Archive for October 2004
PLoS Takes On Reed Elsevier
"A major new ‘open access’ journal for medicine has been launched, putting it in direct competition with the established publications in this lucrative area including Reed Elsevier’s The Lancet.
The Public Library of Science (PLoS), a US-based not-for-profit organisation, is behind PLoS Medicine, which it said was ‘the most significant international general medicine journal to emerge in over 70 years’.
Saeed Shah. US Public Library of Science Launches Rival to ‘The Lancet’. Independent.co.uk. Oct. 19, 2004.
See also:
Laura Lynch. Public Library of Science. Creative Commons. Oct. 2003.
SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.
AOL Downloads Movies
"America Online launched a promotion Thursday that lets subscribers of its broadband service download full-feature films for free through Movielink.
"The promotion expands on an existing deal between the two companies that allows AOL members to rent downloaded movies for 99 cents a title.
"Under the new program, the companies will make 10 ‘classic titles,’ including ‘Steel Magnolias’ and ‘Against All Odds,’ available for free in the first month. In subsequent months, five movies will be offered. Once downloading is complete, customers have 30 days to watch the film and 24 hours to complete it, once viewing begins."
CNET staff. AOL Offers Broadband Subscribers Free Flicks. News.com. Oct. 21, 2004.
SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.
Digital Entertainment Takes a Road Trip
"Your digital home entertainment system is about to take a road trip.
"Consumer electronics makers are racing to find new offerings, from wireless music downloads at gas stations to digital TV, to entertain American families when they’re stuck in traffic, driving home for the holidays, or just out for a ride.
"Some of the efforts to transplant digital media technology from PCs and home entertainment centers are still on the drawing board, companies said at a technology conference. But other changes are likely to start appearing in new cars and SUVs as early as next year."
Declan McCullagh. Digital Home Entertainment Hits the Road. News.com. Oct. 19, 2004.
See also:
Declan McCullagh. Car Crazy: Microsoft in the Driver’s Seat. News.com. Oct. 21, 2004.
David Becker. TVs, Cameras Top Holiday Plans. News.com. Oct. 18, 2004.
SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.
AOL Teams Up With Major League Baseball
"Staging a sort of a late-inning rally, America Online and Major League Baseball are teaming up in an instant-messaging deal.
"AOL and baseball’s interactive media and Internet company, MLB Advanced Media, announced an AOL instant-messaging feature that will give baseball fans real-time access to baseball scores, headlines, standings and fantasy game links, as well other baseball information, when they add the screen name ‘MLB’ to their Buddy List.
"The announcement comes with just a handful of games left to be played in the championship series and the World Series, which begins later this week."
Dawn Kawamoto. AOL Pitches Baseball for IM. News.com. Oct. 20, 2004.
See also:
Jim Hu. Sox Comeback Takes Web by Storm. News.com. Oct. 21, 2004.
SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.
What Crisis? CD Shipments Rise
"CD shipments are surging this year, but not enough to erase previous years’ declines in the music business, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
"The record industry’s trade group said the value of shipments of all music at the midpoint of 2004 had climbed nearly 4 percent compared to the previous year. The industry has shipped 10 percent more CDs to retail outlets than last year, showing a strong increase in demand.
"But that growth does not mean that the industry can let up in its years-long legal attacks on file swapping and other digital copying, executives said."
John Borland. CD Shipments Surge After Lean Years. ZDNet. Oct. 20, 2004.
SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.
MP3 Withers Under iPod’s Weight
"After years as the unrivaled king of the digital-media world, the venerable MP3 music format is losing ground to rival technologies from Microsoft and Apple Computer.
"MP3 is still the overwhelming favorite of file traders, but the once-universal format’s popularity has been going quietly but steadily down in personal music collections for the last year. According to researchers at The NPD Group’s MusicWatch Digital who track the contents of people’s hard drives, the percentage of MP3-formatted songs in digital-music collections has slid steadily in recent months, down to about 72 percent of people’s collections from about 82 percent a year ago."
John Borland. Is MP3 Losing Steam?. News.com. Oct. 15, 2004.
SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.
UCLA Quarantines P2P Violators
"UCLA has developed a new process of identifying and disciplining copyright infringers on peer-to-peer networks, providing schools with another tool to crack down on illegal file sharing.
"Jim Davis, the university’s associate vice chancellor of information technology, testified last week about the UCLA Quarantine project before the House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property.
"The school developed a system that automatically alerts students to copyright violations. Since it debuted in the spring, the system has been successful, according to Davis."
Katie Dean. UCLA File Swappers in Quarantine. Wired News. Oct. 13, 2004.
COPYCENSE 