MEDIABLAB DAILY DIGEST JAN 3: BURMA DESTRA MALAYSIA SEX VIDEO WIKIA AGEISM
January 3rd 2008 04:08
A daily digest of media news stories compiled by MediaBlab over the last 24 hours
AUSTRALIA’S TOUGH NEW WEB RULES: MAJOR MEDIA OUTLETS PROTEST
Several of Australia’s major media organisations have written in protest about new rules that will be introduced by the Australian Communications and Media Authority to restrict access to online or mobile content designated 15 or 18 .
Paidcontent.org reports that the 15 content restriction “isn't that onerous” since content providers can simply take the word of the person seeking to view the content that they are 15 or older, but the 18 content requires an age verification system.
It said, “This brings digital content in line with non-digital content in this regard. Previous regulations covering this area have been dispensed with.”
ACP Magazines wrote that it is “very concerned by the proposed extension of R18 access restrictions to MA15 content.”
It said, “ACP magazines serves over half the men’s lifestyle audience with sites such as Zoo, FHM and Ralph serving MA15 to these audiences.
“The proposed regulations appear impractical and discriminatory.
“There seems no practical way to restrict this type of content to 15-17 year olds. We are not aware of an effective system working anywhere else in the wroild. Credit cards don’t work (to verify someone’s age on the internet.)
“…It is also not clear how this would work for sites that publish consumer generated content like the social networking sites.”
Here is the official notification of the new rules:
New rules for restricting access to age restricted content (commercial MA15 content and R18 content) either hosted in Australia or provided from Australia will commence from 20 January 2008.
The new rules made by ACMA on 20 December 2007 are specified in the Restricted Access System Declaration 2007 (PDF 38 kb, Word 127 kb), and in the Explanatory Statement to the Declaration (PDF 37 kb, Word 95 kb) and are made in accordance with the new regulation of content framework under Schedule 7 to the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 which also commences on 20 January 2008.
The new regulatory framework will apply to most content service providers who supply content via a carriage service. Access to commercial MA15 and R18 content provided to consumers as internet content, live content via the internet, mobile premium services including mobile portal and premium rate SMS/MMS services, and premium rate voice services will be subject to the restricted access rules. Telephone sex services will be subject to the restricted access declaration from 20 July 2008 when provisions of Part 9A of the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999 governing such services are repealed.
The new rules have been developed following consultation with stakeholders and followed the release by ACMA of a draft declaration and a discussion paper in October 2007.
The following submissions were received about the draft restricted access system declaration:
NSW Council for Civil Liberties
The Independent Australian Radio Broadcasters Association
Ms Lisa Seddon
Dr Karen Orr Vered
Newgency
Together Online
Australian Interactive Media Industry Association
Vodafone Australia Ltd
Australian Visual Software Distributors Association Ltd
Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft
Optus
Hutchison 3G Australia
Internet Industry Association
Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association
Telstra
Australian Privacy Foundation
DMG Radio (Australia) Pty Ltd
Internet Society Australia
Google Australia
Consumers Telecommunications Network
PBL Media
Free TV Australia
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission
Australian Subscription Television & Radio Association
Commercial Radio Australia
ACP Magazines
The Telecommunications Service Provider (Mobile Premium Services) Determination 2005 was made in 2005 and includes rules restricting access to MA15 and R18 content via mobile premium services. The determination also permits industry to develop a self-regulatory scheme (currently the Mobile Premium Services Industry Scheme) to include rules about the provision of information to mobile customers about costs and terms and conditions on which mobile premium services are offered and the handling of complaints about mobile premium services. Importantly, the determination also provides rules on how mobile chat service providers can minimise the risk of mobile chat services being used to facilitate illegal contact between children and adults. These rules are unaffected by the amendment and continue operating under the industry self-regulatory scheme, the Mobile Premium Services Industry Scheme.
The rules under the Determination regulating access to mobile premium services content have been replaced by the new framework under Schedule 7 and the new restricted access system declaration. ACMA made the Telecommunications Service Provider (Mobile Premium Services) Determination 2005 (No. 1) Amendment Determination 2007 (No. 1) (PDF 16 kb, Word 100 kb) (Explanatory Statement: PDF 20 kb, Word 55 kb) to remove the content related provisions for mobile phones from the Determination.
The Telecommunications Numbering Plan Variation 2007 (No. 4) (PDF 23 kb, Word 112 kb) (Explanatory Statement: PDF 20 kb, Word 64 kb) was also made on 20 December 2007 to vary the Telecommunications Numbering Plan 1997 to require carriage service providers providing access to age restricted content delivered via premium SMS and MMS services to only use numbers beginning with 195 and 196.
The following submissions were received relating to the amendments to the Determination and the Numbering Plan:
Office of Consumer and Business Affairs South Australia
Vodafone Australia Ltd
Jamster
Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association
Communications Alliance
Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Office
Free TV Australia
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission
AUSTRALIA’S TOUGH NEW WEB RULES: BBC REPORT
BBC News said Australian internet providers will be expected to filter all their content because the government is planning tough new rules to protect children from online pornography and violence.
The Beeb said the new Labor government wants internet service providers to filter content to ensure households and schools do not receive ‘inappropriate’ material. Civil libertarians have condemned the plan as unnecessary, and say it will erode the freedom of the internet. But telecommunications minister Stephen Conroy said more needed to be done to protect children.
The Australian government wants to ensure that children only have access to family-friendly websites, and is set to compile a list of unsuitable sites, although at this stage it is unclear what will be deemed unsuitable.
ustralians wanting unfettered access to the web will have to contact their supplier to opt out of the new regime.
AUSTRALIA’S TOUGH NEW WEB RULES: FREEDOM OF SPEECH NOT TO BE EQUATED WITH KIDDIE PORN
Influential international web site TechCrunch once again has stuck the boot into Australia’s new web rules.
