Media

A recent update for the PlayStation 3 has bricked the console for a number of users, forcing Sony to yank that update as it looks into the issue.

The move into the Low Country marks a continuing expansion of the streaming video service into Europe, with coverage that ranges from Finland to Ireland and even Malta.

Popping up on the late-night talk show, video-game industry vet Mike Cerny plays up the fact that the PS4 won't require an Internet connection and that Sony won't impose restrictions on trading or selling used games. Originally posted at News - Microsoft

CANNES – Now that it has turned advertisers on to its marketing tools, Twitter is snapping at the heels of the biggest online ad gorillas, according to industry data. “When you’re talking about the digital landscape, there are four dominant players that everyone knows – Google, Yahoo, Facebook and Microsoft,” ZenithOptimedia global CEO Steve King told Beet.TV in this interview during Cannes Lions. “Those four companies represent about $49 billion out of the $77 billion of ad spend that’s generated. In fifth place would be Twitter, but still some way behind those companies.” Twitter has spent the last couple of years implementing its ad propositions including Promoted Tweets. Now, with recent big tie-ups announced with WPP and ZenithOptimedia owner Publicis, Cannes Lions 2013 – and ZenithOptimedia’s data – show Twitter emerging as a major vendor in the space. “It’s rate of growth is much higher than the other companies - they’re a much more nascent player,” King added. ZenithOptimedia’s latest advertising forecast again credits growth in social media and online video ad spend as the driver of a 20 percent jump in internet display  expenditure. Those two categories are forecast to pull 30 percent more money this year. Press release and executive summary here.

This giant painting of Chuck Berry's "You Never Can Tell" is the work of Morgan Howell. Morgan paints 45s. Actually, he does a bit more than that. He paints them on canvases tweaked and treated to reproduce all the creases, dedications, cigarette burns and abstruse love marks a black vinyl seven-inch picks up in the course of the kind of full life much-loved records tended to live. He sculpts them to look as three-dimensional as the original one, which might have been picked up for pocket money decades before and is now beyond price.The original paintings are immense and sit on the office walls of moguls or above the fireplaces of successful entertainers. He's just finished Blondie's "Heart Of Glass" for Chrysalis Records founder Chris Wright. Al Murray has a reproduction of the original Charisma single of "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" by Genesis on his wall. A couple of Morgan's paintings of classic singles have gone for sums in the region of twenty thousand pounds at charity auctions. His operation is called Super Size Art and in August he's exhibiting his work at Snap Galleries in Piccadilly.It's a labour of love which he'd like to make a living from. "When you take a single and make it huge you do justice to its significance," he says. He never does any record twice. His next big task in this labour of love is "She Loves You", which he intends to begin on the 50th anniversary of its release.I don't know "You Never Can Tell" as other men know it. I'm the only person in the world who hasn't seen the scene in Pulp Fiction in which it features. I don't want to either. Films colonise your imagination and ever since I was 14 my head has been so content with the pictures the record evokes that I don't want anything to get in the way of the coolerator filled with TV dinners and ginger ale or the souped-up Jitney, the cherry red 53. And what space there is left is taken up by that red and yellow Pye International R&B series label, surely the most beautiful of record labels. We forget this. Before pop was on TV the label was the visual focus of the pop experience. There was just that perfect circle revolving its way into your heart. That's why nobody cares about labels anymore. Because records don't have them anymore.You really love the records you really love because they appeal to your prejudices. I love "You Never Can Tell" because it doesn't fit into any of the established orthodoxies of pop. Chuck Berry wrote plenty of great songs. This was his greatest record. A record captures what happens on a particular day when a set of musicians gather round a certain song. If they'd reconvened the following day it wouldn't have been the same. Records are accidents which take place in air. "You Never Can Tell" is a sublime example.It doesn't belong to a movement. It was separated from Berry's golden period by a jail term. It doesn't anticipate anything that came next. It's probably not even his in the way the writing credit claims. Although nobody else could have come up with the lyric, which is so well-chiselled it sings itself, the pianist Johnnie Johnson, whose band Berry had hijacked back in St Louis, probably came up with the tune. Certainly it's Johnson's honky-tonk piano that makes this also Berry's poppiest record.Finally it belongs in that select bunch of records celebrating young marriage, which is amazing when you consider it was the work of such a misanthrope. "C'est la vie, say the old folks. It goes to show you never can tell." And you never can. When I did a radio programme I would play it for anyone who was getting married. My daughter had it played at her wedding last year. A couple of seconds of that pealing guitar figure at the beginning and no matter how old you were, for the next two minutes and thirty seconds you were gone, solid gone.Chuck Berry – You Never Can Tell

