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Google halts its newspaper digitization operations

Posted by Harshad

Google halts its newspaper digitization operations


Google halts its newspaper digitization operations

Posted: 20 May 2011 09:29 PM PDT

Google halts its newspaper digitization operationsGoogle has confirmed that it will stop digitizing old newspapers, blaming publishers who were looking to make money off the archives instead of just leaving them free online like Google wanted.

All old digital articles will be found at news.google.com/archivesearch but the collection will not grow starting today.

Says Google of the move:

We work closely with newspaper partners on a number of initiatives, and as part of the Google News Archives digitization program we collaborated to make older newspapers accessible and searchable online.

"We don't plan to introduce any further features or functionality to the Google News Archives, and we are no longer accepting new microfilm or digital files for processing.


There are currently 3.5 million issues available in the collection, from 2000 different newspapers.

A March 23rd, 1752 edition of the Halifax Gazette in Nova Scotia is the oldest issue available.

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Zediva countersues MPAA

Posted: 20 May 2011 07:27 PM PDT

Zediva countersues MPAAIn April, the MPAA surprised no one by filing a copyright infringement suit against streaming site Zediva, claiming the site does not have proper licenses from the studios.

Zediva launched in January and has become very popular because it streams new releases and does not have delay windows like Netflix and Redbox do for physical discs.

The company "rents" users a DVD player and DVD and allows them to control it via online streaming, for the cheap price of $2.

Today, Zediva has countersued the MPAA whilst demanding a judge sanction.

Zediva has claimed it does not need licenses because it is just "like" a brick-and-mortar rental company. When a customer rents a DVD, it takes it out of circulation, and does not create any digital copies.

Reads the countersuit (via Wired):

The only difference between watching a rented DVD on the DVD player in one's living room and watching a rented DVD using Zediva is that rather than connecting to the DVD player with a short cable, Zediva lets users connect to the DVD player over the internet.

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Apple all set to launch iTunes Cloud service

Posted: 20 May 2011 11:20 AM PDT

Apple all set to launch iTunes Cloud serviceAccording to Bloomberg, Apple is all set to launch their iTunes cloud service, having secured licensing agreements with three of the Big 4 labels.

Apple has reached agreements with EMI, Warner Music Group and Sony Music and is close to a deal with Universal Music Group, the largest label in the world.

The new cloud offering would let users save their music on Apple's servers and access it from their iOS devices, wherever they have Internet.

Differentiating the iCloud service from rival offerings by Amazon and Google, is the fact that about 10 to 20 seconds of the music will be saved internally to your device, meaning no delay at all when starting streaming.

Apple, although unconfirmed, may be ready to launch the service at their developer's conference, starting on June 6th.

The service will cost money, but it is unclear how much.

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