Media News - Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Germany urges public to stop using Internet Explorer

The German government urged the public on Tuesday to temporarily stop using Microsoft Corp's Internet Explorer following discovery of a yet-to-be repaired bug in the Web browser that the software maker said makes PCs vulnerable hacker attacks. It issued the warning as a researcher said he found evidence that suggests the hackers who exploited the flaw were seeking to attack defense contractors. Microsoft said on Monday that attackers can exploit the bug in its Internet Explorer, used on hundreds of millions of computers, to infect the PC of somebody who visits a malicious website and then take control of the victim's computer. The German government's Federal Office for Information Security, or BSI, said it was aware of targeted attacks and that all that was needed was to lure Web surfers to a website where hackers had planted malicious software that exploited the bug. BSI advised all users of Internet Explorer to use an alternative browser until the manufacturer has released a security update. Microsoft said it planned to release software to protect PCs from attack within the next few days. Customers must manually install the code by visiting Microsoft's website and clicking on a link. (Reuters)

Jordan’s King endorses controversial media law

Jordan's King Abdullah has endorsed a new media law which critics say will stifle freedom of expression online. The legislation requires "electronic publications" in Jordan to get a licence from the government. It also gives the authorities the power to block and censor websites, whose owners will be held responsible for comments posted on them. Human Rights Watch accused the government of using such legislation to "go after opponents and critics". Media professionals and ordinary citizens regularly found themselves charged with and convicted of criminal offences related to speech, it said. In April, the State Security Court military prosecutor detained the editor of the Gerasa News website for trying to "undermine the system of government" after it published an article about the king's alleged intervention in a corruption investigation. The case remains open but the trial has not yet started. Human Rights Watch said the dangers of the amendments to the Press and Publications Law endorsed on Monday arose from its vague definition of the "electronic publications" which would be affected, the new executive power to block websites, and the unreasonable restrictions on online content, including comments posted by website users. The Associated Press estimated that about 400 Jordanian websites would be affected by the new law. The Press and Publications Law and the penal code already criminalise defamation, including libel and slander, including against entities that are not people, such as government institutions, symbols and religions. (The Daily Star)

Apple, publishers offer to settle EU antitrust probe

Apple and four major publishers have offered to let retailers such as Amazon sell e-books at a discount for two years to end an EU antitrust investigation, the European Commission said on Wednesday. The EU antitrust watchdog started an investigation into Apple's e-book pricing deals with Simon & Schuster, News Corp unit HarperCollins, French group Lagardere SCA's Hachette Livre, Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck, which owns Macmillan in Germany and Pearson Plc's Penguin group in December last year. Apple and the publishers, with the exception of Penguin, subsequently offered to settle with the Commission. "For a period of two years, the four publishers will not restrict, limit or impede e-book retailers' ability to set, alter or reduce retail prices for e-books and/or to offer discounts or promotions," the European Commission said in its Official Journal. The Commission said the publishers and Apple also offered to suspend most-favored nation contracts for five years. Third parties have a month to provide feedback on the proposals. (Reuters)

UK: ‘Comment, campaigns and community’: The Independent’s new ‘outspoken’ opinion site

Back in March chairman of the Independent and Evening Standard Evgeny Lebedev revealed plans for a new opinions and comment website for the Independent, which he said would be the "home of liberal fundamentalism campaigning". Just days ago the site, called Independent Voices, went live. An announcement on the platform said as well as publishing comment pieces Independent journalists and a range of new contributors, it will also run "viral campaigns that harness the power of social media to generate news and social change". The design of the site, which currently sits within Independent.co.uk but has its own URL, was designed to be "much more visually arresting" and the content also differs from the Independent's main newspaper site in editorial focus and values, editor Amol Rajan said. "Yes it replaces the old opinion section of the Independent's online material, but it's not meant to be editorially the same as the Independent," he explained. The site will feature comment pieces not only from the Independent's existing team of journalists, but will also provide a platform for new writers who wish to contribute. (Journalism.co.uk)

Japan: Group hopes to resurrect newspaper in tsunami-hit Tohoku community

A group of journalists and volunteers are up against the challenge of developing a fledging news outlet into a sustainable business in a town where the devastation from last year's tsunami forced a decades-old local newspaper to cease publication. The group, based in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, is sending out news online via Facebook and Twitter, and printed 5,000 copies of the first issue of the free new monthly on Saturday. But the group, NewsLab Otsuchi, formed in July to publish the new Otsuchi Mirai Shimbun (Otsuchi Future Newspaper), hasn't been able to secure sufficient editing equipment and funds needed to operate. The Japan Center of Education for Journalist, which is leading the project, said NewsLab Otsuchi has secured more than ¥1.5 million in online donations but said it is uncertain whether that will be enough for it to afford the rent for its newsroom and pay salaries. Otsuchi, a town set along the Pacific Ocean in northeast Iwate, lost about 1,230 people, roughly 10 percent of its population, to the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The tsunami also deprived the town of the Iwate Tokai Shimbun, which had served as the region's major newspaper since 1948. Two reporters died and its printing press was swept away by the massive waves. (Japan Times)

French magazine publishes cartoons of Prophet Muhammed

French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, a decision criticised by the French authorities which sent riot police to protect the magazine's offices. The magazine's front cover showed an Orthodox Jew pushing a turbaned figure in a wheelchair and several caricatures of the Prophet were included on its inside pages, including some of him naked. The publication comes in the midst of widespread outrage over an anti-Muslim film posted on the Internet. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius criticised Charlie Hebdo's decision as a provocation and said he had ordered security increased at French diplomatic offices in the Muslim world. Charlie Hebdo's Paris offices were fire bombed last November after it published a mocking caricature of Muhammad. In 2005, Danish cartoons of the Prophet sparked a wave of violent protests across the Muslim world that killed at least 50 people. (RTE)

• Home |
• Seminars  |
• Events |
• Media Landscape |
• Newsroom|
• Media News|
• Resources

Terms of service and Privacy policy.

Copyright © 1992- 2013 European Journalism Centre. All rights reserved.

Valid XHTML and CSS.

European Journalism Centre

Sonneville-lunet 10
6221KT Maastricht
The Netherlands

Tel. : +31 43 325 40 30
Fax : +32 2 400 42 20

E-mail: info[at]ejc.net