It said, “A follow up to our story December 30 on the Australian government joining China in broadly censoring the internet. Now apparently if you believe in Free Speech you believe in Kiddie Porn, via the Sydney Morning Herald:
“‘Labor makes no apologies to those who argue that any regulation of the internet is like going down the Chinese road,’ [Telecommunications Minister Stephen] Conroy said yesterday. ‘If people equate freedom of speech with watching child pornography, then the Rudd Labor Government is going to disagree.’
“No one equates freedom of speech with watching kiddie porn, only the Australian government does.
“Whilst no one would disagree with the notion that kiddie porn is abhorrent, it should be noted that the Australian government’s censorship regime is going to be much broader than sites that show activities that are already illegal to distribute and watch across the world. Further still, as local civil libertarians have pointed out, it will not only take all of two minutes to bypass the great firewall of Australia, and worse still it will actually provide a false sense of security to parents who will wrongly believe that the internet is now a safe place for their children, when it still isn’t.
“At least they’ve now admitted to taking lessons from China, not that this is something to be proud of, although the Australian government seems to think that it is.”
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS CLUB OF CHINA CLAIMS IT HAS 180 REPORTS OF JOURNALISTS BEING OBSTRUCTED
The Foreign Correspondents Club of China issued a press release yesterday saying it had received more than 180 reports of foreign journalists being obstructed in their work since the introduction exactly one year ago of new rules that were supposed to enable the international media to operate much more freely in China.
The FCCC said the incidents included threats, physical violence, harassment, destruction of journalistic equipment, interrogation and visa refusals. Most of these violations took place in the Beijing and Hebei regions, it said.
One of the most serious cases cited by the FCCC was that of Reuters correspondent Chris Buckley, who was physically attacked by about 10 people while doing a report on a prison. His equipment was stolen and he was threatened with death.
Brice Pedroletti, a journalist with the French daily Le Monde, was watched when he went to research a story in Xinjiang. The people he interviewed were interrogated afterwards, while he was followed and interrogated by police.
Reporters going to Tibet have been forced to sign a pledge that they will not use their photos or film footage to convey a negative vision of Tibet and China. And then they have been followed and harassed throughout their visit.
A crew working for the international satellite TV station Al-Jazeera was detained for three hours in Anhui province while the police arrested the peasants they had just interviewed.
Meanwhile, the president of the European parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, has called for the immediate release of Hu Jia, the leading human rights activist who was arrested at his Beijing home on 27 December.
"I very much hope that the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 will be an opportunity for China to demonstrate that a country hosting the world's most important sports event is committed to internationally recognized human rights standards including freedom of expression," Pöttering said on December 29, adding that, "the immediate release of Hu Jia would be an important signal in this direction."
Reporters Without Borders said it hopes that Europe and in particular, Slovenia, which has just taken over the European Union's rotating presidency, will wage an exemplary campaign to get Hu freed.
The press freedom organisation has learned from Hu's family that he is being held at a Beijing municipal detention centre ruled by the Public Security ministry. He has managed to get a message to his wife, blogger Zeng Jinyan, asking her to send him money and photos of their six-week-old daughter.
His wife and daughter have been under house arrest since December 27. Only Hu's mother, has been able to visit them but, for fear of reprisals, she is refusing to provide any additional information.
Li Jinping, another human rights activist, was turned back by police when he tried to approach Hu and Zeng's home on 28 and 29 December. He was also questioned by the police.
INDIA HAILED IN THE UK AS THE GLOBAL CENTRE FOR ANIMATORS
A new BBC children's series airing this week will cement India’s position as a global centre for animators, according the Guardian.
With a pounds stg10 million budget, India-animated Freefonix is one of the BBC's biggest ever animation projects.
The Bollywood-BBC tie-up on Freefonix is the first of many, according to the series' UK-based producers Cinnamon Entertainment (see MediaBlab archive.)
Managing director Anthony Bouchier says more readily available funding and skilled animation teams are drawing TV show-makers to India.
The Guardian reports Cinnamon is part of a new breed of media company specialising in making the most of tax breaks and subsidies available in various countries.
Created by Magnus Fiennes, brother of Joseph and Ralph, Freefonix was financed with funding from sources including Indian private equity investment, The Isle of Man Film Fund and the BBC.
The scripts were written in the United States and UK, the voices were recorded in the UK, the music and general production work was done in the UK and the Isle of Man and then a team in Paris modelled the characters and backgrounds. The whole thing was then sent to Trivandrum in Kerala, southern India, where it was animated. The final post-production was done in Ireland.
SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDING BUYS SLEW OF HONG KONG-BASED LUXURY MAGAZINES
SPH Magazines, a unit of Singapore Press Holdings has strengthened its Asian expansion by buying all the luxury magazines published by a Hong Kong firm, according to the Straits Times.
The company will pay Adkom, a media group established in 2000 with a focus on the upmarket lifestyle sector, about S$23.2 million for the titles.
These include Asia-Pacific Boating, AsiaSpa, Luxury Properties and other magazines targeted at affluent readers with an active lifestyle.
The magazines are published and circulated in major Asian cities, including Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Thailand.
The company said this acquisition, “'will immediately extend SPH Magazines' reach in the North Asia market and fortify its position in the Asia-Pacific region as a major magazine publisher,” and will be made through its wholly owned Hong Kong firm Blu Inc Media.
TIME ISSUES LEGAL CHALLENGE TO SOEHARTO’S DEFAMATION WIN IN INDONESIA
Time Incorporated is about to launch a legal challenge to the A$125.7 million in defamation damages granted to former Indonesian dictator Soeharto, according the Age newspaper in Melbourne.
Time magazine published a cover story in 1999, which contained allegations that Soeharto and his family had $US9 billion stored in European banks.
But The Age reports that three months after the “shock decision” against Time Inc, the publisher's lawyers in Jakarta are set to file a 100-page legal challenge in what is seen as a test case for media freedom in Indonesia.
The case is expected to be reviewed in the Supreme Court of Indonesia this month.
