Media News - Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Australian sports restrictions a ‘dangerous erosion’ of press freedom

The Australian Football League's ban on photographers from global and foreign news organisations from its games is a ‘dangerous erosion’ of independent press coverage that could have international implications if other sports bodies adopt the practice, the World Association of Newspapers said in a letter to Andrew Demetriou, CEO of the Australian Football League. WAN and a coalition of international news agencies - Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, Reuters and Getty Images - have protested against the AFL's refusal to provide media accreditation to global and foreign news organisations for any games in the 2007 season. The AFL has announced the creation of its own exclusive agency to provide the media with AFL images. The AFL action is part of a trend by sports organisations to control access and reporting on their events. According to WAN, these restrictions can go far beyond the licensing of broadcast rights and even prevent critical commentary. (World Association of Newspapers )

France without finance dailies as competitors strike

For the first time ever, France was without either of its two financial daily newspapers Monday as staff at Les Echos and La Tribune staged strikes over the acquisitions strategy of billionaire Bernard Arnault. Arnault's luxury goods house LVMH is in negotiations to buy Les Echos from the media conglomerate Pearson, which also owns the Financial Times. At the same time LVMH is reported to be trying to sell La Tribune, which it has owned since 1993. Staff at Les Echos oppose the purchase because they fear for their journalistic independence if Arnault - a friend of President Nicolas Sarkozy and a major player in the French business world - is their proprietor. Staff at La Tribune staged a separate strike after rumours circulated that Arnault planned to sell off the paper if he acquired Les Echos. (AFP via France 24)

Web radio stations set for ‘Day of Silence’ protest

Web radio broadcasters across the United States are preparing for a 'Day of Silence' on June 26 to protest the U.S. government's plans to boost royalty payments to artists and record companies by more than 300 percent, when their music is played online. The 'Day of Silence' is being organized by SaveNetRadio Coalition, whose 14,000 members include: Yahoo Inc., Viacom Inc, and RealNetworks Inc. SaveNetRadio said the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board's March decision to boost royalty rates will kill the fledgling industry, if goes into effect on July 15. It is hoping the 'Day of Silence' will help raise public awareness of the issue. The organization said the proposal also requires additional administrative fees which the organization estimated could cost Webcasters around USD 1bn (EUR 743m). (Reuters)

Russian hackers target political LiveJournal sites

With many Russians using the Internet as a forum for government-free political discussion, recent attacks on the blog-hosting site LiveJournal have raised questions as to the hackers' identities and suspicious-looking motives. Early in June hackers based in Russia targeted LiveJournal sites linked to Limonov's National Bolshevik Party (NPB), which had been spreading information via Internet sites since its recent ban by a Russian court. Later in June, hackers again attacked LiveJournal, this time targeting Ru.Politics, a site for Russian-language bloggers to discuss political topics, as well as the site for the radical nationalist party DPNI (Movement against Illegal Immigration). Aleksey Roshchin, senior expert at the Centre for Political Technologies, concludes that these attacks are a deliberate attempt by authorities to stifle this new form of expression in the Internet age. (BBC Monitoring via Editors Weblog)

Google threatens to close German e-mail accounts

A bill proposed by the German government that would require telecommunications service providers to save information about their users could convince Google to turn off its German e-mail service. A telecommunications bill initiated by the German government would bring the country into line with EU data-retention standards by forcing Internet and e-mail providers store customer data, including personal information for six months to allow for identification, effectively outlawing the practice of using fake names or e-mail addresses on the Internet in Germany. The move angered US-based Google so much that the company threatened to close its popular e-mail service, which allows people to enter fake information when signing up for an e-mail address, according to the company's privacy representative, Peter Fleischer. Many users around the globe make use of this anonymity, be it to protect themselves from spam, or to publish their opinions despite state repression’, Fleischer said. (Deutsche Welle)

Venezuelan opposition channel warns against closure

Closing down Venezuela’s last remaining opposition television station would be ‘the beginning of the end’ of President Hugo Chávez’s rule, the channel’s head said in comments published Monday. Station director Alberto Ravell told conservative daily Spanish newspaper ABC said the broadcaster was the only station in Venezuela whose ‘editorial line is not set by the government.’ Last month Chávez refused to renew the broadcast licence of Radio Caracas Television (RCTV), which expired on May 27, on grounds the network was conspiring to overthrow him. Venezuela’s Communications Minister Willian Lara has since accused Globovision of inciting attempts to assassinate Chávez, citing as proof its airing of footage of the 1981 assassination attempt on former pope John Paul II accompanied by a salsa song whose lyrics included the line ‘have faith.’ (AFP via Media Network Weblog)

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