Once upon a time there was a Fleet Street in the north of England, based in Manchester. National newspapers, which together printed hundreds of thousands of copies there each day, between them employed hundreds of reporters (plus subs, feature writers, photographers and sports journalists).The retreat from Manchester began soon after the Wapping revolution in 1986. Compositors and linotype operators went quickly. Other printing employees followed them when new, less labour intensive, print plants were set up. Editors and production journalists disappeared too.Gradually, over a period of years, dedicated northern reporting staffs at titles proclaiming themselves to be "nationals" were whittled away.And now the title once known as the paper of record, The Times, is abandoning "the north". Its northern correspondent, Russell Jenkins, is one of the 20 people who has been made redundant by the paper in its recent editorial cull. It is claimed that he will not be replaced. Though News International will neither confirm nor deny the claim, it is clear that the paper is making posts, rather than people, redundant.If The Times does leave the position unfilled, the newsdesk will surely need to scramble reporters northwards on a regular basis.Note that Jenkins's departure coincided with the breaking of two major stories on his news patch - the sentencing of Stuart Hall for sex offences and the Ian Brady health tribunal. The Times was therefore obliged to send two London correspondents "oop north" to cover both. (The paper's investigations editor, Andrew Norfolk, is based in the north but does not deal with day-to-day news).At present, the Daily Telegraph has no northern staffer. Since the departure of its correspondent, Nigel Bunyan, the paper has relied instead on the services of its Derby-based Midlands correspondent, Nick Britten.But I understand that the Telegraph is determined to appoint a new northern correspondent as soon as it can be arranged. The Telegraph also sent two London-based staff to Manchester to cover the Brady story.It is sobering for all London nationals to reflect on the proliferation of big non-political domestic stories in and around the north this year, such as Dale Cregan, April Jones, Chetham's music school abuse, plus the Jimmy Savile scandal.Death of former Sun reporter Brian DixonThe Sun's former Midlands-based correspondent, Brian Dixon, has died, aged 76. He covered many stories well north of his own patch, notably the 1984 miners' strike, the 1985 Bradford City football club fire and the 1981 trial of the serial murderer Peter Sutcliffe (aka the Yorkshire Ripper).He spent 17 years with The Sun, which referred to him in its own report of his death as "legendary". But the paper failed to mention - as HoldTheFrontPage's report did - that he left The Sun in 1988 on "moral grounds."Dixon started his career at the now-defunct Gateshead Post in 1953, while still at school. After military service, which included a spell with the parachute regiment, he joined the Newcastle Evening Chronicle.He went on to work for the now-defunct Daily Sketch in London and the Daily Mail in Birmingham before spending his stint at The Sun. He then moved into broadcasting as a crime reporter with the then Central Television (now ITV Central) in Nottingham. He retired in 2001 and became an enthusiastic world traveller with two long-standing friends, the Daily Mirror's Frank Palmer and former BBC Radio Nottinghamshire news editor Chris Throup. He spent the last couple of years before his death, on 3 June, at a Nottinghamshire nursing home. Throup's report on his funeral - here on the National Union of Journalists' website - mentions the oration by Lieutenant Colonel Nick Doyle.He told how Dixon parachuted into Egypt during the Suez Canal crisis and, when he turned 60, he did his last jump in company with his son, Luke, who had become an army officer.The TimesManchesterNews InternationalDaily TelegraphNational newspapersNewspapersTh