Todung Mulya Lubis, one of the lawyers, told The Age the challenge includes "vindication" of the journalistic practices used by New York-based Time magazine when it published the cover story titled ‘Suharto Inc.’
“This is not only a case against Time Inc," said Mr Lubis, a prominent human rights lawyer. "This is a case that goes to the very fundamental principles of press freedom and democracy in Indonesia."
Indonesia's Gatra magazine reported that when Soeharto learned that the court ordered he receive a staggering $A125.7 million in defamation damages, he said, "I am becoming rich, suddenly."
Soeharto told Gatra in a recent rare interview he would donate 65 percent of the damages payment to the poor and give the rest to the state. Government officials are sceptical.
DESTRA-MARINER TAKEOVER TUSSLE FOR BEYOND TAKES YET ANOTHER TURN
And on it goes. Australian digital media group Destra maintained yesterday that it was still in the market to make a solo bid for Beyond International, despite aborting a capital raising last month for a tilt at the TV and film production house.
And the company has confirmed it has held talks with Mariner Financial, its main rival in taking over Beyond, about the possibility of a joint bid.
"We're open to possibilities of a solo bid or a joint bid," Destra chief Dominic Carosa told the Australian newspaper (see MediaBlab archivesfor the ongoing saga surrounding this takeover bid.)
Carosa added, "We're open to exploring all the options, and I should note for the record, we're still conducting due diligence (on Beyond)."
MYANMAR GOVERNMENT INCREASES SATELLITE TV LICENCE FEES 166-FOLD
The Myanmar government has ordered a massive hike in the annual satellite television license fee without any warning, according to the Irrawaddy Journal and news agency reports.
Authorities recently increased the license fee from 6,000 kyat (US $5) to 1 million kyat ($780), a 166-fold increase. The deadline to apply for a satellite license is January 30.
The average annual income in Burma is $300.
The huge increase in the satellite license fee will in effect prevent the majority of Myanmar from accessing international news and other information via satellite broadcasts. Two satellite broadcasts, the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma and Doha-based Al Jazeera broadcast, are popular sources of information.
Without a satellite connection, the main TV broadcast news source will be the extremely dull state-controlled MRTV. There are some private television broadcasts, but they avoid news and information of a controversial nature.
According to official data, there were 60,000 registered satellite receivers in 2002, although a glance at the dish-festooned roofs of Yangon apartment buildings suggests the actual figure is much higher.
MALAYSIA’S HEALTH MINISTER QUITS OVER DECIDEDLY UNHEALTHY SEX VIDEO SCANDAL
Malaysia’s health minister resigned on Wednesday after admitting he and a female friend were the couple in a secretly filmed sex video.
Chua resigned immediately from all his posts as health minister, member of Parliament and vice president of the Malaysian Chinese Association, the number two party in Malaysia’s ruling coalition.
AP reports that as a health minister, Chua had been praised for cutting bureaucratic delays in medical services and working to combat AIDS, smoking and junk food consumption.
Chua is the highest-ranking politician to be caught in a sex scandal since former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was expelled from the ruling party and arrested in 1998 for allegedly sodomising his family driver. A court later overturned Anwar’s sodomy conviction.
WIKIA SEARCH TO START ON MONDAY SAYS WIKIPEDIA FOUNDER
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has set January 7 as the launch date for an open-source search project, Wikia Search, that hopes to challenge Google and other established services, the Washington Post reports.
The Wikia Search project has assembled the basic technologies for a search engine, will allow technology enthusiasts to help filter sites and rank search results, using a community model similar to Wikipedia.
Wikia Search will also be more transparent to end users, so they can see how search results are arrived at, unlike Yahoo and Google’s “opaque” services that don't explain how results are arrived at.
The search tool will take time to evolve, and the initial service won't match the capabilities of the leading search engines. Contributors will develop the search platform over time, in a similar way that Wikipedia took time to get enough entries to be useful.
The search project is part of Wales' for-profit company, Wikia Inc.
GRUMPY OLD TV PRESENTERS CLAIM THEY’RE BEING BOOTED OUT OF THE BBC BECAUSE OF AGEISM
British television presenter, the ironically named Kirsty Young has denied claims that the BBC is ageist as she prepares to take over as presenter of the Crimewatch program, the Guardian reports.
The perceived fear in the UK is that older television presenters are being kicked off the air to make way for bright young things, although Kirsty Young, while obviously bright, is not exactly young – she’s 39.
But Nick Ross, who had presented the show for 23 years, left last year amid suspicions that he was axed because he was approaching his 60th birthday.
He was replaced by the younger Fiona Bruce, who Kirsty Young is now replacing.
Fiona Bruce, whose precise age has not been given by the Guardian, was transferred to Antiques Roadshow, although there has been no reference to irony regarding this move.
And Bruce herself replaced an even more antique presenter of that program, the iconic Michael Aspel, who is knocking on the door of 74.
The departure of the two male veterans led to allegations that new appointments were being made on the basis of age as much as ability.
When Nick Ross announced in June last year that he would leave after corporation bosses failed to tell him they were ordering a revamp of the show, he said he had wondered if his age was an issue.
Meanwhile, Kirsty Young sprang to her own defence saying she is no mere young stripling.
She said, “If I was 22 and some leggy, pouty bird, then I could see it, but they are stretching it a bit thin. And Fiona and I are of the same generation."
SAUDIS OFFICIALLY ADMIT ARRESTING POPULAR BLOGGER IN JEDDAH
The Saudi Interior Ministry admitted on Tuesday that a popular internet blogger who criticises official corruption and advocates government reform has been detained by police for questioning, according to the Voice of America.
The ministry confirmed the December 10 arrest of blogger Fouad al-Farhan, which was first reported last week on the internet. A ministry spokesman said Farhan was detained in Jeddah for violating rules not related to state security. He did not elaborate.
The English-language daily Arab News said authorities have not informed Farhan's family of any criminal charges against the writer.
