TechCrunch: Scoble Sells Out
January 25, 2008
Robert Scoble, who has long
been proud of the fact that his popular blog remains free of advertisements or sponsorships, will soon put ads on his site, he told me yesterday.The change comes as part of his move to Fast Company, who will sell the ads on his behalf and will also be redesigning the site.
Scoble and Dave Winer have been the main proponents of advertising-free blogs over the years, arguing that it creates conflicts that should be avoided. In 2005, when we first put ads on TechCrunch, Winer wrote a long comment expressing disappointment and regretting linking to the site, and followed up with a podcast on the issue. He’s been writing about this since at least 2000.
This isn’t the first time Scoble has run into issues around financial conflicts of interest, but it’s the first time it directly involved his personal blog. So Scoble has changed his tune. Will Winer be next? http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/25/scoble-sells-out/
AP: Oregon Mayor Unnerved by Lingerie Photos
January 19, 2008
ARLINGTON, Ore. (AP) – Mayor Carmen Kontur-Gronquist, whose MySpace photos of her posing in black lingerie on a fire engine put this Columbia River town of 600 into something of a pother, told ABC’s 20/20 Friday night that she’s not stepping down.
“They’re going to have to drag me out of here,” she said.
The pictures were taken before she thought of running for mayor, said Kontur-Gronquist, 42, the first woman to hold the unpaid position. She said she had permission from the fire chief to use the engine and had intended to use the photos in a contest about fitness in women.
FCC Fines ABC Affiliates $1.4M for Partial Nudity
January 15, 2008
Federal Communications Commission fines 52 ABC affiliates a total of $1.4 Million for showing nude buttocks on NYPD Blue. The episode, aired Feb. 25, 2003, included a shot of a woman’s “nude buttocks,” which the FCC found “titillating and shocking.” Commissioners said network cameras dwelled on the woman’s backside too long and too close up to for decency standards. It faulted stations in Middle America for showing the episode between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., a “safe-harbor” window for family programming. http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/01/30/news/state/35-fccfine.txt
New York Times:Use My Photo? Not Without My Permission
January 10, 2008
Misuse of Flickr photo more about privacy than intellectual property. Virgin Mobile used photo of Alison Chang posted on Flicker for an advertising campaign in Australia without her permission. Chang v. Virgin Mobile USA is not the typical intellectual property rights case, this case hinges on privacy, the right of people not to have their likeness used in an ad without permission.
