White House Debuts iPhone App; Will Carry State of the Union

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Washington
– With a growing number of Americans using mobile devices, the White House said
that it has released its own application for Apple’s (NASD: AAPL) iPhone.

The free program,
known simply as "White House App," allows users to see content from
the WhiteHouse.gov website, including live video feeds, through their iPhone or
iPod touch devices.

The app provides access to White House public events,
speeches and press briefings, and will even carry a live feed of President
Obama’s State of the Union address next week.

The administration also plans to
launch a mobile version of WhiteHouse.gov in the coming weeks.

 

Related Links:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/01/19/whitehousegov-anywhere

Will NYT "Metered" Pay Model Online Be Financially Successful?

By
Joakim Baage
-
2

Obama DOJ Defends $675,000 File-sharing Damages Award

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

Washington
– The Obama Justice Dept. has submitted a filing defending a $675,000 damages
award for copyright infringement on a file-sharing network, the Copyrights and
Campaigns blog reported. Joel Tenenbaum was found guilty of sharing 30 songs on
Kazaa, and ordered to pay the record labels damages of $22,500 per song. He has
since asked the court to either reduce the damages or grant him a new trial,
arguing the damages amount is unconstitutional.

In its filing, the Justice
Dept. argues that Tenenbaum’s actions caused "great public harm."

"In
establishing the range [of copyright damage amounts: $750 to $150,000 per
infringement], Congress took into account the need to deter the millions of
users of new media from infringing copyrights in an environment where many
violators believe they will go unnoticed," reads the DOJ filing.

"The
harms Congress sought to address, moreover, are not negated merely because an
infringer does not seek commercial gain. Accordingly, the statutory range
specified by Congress for a copyright infringement satisfies due process."

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u5001
(Copyrights and Campaigns blog)

http://snipurl.com/u504m
(DMW previous coverage)

Indian Social Network SMS GupShup Raises $12 Million

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Cupertino,
Calif. – SMS GupShup, an
India-based social network, said on Wednesday that it has raised $12 million in
a new round of funding, led by Globespan Capital Partners.

Previous backers
Charles River Ventures and Helion Venture Partners also participated.

The
company said that the new funding will allow it to expand into new territories,
as well as to roll out new features aimed at small businesses and corporate
brands.

Launched in 2007, SMS GupShup now boasts approximately 26 million
users.

It has raised $37 million since its inception.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u4zwf

http://www.smsgupshup.com

YouTube to Stream Indian Cricket Tourney Live

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Bruno,
Calif. – In its first deal to
stream a sporting event live, Google’s (NASD:  GOOG) YouTube on Wednesday announced a deal
with the Indian Premier League (IPL), to provide live streaming of the world’s
largest cricket tournament.

While financial details of the deal were not
disclosed, YouTube acquired exclusive online rights, and the company and the
IPL will share advertising and sponsorship revenues.

"The advertising
options on YouTube will be available only for a limited number of sponsors over
the course of the season," Google said.

"Companies will have the
opportunity to sponsor live streamed matches, match re-broadcasts, and ongoing
viewership of clips and highlights. Advertisers will be able to advertise on
the YouTube homepage, the live stream page, video ads during the match itself
amongst several other innovative formats."

The 45-day tournament kicks off
in March and YouTube is expected to stream all 60 matches live, offering 20
different camera feeds from which to choose.

The live streaming will not be available
in the U.S., where the
tournament will be available on pay-per-view, but it will be accessible in the U.K.
— after the collapse of previous broadcast partner Setanta Sports, PaidContent
noted.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u4ztw
(AFP)

http://snipurl.com/u4zuh
(PaidContent)

http://www.iplt20.com

Baidu Suit Charges Register.com Negligent in Cyber Attack

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Beijing – Chinese search engine Baidu (NASD: BIDU) has filed suit against
U.S. domain registrar Register.com, alleging negligence that resulted in a
malicious website attack that downed Baidu.com temporarily last week, the
Associated Press reported.

Filed in federal court in New York, the suit states that hackers were
able to block access to Baidu.com on Jan. 12, instead redirecting traffic to a
site maintained by a group calling itself the "Iranian Cyber Army,"
which claimed responsibility for the attack.

