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Will the Citizens United ruling impact net neutrality? This article explores the arguments on both sides, as well as the role of an ISP.

"Media-ownership rules should be loosened to allow more consolidation and attract capital to the industry, representatives of the investment community said Tuesday at a Federal Communications Commission workshop on how the agency might change ownership rules later this year."

At an FCC workshop, industry representatives argue for relaxed media-ownership rules to allow more consolidation and to attract capital to the industry. FCC officials are looking at what the agency can do to improve the health of the newspapers, TV and radio stations, which continue to lose customers and advertising revenue to online competitors.

Former children's laureates Quentin Blake, Anne Fine and Jacqueline Wilson, bestselling authors Jeffrey Archer and Louis de Bernières and critical favourites Thomas Pynchon, Zadie Smith and Jeanette Winterson have all opted out of the controversial Google book settlement, court documents have revealed. Authors who did not wish their books to be part of Google's revised settlement needed to opt out before 28 January, in advance of last week's ruling from Judge Denny Chin over whether to allow Google to go ahead with its divisive plans to digitise millions of books. The judge ended up delaying his ruling, after receiving more than 500 written submissions, but court documents related to the case show that more than 6,500 authors, publishers and literary agents have opted out of the settlement.

Popular 80's band from Australia ruled to have infringed on the copyright of an old children's campfire song, "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree" for their hit, "Men Down Under." The court ruled on Thursday (February 4) that Men at Work copied the children's song in "Down Under" and must pay the copyright owner years of royalties. Sinclair, who wrote "Kookaburra" died in 1988, but her publishing company, Larrikin, owns the copyright for the ode to the native Australian bird and filed a copyright-infringement suit last year against the band.

The impact of the Supreme Court's recent ruling on political advertising and corporations could be an increase in revenues for local TV news stations.

A New York judge is due to rule on Feburary 18th whether Google's plans to make millions of in-copyright books available online are legal - potentially bringing an end to the company's controversial quest to create the world's biggest digital library."

"Media-ownership rules should be loosened to allow more consolidation and attract capital to the industry, representatives of the investment community said Tuesday at a Federal Communications Commission workshop on how the agency might change ownership rules later this year."

The issue of pairing fan-created videos with recorded music is one that still awaits court ruling. Music companies are suing video sites for copyright infringement when fans upload self-created videos using songs from their copyrighted artists.

A jury ruled on Friday in favor of shareholders who said the French media group Vivendi lied to the public about its shaky finances, setting the stage for a possible distribution of billions of dollars in damages to investors.

UK regulators are considering relaxing rules that require public service broadcaster to sell advertising in their allotted commercial time at any cost.

US Supreme Court decides that corporate ownership/finance of online political content should be no different than if it was written by a person -- leading to changes in rules for corporate/union finance of political campaigns.

"The context of this decision is interesting, in that the issue arose in the restructuring of Nassau Broadcasting, where its creditors were to take a controlling position in the company in exchange for a release of some of the company's debt. However, the new ownership position of its creditors, where their interests became attributable for the first time, required multiple ownership reviews in several markets, as these same investors were owners, or holders of significant debt (triggering an EDP issue) in other companies holding radio or TV licenses in nearby markets."

Court overturns FCC ruling banning Comcast from restricting Bit Torrent

"Do American students have First Amendment rights beyond the schoolyard gates? The answer is yes and no, according to two conflicting federal appellate decisions Thursday testing student speech in the online world. "Ultimately, the Supreme Court is going to have to decide if there ever is a time students have full-fledged First Amendment rights," said Frank LoMonte, executive director of Virginia-Based Student Press Law Center. He's one of the attorneys in the cases the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided."

The Icelandic Modern Media Initiative, combines in a single piece of legislation provisions from around the world: whistle-blower laws and rules about Internet providers from the United States; source protection laws from Belgium; freedom of information laws from Estonia and Scotland, among others; and New York State's law to counteract "libel tourism," the practice of suing in courts, like Britain's, where journalists have the hardest time prevailing.

"It may be a bitter pill for public critics to swallow, but media outlets have to operate in the black to continue operating. Antiquated media ownership rules are going to have to be revised to reflect reality."

In a setback for Hollywood, an Australian judge has ruled that an Internet Service Provider (ISP) is not liable for the illegal downloads of its customers.

ROME - Three Google executives were convicted of violating Italian privacy laws on Wednesday, the first case to hold the company's executives criminally responsible for the content posted on its system. Enlarge This Image Paolo Bona/Reuters Bill Echikson, a spokesman for Google, called a judge's ruling against executives "astonishing." Related New Complaints Filed Against Google in Europe (February 25, 2010) Times Topics: Google Inc. The verdict, though subject to appeal, could have sweeping implications worldwide for Internet freedom: It suggests that Google is not simply a tool for its users, as it contends, but is effectively no different from any other media company, like newspapers or television, that provides content and could be regulated.

because many news organizations don't have automatic filters for detecting plagiarism, it's important for journalists to have rules and guidelines about how to not accidentally plagiarize. Copy and paste features, and referencing blogs and whatnot make plagiarism especially easy, and journalists may not even realize they are doing it.