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"Ning announced repeatedly that it would delete free networks whose creators had not paid for one of its new pricing plans by midnight Aug. 20. On Aug. 21, however, Ning extended this deadline to August 30. Here's the announcement of this extension on its Help page: Deadline for Selecting a Ning Plan Extended to August 30, 2010 A number of Network Creators, particularly those based outside the United States, have requested more time to arrange for payment and make the right decision on a plan for their network. As a result, we have extended the deadline for selecting one of the three new plans (Ning Mini, Plus and Pro) to August 30, 2010. Beginning on this date, we will block access to any free Ning Network that isn't subscribed to one of the three plans. Please let us know if we can help, or if you have questions or comments. Thank you!"

We are starting to see objections to the Google Book Search SettlementL2 this month in advance of the May 5th deadline set up by the court. The firstL3 comes from the consumer advocacy group Consumer Watchdog (foundL4 by way of the American Libraries news feed). They have submitted a letter to the U.S. Justice Department asking the antitrust division to delay the settlement until the "'most favored nation' clause favoring Google is removed and the deal's 'orphan works' provision is extended to cover all who might digitize books, not only Google." The letter in PDFL5 is available on the Consumer Watchdog website. The objections revolve around the provision that require the Books Rights Registry to give Google the same terms as anyone else who enters into agreements with the Registry (noting that more favorable terms might be required by a new party in order to compete with Google) as well as the fact that the copyright infringement protection for digitizing orphan works only extends to Google.

"The winners for each category, selected by an international jury of experts, will win thousands of Euros in cash prizes and ICT equipment. Also, following a successful launch in 2009, the 2010 edition will again be open to international competitors, from countries outside of Europe (see full list of eligible countries in the rules below). Another recent feature: the top 50 entries submitted will be included in the Learning Exchange Resource library (http://lreforschools.eun.org), to give increased visibility to teachers' innovative practices and encourage others to follow their lead. To be eligible for the eLearning Awards, entries must be submitted by schools or teacher training institutions in EU member states, EEA countries, EU applicant countries as well as Switzerland, Israel and Georgia. For the category International cooperation entries are accepted worldwide. A gallery on the eLearning Awards website will showcase all contributions, which will be judged by a panel of experts. Entries can be made from now until 28 September 2010 via the website: http://elearningawards.eun.org. Prize Ceremony The prize-giving ceremony, which will be followed by a gala dinner, will take place in Copenhagen early November 2010, during the annual EMINENT conference. The EMINENT conference is a unique chance to meet and discuss with European ministries of education, global companies and key stakeholders in education. Prize-winners will be given a trip to Copenhagen to attend the award ceremony. Full list of categories Rules"

"I'm wondering whether Ning isn't beginning to regret the move to pay-only sites. All the Nings with which I am associated have decided to move to other platforms; not one has opted to pay. That may not be surprising. But now I read that Ning is extending its 'select an option' period before shuttering non-compliant sites. And reading between the lines they seem to be drawing a lot of criticism on the Ning Creators Ning"