EU court rules that reading online news doesn’t violate copyright

You probably didn’t know it, but the legality of what you’re doing right now has been a hotly debated issue in EU courts — reading articles online. For the last four years the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA) and the Newspaper Licensing Agency (NLA) have been trying to determine if browsing and viewing copyrighted material online required the authorization of the copyright holder; today the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that it does not. It sounds like a no-brainer, but the facts are a little more complicated: the two groups were arguing over the application of licenses to media monitoring agencies and their effects on the end-user.

According to the PR sector, the law could have been interpreted to make any user reading an online story liable for copyright infringement, but the Newspaper companies argued that its licensing fees would only apply to entities looking to make commercial use of their content. The court wound up erring on the side of caution, but the NLA says it won’t have any effect on licensing fees. “Media monitoring agencies still require a license to copy online content to create paid-for services for their clients,” explained NLA managing director David Pugh. “And their clients still need a license to receive those services.” He went on to explain it mostly effects future services with public content portals, and said that if end-users don’t need to pay license fees, those fees might increase for media monitoring firms to compensate. Convoluted? A little, but at least the news is still free to read.

[Image credit Getty: Images/Vetta]

Filed under: Internet

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Source: PRWeek

Big list of Google Now commands

Since the debut of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, Android users have been privy to an increasingly cool experience known as Google Now. Baked into the search app for Android, it’s the personal assistant that we’ve always needed. And, the best part about it is that it improves all the time. New commands and features are being added to Google Now on a regular basis. We’ve compiled a list of everything we know about Google Now and how to activate/use them.

Below are a list of commands for Google Now. Keep in mind that these are just some of the examples available and that the tool allows for slight variations in verbiage. What’s more, the more you teach Google what your interests are, the less you may have to “ask” it to do.

Basic Commands

• “Search for [Nexus 5]“
• “How do I say [I love you] in [French]?”
• “How old is [Morgan Freeman]?”
• “What is the stock price for [Google]?”
• “What is the meaning of [life]?”
• “What is [Chekhov’s Gun]?”
• “Open [Gmail]“
• “Take a picture”
• “Record a video”
• “Where’s my package?”
• “Listen to voicemail”
• “Find [Adam’s] number”
• “When is [Adam’s] birthday?”
• “What’s the tip for [$27]?”
• “How late is [The Home Depot] open?”
• “What are [Red Robin’s] hours?”
• “Show me pictures of [Memphis]“
• “What’s [16 ounces] in [pounds]?”
• “What is the square root of 2209?”
• “When is sunset?”

Navigation

• “Navigate to [Cleveland, OH]“
• “Navigate to [home]“
• “Directions to [123 Main Street]
• “[Biking] directions to [FedEx Forum]“
• “Find [the St. Louis Arch]“
• “Where is [the Empire State Building]?”
• “Where’s the nearest [ice cream shop]?”
• “Map of [San Francisco]“
• “How far is [Cleveland] from [Columbus]?”
• “Show me the menu for [Rendezvous]“
• “Where is my hotel?”
• “What are some attractions in [Memphis]?”

Reminders, Notes, and Tasks

• “Remind me to [call mom] at [9:00AM]“
• “Remind me to [buy gas] when leave [work]“
• “Set timer for [10 minutes]“
• “Set alarm for [7:000AM]“
• “Wake me up in [6 hours]“
• “Note to self: [remember to buy Cheese]“

Time and Date

• “What time is it in [Japan]?”
• “What is the time zone for [Denver, CO]?”
• “What time is back home?”
• Create a calendar event [Dinner at Red Robin] [on Friday night at 9:00PM]“

Weather

• “Weather”
• “Is it raining?”
• “Will it rain tomorrow?”
• “Do I need an umbrella [tomorrow]?”
• “What’s the weather in [Las Vegas]?”

Sports

• “Did the [Cavaliers] win today?”
• “When does the football season start?”
• “What are the [American League East] standings?”
• “How did [The Packers] do?”

Communication

• “Post to Google+ [I am having an awesome day!]“
• “Call [mom]“
• “Call [my wife]“
• “Send SMS to [Shawn Collins] [I will see you in a week]“
• “Send email to [Adam Pollich] [I need you to call me as soon as possible.]“
• “[Contact name]“

Entertainment

• “Play some music.”
• “Watch [The Hobbit]“
• “What movies are playing tonight?”
• “Where is [Godzilla] playing?”
• “Listen to: [John Lennon]“
• “Play: [Everybody Hurts]“
• “What’s this song?”
• “Who directed [Stand By Me]?”
• “Who sings [Everybody Hurts]?”
• “Listen to TV”

Web

• “Go to [androidguys.com]“
• “Open [cnn.com]“
• “Show me [Reddit.com]“
• “Browse to [filmjunk.com]“

Travel

• “Show me my flights”
• “Flight [AA 1230]“
• “Has [AA 1230] landed?”
• “When will [AA 1230] land/depart?”

Easter Eggs and Fun Stuff

• “What does the fox say?”
• “What is the loneliest number?”
• “Do a barrel roll”
• “How wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?”
• “Beam me up, Scotty”
• “When does the narwhal bacon?”
• “Up up down down left right left right”
• “Go go gadget [Baconreader]“
• “What is the Bacon number for [Tom Cruise]?”
• “Tilt”
• “Askew”
• “When am I?”
• “Who are you?”
• “Sudo, make me a sandwich”
• “Make me a sandwich”
• What is your favorite color?
• “Tea, Earl, Grey, hot”

What did we miss? What are your favorites? How do you use Google Now in your daily life? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts!

The post Big list of Google Now commands appeared first on AndroidGuys.

Verizon slaps Netflix with cease and desist letter over error message (Update: Netflix responds!)

In this digital age, it can be nice to receive a letter. Not so much if you’re Netflix, and the letter is a cease and desist from an angry Verizon. The contents of said letter are in relation to claims from Netflix (as published on Quartz) that error messages some customers on Verizon were receiving were due to their ISP, and not its own infrastructure. The actual error read “The Verizon network is crowded right now.” Verizon on the other hand claims there’s “no basis” for the movie streaming service to assert that the errors are coming from its end, but stops short of suggesting it’s actually Netflix that’s at fault. Barely a month after that deal for direct access, and already the relationship seems to be turning sour.

Update: Netflix’s John Friedland has fired back, explaining that “This is about consumers not getting what they paid for from their broadband provider. We are trying to provide more transparency, just like we do with the ISP Speed Index, and Verizon is trying to shut down that discussion.”

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Source: CNBC

In-flight WiFi to be available across Europe by 2017

In-flight internet is readily available across the US, but that type of connectivity is almost unheard of in Europe. Regulators are coming ’round to the idea, and seeing an untapped opportunity, Inmarsat has announced its grand plan to create an EU-wide network for getting air travelers online. The satellite company is partnering with 4G providers to build an air-to-ground network that’ll handle the data traffic, in the same way Gogo (and soon AT&T) provides in-flight WiFi in the US. A newly built satellite called Europasat will also provide support from above, making sure the connection stays constant as a plane pairs with different cell towers along its path.

Ever the good guy, Inmarsat also expects the new satellite will support “emergency network services for public protection and disaster relief.” The EU-specific network isn’t expected to be up and running until the end of 2016, but British Airways has already expressed interest in being a customer. There’s always a chance European airlines could use Inmarsat’s global satellite-only network, due to go live at the end of this year, to offer in-flight WiFi even sooner. Either way, it doesn’t look like it’ll be too long before Europeans are never off-grid, even when they’re off-land.

Filed under: Transportation, Wireless, Internet

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Source: Inmarsat