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The following article is an excerpt from a research paper I wrote in June 07 at Middlebury College. Most online-social networks were developed with technical means in mind. In that respect, MySpace is first and foremost a commercial company that seeks to maximize its benefits through advertising. This commercial aspect has been proven even more central since the media multinational News Corporation, company of the Australian magnate Rupert Murdoch, bought Intermix, the group MySpace belongs to, in the summer of 2005. MySpace value was then estimated to US$ 327m. Why… Read More »MySpace: A Revolutionary Link Between the People and the Cultural Industries (1/2)

The French Government just finished writing a bill that would aim at controlling internet traffic in order to punish web users guilty of copyright infringement. The law, highly anticipated by right holders, would create a new public body in charge of sanctioning people guilty of illegal downloading. It would first warn them by sending emails and letters, and could eventually order internet service providers to suspend their internet access. The Council of State, a court of senior jurists that advises the government on legislative bills and also acts as France’s… Read More »Why the French 3-Strikes Law Might Be Unconstitutional

This in-depth article by EUobserver journalist Leigh Phillips comments on a draft report of the European Parliament’s Culture Committee about concentration and media pluralism in the EU. It was adopted by the Committee on June 3rd and the report will now be submitted to the plenary assembly within the next few weeks. As stated by Phillips, its main recommendation is for the European Commission and EU member states to apply competition law to the media to ensure media pluralism. Its other major recommendations include the creation of media pluralism ombudspersons… Read More »The European Parliament to Advocate Media Pluralism and Blogging Transparency