Saudi media has not reported the arrest, which the Washington Post newspaper says has drawn the ire of more than 200 bloggers in the kingdom. The Post reports that Farhan told a reporter last month he had been warned he could be detained because of his online support for a group of men arrested early last year and held without charge.
The New York Times said the “outspoken” Saudi blogger is being held for “purposes of interrogation.”
The newspaper said, “General Mansour al-Turki, an Interior Ministry spokesman reached by telephone, said that the blogger, Fouah al-Farhan, was ‘being questioned about specific violations of non-security laws.’ Mr. Farhan’s blog, which discusses social issues, had become one of the most widely read in Saudi Arabia.
“Since his arrest, friends of Mr. Farhan have continued to blog on his behalf under a banner that reads “Free Fouad’ and features his picture. The blog’s web address is www.alfarhan.org.
“‘The issue that caused all of this is because I wrote about the political prisoners here in Saudi Arabia, and they think I’m running an online campaign promoting their issue,’ the letter continued, noting that Mr. Farhan had been asked to sign a statement of apology.”
Crooks and Liars said, “It’s important to note that many people justify their bigotry against Muslims by saying that they aren’t hearing ‘peaceful Muslims’ railing against terrorism done in their name. Farhan was just such a voice, so it’s ironic that the Saudis are trying to silence him for not following their talking points.”
SINGTEL REPORTS CURRENCY TRANSLATION GAIN OF $S118 MILLION FOR DECEMBER QUARTER
Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, or SingTel reports that an exceptional realised currency translation gain, net of hedging, of S$118 million (A$93 million) will be recorded in the quarter ending December 31, 2007.
This translation gain arose from SingTel Australia Investment Ltd reducing its Australian dollar denominated share capital by A$323 million after receiving interest paid by Singapore Telecom Australia Investments Pty Ltd.
The translation gain represents the difference between the amount of share capital returned by SingTel Australia Investment and the historical cost of investment in Singapore dollar terms by its shareholders.
Together with the S$84 million translation gain recorded in the first quarter ended June 30, 2007, the total exceptional translation gain for the group will amount to S$202 million for the nine months ending December 31, 2007.
WOTIF DECLARES ITS TAKEOVER OFFER FOR TRAVEL.COM.AU FREE OF CONDITIONS
Australia’s Travel.Com.Au Ltd chairman Roger Sharp said that Wotif has declared its off market takeover offer for the company to be free of conditions as it pursues its target of 90 percent of issued shares in the company.
He said the sale price of 55c per Travel.Com share (increasing to 57c per share if Wotif achieves the 90 percent compulsory acquisition threshold) represents a significant premium to the market value of the company before competitive bidding commenced for the company in September 2007.
The successful takeover by Wotif marks the conclusion of a sustained turnaround process which the board initiated in early 2005, and Wotif will now acquire a valuable and fast-growing lifestyle and accommodation brand in lastminute.com.au, and a leading player in the buoyant online international flights market in travel.com.au.
Sharp revealed that the state of play in the takeover is as follows:
Wotif now holds a relevant interest in 83.3 percent f the ordinary shares in TVL.
Wotif has today declared its bid for TVL to be free of conditions.
Settlement for acceptances already received will occur on or before February 1, 2008.
Wotif ceo Robbie Cooke and cfo Craig Dawson have been appointed directors of TVL with immediate effect.
TVL directors Peter Jollie, Adam Johnson and David Williams have resigned as directors with immediate effect.
Roger Sharp will continue to chair TVL until final settlement of the offer.
BLOGGERS KEEPING THE BASTARDS HONEST ON GREEN PROMISES IN THE US
Greg Stern, chief executive of the American ad firm Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners said that a green backlash, possibly fuelled by bloggers, will come into effect this year as US consumers question whether companies are living up to the many promises made via advertising last year.
Stern said, “Marketers will be more intensely scrutinised for their green efforts. Those that don't hold up will be called out via blogs and elsewhere online, ultimately leading to consumer scepticism."
Stern made his comments in a Wall Street Journal article today about how the web's emergence is forcing ad executives to succumb to marketers' demands that agencies reinvent how ads are created, and forgo their TV-centric approach.
The newspaper said, “Clients are even calling for changes in the way ad firms are structured. But until now, few advertisers have spent more than 5 percent to 10 percent of their marketing budgets online. With the growth of online video and social networking, ad experts expect that percentage to jump significantly this year.”
It said softness in the economy also will likely drive more money to the Internet, which can be cheaper than other media and has a reach that is easier to measure, which is attractive to advertisers in slower times.
Merrill Lynch predicts overall ad spending in the US for 2008 will increase 2.3 percent, while the portion of that spending on the web will increase 18 percent.
Publicis Group's ZenithOptimedia says it expects the amount spent on internet advertising to overtake spending on radio in 2008, and spending on magazines in 2010.
INNOVATIVE SITE SETS OUT TO RECORD THE BIAS SKEW OF MAJOR NEWS STORIES
Indian entrepreneur Vipul Vyas is intent on harnessing political passion to develop a better news aggregator with his site, Skewz.
The Poynter Institute reports that Skewz allows registered users to submit news stories, including blog posts, rate or skew them on a polarity scale from strongly liberal to strongly conservative, and add comments or the rating rationale.
Skewz seeks to establish a middle ground between the polarities of politics, and also indicate how people view the biases and credibility of news organisations. It allows users to report on stories they regard as biased or as admirable.
Vyas claimed that ultimately this should "create a place to get nuanced news on some topic that would ordinarily be polarised."
Poynter said that to do this, Skewz offers "different shades" view of stories, which show articles ranked by popularity or recency. Users can slide the red or blue handles on the slider to narrow selection from all stories to any combination of liberal and conservative.
The site also has a split-screen view, showing liberal vs. conservative coverage. This indicates where a story's overall skew falls on the political spectrum.
Skewz can also provide insight into how the media frames issues. The site has a media comparison chart with several ways to view and compare news organisation or blog stories.
