In the early stages of this course with Mr. Kennedy, the class was treated to a showing of Epic 2015, an online piece created by two Poynter Institute products that told of the history of new media. It also showed a fictional account of the future of media, which was marked by a Google-Amazon.com alliance that would use among other things, the former's ability to edit separate news stories via computer, to drive the traditional Fourth Estate into the ground.
The massive search engine and journalism outlets have sparred on several occasions. One of those battles ended last Monday as a group of Belgian publishers won their court case against Google after the search engine linked French and German-language news reports published in Belgium without prior consent. The Belgian Court of First Instance has decreed that if Google fails to remove those links from their Google News site, the engine will be fined one million euros ($1.27 million US) daily. The article details that an appeal is forthcoming.
It's probably safe to say that there will be more fights like this in the near-future. But while those take place, a consortium of print media groups are readying a project that can teach Google's "bots" - or the "bots" from any other search engine - the policies on how to use their work. ACAP (Automated Content Access Protocol) is the brainchild of four major newspaper organizations: The World Association of Newspapers, the European Publishers Council, the International Publishers Association and the European Newspapers Association. According to this press release from the WAN, the project will be previewed in October at Frankfurt, Germany, then launched at the end of the year.
All parties involved in the project seem to be looking forward to spending less time fighting in courts and dealing with the Googles and Yahoos of the world on a more friendly basis. Gavin O'Reilly, president of the WAN, is keen on creating relationships "in which the interests of both parties can be properly balanced" while Francisco Balsemao, EPC Chairman, feels that ACAP will "facilitate greater access to our published content, making it more, not less available...whilst avoiding copyright infringment and protecting search engines from future litigation.
If any more details about ACAP emerge from Frankfurt in October, I'll be sure to post it here. ACAP looks to be very ambitious and also, something that the traditional media can use to keep online sites in check. Let's face it: At this critical juncture in journalism's history, the print side can use all the advantages it can get. A framework like this that is constantly updated should keep the engines honest.
The massive search engine and journalism outlets have sparred on several occasions. One of those battles ended last Monday as a group of Belgian publishers won their court case against Google after the search engine linked French and German-language news reports published in Belgium without prior consent. The Belgian Court of First Instance has decreed that if Google fails to remove those links from their Google News site, the engine will be fined one million euros ($1.27 million US) daily. The article details that an appeal is forthcoming.
It's probably safe to say that there will be more fights like this in the near-future. But while those take place, a consortium of print media groups are readying a project that can teach Google's "bots" - or the "bots" from any other search engine - the policies on how to use their work. ACAP (Automated Content Access Protocol) is the brainchild of four major newspaper organizations: The World Association of Newspapers, the European Publishers Council, the International Publishers Association and the European Newspapers Association. According to this press release from the WAN, the project will be previewed in October at Frankfurt, Germany, then launched at the end of the year.
All parties involved in the project seem to be looking forward to spending less time fighting in courts and dealing with the Googles and Yahoos of the world on a more friendly basis. Gavin O'Reilly, president of the WAN, is keen on creating relationships "in which the interests of both parties can be properly balanced" while Francisco Balsemao, EPC Chairman, feels that ACAP will "facilitate greater access to our published content, making it more, not less available...whilst avoiding copyright infringment and protecting search engines from future litigation.
If any more details about ACAP emerge from Frankfurt in October, I'll be sure to post it here. ACAP looks to be very ambitious and also, something that the traditional media can use to keep online sites in check. Let's face it: At this critical juncture in journalism's history, the print side can use all the advantages it can get. A framework like this that is constantly updated should keep the engines honest.
posted by Chris Estrada at
1:44 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home