For years the online environment in Norway has been tipped in the favor of file-sharers. There have been barriers to rightsholders monitoring alleged pirates and torrent sites such as The Pirate Bay have been accessible to all. In May 2011, things began to change when the Ministry of Culture announced proposed amendments to the Copyright Act aimed at giving rightsholders “they tools they need” in order to tackle online copyright infringement. Fast forward a little over two years and the Government’s plans are now about to come to fruition. On July 1 a new law will come into effect and change the online file-sharing environment forever. Previously only a single licensed entity had permission to monitor file-sharers online but from the first of next month any rightsholder or trade group may do so, providing they inform the country’s data inspectorate in advance. According to Willy Johansen, Secretary General of the Norwegian Videograms Association, a brand new anti-piracy group is currently being formed to make use of the new freedoms available to rightsholders. “We are in the starting blocks to start a rights alliance in Norway, as we have done in Denmark and Sweden,” Johansen told Tu. Modeled on the Swedish Antipiratbyran and Danish Rettighedsalliancen, the new group will be a team effort by the major labels of IFPI, the movie industry and other publishers. “It is intended that the alliance will conduct an investigation of infringement of copyright. We hope this will be a strong organization with many members who own rights,” Johansen said. Sending “strike” notices to file-sharers aren’t specifically part of the new law, but Johansen says it would be preferable to have this option before being forced to take legal action. “I hope we can find a way to do this, in the best interests of all parties,” he said. The anti-piracy group will be supported by infamous pirate-hunting lawfirm Simonsen. The company previously held an exclusive license to monitor file-sharers in Norway and in 2010 tracked down an uploader of a famous local movie after an epic battle. It is not yet clear what the new anti-piracy group will be called but searches reveal that Simonsen already have a number of suitable domains under their belt including RettigHets-Alliansen.net, RettigHetsAlliansen.no and RettigHetsAlliansen.com. In addition to the monitoring of individual file-sharers, the blocking of sites deemed to be infringing copyright will now be made possible by the changes in the law. After years of trying to force ISP Telenor to censor The Pirate Bay ended in failure, Johansen says that rightsholders will soon be back. “We want all broadband providers to block The Pirate Bay. This has worked effectively in Denmark and Finland,” he says. “For years we have been working towards this, and we should not stop once The Pirate Bay is blocked. Basically we are interested in blocking all the major sites. We will make it as difficult as possible to download illegally, so people have to choose a legal solution.” A spokesman for Telenor said that as far as they are concerned there is already a final judgment on how to deal with blocking requests for The Pirate Bay (i.e the law doesn’t allow for it) but if a new application is made to the courts in light of the new law, the ISP will deal with it accordingly. Source: New Anti-Piracy Group Will Monitor File-Sharers and Block All Major Torrent Sites

Online travel agent MakeMyTrip has received a tax demand of Rs 27.6 crore for the assessment year 2009-10, reports PTI (via FirstPost). A MakeMyTrip spokesperson confirmed this demand to the publication and noted that the demand has however significantly reduced after an adjustment of brought forward losses in accordance with a favorable order from appellate authorities earlier. However, he didn’t disclose any The spokesperson also informed that MakeMyTrip has filed an objection against this demand with the Commissioner of Income Tax (appeals) on May 30, 2013. We have contacted MakeMyTrip for more details on this and will update once we get a response. MakeMyTrip Financials: Last month, MakeMyTrip had reported a net loss of $6.5 million for the quarter ending March 31, 2012, a significant decline from a $3 million profit reported in the same quarter last year. This was on Net Revenues (Revenue less service costs) of $21.77 million, down 1.4% from $22.1 million revenues reported in the same quarter last year. For the year ending March 31, 2013, MakeMyTrip reported a net loss of $6.04 million for FY13, a significant decline from $9.3 million profit in the previous fiscal. Net Revenues (Revenue less service costs) stood at $88.17 million, a minor dip from $88.18 million revenues in the previous fiscal. Recent Tax Demands - Nokia: In January 2013, Nokia had received a tax claim of €225 million ($294 million) plus applicable Interest from Indian tax authorities, following which the company had filed a petition with the Delhi High Court in March 2013. Nokia withdrew its application a month later and the Delhi High Court had directed Nokia to file an appeal with the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), which was rejected by the Income Tax commissioner earlier this month. Nokia had then said it is now considering all viable options, including taking back the case to the Delhi High Court. A The Hindu Business Line report suggests Finland’s economic ministers are expected to take up this issue in their meeting with India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma later this week. - Vodafone: Vodafone is also involved in a long drawn tax demand case with the Indian authorities. Earlier this month, a NDTV report had suggested that the cabinet had approved Vodafone’s proposal to negotiate a out of the court settlement. - Samsung India: In April 2013, Samsung India had received a show cause notice from the IT department, claiming that the company hadn’t paid tax  on Rs 1,139.21 crore revenue for the assessment year 2006-07, as indicated by a Livemint report. Samsung India however had then said that it had not received any official notice from the Indian government yet. - Google India: Google India had received a Rs 76 crore tax demand from the IT Department in November 2012 for crediting its revenues to Google Ireland. In April 2013, the Kolkata bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal had however ruled that since Google Ireland and Overture USA did not have any permanent establishment in India, companies don’t have any obligation to deduct tax at source for those payments, given double taxation treaties between India and both the USA and Ireland. Related: - On Taxing The Internet Economy – Abhishek Singh, Director, E-Governance, DIT - eBay Inc’s Profits Not Taxable In India: Mumbai Income Tax Appellate Tribunal - The Lowdown: No TDS Deduction On Advertising Payments To Google Says Income Tax Tribunal

