As digital grows at a rapid pace, law-makers struggle to keep up. In the UK, Lord Levinson would have us believe in his final media ethics report, digital media is an ‘ethical vacuum’ beyond regulation. Despite this rather despondent outlook, there were plently of high-profile legal tussles over the past 12 months. As part of a 2012 review, Netimperative looks back at the 10 most popular digital regulation news stories and trends of the year.
US government crackdowns on piracy met hacktivist shutdowns and consumer protests, while The Pirate Bay simply moved its servers to the cloud to evade capture. Across Europe, a water-down EU cookie law came into force (and was initially largely ignored). In Germany, all web users were forced to pay an €18 monthly TV license fee, while in the UK Amazon and Google came under fire for (perfectly legal) tax avoidance. Advertisers had a tough time of it too. In Australia, a judge ruled that brands are liable for Facebook fan posts. Meanwhile, Microsoft caused outcry for making ‘Do Not Track’ the default in its new IE 10 broswer, potentially driving down the value and reach of targetted ad campaigns.
View our top 10 biggest internet regulation headlines below. For the latest updates on the digital industry, sign up to our daily or weekly newsletters or follow us on Twitter here.
Watch this space for updates on the top 10 advertising, mobile, search, social, ecommerce, multimedia, gaming and regulation news of the year- all coming this week.
Leveson report: Digital media is ‘ethical vacuum’ beyond regulation
30/11/2012
In his final report on the regulation of the UK press, Lord Justice Leveson has claimed that social media and blogs are in an ‘ethical vacuum’ beyond the remit of regulation. The 2000-page final report features just a single page on digital media, despite a raft of recent cases of defendants jailed or cautioned for racist and threatening online comments. His comments mean that print media organisations are likely to have to operate under considerable new constraints, but big online publishers such as Google, Facebook and Twitter are likely to remain unaffected.
Biggest hack yet? Anonymous takes down US Govt. sites to protest Megaupload shutdown
20/01/2012
Hacker group Anonymous struck down government and industry Web sites this week, in what they claim was their biggest operation yet. The group, known for their high-profile ‘hacktivist’ protests, targeted the US government and copyright organisations following the shutdown of the Megaupload file-sharing website. The Department of Justice (DoJ), FBI and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) among others have been bombarded with internet traffic. The DoJ announced on Thursday that it had taken action to force Megaupload and related domain names offline, and had charged the firm’s co-founders and others with violating piracy laws.
Internet protest wins: US puts SOPA and PIPA piracy bills on hold
23/01/2012
The much-criticised Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act have both been officially postponed, following high-profile protests from a number of websites including Wikipedia and Google. The head of the US House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Lamar Smith, says that they have taken the critic’s concerns on SOPA “seriously” and will put the legislative bill on hold “until there is wider agreement on a solution.”
Watered down EU cookie law comes into force with last-minute changes
23/01/2012
The much-criticised Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act have both been officially postponed, following high-profile protests from a number of websites including Wikipedia and Google. The head of the US House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Lamar Smith, says that they have taken the critic’s concerns on SOPA “seriously” and will put the legislative bill on hold “until there is wider agreement on a solution.”
Google forced to change ‘catch-all’ privacy policy by EU regulators
17/10/2012
Google has been forced to change its controversial privacy policy by European Union regulators after it was criticised over its collection of internet users’ personal information. In a letter to the firm’s chief executive Larry Page yesterday, an EU data protection commissioner said that Google “empowers itself to collect vast amounts of personal data about Internet users” without demonstrating that this “collection was proportionate”.
The Pirate Bay moves to cloud to thwart shutdown
19/10/2012
The Pirate Bay has moved its servers to the cloud to hinder authorities’ attempts to take it offline. The file-sharing website will now operate from cloud-hosting providers around the world. It says the move will save money and make it harder for law-enforcement agencies to shut it down.
Germany: All web users forced to pay €17.98 TV license fee
03/10/2012
A surprise decision by the German constitutional court on digital media regulation sees people with internet-enabled PCs liable for TV licence. It’s a media regulation that could travel across Europe…
Google and Amazon tax investigation – profits scrutinised
03/12/2012
Public outcry in Britain as journalists uncover the scale of how Google and Amazon reduce taxes to boost overall profits. New funding being given to support the Google tax investigation which could impact other multinational online service providers…
Fan comments are now ads? Landmark Diageo ruling makes brands liable for Facebook fan posts
07/08/2012
Companies with Facebook profiles will be accountable for comments made by the public on their pages, following a ruling by an advertising watchdog in Australia. Drinks brand Diageo was referred to the Advertising Standards Board (ASB) in Australia, after complaints about its Smirnoff Facebook page. The complaints related to a number of sexist, racist and obscene comments appearing on the page, along with references to under-age drinking.
Microsoft makes ‘Do Not Track’ default browser option- A threat to advertisers?
01/06/2012
Microsoft’s next version of its Internet Explorer browser will come with do-not-track already turned on, in a move that has sparked criticism from the online advertising industry. In a statement, the software giant said Internet Explorer 10 will be the “first browser to feature Do Not Track ‘on’ by default, giving customers more choice and control over their privacy.”