Skewz has about 600 registered users, and about 15 to 20 percent post regularly. Vyus says his goal is to build the site's user base to 10,000 or more because this will produce better information.
MediaBlab verdict: Skewz in an interesting concept but the execution, the site itself, is a horror: complicated and cluttered in a dog’s breakfast manner and not at all user-friendly.
AUSTRALIA’S TOUGH NEW WEB RULES: MAJOR MEDIA OUTLETS PROTEST
Several of Australia’s major media organisations have written in protest about new rules that will be introduced by the Australian Communications and Media Authority to restrict access to online or mobile content designated 15 or 18 .
Paidcontent.org reports that the 15 content restriction “isn't that onerous” since content providers can simply take the word of the person seeking to view the content that they are 15 or older, but the 18 content requires an age verification system.
ACP Magazines wrote that it is “very concerned by the proposed extension of R18 access restrictions to MA15 content.”
It said, “ACP magazines serves over half the men’s lifestyle audience with sites such as Zoo, FHM and Ralph serving MA15 to these audiences.
“The proposed regulations appear impractical and discriminatory.
“There seems no practical way to restrict this type of content to 15-17 year olds. We are not aware of an effective system working anywhere else in the wroild. Credit cards don’t work (to verify someone’s age on the internet.)
“…It is also not clear how this would work for sites that publish consumer generated content like the social networking sites.”
Here is the official notification of the new rules:
New rules for restricting access to age restricted content (commercial MA15 content and R18 content) either hosted in Australia or provided from Australia will commence from 20 January 2008.
The new regulatory framework will apply to most content service providers who supply content via a carriage service. Access to commercial MA15 and R18 content provided to consumers as internet content, live content via the internet, mobile premium services including mobile portal and premium rate SMS/MMS services, and premium rate voice services will be subject to the restricted access rules. Telephone sex services will be subject to the restricted access declaration from 20 July 2008 when provisions of Part 9A of the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999 governing such services are repealed.
The new rules have been developed following consultation with stakeholders and followed the release by ACMA of a draft declaration and a discussion paper in October 2007.
The following submissions were received about the draft restricted access system declaration:
NSW Council for Civil Liberties
The Independent Australian Radio Broadcasters Association
Ms Lisa Seddon
Dr Karen Orr Vered
Newgency
Together Online
Australian Interactive Media Industry Association
Vodafone Australia Ltd
Australian Visual Software Distributors Association Ltd
Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft
Optus
Hutchison 3G Australia
Internet Industry Association
Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association
Telstra
Australian Privacy Foundation
DMG Radio (Australia) Pty Ltd
Internet Society Australia
Google Australia
Consumers Telecommunications Network
PBL Media
Free TV Australia
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission
Australian Subscription Television & Radio Association
Commercial Radio Australia
ACP Magazines
The Telecommunications Service Provider (Mobile Premium Services) Determination 2005 was made in 2005 and includes rules restricting access to MA15 and R18 content via mobile premium services. The determination also permits industry to develop a self-regulatory scheme (currently the Mobile Premium Services Industry Scheme) to include rules about the provision of information to mobile customers about costs and terms and conditions on which mobile premium services are offered and the handling of complaints about mobile premium services. Importantly, the determination also provides rules on how mobile chat service providers can minimise the risk of mobile chat services being used to facilitate illegal contact between children and adults. These rules are unaffected by the amendment and continue operating under the industry self-regulatory scheme, the Mobile Premium Services Industry Scheme.
The rules under the Determination regulating access to mobile premium services content have been replaced by the new framework under Schedule 7 and the new restricted access system declaration. ACMA made the Telecommunications Service Provider (Mobile Premium Services) Determination 2005 (No. 1) Amendment Determination 2007 (No. 1) (PDF 16 kb, Word 100 kb) (Explanatory Statement: PDF 20 kb, Word 55 kb) to remove the content related provisions for mobile phones from the Determination.
The Telecommunications Numbering Plan Variation 2007 (No. 4) (PDF 23 kb, Word 112 kb) (Explanatory Statement: PDF 20 kb, Word 64 kb) was also made on 20 December 2007 to vary the Telecommunications Numbering Plan 1997 to require carriage service providers providing access to age restricted content delivered via premium SMS and MMS services to only use numbers beginning with 195 and 196.
The following submissions were received relating to the amendments to the Determination and the Numbering Plan:
Office of Consumer and Business Affairs South Australia
Vodafone Australia Ltd
Jamster
Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association
Communications Alliance
Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Office
Free TV Australia
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission
AUSTRALIA’S TOUGH NEW WEB RULES: BBC REPORT
BBC News said Australian internet providers will be expected to filter all their content because the government is planning tough new rules to protect children from online pornography and violence.
The Beeb said the new Labor government wants internet service providers to filter content to ensure households and schools do not receive ‘inappropriate’ material. Civil libertarians have condemned the plan as unnecessary, and say it will erode the freedom of the internet. But telecommunications minister Stephen Conroy said more needed to be done to protect children.
The Australian government wants to ensure that children only have access to family-friendly websites, and is set to compile a list of unsuitable sites, although at this stage it is unclear what will be deemed unsuitable.
ustralians wanting unfettered access to the web will have to contact their supplier to opt out of the new regime.
AUSTRALIA’S TOUGH NEW WEB RULES: FREEDOM OF SPEECH NOT TO BE EQUATED WITH KIDDIE PORN
Influential international web site TechCrunch once again has stuck the boot into Australia’s new web rules.
It said, “A follow up to our story December 30 on the Australian government joining China in broadly censoring the internet. Now apparently if you believe in Free Speech you believe in Kiddie Porn, via the Sydney Morning Herald:
“‘Labor makes no apologies to those who argue that any regulation of the internet is like going down the Chinese road,’ [Telecommunications Minister Stephen] Conroy said yesterday. ‘If people equate freedom of speech with watching child pornography, then the Rudd Labor Government is going to disagree.’
