Thoughts on the social impacts of communication policy and educational technology.
I’d be shocked if the music industry goes along with this and Apple can pull it off. There must be a down side to this–perhaps fishing for illegal downloads?
Apple will not offer a subscription option to the iTunes Store. Instead, it will complement the current model with cloud storage, giving iTunes users the ability to “to navigate and play their music, videos and playlists from their personal URL using a browser based iTunes experience.”
An ACTA negotiations agenda has been released by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The talks are to happen next week, and include an hour-long discussion of transparency, and a half hour dedicated to “press release”.
Mark your calendar: there may be new ACTA info the afternoon of Friday, January 29.
The ACLU has posted an analysis (and easier data access) to recent Customs and Border Protection data.
In a span of just nine months, CBP officials searched over 1,500 electronic devices belonging to travelers. Under the current policy, they were not required to justify a single one of these searches. …
Between July 2008 and June 2009, CBP transferred electronic files found on travelers’ devices to third-party agencies almost 300 times. Over half the time, these unknown agencies asserted independent bases for retaining or seizing the transferred files. More than 80 percent of the transfers involved the CBP making copies of travelers’ files.
It’s not clear whether the majority of these searches were done for reasons of security or copyright. In cases of the latter, the lack of a warrant for these searches seems oddly reminiscent of the power granted to England’s Stationers’ company (circa 16c!).
Thanks to the ACLU for giving this at least some transparency.
via Customs and Border Protection (CBP) First Production Documents | American Civil Liberties Union.
It appears as though the Times might be getting ready to start charging online readers.
The Times has considered three types of pay strategies. One option was a more traditional pay wall along the lines of The Wall Street Journal, in which some parts of the site are free and some subscription-only. … Another option was the metered system. The third choice, an NPR-style membership model, was abandoned last fall, two sources explained.
As a long-time subscriber, and recent iPhone reader, I say it’s about time! I’m glad to see that they’ve considered more than just two options (pay/no pay), yet I’m surprised they didn’t see yet another–pay for more than the first paragraph. Many online readers are looking for a quick fix of news on the go, and writing in the inverted pyramid should already accommodate for this. I’ve said before that sites like Newser could point the way, but the execs haven’t quite grasped that the technology might allow them to intricately tailor what their readers see/pay for. As former deputy managing editor Jon Landman said:
The idea of two camps is just wrong. There’s many shades to this.
via New York Times Ready to Charge Online Readers — Daily Intel (New York Magazine),
via Slashdot News Story | NY Times To Charge For Online Content