For our full round-up of 2012, including best virals, oddest news and biggest blunders, click here
12 Comments
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There is definitely so many issues that needed to be tackled so much in the last couple of years. I hope they get the issues under control. So important for the future of a lot of these companies. Storage Winnipeg
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Funny that Americans can get upset about a tv ad for KFC airing in Australia in which a white Aussie paesss around some fried chicken to some West Indian cricket fans, whereas in Australia the outrage from something like this would be enormous.It goes to show that historical context really does matter.If a Chinese offical saw it I think the thing they’d be most offended by is the suggestion that their people are starving. They take their responsibilities to feed a big chunk of the world’s population pretty seriously, looking for ways to manage the risk of spikes in the price of food staples (like the one we are seeing now) by buying farms overseas, among other things. It’s not that they are looking to deprive host nations of the food grown on these farms but rather they want an investment that pays off at times when their own budget is going to come under pressure, given the need to subsidise the cost of food to the masses when prices spike. When the average National Party voter sees them doing that they scream about sovereignty and that the FIRB members should all be sacked. This despite the fact that they are the direct beneficiaries of the buying because their property prices are supported. Yep context matters.PS I thought it was pretty funny.
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SNL uses only its own cast members, most of whom aren’t Chinese. But its an ienirestntg point. America is, for my money, the epicentre of PC prickliness, but this doesnt seem to have raised any hackles. I wonder if we all have our own versions of PC no-go areas. I doubt this would get up in Australia (not so much the script, which is brilliant) but the actors doing mock Chinglish voices. Would the script be funny without the accents’? It could possibly be even funnier, but odd, very odd. On the other hand blackface’ routines are verboten in the US, but simply oafish and unfunny here, the stock in trade of drunken footy club talent shows, for instance.I’d almost be tempted to do this as tomorrows Blunty but the derp oh God, the derp.
Sadly, DRM stops non- savvy people from buying books. I have helped friends to install Calibre and manage their e-readers using the program, but it was difficult to install Adobe (I couldn’t find the damn program in Adobe’s web page!) and create an account, it was so much easier for them to find a web with a good catalog of books and an active community to maintain the catalog.After seeing some online bookstores close (I’m from Spain and I’ve been affected not only by Fictionwise and Mobiread, but some local bookstores too) I cannot recommend buying expensive books if you’re not able to understand how DRM works, and make some simple validations to assure yourself you’ve get rid of it. car insurance rate car insurance quotes in San Francisco
I’m not a fan of DRM. I’m also, though, not a fan of piracy. I think we need to be honest about this… piracy is a problem. DRM is not the solution we’d like, but until piracy can be controlled, we’re forced into an unattractive choice… either we accept the fact that many potential buyers will take advantage of our product without paying or we encumber our product with a costly and clumsy add-on that reduces its functionality. Just because I don’t like either of these outcomes doesn’t mean that I don’t respect the need to make a choice. The choice I’ve made is against DRM. That doesn’t mean it’s the only choice or even the right choice. how to order cialis online
SNL uses only its own cast members, most of whom aren’t Chinese. But its an interesting point. America is, for my money, the epicentre of PC prickliness, but this doesnt seem to have raised any hackles. I wonder if we all have our own versions of PC no-go areas. I doubt this would get up in Australia (not so much the script, which is brilliant) but the actors doing mock Chinglish voices. Would the script be funny without the ‘accents’? It could possibly be even funnier, but odd, very odd. On the other hand ‘blackface’ routines are verboten in the US, but simply oafish and unfunny here, the stock in trade of drunken footy club talent shows, for instance.I’d almost be tempted to do this as tomorrows Blunty but the derp… oh God, the derp. cheapest vehicle insurance quotes online accredited degree programs
Hi, Jeremy. I work with Rhonda and iCopyright and we've been keeping an eye on the comments. Just wanted to stop by and thank you for the exposure on your blog. We much appreciate it. iCopyright was originally created for traditional publishers – mostly in the U.S. and Canada – facing the challenge of protecting the copyright of content they bring online as well as handling licensing and syndication in the digital landscape. Many of the features of their toolbar also have application for bloggers. So we've recently begun reaching out to the blogging community to introduce the toolbar and to spread the word about the importance of protecting the content they work so hard to create. Your post will help in that regard. Let's stay in touch. air credit cards
Years ago, I wrote a humor piece, which I submitted to the Door, surmising what one of Paul’s epistles might have been like had e-mail been available. The Door passed, so I gave it away to a humor-piece-of-the-day e-mail list. I had long since forgotten about the piece until I ran across it a month or two ago, uncredited, on a web site. I did a Google search and found it was online at several locations — some of which gave me credit, and some of which didn’t. I wrote one web site owner; the fact he had no attribution at all, and the way the piece was displayed, made it almost seem as if he were taking credit.Some people really have a hard time understanding intellectual policy rights. At the newspaper where I work, we sometimes have people bring in a clipping of a particular essay or bit of doggerel and insist that we publish it — and when I try to explain to them that we can’t, they get angry about it!We do tribute supplements for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day where readers can write short pieces about their parents. One woman brought in a greeting card and wanted to submit the verse in it as her tribute to her father. I could not for the life of me get her to understand why I could not publish the greeting card poem. best credit card air credit cards
I like your vision of Solar (2). I find it eolbyanje for short bursts, but that’s there more there for longer gaming periods.I’m glad you chose to see the light regarding DRM. People who pirate games pirate games. It’s just what they do, and they’ don’t use DRM, even if you do. They’ll just figure out how to unwrap whatever DRM you use if they want it badly enough. If getting online multiplayer developed is difficult (and I agree, it is very difficult) imagine how difficult developing a secure DRM system that effectively thwarts piracy would be. SecuROM still doesn’t have it right.Besides, you’re an indie developer, and we like your product. There are enough of us out here who recognize hard work and a great product with money sent your direction that your time would probably be much better spent not reinventing the square wheel of DRM.
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