Wikipedia has been attacked many times in its short life, most notably
in the form of bombardments from a former aide to Robert F Kennedy and the editor of
Encyclopaedia Britannica. But now the online reference site Wikipedia has a new foe:
evangelical Christians.
A website founded by religious activists in the US aims to counter what
they claim is "liberal bias" on Wikipedia, the open encyclopaedia that has
become one of the most popular sites on the web.
New US
bill to ban patenting human genome
Talk of the Nation, March 2
A bill recently introduced in Congress would ban patenting any and all
portions of the human genome. Critics argue gene patents make medical tests more
expensive, block innovation, and hurt patient care.
UN outlines global
e-waste goals
BBC website, March 6
The UN has launched a global initiative to tackle the growing mountain of
electrical and electronic waste. The private-public partnership hopes to create a global
recycling standard, extend the life of products and improve the market for second-hand
goods.
The world's annual volume of "e-waste" is expected to exceed 40m tonnes in
the near future, the UN estimates. Companies that have signed up to the scheme include
Microsoft, Ericsson, Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Dell.
Firm 'ordered to
pay spam costs'
BBC website, March 6
A British company has been ordered to pay damages for sending spam.
Gordon Dick took Transcom to Edinburgh's Sheriff Court for sending an unwanted
advertising email, which he claimed was a breach of anti-spam laws. He was awarded £750
in damages plus legal costs of £616.66 through a "decree in absence" after
Transcom did not appear in court.
It is estimated that over 90% of all emails are spam and the volume is increasing all
of the time. In 2003, EU anti-spam laws were incorporated into UK legislation, giving
individuals claim damages against the growing tide of unwanted emails.
Lack
of funding threatens British Library project
Computing, March 8
Plans to cut government funding by between five and seven per cent are threatening the British Library’s digitisation project.
The original proposal was to spend £2.3m this year and £3m next year on the Digital
Objects Management (Dom) scheme, which includes the creation and upkeep of the IT
architecture. But according to briefing documents circulated in parliament, funding is no
longer guaranteed
Google
book downloading row is a real page turner
Sunday Times, March 11
In a speech to American publishers in New York, Microsoft’s general counsel,
Thomas Rubin, lumped Google with companies that “create no content of their own, and
make money solely on the backs of other people’s content, raking in billions through
advertising revenue and IPOs”. He quoted Pat Schroeder, a former congresswoman
and head of the Association of American Publishers (AAP), who said Google had “a hell
of a business model — they’re going to take everything you create, for free, and
sell advertising around it”.
It was a low blow at a sensitive time for the search-engine firm. After buying the
video-sharing website YouTube, Google has been trying to make peace with US broadcasters
over the use of their content. Much of YouTube’s most popular content comes from Big
Media.
7
in 10 UK businesses have a website
e-Commerce Survey, Office for National Statistics, March 15
For many businesses, websites have become an essential means of communicating with
customers. In 2005, 70 per cent of businesses reported having a website, while one in
three (31 per cent) had an intranet, and 8 per cent had an extranet.
An increasing number of businesses are selling and buying products or services over the
Internet. The proportion of businesses that sold over the Internet doubled between 2002
and 2005, from 7 to 15 per cent. There is a clear divide between small and large
businesses, as nearly four in ten businesses with 1,000 or more employees sold over the
Internet in 2005, compared with slightly over one in ten of the smaller businesses, with
between 10 and 49 employees.
Viacom
Sues Google-YouTube: Wants More Than $1 Billion In Damages
paidContent.org, March 19
Viacom continues its aggressive assault on Google and subsidiary YouTube with a lawsuit
in U.S. District Court claiming more than $1 billion in damages. Viacom says it has
identified more than 150,000 unauthorized clips that have been viewed “an astounding
1.5 billion times.”
Baker
& Taylor Acquires Wholesale Operations of Advanced Marketing Services
Baker & Taylor press release, March 19
Baker & Taylor, Inc., the world's largest book distributor, announced today it has
completed the acquisition of the wholesale operations of Advanced Marketing Services, the
premier distributor of books to membership wholesale clubs.
GP
records trial passes test
Computing, March 22
The electronic transfer of records between GP surgeries with different IT systems has
been successfully completed for the first time. The GP2GP system, which uses the national
data spine being developed under the £12bn National Programme for NHS IT, aims to
streamline the administration of patients changing GP.
England’s 9,000 surgeries deal with an average of 500 transfers each year, and the
existing system of sending paper records in the post is slow and unreliable.
Electronic
NHS record scheme takes first step
Computing, March 22
The first live pilot of the electronic patient record system at the heart of the £12bn
National Programme for NHS IT will
start in May. However, some doctors are still sceptical about the benefits of shared
information.
Last week leaflets were sent out detailing the scheme to the 14,500 patients of the two
early-adopter GP practices in Bolton. After a two-month period, during which concerned
patients may opt out, details of allergies, medication and adverse reactions will be
uploaded from GP systems onto the national spine and linked to name and address data
already held there.
How
the British Library is facing up to digital content copyright
Computing, March 22
In a book, the way rights are protected is straightforward. The copyright statement at
the front balances the interests of creators and readers. As the author or publisher, you
are rewarded, but public access is guaranteed under certain conditions, particularly for
research. The right to copy digital content is less clear-cut. Titles tend to come with a
contract, usually click-and-use or as a shrink-wrapped licence.
GEIPAN
UAP investigation unit opens its files
National Centre for Space Studies, March 26
After 30 years of collating sightings and field investigations,
GEIPAN, the French unit responsible for researching and investigating unidentified
aerospace phenomena (UAPs), is putting its archives on line. Making these records
available to the public is the culmination of the new policy and focus the unit has
adopted in the last few years.
In 1977, the CNES Director General set up a unit to record witness
accounts of supposedly abnormal phenomena observed in the sky, commonly known as UFOs
(unidentified flying objects). GEIPAN’s archives amount to the equivalent of 100,000
A4 pages.
One
in ten Brits is victim of online fraud
The Register, March 27
More than on in ten (12 per cent) of UK internet users fell victim to fraud over the
last 12 months.
A study sponsored by the government and industry online safety campaign, Get Safe
Online, found that on average users lost £875 as a result of these scams, which hit an
estimated 3.5m of the UK's 29m adult internet users. The survey of 2,200 adults suggests
around 1.7m people in the UK suffered fraud while shopping online, 1.5m experienced
another form of general online fraud and 1.2m were subject to bank account or credit card
fraud as a result of activity online. Some unfortunates were subject to more than one type
of fraud over the last year.
Publishing
Innovation 2007
Conference report, March 27
The annual publishing innovation conference was held during March at the
London College of Communication, Elephant and Castle. The conference was organised and run
by a group of MA Publishing students with the theme ‘Green and Lean: How Can
Publishing Survive?’
Paradigm RedShift accepts no responsibility for
errors, inaccuracies or omissions from this newsletter, and is not responsible for the
content or performance of external internet sites.
We welcome comments and suggestions for content
for this newsletter.
e-mail
them to the editor
ParadigmRedShift Limited |
SEND this
page to an associate 