“No one equates freedom of speech with watching kiddie porn, only the Australian government does.
“Whilst no one would disagree with the notion that kiddie porn is abhorrent, it should be noted that the Australian government’s censorship regime is going to be much broader than sites that show activities that are already illegal to distribute and watch across the world. Further still, as local civil libertarians have pointed out, it will not only take all of two minutes to bypass the great firewall of Australia, and worse still it will actually provide a false sense of security to parents who will wrongly believe that the internet is now a safe place for their children, when it still isn’t.
“At least they’ve now admitted to taking lessons from China, not that this is something to be proud of, although the Australian government seems to think that it is.”
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS CLUB OF CHINA CLAIMS IT HAS 180 REPORTS OF JOURNALISTS BEING OBSTRUCTED
The Foreign Correspondents Club of China issued a press release yesterday saying it had received more than 180 reports of foreign journalists being obstructed in their work since the introduction exactly one year ago of new rules that were supposed to enable the international media to operate much more freely in China.
The FCCC said the incidents included threats, physical violence, harassment, destruction of journalistic equipment, interrogation and visa refusals. Most of these violations took place in the Beijing and Hebei regions, it said.
One of the most serious cases cited by the FCCC was that of Reuters correspondent Chris Buckley, who was physically attacked by about 10 people while doing a report on a prison. His equipment was stolen and he was threatened with death.
Brice Pedroletti, a journalist with the French daily Le Monde, was watched when he went to research a story in Xinjiang. The people he interviewed were interrogated afterwards, while he was followed and interrogated by police.
Reporters going to Tibet have been forced to sign a pledge that they will not use their photos or film footage to convey a negative vision of Tibet and China. And then they have been followed and harassed throughout their visit.
A crew working for the international satellite TV station Al-Jazeera was detained for three hours in Anhui province while the police arrested the peasants they had just interviewed.
Meanwhile, the president of the European parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, has called for the immediate release of Hu Jia, the leading human rights activist who was arrested at his Beijing home on 27 December.
"I very much hope that the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 will be an opportunity for China to demonstrate that a country hosting the world's most important sports event is committed to internationally recognized human rights standards including freedom of expression," Pöttering said on December 29, adding that, "the immediate release of Hu Jia would be an important signal in this direction."
Reporters Without Borders said it hopes that Europe and in particular, Slovenia, which has just taken over the European Union's rotating presidency, will wage an exemplary campaign to get Hu freed.
The press freedom organisation has learned from Hu's family that he is being held at a Beijing municipal detention centre ruled by the Public Security ministry. He has managed to get a message to his wife, blogger Zeng Jinyan, asking her to send him money and photos of their six-week-old daughter.
His wife and daughter have been under house arrest since December 27. Only Hu's mother, has been able to visit them but, for fear of reprisals, she is refusing to provide any additional information.
Li Jinping, another human rights activist, was turned back by police when he tried to approach Hu and Zeng's home on 28 and 29 December. He was also questioned by the police.
INDIA HAILED IN THE UK AS THE GLOBAL CENTRE FOR ANIMATORS
A new BBC children's series airing this week will cement India’s position as a global centre for animators, according the Guardian.
With a pounds stg10 million budget, India-animated Freefonix is one of the BBC's biggest ever animation projects.
The Bollywood-BBC tie-up on Freefonix is the first of many, according to the series' UK-based producers Cinnamon Entertainment (see MediaBlab archive.)
Managing director Anthony Bouchier says more readily available funding and skilled animation teams are drawing TV show-makers to India.
The Guardian reports Cinnamon is part of a new breed of media company specialising in making the most of tax breaks and subsidies available in various countries.
Created by Magnus Fiennes, brother of Joseph and Ralph, Freefonix was financed with funding from sources including Indian private equity investment, The Isle of Man Film Fund and the BBC.
The scripts were written in the United States and UK, the voices were recorded in the UK, the music and general production work was done in the UK and the Isle of Man and then a team in Paris modelled the characters and backgrounds. The whole thing was then sent to Trivandrum in Kerala, southern India, where it was animated. The final post-production was done in Ireland.
SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDING BUYS SLEW OF HONG KONG-BASED LUXURY MAGAZINES
SPH Magazines, a unit of Singapore Press Holdings has strengthened its Asian expansion by buying all the luxury magazines published by a Hong Kong firm, according to the Straits Times.
The company will pay Adkom, a media group established in 2000 with a focus on the upmarket lifestyle sector, about S$23.2 million for the titles.
These include Asia-Pacific Boating, AsiaSpa, Luxury Properties and other magazines targeted at affluent readers with an active lifestyle.
The magazines are published and circulated in major Asian cities, including Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Thailand.
The company said this acquisition, “'will immediately extend SPH Magazines' reach in the North Asia market and fortify its position in the Asia-Pacific region as a major magazine publisher,” and will be made through its wholly owned Hong Kong firm Blu Inc Media.
TIME ISSUES LEGAL CHALLENGE TO SOEHARTO’S DEFAMATION WIN IN INDONESIA
Time Incorporated is about to launch a legal challenge to the A$125.7 million in defamation damages granted to former Indonesian dictator Soeharto, according the Age newspaper in Melbourne.
Time magazine published a cover story in 1999, which contained allegations that Soeharto and his family had $US9 billion stored in European banks.
But The Age reports that three months after the “shock decision” against Time Inc, the publisher's lawyers in Jakarta are set to file a 100-page legal challenge in what is seen as a test case for media freedom in Indonesia.
The case is expected to be reviewed in the Supreme Court of Indonesia this month.
Todung Mulya Lubis, one of the lawyers, told The Age the challenge includes "vindication" of the journalistic practices used by New York-based Time magazine when it published the cover story titled ‘Suharto Inc.’
“This is not only a case against Time Inc," said Mr Lubis, a prominent human rights lawyer. "This is a case that goes to the very fundamental principles of press freedom and democracy in Indonesia."
