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Demonizing GoogleDecember 1 2006

The bigger Google gets, the more it becomes a juicy target for lawsuits that hold rich companies responsible for free-wheeling content on video sharing sites. In Europe, the search engine is much more vulnerable because of different legal standards than in the United States. Copyright violations are one issue (Paris-based Flach Films has just sued [...]

The Kazakh conundrumNovember 29 2006

Maybe Kazakhstan should pitch to host the World Cup. Even as the film “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” gives the central Asian nations a pasting, other countries are stepping up their efforts to buff their images. America, Saudi Arabia, Israel and others have all mounted P.R. campaigns. But [...]

Sex, please, we’re BritishNovember 28 2006

British regulators recently moved to ban ads for junk food during television shows aimed at children under 16. So chips, er, crisps, are out. But now Durex, a company that makes condoms and sex toys, says it plans to advertise one of the toys on mainstream television and satellite channels. The ads won’t appear on children’s [...]

Dark little secretsNovember 27 2006

The dark little secret of European journalism is the practice of corporations to subsidize trips for journalists in hopes of generating publicity. But the custom always raises questions about the independence of resulting stories. This generosity is now extending to the planet of blogging. Earlier this year, the Netherlands tourist board hosted about 20 bloggers [...]

Ads going mobileNovember 23 2006

Ever since they spent ridiculous amounts of money on 3G licenses, European mobile phone operators have been hoping that video clips and other mobile “content” will help them pay the bills. Now, with mobile calls and texts increasingly turning into a hypercompetitive commodity, cellphone operators really need those new revenues to come through. The problem [...]