Communication Breakdown
Communications from the world of, er, communications. And other stuff.
Monday 15 October 2007, 12:39 PM
ZDNet.co.uk - The Tabloid You Can Trust
Browsing through Viviane Reding's recent speech to the European Regulators Group (as you do), I came across this little nugget:
"For many, a symbol for the single market for telecoms is the creation of the new European Telecom Market Authority which will be an integral part of the reform package. Some like this proposal and already applaud the creation of a 'European FCC' which will level the playing field for telecoms in the EU. Others criticise it as they fear unnecessary centralism and new bureaucracies, often summarised under the term 'Super-Regulator' preferred by some tabloid newspapers for the Commission's plans."
So we're a tabloid (see here and here for our most recent stories using the word "super-regulator" in the headline) - good to know!
Mind you, I'm trying to think of any actual tabloid newspaper that would give a monkey's about Reding's plans for the future of European telecoms regulation. And failing.
Friday 5 October 2007, 1:26 PM
Jajah, eBay and the telepathic PR
(Be sure to read this post down to the bottom, because you all may come in handy here...)
We've just received an irate (not at us, I hasten to say) missive from the proprietors of the internet telephony company Jajah.
Jajah, like its little-known rival Skype, allows its users to put call-me buttons on their websites. Jajah, unlike Skype, is not owned (however regretfully) by eBay.
Can you guess what happened when eBay auctioneers tried putting Jajah call-me buttons on their auction pages? Well, according to Jajah, each such auction was removed in its entirety because, in eBay's words: "it violated the eBay Inappropriate Links policy… links or other connections to live chat systems are not permitted." Unless, one presumes, the live chat system happens to be Skype.
Over to Jajah's co-founder Roman Scharf: "Our vision was simply to bring voice communication to one of the worlds greatest marketplaces for eCommerce. With millions of registered users, Jajah is hardly an 'inappropriate' organization. We were seeing great excitement for Jajah buttons on eBay and we are disappointed that some of our user’s listings are now being removed. We are currently seeking to get clarification from eBay."
With the echoes of this year's eBay-centric PayPal/Google Checkout debacle still ringing in my ears, I decided to give eBay's PR agency a call to see if Jajah's allegations were true.
The chirpy young soul I spoke to first asked me to send details of specific customers who were affected - one of the oldest stalling tricks in the book. Naturally, I wasn't having any of that, and I asked her to just ascertain whether or not eBay has a policy of punishing those of its users who use non-eBay-affiliated call-me buttons on their auction pages....
"OK, I'll see if we can put together a statement on that for you. Goodb..."
"Hang on, wouldn't you like my contact details?"
"Oh. Yes."
For some reason, I'm not expecting a reply on this issue anytime soon.
UPDATE: It appears I spoke too soon. Here's what eBay has just sent me:
"The JaJah buttons are prohibited by eBay’s Links Policy which has been in place for years. eBay’s Links Policy is global and applies to every eBay site.
The policy specifies that only certain links can be included in listings; specifically, the link must be directly related to the item being listed. (You can reference the policy here: http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-links.html).
While eBay have done some testing on integrating Skype buttons on eBay, even Skype buttons are not allowed within the listing page itself. The Skype buttons only appear near the “Ask the Seller A Question” link which is outside of the individual listing page.
eBay strongly encourage the eBay community to use the “Ask the Seller A Question” functionality for any direct communications to ensure that their communications and the transaction stays on the eBay Marketplace. This is an important step in ensuring a safe transaction and that they’ll be eligible for any eBay Protection Programs that might apply.
eBay is dedicated to maintaining the trust and safety of its marketplaces and try to fully understand how any new feature or tool may impact the marketplace before introducing it to ensure that it is not only useful to the community but is also safe and can not be used by fraudsters."
Right, so I stand corrected. eBay bans Skype call-me buttons too. If anyone happens to come across any evidence to the contrary, do let us know...
Friday 5 October 2007, 12:35 PM
This is what happens without net neutrality
Players of the online game EVE who also happen to be Tiscali subscribers have just received a rather nasty surprise. According to the game's forums (and someone here at CNet Towers), they have found themselves unable to play between the hours of 6-11pm, because of "high bandwidth usage".
We shall ignore for now the fact that it is a fat client game, and therefore doesn't involve much bandwidth usage anyway - the point is it's a game, and game sites are banned in the evening, m'kay?
We shall also ignore the reported wise words of a Tiscali support gonk: "You can use the service during the day from work because it is not in peak hours". Because that's just silly.
The point is, this is what happens when you don't have net neutrality legislation. This is why the US and UK are wrong to say a debate on the subject isn't even worth having. And this is why the BCS is right to call for one.
Friday 5 October 2007, 9:41 AM
Filesharing: four things to remember
Some handy definitions:
Theft (noun): the act of stealing; specifically: the felonious taking and removing of personal property with intent to deprive the rightful owner of it.
Share (verb): to partake of, use, experience, occupy, or enjoy with others.
Some handy quotes:
Brian Toder (lawyer for Jammie Thomas, Native American single mother of two ordered by a US court to pay £110k to the starving folks at RIAA): "This is a girl that lives from paycheque to paycheque, and now all of a sudden she could get a quarter of her paycheque garnished for the rest of her life."
Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails frontman and filesharer): "Steal it. Steal away. Steal, steal and steal some more and give it to all your friends and keep on stealing. Because one way or another these mother f---ers will get it through their head that they're ripping people off and that's not right."
Tuesday 2 October 2007, 3:39 PM
Apple gets sued over iPhone price cut
Remember Apple's 33 percent price cut on the iPhone, just 10 weeks after the blasted device was launched?
Well, that cute little move managed to infuriate one woman so much that she is now suing Apple for the violation of price discrimination laws. I'll let the AP explain: "... the price reduction injured early purchasers like herself because they cannot resell the product for the same profit as those who bought the cell phone following the price cut."
Eh? So, nothing to do with the trauma associated with being a burned mug first adopter, then...
UPDATED: Do you live in California? Did you buy the Jesusphone? Do you fancy bothering iSteve? Click here to join in the litigation fun!
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