Indonesia's Gatra magazine reported that when Soeharto learned that the court ordered he receive a staggering $A125.7 million in defamation damages, he said, "I am becoming rich, suddenly."
Soeharto told Gatra in a recent rare interview he would donate 65 percent of the damages payment to the poor and give the rest to the state. Government officials are sceptical.
DESTRA-MARINER TAKEOVER TUSSLE FOR BEYOND TAKES YET ANOTHER TURN
And on it goes. Australian digital media group Destra maintained yesterday that it was still in the market to make a solo bid for Beyond International, despite aborting a capital raising last month for a tilt at the TV and film production house.
And the company has confirmed it has held talks with Mariner Financial, its main rival in taking over Beyond, about the possibility of a joint bid.
"We're open to possibilities of a solo bid or a joint bid," Destra chief Dominic Carosa told the Australian newspaper (see MediaBlab archivesfor the ongoing saga surrounding this takeover bid.)
Carosa added, "We're open to exploring all the options, and I should note for the record, we're still conducting due diligence (on Beyond)."
MYANMAR GOVERNMENT INCREASES SATELLITE TV LICENCE FEES 166-FOLD
The Myanmar government has ordered a massive hike in the annual satellite television license fee without any warning, according to the Irrawaddy Journal and news agency reports.
Authorities recently increased the license fee from 6,000 kyat (US $5) to 1 million kyat ($780), a 166-fold increase. The deadline to apply for a satellite license is January 30.
The average annual income in Burma is $300.
The huge increase in the satellite license fee will in effect prevent the majority of Myanmar from accessing international news and other information via satellite broadcasts. Two satellite broadcasts, the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma and Doha-based Al Jazeera broadcast, are popular sources of information.
Without a satellite connection, the main TV broadcast news source will be the extremely dull state-controlled MRTV. There are some private television broadcasts, but they avoid news and information of a controversial nature.
According to official data, there were 60,000 registered satellite receivers in 2002, although a glance at the dish-festooned roofs of Yangon apartment buildings suggests the actual figure is much higher.
MALAYSIA’S HEALTH MINISTER QUITS OVER DECIDEDLY UNHEALTHY SEX VIDEO SCANDAL
Malaysia’s health minister resigned on Wednesday after admitting he and a female friend were the couple in a secretly filmed sex video.
Chua resigned immediately from all his posts as health minister, member of Parliament and vice president of the Malaysian Chinese Association, the number two party in Malaysia’s ruling coalition.
AP reports that as a health minister, Chua had been praised for cutting bureaucratic delays in medical services and working to combat AIDS, smoking and junk food consumption.
Chua is the highest-ranking politician to be caught in a sex scandal since former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was expelled from the ruling party and arrested in 1998 for allegedly sodomising his family driver. A court later overturned Anwar’s sodomy conviction.
WIKIA SEARCH TO START ON MONDAY SAYS WIKIPEDIA FOUNDER
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has set January 7 as the launch date for an open-source search project, Wikia Search, that hopes to challenge Google and other established services, the Washington Post reports.
The Wikia Search project has assembled the basic technologies for a search engine, will allow technology enthusiasts to help filter sites and rank search results, using a community model similar to Wikipedia.
Wikia Search will also be more transparent to end users, so they can see how search results are arrived at, unlike Yahoo and Google’s “opaque” services that don't explain how results are arrived at.
The search tool will take time to evolve, and the initial service won't match the capabilities of the leading search engines. Contributors will develop the search platform over time, in a similar way that Wikipedia took time to get enough entries to be useful.
The search project is part of Wales' for-profit company, Wikia Inc.
GRUMPY OLD TV PRESENTERS CLAIM THEY’RE BEING BOOTED OUT OF THE BBC BECAUSE OF AGEISM
British television presenter, the ironically named Kirsty Young has denied claims that the BBC is ageist as she prepares to take over as presenter of the Crimewatch program, the Guardian reports.
The perceived fear in the UK is that older television presenters are being kicked off the air to make way for bright young things, although Kirsty Young, while obviously bright, is not exactly young – she’s 39.
But Nick Ross, who had presented the show for 23 years, left last year amid suspicions that he was axed because he was approaching his 60th birthday.
He was replaced by the younger Fiona Bruce, who Kirsty Young is now replacing.
Fiona Bruce, whose precise age has not been given by the Guardian, was transferred to Antiques Roadshow, although there has been no reference to irony regarding this move.
And Bruce herself replaced an even more antique presenter of that program, the iconic Michael Aspel, who is knocking on the door of 74.
The departure of the two male veterans led to allegations that new appointments were being made on the basis of age as much as ability.
When Nick Ross announced in June last year that he would leave after corporation bosses failed to tell him they were ordering a revamp of the show, he said he had wondered if his age was an issue.
Meanwhile, Kirsty Young sprang to her own defence saying she is no mere young stripling.
She said, “If I was 22 and some leggy, pouty bird, then I could see it, but they are stretching it a bit thin. And Fiona and I are of the same generation."
SAUDIS OFFICIALLY ADMIT ARRESTING POPULAR BLOGGER IN JEDDAH
The Saudi Interior Ministry admitted on Tuesday that a popular internet blogger who criticises official corruption and advocates government reform has been detained by police for questioning, according to the Voice of America.
The ministry confirmed the December 10 arrest of blogger Fouad al-Farhan, which was first reported last week on the internet. A ministry spokesman said Farhan was detained in Jeddah for violating rules not related to state security. He did not elaborate.
The English-language daily Arab News said authorities have not informed Farhan's family of any criminal charges against the writer.
Saudi media has not reported the arrest, which the Washington Post newspaper says has drawn the ire of more than 200 bloggers in the kingdom. The Post reports that Farhan told a reporter last month he had been warned he could be detained because of his online support for a group of men arrested early last year and held without charge.
The New York Times said the “outspoken” Saudi blogger is being held for “purposes of interrogation.”
