and values.

The Internet may be changing that. In a novel approach, the defense in an obscenity trial in Florida plans to use publicly accessible Google search data to try to persuade jurors that their neighbors have broader interests than they might have thought.

In the trial of a pornographic Web site operator, the defense plans to show that residents of Pensacola are more likely to use Google to search for terms like “orgy” than for “apple pie” or “watermelon.” The publicly accessible data is vague in that it does not specify how many people are searching for the terms, just their relative popularity over time. But the defense lawyer, Lawrence Walters, is arguing that the evidence is sufficient to demonstrate that interest in the sexual subjects exceeds that of more mainstream topics — and that by extension, the sexual material distributed by his client is not outside the norm.

Continuing the Discussion About Fair Use in a Digital Age | Orient Lodge

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:57:36 -0400

Continuing the Discussion About Fair Use in a Digital Age | Orient Lodge: Yes, the interests of bloggers and the interests of other intellectual property right holders can be well served when everyone is willing to sit down and discuss how best to meet everyone’s interests. It is unfortunate that the Associated Press will not be participating in this discussion in Lowell.

The Microfame Game and The New Rules of Internet Celebrity

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:59:49 -0400

The Microfame Game and The New Rules of Internet Celebrity: Once upon a time, aspiring fame seekers had to develop their talents, work hard, and hope to build an audience or be discovered by a power broker. Microfame, however, thrives on the simplicity of online publishing. Now, when anyone can write a blog post or upload a video within minutes, the act of creation is an instance of media exposure in itself.

"Hulu has one huge advantage over YouTube: it has the right to sell advertising in and around every..."

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:03:14 -0400

“Hulu has one huge advantage over YouTube: it has the right to sell advertising in and around every single video on its site.”

- Mark Cuban: Hulu is kicking YouTube’s Ass (via jamiew) (via mikehudack)

China Invites Web Video Providers To Join Alliance

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 19:10:47 -0400

China Invites Web Video Providers To Join Alliance: Established in February 2008 by eight Chinese central online media, including CCTV.com, xinhuanet.com and people.com.cn which also signed China Internet Audio & Video Program Service Self-discipline Convention, the Alliance has now grown into an extensive self-discipline group featuring more than 200 members of different online services. Under the guidance of SARFT, members of the Alliance have played an important role in regulating online audio and video program broadcasting by voluntarily fulfilling self-discipline obligations and jointly resist “harmful” online content.

ABC News: Obama's 'Cybergenic' Edge

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 02:14:58 -0400

ABC News: Obama's 'Cybergenic' Edge: The problem is that Clinton and her staff were so steeped in mass media thinking they didn’t realize that a new personal media world had arrived. In contrast, the Obama campaign was quick to colonize cyberspace, eagerly taking a page from Howard Dean’s innovative 2004 presidential run.

Cyrus circumvents Disney with YouTube show

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:57:00 -0400

Cyrus circumvents Disney with YouTube show: Is it a defiant attempt by the teens to be their own image-makers? Or a savvy marketing campaign to use spontaneous footage — with its potential to embarrass or offend — to foster an illusion of intimacy with the stars? Maybe both.

More Channels Are Coming. Will Anyone Be Watching? - NYTimes.com

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:53:40 -0400

More Channels Are Coming. Will Anyone Be Watching? - NYTimes.com: When broadcast television stations first transmitted their signals digitally at the end of the 1990s, consumers received a benefit besides clearer pictures: a multitude of new channels made possible by digital compression technology.

Universal Search Results - Are Videos Dominant?

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:28:03 -0400

Universal Search Results - Are Videos Dominant?:

Why is Video SEO important? Here is one example; In an article released this past week at Comscore, click-through rates for universal search results pages are analyzed and broken down by results type, video vs. news results, vs images, vs. local, etc….

The “Click Performance Index” below in this chart indicates the likelihood of a click-through occurring on a page as compared to the average click-through rate on Google.

According to comscore.com videos seem to be dominant over other mediums. More users access video and news, followed by images and maps and weather. Youtube is prevailing as the top service for video results on Google.

Read the rest here

Nielsen: Web users 'getting more ruthless'

Tue, 27 May 2008 18:07:08 -0400

Nielsen: Web users 'getting more ruthless':

The annual report into web habits by usability guru Jakob Nielsen shows people are becoming much less patient when they go online.

“People want sites to get to the point, they have very little patience,” he said. “I do not think sites appreciate that yet. They still feel that their site is interesting and special and people will be happy about what they are throwing at them.”

Ad bureau unveils video guidelines

Sat, 24 May 2008 23:40:50 -0400

Ad bureau unveils video guidelines:

The Interactive Advertising Bureau on Monday introduced a set of guidelines aimed at bringing more standards to online video advertising — and ultimately to make the still burgeoning medium easier for advertisers to buy.

