The Commission on Presidential Debates is partnering with three online media companies to stream debates and educate voters. The platforms will also give the companies a way to showcase their other content. Read more »
A growing army of bots are doing everything from leaving comments to entering sweepstakes, harming the online environment for both publishers and advertisers. Solve Media has a study on the problem. Read more at paidContent »
Parents trying to get their daughter’s Facebook messages to learn more about her death were stopped by federal privacy rules. The situation shows again how current laws have not evolved to account for the age of social media. Read more »
A French tabloid set off a temporary worldwide panic that Facebook had published the private messages of its users. France’s privacy regulator has now accepted the company’s explanation that this didn’t happen — but did blame Facebook for stirring up confusion. Read more »
News that Neil Young is on Twitter led thousands of exultant fans to follow him. It’s too bad, then, that Young appears to have nothing to do with the account. The fake hype reflects badly on both the company and the musician. Read more »
New York magazine is doing better than ever, with outstanding reporting and a healthy bottom line. Is the publication an outlier or can other city magazines imitate its strategy? Read more at paidContent »
Apple lost an appeal to protect its famous music icon after trademark judges ruled that consumers were likely to confuse it with a mark now owned by MySpace. Read more »
Easy steaming means live news has become a commodity. Four experts offered their take on what this means and what news companies must do to adapt. Read more at paidContent »
A data company has filed a dramatic counterclaim against Craigslist, accusing the classified site of acting as an illegal monopolist. A court filing argues Craigslist engaged in illegal, predatory behavior through actions like “ghosting” and unfair licenses. Read more »
The Atlantic launched Quartz today, one of a growing number of digital publications targeted at elite business readers. The new publication is available for free — a move that could disrupt the handful of business publications that have succeeded with high price digital subscriptions. Read more at paidContent »
Former executives from the NBA and the NFL say that teams and leagues should encourage players to use Twitter — even if some foreseeable headaches occur. The marketing benefits are worth it and the number of gaffes may subside as players get used to the medium. Read more »
A new Denver-based holding company has acquired 13 weekly newspapers, including the Village Voice, and their related websites. The move will let the media properties distance themselves from a classified site tied to prostitution. Read more at paidContent »
While publishers and developers have evolved to take advantage of new digital platforms, advertisers are lagging behind. Too often, they are simply repurposing TV material rather than tailoring their creative material to the online video environment. Read more at paidContent »
A two-way partnership will allow the Boston Globe to tap into the research prowess of a university. The arrangement may be another way to reinvigorate traditional news outlets. Read more at paidContent »
Consumers’ desire to consume content on mobile applies to video just as much to display. YouTube’s head product developer shared what this means for content makers and for advertisers. Read more »
There may be light at the end of the tunnel for America’s beleaguered patent system thanks to a new partnership between the patent office and expert Q&A site Stack Exchange. The new system, which goes live this morning, invites members of the public to submit prior art. Read more »
Palo Alto unveiled a new tool that gives citizens unprecedented views of how the city spends and collects their money. It’s the latest example of how towns can draw on their rich troves of data to redefine relationships between people and government. Read more »
Remember the hired gun lawyers who scoured the internet for copyright infringement and then took a cut of the legal settlement? If you thought those tactics vanished with notorious copyright troll, Righthaven, you’re mistaken. Here’s a look at a new form of copyright trolling. Read more »
North Carolina wants to ban students from signing up their teachers for online porn sites or engaging in other forms of cyber-bullying aimed at school officials. Read more »
Career site Dice acquired tech media icon Slashdot in the hopes that its energetic commentators will provide a new well of content and insight useful to job seekers. Will it work? Read more »
Twitter’s CEO Dick Costolo announced a major redesign to the site that puts media and photographs front and center. The company also launched a new iPad design. Read more »
Viral site BuzzFeed has a new retro-channel that taps into nostalgia cravings. The new vertical shows once again how BuzzFeed’s content and advertising savvy are pushing it to the front ranks of media powers. Read more »
An appeals court granted a stay in the copyright dispute between the Authors Guild and Google so it can review a lower court’s decision to let the class action advance. The literary community is watching to learn if Google’s book scanning will be considered “fair use.” Read more at paidContent »
An economist argues that “three myths” are driving the popular notion that online piracy is inevitable and can’t be stopped. Here’s a quick summary of those “myths” and why dispelling them is important to having a more nuanced discussion about how to handle unauthorized online content. Read more at paidContent »
A recent wave of lawsuits show that Time Warner is getting more aggressive in targeting DVD rings that use Amazon to sell unauthorized copies of HBO shows like True Blood. Read more »
A New York judge who has been disciplined in the past for misusing social media today forced Twitter to turn over the tweets of one of its users. The surrender serves to undercut Twitter’s right to appeal part of the closely watched social media case. Read more »
A lawyer in the high profile case over ebook price fixing is hoping a line of poetry will persuade a judge to stop the proceedings. Meanwhile, the judge said she will not collect a price-fixing refund as new prices go into effect today. Read more at paidContent »
A patent troll, working with the University of California, gained infamy by filing patent suits claiming to own the world wide web. Even though Amazon and Google knee-capped it earlier this year, the troll marches onward. Read more »
Kids have always said bad things about teachers and gotten into trouble with their classmates. But today, it’s much easier for schools to overhear them by accessing a student’s Facebook account. One judge has put the brakes on this. Read more »
An upstart car service is offering Manhattan residents free rides in gangster-era automobiles in a novel promotional gambit for the TV show Boardwalk Empire. Read more »
As the financial news market gets ever more competitive, Jim Cramer’s TheStreet is acquiring The Deal, a troubled print publication with a valuable online audience. Read more at paidContent »
Twitter is fighting a major privacy case that will help determine who has rights in social media. Unfortunately, the case is before a judge who has been disciplined for misusing Facebook. His track record suggests that he is the very last person who should be deciding these issues. Read more »
Today’s wiretaps no longer involve climbing a telephone poll as phone companies now have cheap and easy alternatives to record a call. Why, then, are they charging law enforcement millions of dollars? A former mob prosecutor is suing them to find out. Read more »
It’s becoming ever easier to copy and share not just computer files but physical objects too. An Economist article reports that the technology could inaugurate a technological revolution — but also give rise to massive new piracy problems. Read more »
Patent troll suits — in which shell companies that don’t make anything sue those that do — are proliferating. The latest example may include a shell firm suing Facebook and others for using banner ads. Read more »
A surprise ruling last week will force publishers to tear up their e-book contracts with retailers. The ruling is scheduled to go into effect in the next few days and, if it does, Amazon and others will be allowed to slash the price of e-books. A prominent lawyer has filed a Hail Mary brief to stop the process. Read more at paidContent »
A federal judge has granted an unexpected early approval to a settlement between the Justice Department and three publishers over e-book pricing. Read more at paidContent »
The glass screens of the iPhone 4 reportedly shatter at a rate 82% higher than earlier versions of the phone. This led consumers to bring a lawsuit claiming that Apple ads boasting about the glass were deceptive. The consumers are for now out of luck. Read more »
A fuss about Bruce Willis and iTunes reminded people that our kids can’t inherit our digital media because we don’t own it in the first place. Here are some practical ways around that. Read more »
Cyber-squatting has been around for years but one Chinese man has especially aggressive in grabbing the names of popular US start-ups like Square and Etsy. More troubling for the companies, the man is also filing for trademarks. Read more »
