Heron's Eye: 31/07/08

Why is New Labour so worried about elections?

John McDonnell MP writes on the need for increased accountability and more democratic representation within the Labour party. He also highlighted the need for more cabinet members who fancy their chances as becoming PM to explain why and have a go, rather than writing articles, holding press conferences and briefing the media. [Guardian]

David Miliband quits foreign trip to spark new rumours of challenge to Brown

David Miliband has sparked fresh speculation that he is about to leave his job as Foreign Secretary to challenge Gordon Brown after suddenly cancelling a four-day foreign trip, and holding what was interpreted as a 'farewell' meeting with his staff. [Times]

Labour's last Scottish leader?

Steve Richards discusses the possible linkage between Labour leaders’ nationality and their support from the English press and voting public. [NewStatesman]

Ministers accused of retreat on role of attorney general

Gordon Brown's plans for constitutional reforms to make the government more accountable to parliament and the public have been turned into a "ragbag of retreats" by the justice secretary, Jack Straw, according to a dissenting report by a minority on a cross-party group of MPs and peers. [Guardian]

Law lords: fraud office right to end bribery investigation in BAE case

The House of Lords yesterday ruled that the Serious Fraud Office acted lawfully when it halted its investigation into bribery allegations relating to an arms deal between Saudi Arabia and BAE Systems. [Guardian]

We're not fundamentalists - personal information deserves respect

Guy Herbert, the general secretary of NO2ID demystifies some of the criticisms that opponents to ID cards receive. [Guardian]

MPs tell internet firms to police 'dark side' of web

The internet industry must take more responsibility for protecting young people from the "dark side" of digital content relating to abuse, violence and suicide, according to a committee of MPs. [Guardian]

MPs, step away from the internet

Charles Arthur writes on the distance in thinking between MP’s penchant for top down planning and the everyday functioning of the Internet. [Guardian]

China accuses US of trying to sabotage Olympics

The Chinese government accused US politicians of displaying "evil motives" and trying to "sabotage the Olympics" today after the House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning Beijing's record on human rights. [Guardian]

Why the News of the World should be caned for its scandalous errors

Roy Greenslade intuitively deliberates on the Max Moseley and NOTW trial. [Guardian]

How the unions bailed out Labour with £10million

The scale of Labour's reliance on the trade unions was revealed yesterday as the debt-ridden party published its accounts. [DailyMail]

King of the Hill

With all of the tremendous political weight that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accumulated over the last eight years, he has the rare ability to wreak havoc on financial markets with only one short phrase.

Putin's harsh criticisms on July 24 of the Mechel coal and steel company caused the value of its American Depositary Receipts to fall by 36 percent, or nearly $6 billion, on the New York Stock Exchange. Two days later, when Mechel's management admitted that it had been selling raw materials to overseas customers at half the price it charged on the domestic market -- precisely as Putin had claimed in his public rebuke -- its share price rebounded by 22 percent. [MoscowTimes]

Tory MP Alan Duncan sues Telegraph for libel

Tory MP Alan Duncan is suing Telegraph Media Group for libel over a story published in the Daily Telegraph. Duncan, the shadow secretary of state for business, enterprise and regulatory reform, is demanding unspecified damages. He claims that a front page story headed: "Cameron tries to steady Tories as EU sleaze scandal spreads", and an inside page story: "Second shadow cabinet member in sleaze inquiry", were defamatory. [PressGazette]

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In The Loop: 31/07/08

Higher oil price boosts BP profit

Oil giant BP has announced a 6% rise in profits for the second quarter of 2008, largely thanks to a sharp rise in the price of oil. [BBC]

Climate activists occupy proposed site for coal-fired power station

Climate change activists yesterday occupied the proposed site for Britain's first coal-fired power station in 30 years, claiming the development will cause huge damage to the environment if it goes ahead. [Guardian]

Next prime minister or this one must deal with rising energy prices

Excellent article by Micael White on UK utility companies’ failure to develop modern infrastructure to keep down the price of energy. [Guardian]

Cable calls for social tariff for energy providers

Vince Cable was asked about rising energy prices, the housing market and the profits of Centrica. He called for a social tariff whereby energy providers would feed money back to those most in need.

He said on the issue of home heating that as summer moves to winter, “those high prices will really bite. We have 2.5 million people in fuel poverty.

He said that for the energy providers, “there should be an obligation to provide a real social tariff.” [PoliticsHome]

'Oil from algae' promises climate friendly fuel

A liquid fuel made from plants that is chemically identical to crude oil but which does not contribute to climate change when it is burned or, unlike other biofuels, need agricultural land to produce sounds too good to be true. But a company in San Diego claims to have developed exactly that – a sustainable version of oil it calls "green crude". [Guardian]

Two wheels

Wonderful look by Claire Armitstead on the relationship between cycling and political values. [Guardian]

UK is second in the world at research

UK scientists publish more research than any other country in the world except the United States, the science minister will say today. However, China now publishes almost the same number of studies as the UK – four times as many as it did 10 years ago. [Guardian]

United States economy shrinks for first time since 2001

The US economy shrank at the end of 2007 for the first time in six years, according to official figures, leading analysts to speculate the world's largest economy may be in recession. [Guardian]

House prices suffer record fall

House prices continued to fall in July, recording their largest year-on-year drop since the property market crash of the early 1990s, figures from Nationwide building society showed today. [Guardian]

Nasa discovers giant lake on surface of Saturn moon

Nasa scientists said today they had discovered the first direct evidence that the surface of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, has lakes of liquid hydrocarbons - the only object other than Earth to have standing liquids on its surface. [Guardian]