A group with the same name claimed
responsibility for similar recent attacks on Twitter and other U.S. sites.  

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u4z67
(AP)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10437763-93.html

http://www.baidu.com

http://www.register.com

Apple, Microsoft in Talks to Replace Google with Bing on iPhone

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York
– Apple (NASD: AAPL) is in talks with Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) to have Bing replace Google (NASD: GOOG) as the default
search engine on the iPhone, BusinessWeek reported, citing two people familiar
with the matter.

The report indicated that the talks "have been under way
for weeks."

"Apple and Google know the other is their primary enemy. Microsoft
is now a pawn in that battle," said one of BusinessWeek’s sources, who was
characterized as "familiar with Apple’s thinking."

The source added that
Apple is also looking to manage mobile advertising on the iPhone, another move
into Google’s territory.

The rivalry between Google and Apple was further
entrenched with the recent release of Google’s first smartphone, the Nexus One.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u4z15
(BusinessWeek)

Sony Delays PS3 Motion Controller Release Until Fall

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Tokyo
– Sony (NYSE: SNE) Computer Entertainment announced on Wednesday that it will push back the
release of its PlayStation 3 Motion Controller, originally scheduled for this
spring, until the fall of 2010.

"We have decided to release the Motion
Controller in fall 2010 when we will be able to offer an exciting and varied
line-up of software titles that will deliver the new entertainment experience
to PS3 users," said SCE president and CEO Kazuo Hirai.

The company said it
plans to "vigorously promote the Motion Controller as the de facto
controller of the PS3 platform along with the DualShock series controller and
will deploy various measures to enhance the software title line-up for the
Motion Controller."

Nintendo’s Wii already offers a motion-sensing
controller that does not incorporate a camera for gesture-sensing, as Sony’s
will.

Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) is expected to release its own motion- and gesture-sensing
Project Natal controller for the Xbox 360 later this year.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u4ywv

New York Times Website to Debut "Metered" Pay Model in 2011

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York
– The New York Times (NYSE:  NYT) announced on Wednesday that it will introduce a
"metered" paid model for access to its website at the beginning of
2011. Under the plan, online readers will be able to access a set number of
articles per month for free, and then be charged once they exceed that number.

The
company said it will be building a "new online infrastructure" to
support the metered plan this year.

"This will enable NYTimes.com to
create a second revenue stream and preserve its robust advertising business. It
will also provide the necessary flexibility to keep an appropriate ratio
between free and paid content and stay connected to a search-driven Web,"
the company said.

New York Times home delivery print subscribers will still
enjoy free access to NYTimes.com.

"This process of rethinking our business
model has also been driven by our desire to achieve additional revenue
diversity that will make us less susceptible to the inevitable economic
cycles," said Janet L. Robinson, president and CEO of The New York Times
Company.

"We were also guided by the fact that our news and information
are being featured in an increasingly broad range of end-user devices and
services, and our pricing plans and policies must reflect this vision."

"Our
audiences are very loyal and we believe that our readers will pay for our
award-winning digital content and services," added Arthur Sulzberger, Jr.,
chairman of The New York Times Company and publisher of The New York Times.

 

Poll: Will NYT "Metered" Pay Model Online Be Financially Successful?

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u4yfg

http://www.nytimes.com

Amazon Offers Authors 70% Royalty on Kindle Books

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Seattle – In a bid to strengthen its relationship with
digital publishers, Amazon.com (NASD: AMZN) announced on Wednesday that it begin offering
authors and publishers who adhere to new rules 70% of the list price, net of
delivery costs, for e-books published via its Kindle Digital Text Platform.

"Today,
authors often receive royalties in the range of 7 to 15 percent of the list
price that publishers set for their physical books, or 25 percent of the net
that publishers receive from retailers for their digital books," noted
Russ Grandinetti, vice president of Kindle content at Amazon.

To qualify, the
e-book in question must be priced at between $2.99 and $9.99.

That e-book list
price must also be at least 20% below the price of the print edition, and the
price listed on Amazon must be the lowest offered anywhere.

The e-book must
also be offered for sale in all geographies for which the author or publisher
has rights, and — at least at launch — the 70% royalty option will only be
available for books sold in the U.S.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u4ybg

http://dtp.amazon.com

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