Chinese internet censorship revealed

The extent of China's censorship of the internet has been revealed by Reporters Without Borders.

In a damning report, the organization has exposed how thousands of Chinese cyber-police spend hours monitoring the online activities of Chinese citizens. Journalists in the country are especially targeted and often receive text messages from censors telling them to abstain from writing about a certain subject. And sometimes they are told to only use certain sources, the report stated.

The Reporters Without Borders description reads: "The bureau members announce the subjects to be covered in the coming week, the articles to be written under their supervision, and the articles to be eliminated." In particular, the government censored a story last year about the working conditions in an iPod factory owned by the Taiwanese company Foxconn. Allegations that women working in the factory are forced to pull 15-hour days were covered up.

iPod Lights Man's Pants On Fire

Danny Williams's taste in music is so wretched, his own iPod tried to kill him. Very recently, the Douglasville, Georgia native looked down to find his pants pocket engulfed in flames. The culprit: his year-old iPod Nano.

Williams walked away from the incident uninjured thanks to a piece of glossy paper in his pocket, which he believes spared him from being badly burned. But, as if having your iPod try to immolate you isn't frightening enough, consider where this episode took place: Williams works at a kiosk at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. As Williams said himself:

"If TSA had come by and seen me smoking, they could have honestly thought I was a terrorist."

This fire is just the latest in a series of recent lithium-ion battery flame-ups. After smoke and flames were reported by consumers last August, Sony has since been forced to recall more than seven million laptop batteries it made for its own computers as well as for Dell, Apple, Gateway, Toshiba and several others. This summer, a Chinese man was killed when his cell phone battery exploded in his chest pocket, sending a broken rib tearing into his heart.

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PCs to become 'second screens' in US homes

Video content transmitted via PCs is becoming increasingly prevalent in American homes, according to a new survey.

In a yearly study about trends in usage of the internet and technology, called The Face of the Web, it emerged that online video activities are driving growth in the digital media sector.

The Ipsos Insight research found that at the end of 2006, 36 percent of Americans have watched video streams or TV programs online. This is an increase of eight percent from the year before. In addition, three-quarters of adults have used the internet to watch videos in the 30 days before the poll.

Video content is a "predominant" part of the daily lives of Americans, according to the executive vice president and managing director of Ipsos Insight's technology and communications practice, Brian Cruikshank. "Increasing penetration of broadband access and PC ownership globally signals that the PC will begin to really assert itself as a 'second screen' within the household," he added.

Research by consultancy Point Topic revealed last month that the US has the highest level of broadband penetration in the world, with more than 60 million subscribers.

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Online Music Service Sales Increase

The music industry suffered a significant loss in physical music sales in 2006, but the digital music market continued to grow, a new report has revealed.

According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), physical music shipments, such as CDs, fell by 11 percent to $17.5 billion last year, while digital shipments increased by 85 percent to $2.1 billion. Commenting on the figures, IFPI chairman John Kennedy said that the industry had hoped the loss in physical sales would have been offset by the growth in music downloads. "But while digital sales have grown as expected, physical sales have fallen by more than expected," he remarked.

The IFPI stated that digital music formats, which include those downloaded onto computers and cell phones, accounted for 11 per cent of total shipments last year. In related news, reports earlier this week suggested that Universal did not intend to renew its contract with Apple's iTunes for the online distribution of its music.

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Recording Industry Tackles Illegal Downloads

Recording industry groups have announced a crackdown on illegal music downloading in universities.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has complained to a number of universities across the US and has called on them to take action against the offending students. While it is possible to identify which computer is being used, the RIAA does not know which individuals are illegally downloading copyrighted material.

Jonathan Lamy, a spokesman for the RIAA, said: "We know piracy is most acute on campuses. "Students have high-speed access and have more time than money." The RIAA wants universities to take action against those who illegally download music through various means, such as forcing them to watch an educational video on piracy.

It has also suggested that universities revoke students' rights to use computers on campus if they are found to be downloading unlawfully. In the past year, the number of complaints sent out by the RIAA has increased three-fold to 15,000.

"Illegal downloading is certainly not a new story," states Mark Weibel EVP of Marketing for Broadband National, who operates the industries leading comparative shopping website. "People must remember that along with your music, you are most likely downloading hundreds of nasty viruses that will cripple your PC. They embed themselves right in the music files and begin to go to work damaging your PC while you listen to the music."

For more information on music downloads and other digital products and services visit www.broadbandnational.com