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Grimsdale's Ire: 31/07/08

Johnson told he can't suspend Met chief, says leaked email

A top aide to the mayor of London has been given legal advice in the past week that Boris Johnson has no power to suspend the Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, leaked emails yesterday revealed. The emails - written last Friday and Saturday - concern advice from the most senior lawyer for the Metropolitan police authority. [Guardian]

Met chief challenges Johnson over role

Sir Ian Blair yesterday warned that his post as commissioner of the Metropolitan police was becoming increasingly politicised and that plans by the London mayor, Boris Johnson, to take more control of the force could ultimately be damaging. [Guardian]

Local government: Battle of the Bs as towns adopt identical logos

The troubled history of local council logos has thrown up another spat after rival authorities managed to end up with exactly the same clever piece of design based on one letter. [Guardian]

Arts Council damaged by funding row, report warns

Arts Council England mishandled its last funding round so completely that it ended up receiving "the most damaging publicity in its 60-year history", according to a report which investigated the way the council, after having secured an extra £50m for the arts from the government, bungled its distribution. [Guardian]

Promise of prompt access to family doctors not met

The NHS in England is failing to meet government targets for giving people prompt access to GPs, a Healthcare Commission survey says today. It finds 13% of patients cannot get an appointment to see a family doctor within 48 hours, in breach of undertakings given by ministers four years ago. [Guardian]

Stuart Simpson: We should welcome China's growth, not fear it

Goldman Sachs forecast that by 2050, out of the current G7 nations, only the United States and Japan will be among the world's six largest economies in US dollar terms – and the largest economy will be China, not the United States. The exact date on which China replaces the US as the world's largest economy is uncertain, but barring a major catastrophe it will happen at some point before the middle of the century. China, it seems, is set to be a superpower.

There is much hype and hysteria about this fact. But we need calm heads to see what is really exciting about China's economic miracle. We need to clearly understand the economic reality in the here-and-now compared with what it could be in the future. [Independent]

Multilateralism not dead as a Doha

Like Wimbledon fortnight but without the aesthetic or entertainment value, the annual breakdown of the Doha round of trade talks is becoming a summer ritual. For three successive years, dark warnings of now-or-never and one-last-chance have ended in a fruitless ministerial meeting. It is time to be brave, swallow hard and accept that the Doha round in its present form has failed. [FT]

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US Public Affairs - 30/07/08

Against perpetual copyright

"Copyright is a monopoly property right that has always been strictly limited to a term of years. The mass of society has a tremendous interest in the public domain. Those who suggest eliminating the great social good of the public domain must show the greater positive benefits of wiping the public domain out, benefiting only distant heirs only of those artists whose works have any significance beyond roughly a century. Helprin has not. All he does is refer to the metaphorical similarity he imagines between intellectual and physical property. Copyright in the United States was created for one purpose only, as stated in the Constitution: "to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts". To destroy the public domain would postively harm the progress of science and the useful arts, killing off all creativity based on others' older works, not to mention the huge public benefit to the world of being free to reprint and quote from older works without the gigantic hassles and accounting and transactions costs licensing negotiation with unascertainable groups of heirs. The great blow to the public interest of eliminating the public domain also would confer a benefit of value only to an infinitesmal handful of those artists whose works retain any value at all, a century or more after publication. Requiring the whole world to incur the enormous hassles of permissions and licensing to quote or copy, or create derivative works, of all old properties, would be an immensely costly burden imposed on the vast bulk of society, for the benefit a very few." [Lessig]

Economics of Copyright Collecting Societies by Christian Handke, Ruth Towse

"Economists have long recognised that copyright collecting societies (CCS), i.e. organisations that specialise on administering "copyrights held by a large number of owners", play a fundamental role in the copyright system. Indeed, the economic literature explains why without such organisations, copyright law would be ineffective in some markets for copyrighted works: the majority of authors and users would not be able to grant or obtain permission to use many works of art, literature, music, film and other such works that copyright law protects. In economic terms, CCS enable markets to function for the use of copyright works in situations in which the copyright holder cannot contract directly with the user. But because many markets for copyright works have changed rapidly over recent years, we should ask under which circumstances CCS would continue to play a constructive, maybe even essential, role. It has been argued many times that technical solutions to digital rights management (DRM) will render CCS obsolete as the market for copyrights shifts online and policy-makers such as the European Commission have begun to scrutinise the role played by CCS in the dynamic market for copyrighted media content online (REC 2005/737/EC). The purpose of this survey of the specialised economic literature is to take stock and to identify possible gaps in the understanding of the economics of CCS and to advocate attention to this literature in contemporary debates about them." [SSRN]

Music News Bulletin - 30/07/08

Inside Views: A New Business Model For The Music Industry Explained

"The music industry has been in a decade-long death-spiral. This predicament results primarily from insistence by those who benefited most from how the industry operated before the internet arose that the established relationships upon which their past successes were based be preserved as the digital music marketplace develops.

The major record labels have set the industry’s internet agenda overall. They are single-mindedly committed to making the internet safe for sale of recordings on terms and conditions that they alone decide. They risked everything on the false hope that through a combination of DRM [digital rights management] and the force of law they could contain unauthorised internet distribution of recordings." [IPWatch]

Heron's Eye: 30/07/08

Lib Dem Donor On The Run

A millionaire businessman who donated £2.4 to the Liberal Democrats has gone on the run ahead of his trial for fraud. [SkyNews]

Giant TVs win my gold medal for crassness

Griff Rhys Jones on the creep of large scale television screens into civic centres and their imposition into our daily life. [Times]

David Miliband refuses to rule out leadership challenge to Gordon Brown

Miliband looks at his watch. Journalists go in a frenzy. [Guardian]

Labour cuts debt to £18.9m

Does the non-election last year explain the £7m surplus? [Guardian]

Boris Johnson needs someone to keep an eye on him

Dave Hill on the need for effective scrutiny of Boris Johnson, particularly during the summer. That reminds me, why is recess so long? [Guardian]

Click here to read information on Mr Grimsdale, King Heron and Mobius

Music News Bulletin - 30/07/08

The Long Tail and the Dip
When you launch a new product or service, you have a choice. It's tempting to go for the bestseller list, to create a mass market hit. This is the box labeled 1 on the tail above. Everyone wants to be here. It's where ego meets profit. A home run. Pixar lives in box 1.

In order to have a bestseller, you must reach the unreachable. Most of the people who buy a bestselling book buy no other book that month, or even that year. The very nature of the top of the list is that you're reaching not just the frequent purchasers and the passionate, but those that only show up for the hits.

The second pocket is labeled, conveniently, #2 (not because it's second best, merely because it's the second one I'm mentioning). This is the profitable, successful niche product. Roger Corman's horror movies, say, or Vandersteen's $3,000 stereo speakers. Not a product for everyone, certainly, but among those that care and are choosing to pay attention, a fantastic choice." [SethGodin]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 30/07/08

Bertelsmania comes to Luxembourg 11 July 2008
"They don't come much longer and more complex than Case C-413/06 P Bertelsmann and Sony Corporation of America v Impala, yesterday's decision of the Court of Justice of the European Communities in a case that, while not actually being an IP case, says a lot about how the ECJ views the concentration of IP rights -- even weak ones like copyrights.

The ECJ was asked to rule on an appeal against the decision of the Court of First Instance (CFI). That court, in a controversial decision, annulled the European Commission's approval of a 2004 merger between Sony Music and BMG. According to the CFI, the examination into whether there was already collective market dominance in the music industry, and whether that dominance might grow following the Sony BMG deal, was too cursory." [IPKitten]

Did MEPs vote to cut off copyright infringers' internet?
"The Registry reports that Members of the European Parlioament (MEPs) may have accidentally included measures forcing ISPs to cut off internet access for those who infringe copyright through dowloading. The test calls for "cooperation" between ISPs and those "interested in the protection and promotion of lawful content". The trouble is, no one quite knows what "cooperation" means, including Malcolm Harbor, one of the MEPs responsible for the text." [IPKitten]

International Confederation Condemns U.S. Orphan Works Act
"CIAGP is the visual arts division of CISAC. CIAGP collectively acts for over 100,000 artists, photographers and illustrators through artists rights societies in 31 countries. CISAC works towards increased recognition and protection of creators' rights. Founded in 1926, CISAC is a non-profit organization headquartered in Paris."

Well, well, well. Hundreds of thousands of artists around the world have come out against orphan works. And you know what? They managed to do it without taking money from Michael Petricone, Gary Shapiro, or the Digital Freedom Campaign. Or Google for that matter. In fact, these artists are probably the only ones who haven't taken the king's shilling." [MusicTechPolicy]

Music News Bulletin - 29/07/08

Will product placement tarnish music?: Tie-ins between music and brands are growing rife. Is the rise of sponsorship a necessary step, or a curse? 3rd July 2008
"A few weeks ago a press release landed in my inbox, promoting Bebo's next online drama. According to the PR, it will be set amongst the real-life workings of Universal Music UK's west London headquarters. The producers will use cameos of real life Universal artists to bring "additional authenticity" - and some well targeted promotion for the artists, no doubt - to the show.

Financing for the project follows "Bebo's proven model of brand integration". Sony Ericsson is sponsoring, so "we can expect to see some clever references that integrate the brand or its other properties in to the show - whether it's Sam blagging his way out to an Ibiza Rocks with Sony Ericsson gig or simply winding his boss up with mobile phone-related pranks."" [Guardian]

The Future of Event Ticket Reselling: Price Caps, Taxes and Venue Control July 29, 2008
"Tickets, Baby, Tickets: that was the mantra of the ticket broker and reselling crowd at the Ticket Summit last week in Las Vegas. I was there to present on the legal and public policy issues of ticket reselling (with a focus on Internet sales).

The resale market for tickets is a great example of how markets work, because with event tickets it’s truly a case where supply and demand reigns supreme. But still, government regulation and the primary market have a large influence on how the resale secondary market operates." [TechLiberation]

Introducing Mr Grimsdale, King Heron and Mobius

This blog is named after three characters, Mr Grimdale (fictitous), Heron King (legendary) and Mobius (real). It is my belief that they provide novel points of examination to understand how societal situations are interpreted, how they are dealt with and how we could be addressing common issues in new ways.

Mr Grimsdale

Mr Grimsdale was a genial civil servant in the excellent Norman Wisdom comedy, The Square Peg. Set during the Second World War, the first half of the film focuses on the clash between the council workmen’s drive to complete road maintenance outside the base and the army’s attempts to continue the war effort without Norman Wisdom’s mishaps and shenanigans.

Rather than focusing on their respective tasks the characters spend their time fighting each other rather than cooperating to both ‘keep the arteries of Britain open’ and fighting the enemy. Mr Grimsdale serves as a metaphor to highlight the failures that result in communications breakdown, the failure of operating within silos and not focusing on achieving common goals between stakeholders.

Mr Grimsdale’s Ire can be read here

King Heron

According to ancient legend, a mischievous band of Roman soldiers discovered, in the final days of an otherwise pitiful siege against England, that their enemy lived in perpetual fear of a half-man, half-bird creature known as the Heron King. Hoisting a Roman solider onto stilts and slapping a heron mask over his face, the Romans sent a tipsy Heron King decoy careening into the middle of a British camp, watching as lines of English soldiers scurried off in terror.

King Heron (I know its been switched, it reads a tad better) serves as a metaphor to highlight the ingenuity involved to sway people, the hollowness of some symbolism and the dangers of becoming influenced by malign propaganda.

Heron’s Eye can be read here

Mobius

Mobius was the surname of a lateral thinker who was able to double the effectiveness of an existing process through thinking outside the box. In the most well known example of his methods a leather strip that was used in a mill was cut in half. One side was rotated 180° and refixed so that the leather strip was worn down on both sides rather than just one.

Mobius reminds us that sometimes doing the right thing can sometimes be more important that doing something well. He serves as a metaphor for the benefits of innovation, even for minor alterations and how waste of resources and opportunity should be actively avoided.

In The Loop can be read here

In The Loop: 29/07/08

Stolen UK passports worth £2.5m

The Foreign Office admitted a serious breach of security when a van carrying the new passports destined for British embassies overseas was hijacked a short distance from the factory that made them.

3M Security Printing and Systems, one of the biggest security printers in the UK and at the heart of government plans to introduce biometric passports was responsible for the delivery. [Guardian]

Youth crime: how 982 children will save us all £300m

Excellent article by Andrew Sparrow on the importance of improving the quality of youth’s lives rather than the capacity of prisons. [Guardian]

I replied to the thread, writing:

Many thanks for trying to connect the dots of policy making and trying to jog peoples minds about what long-term decision-making looks like.

I wish the people in charge saw that pulling the weeds from the root is a more effective than merely pruning the leaves.

Too many people talk about the need to increase prison places to fit an ever growing population but they rarely raise the need to spend money on making sure that youths dont get to the stage where they are caged before they are even adults.

I heard a figure saying that to convict somebody costs around £120,000 and £80,000 per year to keep a person incarcerated. Now why havent frothing right wing groups such as the Taxpayer Alliance not directed their venom at such subjects of criticism? It seems to me that even one person bypassing prison through whatever intervention could allow for tax money to be spent on more productive things. Improved housing? New school facilities? New railways or roads? Less taxes? An extra trident missile? Or maybe punishment, prevention and enforcement is just too profitable?

Ryanair: still cheap, but less and less appealing

Gwyn Topham comments on the declining profitability of Ryanair. [Guardian]

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Grimsdale's Ire: 29/07/08

Minister calls for more police in schools

New measures to deal with violent spate of shirts not being tucked in [Guardian]

Appeal court clamps down on use of painful restraint in child jails

The use of painful physical restraint to maintain discipline in privately run child jails has been outlawed by the court of appeal as an infringement of young people's fundamental human rights. [Guardian]

It's too early to dismiss all these new schools as mediocre

John Sorrell, chair of Cabe optimistically defends the Government's criticised £35bn school-building programme. I'm hoping for some good CIF mud slinging….[Guardian]

Can the unions save Labour?

Gregor Gall provides an even-handed analysis of the Warwick II agreement. [Guardian]

Daniel Howden: The world's most important political project

A reminder of the importance of Turkey and the fragility of the nation at this moment in time. [Independent]

Click here for an introduction to Mr Grimsdale, King Heron and Mobius

Music News Bulletin - 29/07/08

Music for fuel: It's harder than ever to jam econo
"It's harder than ever to jam econo. Mike Watt of The Minutemen coined that phrase—"We jam econo"—in the '80s to mean rocking, especially on the road, in the most efficient, thrifty way possible. But as the numbers at gas pumps continue to rise without signs of improvement, several local bands and their national counterparts are trying to keep touring on the cheap. Some may not be able to keep up or, worse still, get started." [IndieWeek]

Last FM pays out - but not everyone's happy
"Last.FM has started to pay artists directly for music listened to through its website. Good news, huh? Perhaps. But not everyone is thrilled. Merlin, one of the independent label umbrella groups, has issued a grumpy statement:
“The Program announced today does not appear to offer any compensation for any past illegal use of repertoire. It is unclear to us whether or not the terms and conditions of the Program are intended to prevent master owners pursuing such compensation."" [XRRF]

Napster looking ripe for a takeover July 18
"Shares in music subscription service provider Napster Inc. [NAPS] have lost so much value that its cash assets may now be worth more than its market capitalization, meaning that the business itself would have negative value. Napster had $69.8 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, according to regulatory filings; the company's street value dipped as low as $50.2 million this week. Recent takeover speculation may have fueled a minor comeback, although Napster's market capitalization stands at about $65.5 million in midday trading." [TheDeal]

Will Sony pony up for BMG venture? July 29, 2008
"It's almost certain they'll blame the Internet. But it'll be hard to muster any sympathy for Bertelsmann AG when it finally sells its half of the Sony BMG music venture to its partner. After all, the German media behemoth has made billions from its online investments. Though neither Bertelsmann nor Sony Corp. will talk, both the FT and Nikkei recently have found leaks, saying the Japanese group will soon pony up as much as $1.5 billion to once again reign alone over its own label -- albeit one with one less competitor." [TheDeal]

Music News Bulletin - 29/07/08

iTunes is now the third largest music retailer in the U.S. 25/07/08
"With 9.8% of the market, the leading music download store passed Amazon.com and ranked behind Wal-Mart (15.8%) and Best Buy (13.8%). Showing that not even market research experts have moved beyond the album format, NPD counted units sold, not total value of sales. To account for iTunes' single sales, NPD counts every 12 tracks as one album on CD." [AP]

Declines in physical sales continue
"A joint study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the IFPI and Singapore-based Soundbuzz predicts the global music industry's physical product revenue will drop 61% by 2009." [Coolfer]

Who wants a music tax?: This blanket is no comfort 29/07/08
"In Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, set in WW2 London, a character called Slothrop begins to realize that everywhere he has sex, a V2 rocket subsequently lands on the same spot, obliterating the area. If you dig a little, you may notice something spookily similar with the idea of a Music Tax in the media.

Back in March, talk of a Music Tax suddenly exploded at the SxSW music conference in Austin. WiReD's blog ran a story by Frank Rose, entitled Music Industry Proposes a Piracy Surcharge on ISPs." [TheRegster]

Heron's Eye: 29/07/08

Harriet Harman denies plotting to bring down Gordon Brown

The term get off the pot or use it comes to mind when I think of Labour’s leadership issues in this parliament. Isnt the party in the exact same situation that it was in when they were hoping Tony Blair would voluntarily step down? [Guardian]

Clegg sights 50 Labour Seats

Despite underperformance at all the recent by-elections and London mayoral election the Lib Dem leader is highly optimistic for the party for the next election. [PoliticsHome]

Politicians Holidays

Michael White takes a look at politicians trying to look normal. [Guardian]

Tony Blair tipped for top EU post

New poll puts Mr Blair as frontrunner to become EU President. Is this a conspiracy to undermine the Lisbon Treaty? [Guardian]

Ken's comeback

Ken Livingston continues his electoral campaign, highlighting Mr. Johnson’s purging of women and ethnic minorities. [Guardian]

A law to label real fur - that should bring the voters back

Maire Antoinette digs the knife into New Labour. Why am I surprised that Polly Toynbee would be pick up on the issue of labelling real fur? [Guardian]

Road to nowhere

AC Grayling reminds us that hatred is not confined within the boundaries of religion or nationality. [Guardian]

From little acorns

Ed Pomfret cheerleads for a renaissance in new native forests. [Guardian]

The media's distorting lens

Paul Mason cautions on the language and intentions of the media when reporting criminal activity. The following CIF comments are recommended. [Guardian]

Click here for an introduction to Mr Grimsdale, King Heron and Mobius

EU Commission: Competition - 28/07/08

Rebalancing EC Merger Control: The ECJ’s Judgment in Case C-413/06 P (Bertelsmann and Sony) July 28th, 2008
"On July 10, 2008, the European Court of Justice overturned the European Court of First Instance’s Impala judgment, which had previously quashed the European Commission’s clearance decision of the Sony/BMG merger. Even though the ECJ judgment contains no groundbreaking novelties, it brings some important clarifications with regard to a number of procedural and substantive issues of EC merger control law.

The judgment is of particular interest because the ECJ commented for the first time on the CFI's Airtours criteria for the establishment of collective dominance. With regard to procedural issues, the ECJ largely restores the pre-Impala situation and reduces the uncertainty and imbalance caused by the CFI’s judgment as to the importance of the statement of objections (“SO”), the conduct of merger control proceedings before and after the adoption of a SO, and the standard of proof and of adequate reasoning that the Commission has to respect when drafting merger control decisions." [GlobalCompetitionPolicy]

The European Commission’s Reexamination of the SonyBMG Merger: A Precedent-Setting Attempt to Jump the Fence July 22nd, 2008
"On July 13, 2006, the European Court of First Instance annulled the European Commission’s decision authorizing the creation of Sony BMG, a joint venture incorporating the worldwide recorded music businesses of Sony and Bertelsmann. In its 2004 clearance decision, the Commission had concluded that the merger would not create or strengthen a collective dominance position on the part of the majors (i.e., Universal, Sony BMG, Warner, and EMI). In Impala v. Commission, however, the CFI harshly criticized the decision because it found that the evidence relied on by the Commission was not capable of substantiating this conclusion.

Notwithstanding the fact that the European Court of Justice has now set aside Impala because of a number of identified errors of law, the judgment continues to raise fundamental questions about the standard of proof incumbent on the Commission when dealing with merger cases. The 2004 Sony/BMG decision indeed should be seen in light of the CFI’s consecutive annulment of three prohibition decisions in 2002: Airtours v. Commission, Schneider Electric v. Commission, and Tetra Laval v. Commission. The resoluteness by which the CFI criticized the Commission for its analysis of the evidence and questioned the rigor of its decisions in these judgments was unprecedented. The three judgments, which were delivered over a five-month period, gave rise to a flood of criticism of the Commission’s merger analysis and opened a debate about the economic soundness of its decisions." [GlobalCompetitionPolicy]

Bertelsmann and Sony Judgment: Welcome Clarity for EC Merger Review from the EU’s Highest Court July 28th, 2008
"On July 10, 2008, the European Court of Justice gave judgment setting aside a ruling of the European Court of First Instance in an appeal brought by Impala, a third-party complainant, against the clearance of the SonyBMG joint venture by the European Commission in August 2004. The CFI’s judgment was the first (and so far, the only) time the CFI had overturned an unconditional merger clearance decision under the EC Merger Regulation.

As the ECJ Advocate General noted, the appeal presented the EU’s highest court with an opportunity to develop its case law in the field of merger control, in particular with regard to the extent of investigation and reasoning required of the Commission when it approves a merger transaction. Merger cases are only rarely considered by the ECJ and this judgment, which was delivered by a Grand Chamber of 13 judges, has emphasized a number of important procedural safeguards for parties to mergers, which had been called into question by the CFI’s earlier ruling." [GlobalCompetitionPolicy]

The Court of Justice sets aside the Judgment of the Court of First Instance relating to the Sony BMG Joint Venture July 10th, 2008
"The Court of First Instance committed errors of law in concluding that the Commission’s decision approving the joint venture was vitiated by manifest errors of assessment and was inadequately reasoned.

The following is an excerpt of the ECJ's judgment. To read the entire judgment on the ECJ's website, click on the URL link in the column on the left.

On 19 July 2004, the Commission approved the concentration of the global recorded music businesses of Bertelsmann AG and Sony (with the exception of Sony’s activities in Japan) into three newly-created companies to be operated under the name Sony BMG." [GlobalCompetitionPolicy]

IES Working Paper 4/2008
"One of the most important developments in EC competition policy during 2006 was the Court of First Instance’s (CFI) Impala v. Commission judgment annulling the European Commission’s approval of the merger between the music units of Sony and Bertelsmann. It harshly criticized the Commission’s Decision because it found that the evidence relied on was not capable of substantiating the conclusion. This was the first time that a merger decision was annulled for not meeting the requisite legal standard for authorizing the merger. Consequently, the CFI raised fundamental questions about the standard of proof incumbent on the Commission in its merger review procedures. On July 10, 2008, the European Court of Justice overturned Impala, yet it did not resolve the fundamental question underlying the judicial review of the Sony BMG Decision; does the Commission have the necessary resources and expertise to meet the Community Court’s standard of proof? This paper addresses the wider implications of the Sony BMG saga for the Commission’s future handling of complex merger investigations. It argues that the Commission may have set itself an impossible precedent in the second approval of the merger. While the Commission has made a substantial attempt to meet the high standard of proof imposed by the Community Courts, it is doubtful that it will be able to jump the fence again in a similar fashion under normal procedural circumstances." [IES]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 25/07/08

Senator fuses controversial IP bills into big, bad package July 25, 2008
"Intellectual property legislation introduced in the Senate on Thursday would combine elements of two controversial IP enforcement bills: The PRO-IP Act, which passed the House by a wide margin in May, and the PIRATE Act, which has won Senate approval several times since its first introduction in 2004. The law would increase penalties for counterfeiting, empower federal prosecutors to bring civil suits against copyright infringers, create a federal copyright czar to coordinate IP enforcement, and provide for the seizure of property used to violate copyrights and trademarks.

Related Stories
Like PRO-IP, the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act of 2008 would double statutory damages for counterfeiting, with damages as high as $2 million for "willful" trademark violations. It also empowers the president to appoint an Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (or "copyright czar"), who would develop a "joint strategic plan" meant to harmonize the IP enforcement efforts of diverse federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, Patent Office, State Department, and Department of Homeland Security. The Attorney General is directed to deploy five further IPECs as liaisons to foreign countries where piracy is rampant, and to establish a dedicated IP task force within the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The law also appropriates $25 million annually for grants to state and local government agencies working to crack down on IP violations." [ArsTechnica]

Music News Bulletin - 25/07/08

Deal or no deal?: Artists need to think twice before signing a 360-degree deal - it could leave them in a spin July 25 2008
Ever since Robbie Williams signed his notorious £80m deal with EMI in return for handing over the profits from all his musical ventures - including touring and merchandising - the 360-degree deal has been the biggest buzzword in the record industry. But who does it actually benefit?

Live Nation has signed 360-degree deals with artists like Jay-Z, Madonna and Nickelback and many major labels now see the advent of these kind of deals as an opportunity to dip into every aspect of their artists' income in return for handling everything from promotion to touring. [Guardian]

Will product placement tarnish music?: Tie-ins between music and brands are growing rife. Is the rise of sponsorship a necessary step, or a curse? July 3 2008
A few weeks ago a press release landed in my inbox, promoting Bebo's next online drama. According to the PR, it will be set amongst the real-life workings of Universal Music UK's west London headquarters. The producers will use cameos of real life Universal artists to bring "additional authenticity" - and some well targeted promotion for the artists, no doubt - to the show.

Financing for the project follows "Bebo's proven model of brand integration". Sony Ericsson is sponsoring, so "we can expect to see some clever references that integrate the brand or its other properties in to the show - whether it's Sam blagging his way out to an Ibiza Rocks with Sony Ericsson gig or simply winding his boss up with mobile phone-related pranks." [Guardian]

Music industry: Sky sets up rival for iTunes with Universal deal July 23 2008
BSkyB is hoping to revolutionise music consumption as it did television after announcing a tie-up with the world's biggest record label to launch an "all you can eat" digital service that will compete with Apple's iTunes.

Having signed up Universal, home to U2, Duffy and Amy Winehouse, as an equity partner in the new business, the pay TV group is also believed to be close to similar deals with other labels. [Guardian]

Music industry: Sky sets up rival for iTunes with Universal deal July 23 2008
BSkyB is hoping to revolutionise music consumption as it did television after announcing a tie-up with the world's biggest record label to launch an "all you can eat" digital service that will compete with Apple's iTunes.

Having signed up Universal, home to U2, Duffy and Amy Winehouse, as an equity partner in the new business, the pay TV group is also believed to be close to similar deals with other labels. [Guardian]

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 24/07/08

Virgin/BPI letters arrive, student freeloaders object 03/07/08
"Following the announcement a few weeks ago (see here) that Virgin Media would be sending out warning letters to some of their broadband customers, 800 of these letters have now been sent out across the UK. As reported on the Register and the BBC (here and here), one student customer has objected publicly about being labelled an Amy Winehouse fan, as the letter he received alleged that a track by the pop star was found to be linked to his internet account and he complained that he wasn't even a fan of her music." [IPKitten]

Would The Entertainment Industry Follow A Three Strikes Rule Itself?
"The entertainment industry has been increasingly pressuring ISPs to be copyright cops. The "three strikes" approach being pushed in France, the UK, Australia and possibly Canada is one of the more extreme attempts which would have unauthorized file sharers kicked off the internet entirely. Cory Doctorow asks if such companies would accept their own rule with a three-strikes-and-you're-out policy for sending out erroneous copyright notices -- meaning that they lose their own access for sending out three bogus takedown notices. Given that organizations like the RIAA and MPAA have sent takedown notices to laser printers and believe that providing proof of infringement is too hard, why not cut them off from the internet too after three questionable takedowns? Doctorow's proposal is admittedly Swiftian; aside from being entertaining, it highlights the ridiculousness of the whole three-strikes-and-you're-off-the-internet idea. If the entertainment industry wants ISPs to impose a three strikes rule for improper usage, they shouldn't mind being held to the same standard." [TechDirt]

The UK Acts Against File-Sharing Piracy 07.24.2008
"Today, the Financial Times reported a significant development in the fight against online copyright piracy. The U.K. is reportedly ready to announce an agreement between copyright owners and ISPs under which UK ISPs will agree to work to achieve "a 'significant reduction'" in illegal file-sharing. As a first step, the proposal would have ISPs send warning letters to 1,000 prolific illegal downloader per week during the three-month trial period. If that fails to significantly reduce illegal file-sharing, other alternatives would be considered, including a variation of the graduated-response/three-strikes proposal that would eventually disconnect Internet access services of persons who ignore repeated warnings or--of course--another European media levy, this time on internet-access services.

Personally, I hope that the U.K. opts for the graduated-response option. I realize that the usual "public-interest" groups say that disconnecting infringing users after repeated warnings is unfair, but, seriously, as compared to what? Forcing copyright owners to incur thousands of dollars filing John Doe lawsuits that must then be recovered from the families of teenagers and students unless copyright enforcement is to become a money-loosing proposition? Putting college students in jail? Those are the options available to deter illegal file-sharing under existing U.S. law. Are these options honestly less punitive or more enlightened than a graduated-response program? And by the way, libraries also provide access to knowledge, but if you don't follow their rules, they will throw you out and revoke your borrowing privileges. Is that unfair?" [IPCentral]

The internet is not free
"The result of the court action between Google and Viacom is that YouTube will need to police the material that people upload. I used to teach a course to staff at King's College London on copyright law, and one of the main pieces of advice I gave was that contrary to popular belief, content on the internet is not free. Yes, you can access certain information online, but this does not mean that is legal to upload or download it, as the case may be.

It therefore came as no surprise that a US district court judge ruled in favour of Viacom's demands to see who has been uploading their video content on YouTube. Call it payback time. This is part of a $1bn case which Viacom has undertaken to establish whether it is an infringement for YouTube to host copyright material on their website without permission." [Guardian]

How long should music copyright be? | New Music Strategies
"This one’s easy. I’ve been saying this for a while now, and it never fails to get me into an animated discussion. I’ve listened to all the arguments, read all the reports, heard convincing arguments about copyright extension and for complete overhaul of the copyright system.

And I’ve come to the following conclusion: The ideal term of both recording rights and composer’s rights is five years. That’s right: Five. Not 95. Not 75. Not 50 or 25. Five. That number again: 5." [NewMusicStrategies]

Knowledge Share: Maximising Information

Confidence has been growing in the third sector as its contribution to public policy has been increasingly recognised. Voluntary organisations are increasingly being recognised for their work in serving their local communities. Decision makers are increasingly being convinced by the third sector’s advocates of the need for ongoing public reform. However, there is still room for improvement. We have been underutilising the levels of knowledge of the sector. To fully develop the potential of the sector we need to ensure that every key fact and third sector success story is shared with relevant organisations and sections of the community. Currently the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is undertaking a consultation on how academia can improve its analysis of the third sector, as it seeks to make its level of understanding match the public and private sectors. We should now take this opportunity to open the gates of understanding, welcome public analysis and adapt to develop models of co-dependent learning and education.

Recognising The Third Sectors Strengths And Weaknesses
The third sector suffers whenever information is underused because of silo mentalities and short-termist expediencies. Failed opportunities to learn about the sector and have up-to-date information on key areas often result in too many third sector organisations whispering their successes when we should be shouting their progress. When knowledge share does occur it allows us to present ourselves as unified. It enables us to strategise more effectively. It reduces wasteful searching for material. Duplication of efforts should also decline.

The third sector is often very successful at researching. Through specialist third sector material being uploaded on organisations’ websites and increasingly blogs and other web 2.0 based communications third sector organisations have been able to make the case for volunteerism, philanthropy and civic engagement. This is very useful, as it gives individual organisations the chance to explain developments in the third sector, areas of best practice and issues that prevent organisations from being able to fulfil their goals.

However, considerable amounts of information get lost. Often the strains placed on people researching and writing pieces combined with other onerous tasks can result in the acquired knowledge being underexposed. For instance, articles may not be uploaded onto the Internet after having been forwarded onto publication editors. Reports may be delayed and only done in infrequent batches. Other organisations with a mutual interest in the results may not be even informed at all.

Refocusing Knowledge
The ESRC is developing a strategy for its engagement with the third sector to ensure that the academic community is able to fully comprehend our goals and create opportunities for knowledge exchange. This is a great opportunity to highlight the strengths of the sector and make sure that the third sector is as well understood as the public and private sectors. Hopefully we will be able to have a clear overview of how society wide changes in governance are providing the third sector with unique roles for civil renewal.

However, given the gaps in knowledge that some areas of academia have previously had of the third sector it is important to strongly guide the direction of research in some areas of academic enquiry. Through explaining the difficulties that we face we will be able to add authority to ongoing issues such as the need for a stronger and more enforceable Compact, the importance of service provision being based on outcome measurement systems and the benefits of continuing state and public sector reform. Hopefully knowledge clusters will develop, as well as around sector specific research. If this happens then shared opinion will be able to fully represent the beneficial utility of the third sector to public services and communities.

Through participating with ESRC’s research and articulating our needs and desires we should be able to examine and then transform how academics and organisations plan and release information. We must also make efforts to highlight and encourage organisations which provide joined up research. For example, Intelligent Giving’s blog usefully signposts reports and events in its commentary, allowing time conscious third sector employees and curious parties links to more information should they require further insight on topics. Looking at the long-term picture the potential of the Internet to coordinate the third sector’s communication makes it necessary to examine ways of improving the sector’s existing knowledge champions and perhaps even coordinating new third party research hubs.

The third sector’s diversity provides an oasis of innovative ideas that can make it difficult to get a comprehensive overview of its strengths and weaknesses without taking the time to search around. However, if we matched the new commitment from the academic community to increasing levels of research of the third sector’s processes and the positive outcomes of our efforts with a new attitude to sharing our knowledge then we should be able to accelerate the development of a more professional, confident and effective sector.

This article was written on behalf of Peter Kyle, Director of Strategy and Enterprise for ACEVO in July 2008

EU Public Affairs Monitor - 18/07/08

Going for a song:EU moves to extend copyright for all musicians will benefit more unknown artists than super-rich rock dinosaurs July 18 2008
"I am fed up with reading headlines like "Sir Cliff Richard pins hopes on law that will keep cash rolling in until he's 113" every time there is news about extending musicians' copyright. And, of course, they never fail to mention the wealth of Paul McCartney and a handful of other rock dinosaurs at the same time.

Yes, I do understand that it sells more papers than using some ageing, unknown session musician without a pension as an example. But it's giving the public a totally warped view of what life is like for 99.9% of the musicians this bill is aimed at helping." [Guardian]

Bread and…Roses too: The Quest for Better Labour Relations

The dramatic rise in influence of the third sector since the 1990s has aroused a feeling of suspicion in some sections of society. Organisations such as acevo have been accused of being the ‘weapon of choice’ in undermining the welfare state, sometimes of herding the sector towards a point where we risk losing our independence in order to sit at the parents’ table of public service provision. These most ardent naysayers are misplaced in their fears.

One of the most interesting things about the third sector is its diversity. It is difficult to define what a ‘normal’ third sector organisation is, just as its equally difficult for politicians to articulate what Britishness is. This can exaggerate some trade unions’ anxieties. However, these differences make the third sector so invaluable (and it is what makes Britain so exciting). The third sector is neither lapdog nor Trojan horse. Third sector service provision will not tear down the welfare state and throw people into soup kitchens. Equally, we aren’t prepared to kowtow to funders if it harms the communities that we assist. The benefit of third sector organisations is that their individual goals are usually narrow, allowing them to accept working with all necessary organisations, cutting through the thick jungle of partisan baggage that often undermines public service improvements.

Welcome To The Jungle: The Quest Begins

Recently acevo launched a report on the relations between trade unions and the third sector. Our jungle guide, Nita Clarke provided us with a path that she had uncovered as a result of her time hunting with neighbouring tribes (Nita was a longtime official before going to work in No 10 for Tony Blair on Government and union relations. She now runs the IPA (The Involvement and Participation Association)). In our quest to uncover the lost city of Better Labour Relations, famous for its healthy and flourishing civil society we formed a League. Reacting, the bravest warriors in the land assembled at No. 11 Downing Street, where I was joined by famed leaders, including Phil Hope, Minister for the Third Sector; Tom Watson, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State; Keith Sonnet, Deputy General Secretary of Unison; Clare Tickell, Chief Executive of NCH; Nita Clarke; as well as numerous foot-soldiers of society.

Nita Clarke’s report, The Way Ahead highlighted how past actions and future fears had allowed the tribes of Unionism and The Third Sector to foster misgivings. Mistrust and lack of unity has allowed the roads to Better Labour Relations to become blocked by the enveloping thickets of conflict or pillaged by private interests. Many union elders witnessed firsthand the shift in public services to private and third sector providers and developed animosity towards our tribe. Some go as far as to suggest that third sector groups are a tool for undermining the welfare state or that we are unqualified to provide more than niche or specialist services. As I argued earlier, these fears are misplaced, although as Nina’s work highlights that there is significant scope for improving employment practices in the sector.

Equally, there have been concerns from the Third Sector Tribe that past skirmishes from Unionism to stem the transference of public services to our sector has made some of our chieftains wary of improving links for fears that it could militarise internal criticism, affecting their organisational cohesiveness. Many groups feel that the unions provide an outdated ‘offer’ and do not do enough to address the specific characteristics of the third sector or its staff.

The Way Ahead helped to rally the troops at No.11. Nita’s insights highlighted how past concerns can be overcome and how our differing skills but progressive values can make both the third sector and unions far more effective at serving communities. We were reminded how the third sector should be seen as a better alternative to the private sector during our journey. We were taught how trade unions could summon pools of knowledge on industrial relations to protect small and medium sized organisations from negative spirits that seek to undermine our goals. We are now confident that more can be achieved through joint lobbying and open communications. The occasion reminded me of ancient wars, where union standard bearers advanced under the proclamation “We want Bread… and Roses too.” I believe that this theme unites the people of Unionism and The Third Sector in our quest.

Fired with this spirit we march, aware of our need for a joined up strategy for improving HR and ER as a matter of priority. Common agendas will emerge as we identify issues of mutual concern, develop better union/third sector protocols and dispute resolution procedures and achieve more goals through combined campaigns. The trail towards our destination is long but we are now more aware of what needs to be done to reach the city of Better Labour Relations.

This article was written on behalf of Stephen Bubb, CEO of ACEVO in July 2008