The new guidelines cover three basic forms of online video ad formats: linear ads — interruptive video spots which are typically of the pre-roll variety, non-linear ads — which include the increasingly popular ‘overlay’ ad units, and companion ads — bannerlike ads that appear alongside video as it plays on the Web.

Vlog TV on Denver Public Access OMG! It’s BrowseTV years...

Tue, 20 May 2008 14:16:00 -0400

Vlog TV on Denver Public Access

OMG! It’s BrowseTV years later!

It’s basically a call-in request-a-youtube-video show. Viewers call in and drop the names of their favorite YouTube or other videos and the VJs play them over the air. If the video contains any profanity, such as when they showed Shoes (below), the VJs mute the audio. You can see the OS X volume graphic appear briefly when they do it.

(via Vlog TV Denver | Negatendo.Net) thx, revgeorge!

rocketboom: Climb the Charts, Schmimb the Charts A record...

Tue, 20 May 2008 14:12:12 -0400

rocketboom:

Climb the Charts, Schmimb the Charts

A record will hit the top of the Bilboard charts on or shortly after its release — there is no “chart climbing”. Infovis by Mike Frumin

Top 10 ways to spot a “viral marketing expert”

Tue, 20 May 2008 14:09:37 -0400

Top 10 ways to spot a “viral marketing expert”:

jamiew:

Beware self-proclaimed social marketing experts – 10 simple rules to tell who you are talking to, from social media stats service Traackr.

#1 stands out. Preach it!

If someone tells…

CBS counting on CNet for online audience - San Jose Mercury News

Mon, 19 May 2008 03:05:11 -0400

CBS counting on CNet for online audience - San Jose Mercury News:

CBS announced plans Thursday to buy CNet for $1.8 billion, a matchup that would combine an old-school television network with one of the Internet’s pioneers.

The deal would instantly give CBS a Top 10 presence on the Internet. At the same time, the move is likely to help CNet appease shareholders who have pressed for changes amid frustrations about the company’s stock performance and business execution.

A $500 Million Week for Grand Theft Auto - New York Times

Wed, 07 May 2008 09:47:08 -0400

A $500 Million Week for Grand Theft Auto - New York Times: Grand Theft Auto IV, the latest iteration of the hit video game franchise, racked up first-week sales of $500 million, Take-Two Interactive, the game’s publisher, plans to announce on Wednesday. The report exceeded the sales expectations of analysts.

Thursday at noon is the best time to post (for social media)

Tue, 06 May 2008 10:01:09 -0400

Thursday at noon is the best time to post (for social media):

jamiew:

10,000 popular posts on del.icio.us, Digg, Reddit, and Mixx compared by their AideRSS “Postrank”.

AideRSS’s measurements are more or less the aggregate number of Diggs, del.icio.us…

Court: Online services must pay up for song use

Sat, 03 May 2008 13:16:39 -0400

Court: Online services must pay up for song use:

A federal district court in New York ruled Wednesday that the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is owed “reasonable license fees” by online media powerhouses AOL, RealNetworks, and Yahoo for the music streamed and distributed on their sites.

The license fees would cover music distributed as early as July 1, 2002, and then up through the end of 2009. Because songwriters and composers often aren’t affiliated with record labels that distribute their music as performed by another artist, they presently are left without licensing fees from digital distribution on the three companies named in the court decision.

Adobe’s Open Screen Project: Write Once, Flash Everywhere

Thu, 01 May 2008 16:07:41 -0400

Adobe’s Open Screen Project: Write Once, Flash Everywhere: Adobe is making a big play to make Flash the de facto viewing environment not only for Web apps on your PC, but also on your mobile phone, your TV, and any other screen you can think of. It is announcing the Open Screen Project to make it easier to develop applications across devices—using Flash, of course.

Arizona Judge Rejects RIAA's Copyright Infringement, Distribution Claims

Thu, 01 May 2008 15:02:11 -0400

boutofcontext:

U.S. District Court Judge Neil V. Wake denied the RIAA’s request for a summary judgment against a couple who had copied music files from their CDs onto their computer and downloaded file-sharing programs. [More]

Affirming this would create a good common-sense precedent favoring music consumers. The ruling obviates assertions that merely making files accessible equals piracy. This is reasonable on two grounds:

Accessibility doesn’t result in damages until actual dissemination occurs. (Even here, there are grey areas. Do streaming and downloading both qualify as infringing ‘distribution’?)

File sharing software often defaults to sharing user’s files without adequate disclosure, making the user herself a potential victim. With any legal duty in checking application settings uncertain - guilty findings should require demonstration of specific intent.

The RIAA should stop coercing consumers and courts into believing what was fair use (backing up music/videos and exhibiting them in non-commercial settings) is now theft; that lacking full awareness of what your file-share software exposes rises to piracy; or that restricting digital content when there’s demonstrable demand at a premium for unencumbered access is good customer service. Once they straighten that situation out, I will endorse their efforts to tackle collegiate cartels and bootleggers.