A couple of weeks ago my friends at Human After All launched a Kickstarter campaign for a book about their work for Little White Lies and Huck magazines. ‘Curious Iconic Craft’ will document the art direction and design Paul Willoughby and Rob Longworth, respectively, have done over 85 issues of the magazines across the past eight years or so, as they step away from the projects to take on new challenges. As well as recording the creative work itself, the 100pp book promises real insight into the magazine-making process. As ever with Kickstarter, there are different levels of rewards for different backing; they’re looking for £13k to produce the book and at the time of posting are already halfway to there with 12 days left. The latest reward update is of particular interest to me as it involves one of my favourite examples of Rob and Willo’s work. At the end of 2009 they combined the cover designs of Little White Lies and Huck with a single illustration based on the movie version of ‘Where the Wild Things Are’. A new limited-edition risograph of that image (by Geoff McFetridge, work-in-progress above) is available to anyone who commits £50 or more to the Kickstarter campaign (along with a copy of the book and e-book and a pack of wallpapers and fonts). This is a must-have addition to the bookshelves of anyone interested in magazine design. You can read more about the project here, along with further detail of the various rewards available. Closing date for the fundraising campaign is Sunday 30 June.

A new code of ethics for the media proposed by the Sri Lankan government could have a chilling effect on free speech, according to the organisation Human Rights Watch (HRW).The code, put forward two days ago (17 June) by the country's ministry of mass media and information, comes at a time when the Colombo government has clamped down on Sri Lanka's once vibrant media.Ominously, the minister, Keheliya Rambukwella, said that the code was intended to create a "salutary media culture" because the actions of unnamed media outlets had "led to many problems."The code prohibits the publication of 13 types of substantive speech including content that vaguely "offends against expectations of the public, morality of the country, or tend to lower the standards of public taste and morality." It also includes any content that "contains material against the integrity of the executive, judiciary, and legislative", which could be interpreted as barring criticism of the government. The code further restricts content that "contains criticism affecting foreign relations," which could lead to sanctions for reporting on international criticism of Sri Lankan government actions.Brad Adams, HRW's Asia director, said: "The government's proposed media code is part of a sustained campaign to control the media and curtail dissent."Sri Lankan journalists are already under enormous pressure not to be critical of the government, and the vagueness of this code will likely lead to greater self-censorship to avoid government retaliation."It is unclear when the code will be presented to parliament, what legal effect it will have if passed, or what sanctions would be imposed for non-compliance.The Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka already has drafted code of practice that has been endorsed by the International Federation of Journalists and its affiliates in Sri Lanka.The Sri Lankan media has faced various threats in recent years. On 3 April, masked armed men set fire to the office of Uthayan, a leading Tamil opposition newspaper whose journalists have previously been assaulted. In June 2012, the police raided the offices of the Sri Lanka Mirror, a news website, and the opposition Sri Lanka X News website, confiscating computers and documents and arresting nine people. Last year, at least five news websites critical of the government were closed by the authorities. And violence remains a real fear for journalists, which is only heightened by impunity for perpetrators. There have been no significant developments in the 2010 disappearance of Prageeth Ekneligoda, a contributor to Lanka E-news, nor in the murder of Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunge, who was shot dead near a police station in 2009.Source: Human Rights WatchPress freedomSri LankaJournalist safetyHuman rightsRoy Greensladeguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds