IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 26 August
26-08-2009
by Sylvia Leatham
Music firms seek Pirate injunction: UPC | Online ad revenues set to grow
The Irish Times reports that cable TV and broadband provider UPC Ireland has said the four major record companies in Ireland are seeking an interim injunction forcing it to block access to The Pirate Bay website. A spokeswoman for the record labels confirmed they had threatened to take an injunction out against UPC but said they "would not be rushing into the courts" until the status of The Pirate Bay was clear. Meanwhile, Swedish authorities have blocked access to The Pirate Bay, as reported by ENN on Tuesday.
The paper also says that the internet should be exploited more in the fight against cancer, according to the head of the State's cancer control programme, Prof Tom Keane. Prof Keane was speaking at a global cancer summit in Dublin, where delegates suggested greater use of social networking sites and other technologies to get messages across to more people around risk factors for cancer. "It is obviously an opportunity that needs to be exploited," he said.
The paper also says that, according to ratings agency Fitch, the internet will continue to expand its share of advertising revenue in spite of the recession. Online revenue will rise to 16 percent of total ad spend across western Europe by 2011, Fitch predicts, compared with 12.7 percent in 2008. Fitch says search is a key differentiator in web advertising. "As search is the primary tool by which information is found on the internet, cutting back on spend here, even in a very deep recession, is a risky strategy. Spend here is more analogous to direct marketing spend than media spend."
The Irish Independent says that online music streaming service Spotify will bring in major revenues for UK record labels within the next six months, according to industry sources. "If Spotify's user base and advertising revenues continue to grow at their current rate, the music industry is looking at a really significant new revenue stream in about six months time," said a senior figure in the music industry.
The paper also notes that the curmudgeonly observations of a 73-year-old grandfather are proving a hit on micro-blogging website Twitter. More than 50,000 people have signed up to follow @shitmydadsays. The page appears to be updated up by the man's 28-year-old son.
The Irish Examiner reports that Cork-based new media firm DigiServe halved its losses last year. The company made a loss for the year to the end of December 2008 of EUR82,638 and had net liabilities of EUR725,782, according to accounts just filed. In 2007 it had pre-tax losses of EUR150,683. Turnover declined slightly from just over EUR61,000 in 2007 to EUR55,585 last year. According to DigiServe it operates the world's largest membership-based online service for Irish people. Its websites include online.ie, IrishAbroad.com, HolidayRenter.com and IrishSites.com.
According to the Financial Times, IBM is to supply part of the technology for Deutsche Borse as the company implements a complex upgrade of all its trading platforms. IBM will supply a messaging system, used to display trading orders, for all of Deutsche Borse's new technology infrastructure, now under development. The system will first be implemented at the International Securities Exchange, owned by Deutsche Borse, when the New York-based exchange migrates to a new infrastructure late next year.
The Wall Street Journal says that Sony has launched a wireless e-reader that could be the strongest rival to Amazon's Kindle this Christmas. Priced at USD399, the Sony Reader Daily Edition is USD100 more expensive than the entry-level Kindle, but has a touch-sensitive screen and access to books from a range of sources, including libraries. Kindle users are largely limited to books from Amazon's online store. The new Sony device, which will be in US stores in December, can also download books and periodicals using AT&T's wireless network.
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