The newspaper said, “General Mansour al-Turki, an Interior Ministry spokesman reached by telephone, said that the blogger, Fouah al-Farhan, was ‘being questioned about specific violations of non-security laws.’ Mr. Farhan’s blog, which discusses social issues, had become one of the most widely read in Saudi Arabia.
“Since his arrest, friends of Mr. Farhan have continued to blog on his behalf under a banner that reads “Free Fouad’ and features his picture. The blog’s web address is www.alfarhan.org.
“‘The issue that caused all of this is because I wrote about the political prisoners here in Saudi Arabia, and they think I’m running an online campaign promoting their issue,’ the letter continued, noting that Mr. Farhan had been asked to sign a statement of apology.”
Crooks and Liars said, “It’s important to note that many people justify their bigotry against Muslims by saying that they aren’t hearing ‘peaceful Muslims’ railing against terrorism done in their name. Farhan was just such a voice, so it’s ironic that the Saudis are trying to silence him for not following their talking points.”
SINGTEL REPORTS CURRENCY TRANSLATION GAIN OF $S118 MILLION FOR DECEMBER QUARTER
Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, or SingTel reports that an exceptional realised currency translation gain, net of hedging, of S$118 million (A$93 million) will be recorded in the quarter ending December 31, 2007.
This translation gain arose from SingTel Australia Investment Ltd reducing its Australian dollar denominated share capital by A$323 million after receiving interest paid by Singapore Telecom Australia Investments Pty Ltd.
The translation gain represents the difference between the amount of share capital returned by SingTel Australia Investment and the historical cost of investment in Singapore dollar terms by its shareholders.
Together with the S$84 million translation gain recorded in the first quarter ended June 30, 2007, the total exceptional translation gain for the group will amount to S$202 million for the nine months ending December 31, 2007.
WOTIF DECLARES ITS TAKEOVER OFFER FOR TRAVEL.COM.AU FREE OF CONDITIONS
Australia’s Travel.Com.Au Ltd chairman Roger Sharp said that Wotif has declared its off market takeover offer for the company to be free of conditions as it pursues its target of 90 percent of issued shares in the company.
He said the sale price of 55c per Travel.Com share (increasing to 57c per share if Wotif achieves the 90 percent compulsory acquisition threshold) represents a significant premium to the market value of the company before competitive bidding commenced for the company in September 2007.
The successful takeover by Wotif marks the conclusion of a sustained turnaround process which the board initiated in early 2005, and Wotif will now acquire a valuable and fast-growing lifestyle and accommodation brand in lastminute.com.au, and a leading player in the buoyant online international flights market in travel.com.au.
Sharp revealed that the state of play in the takeover is as follows:
Wotif now holds a relevant interest in 83.3 percent f the ordinary shares in TVL.
Wotif has today declared its bid for TVL to be free of conditions.
Settlement for acceptances already received will occur on or before February 1, 2008.
Wotif ceo Robbie Cooke and cfo Craig Dawson have been appointed directors of TVL with immediate effect.
TVL directors Peter Jollie, Adam Johnson and David Williams have resigned as directors with immediate effect.
Roger Sharp will continue to chair TVL until final settlement of the offer.
BLOGGERS KEEPING THE BASTARDS HONEST ON GREEN PROMISES IN THE US
Greg Stern, chief executive of the American ad firm Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners said that a green backlash, possibly fuelled by bloggers, will come into effect this year as US consumers question whether companies are living up to the many promises made via advertising last year.
Stern said, “Marketers will be more intensely scrutinised for their green efforts. Those that don't hold up will be called out via blogs and elsewhere online, ultimately leading to consumer scepticism."
Stern made his comments in a Wall Street Journal article today about how the web's emergence is forcing ad executives to succumb to marketers' demands that agencies reinvent how ads are created, and forgo their TV-centric approach.
The newspaper said, “Clients are even calling for changes in the way ad firms are structured. But until now, few advertisers have spent more than 5 percent to 10 percent of their marketing budgets online. With the growth of online video and social networking, ad experts expect that percentage to jump significantly this year.”
It said softness in the economy also will likely drive more money to the Internet, which can be cheaper than other media and has a reach that is easier to measure, which is attractive to advertisers in slower times.
Merrill Lynch predicts overall ad spending in the US for 2008 will increase 2.3 percent, while the portion of that spending on the web will increase 18 percent.
Publicis Group's ZenithOptimedia says it expects the amount spent on internet advertising to overtake spending on radio in 2008, and spending on magazines in 2010.
INNOVATIVE SITE SETS OUT TO RECORD THE BIAS SKEW OF MAJOR NEWS STORIES
Indian entrepreneur Vipul Vyas is intent on harnessing political passion to develop a better news aggregator with his site, Skewz.
The Poynter Institute reports that Skewz allows registered users to submit news stories, including blog posts, rate or skew them on a polarity scale from strongly liberal to strongly conservative, and add comments or the rating rationale.
Skewz seeks to establish a middle ground between the polarities of politics, and also indicate how people view the biases and credibility of news organisations. It allows users to report on stories they regard as biased or as admirable.
Vyas claimed that ultimately this should "create a place to get nuanced news on some topic that would ordinarily be polarised."
Poynter said that to do this, Skewz offers "different shades" view of stories, which show articles ranked by popularity or recency. Users can slide the red or blue handles on the slider to narrow selection from all stories to any combination of liberal and conservative.
The site also has a split-screen view, showing liberal vs. conservative coverage. This indicates where a story's overall skew falls on the political spectrum.
Skewz can also provide insight into how the media frames issues. The site has a media comparison chart with several ways to view and compare news organisation or blog stories.
Skewz has about 600 registered users, and about 15 to 20 percent post regularly. Vyus says his goal is to build the site's user base to 10,000 or more because this will produce better information.
MediaBlab verdict: Skewz in an interesting concept but the execution, the site itself, is a horror: complicated and cluttered in a dog’s breakfast manner and not at all user-friendly.
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