The year 2007 was a sometimes astonishing journey into places I had never been, which changed what I'm working on, where I work, with whom I work, and how I work, and for simplicity's sake, I'm outlining these changes here.
What I'm Working On
I'm still working on podcast production, notably for John Cleese, Rob da Bank, JM Soul and others, but also now working on live radio and video projects, with music, art, performance and comedy. I will also be producing a brand new live radio format, which pilots end of February 2008, and I continue to write regularly.
Where I Work
Thanks to Michael Franklin, we've moved the centre of our operations to a new office / studio right in the heart of London's West End - 4 Denmark Street, London, WC2H 8LP.
With Whom I Work
Talking Voices Ltd., the company which Funk started in 2006, is still going strong with some personnel changes. Mark Crook, Paul Carey and myself have been joined by radio industry stalwart Michael Franklin, and we're pleased that our Irish colleagues Brian Greene and Sinead Murnane have come centrally into the business. I'll post more about that soon on the Talking Voices blog.
How I Work
Those of you who want to engage my services either to speak, write, or to consult for very reasonable fees, please contact me direct by leaving a comment here. All podcast-related business is channeled through Talking Voices. For music production, contact me via Funk.
And Finally...
I'm really pleased to report that the Cinema du Lyon album I completed at the end of 2007 with Mark Crook is on sale and has some really nice reviews (see below).
I'm also still very much involved in the UK Podcasters Association - will be attending an interesting session on January 15th at Channel 4, held by the Radio Academy.
CINEMA DU LYON: The Particle Zoo
Buy from iTunes Plus (NO DRM!)
ABOUT CINEMA DU LYON: Cinema du Lyon are a European art/music group with the self-avowed intent of being "as pretentious as possible". Amoral rather than immoral, they shun publicity at all times, with the intention of creating a more ego-less space for their consummate artifice to construct within the imagination of their unprepared audience. They constantly collaborate, and release very little of their compositions, preferring to infiltrate the real world and non-music spaces in unexpected ways via guerilla methods.
Their first public performance was at the Hanbury Ballroom, Brighton, April 2004. They played cards, smoked Gauloises, read Le Monde, and treated the astonished audience to art. By the end of the performance, with the venue resounding to avant-garde beats and fabulous visuals, they were celebrating with flowers and champagne at the bar.
Cinema du Lyon – "The Particle Zoo"
"If you would be a real seeker after truth,
it is necessary that at least once in your life
you doubt, as far as possible, all things." - René Descartes
Full of shifting possibilities, alive with a seething miasma of portent, a fiercesome force of nature - "The Particle Zoo" is a place for the uncaged.
Shredding all previous works to relay an absolute truth about the new environmental sonic landscape that escaped from the laboratory and found its way into the world, full of awe, a measurement in the strength of the aural message, given that this is not a pipe, but a maze, lies in the unwavering conviction of the artists themselves to achieve excess in the name of truth itself.
"The Particle Zoo" is Cinema du Lyon's twelfth audio collection, but the first to be made publicly available, the previous eleven having been private commissions and art events.
For more information and a beautiful audio-visual podcast, visit [cinema-du-lyon.eu]
Feeds
1820 items (1820 unread) in 20 feeds
blogs
(518 unread)
-
Blog of Funk (247 unread)
-
Podcast Nation (60 unread)
-
UK Podcasters Association
(28 unread)
-
Dean Whitbread
(61 unread)
-
Dean Whitbread: Poetry
(23 unread)
-
International Bicycle Thief
(27 unread)
-
-
UKPA: UK Podcasters Association
(32 unread)
podcasts
(355 unread)
-
Pompeii Podcast
(22 unread)
-
UKPA Podcast
(11 unread)
-
Five Podcast (10 unread)
-
Palestine Podcast
(3 unread)
-
Cinema du Lyon
(10 unread)
-
Word of Mouth for the World
(20 unread)
-
Pod of Funk
(40 unread)
-
deek deekster: innit
(230 unread)
-
anglo irish podcast
(9 unread)
clients
(43 unread)
-
John Cleese Podcast
(40 unread)
-
Metropolis Studios Podcast (3 unread)
images
(904 unread)
-
Flickr Photos
(904 unread)
Items by Dean Whitbread
Dean Whitbread
-
Work Changes Everything
Posted: January 7th, 2008, 4:55pm GMT by Dean Whitbread
FUNK: we make nice stuff happen
-
Season's Greetings from Funk
Posted: December 21st, 2007, 10:26pm GMT by Dean Whitbread
Our new podcasting company, Talking Voices has been growing steadily during 2007, but that doesn't mean we've deserted our established clients.
We're very happy with this episode of John Cleese's podcast - Happy Solstice everyone!
Dean Whitbread
-
Bear A Grudge This Christmas
Posted: December 14th, 2007, 1:14pm GMT by Dean Whitbread
I managed to avoid November entirely this year, but now we're at the period of festive fun, I've decided to add my scrooge-like tuppence to the holiday season with a reading from my favourite author, Deek.
-
PodCamp Boston
Posted: October 21st, 2007, 8:06pm BST by Dean Whitbread
As if I can't get enough of the Open Learning experience, I'm scheduled to visit the USA this coming weekend to attend PodCamp Boston where I am speaking on "International Dimensions - The Wonderful Wide World of Podcasting - Dean Whitbread from UK Podcasters [ukpa.info] shares his experience in the online rights field, explains why belonging to a podcast group is more than just tribalism, and why it’s important to make sure that your right to podcast is protected." - it says here.
Appropriate for everyone, apparently.
FUNK: we make nice stuff happen
-
The Headcast
Posted: October 3rd, 2007, 8:17am BST by Dean Whitbread
We at Funk Mansion are rather excited by the news which broke last weekend about our work with Mr Cleese.British actor, writer and comedian John Cleese is to release Headcast, a series of online videos, which he describes as "some humorous, some more thoughtful, giving me a chance to sound off in my old age."
A free version will be made available over the next few months on The Podcast Network, which John says is "rather good, run by Australians, and none the worse for that."
A premium version of the Headcast will also be made available.
Dean Whitbread
-
PodCamp Ireland
Posted: September 25th, 2007, 6:19am BST by Dean Whitbread
As if I haven't had enough exposure to the podcasting, blogging and social media community recently, I'm off to this one, which is conveniently being held in the country next door.
-
Hurricane Dean
Posted: August 20th, 2007, 7:11am BST by Dean Whitbread
How odd to share a name with a mighty force of nature. Hurricane Dean is a big one, apparently, but thankfully just missed directly hitting Jamaica, passing a few miles to the south.
FUNK: we make nice stuff happen
-
Funky Google Ghandi
Posted: August 15th, 2007, 10:04am BST by Dean Whitbread
On the 60th anniversary of the birth of the modern states of India and Pakistan, we checked to see where Funk was in the internet scheme of things.
Click for detail.
Currently we rank second and third, after the Wikipedia un-definition, and above Craig "Cabby" Charles - not bad for a tiny multi-media company.
Dean Whitbread
-
Pods and Blogs Ident
Posted: August 8th, 2007, 6:48am BST by Dean Whitbread
Pleased to see that the UK's definitive radio programme on podcasting and blogging, Pods and Blogs on BBC Radio 5 Live, has chosen to use the programme ident I recorded for them at the weekend in their very first podcast.
I'm now blushingly proud... -
Can You Give Me More Traffic Reports?
Posted: July 30th, 2007, 7:13pm BST by Dean Whitbread
Robert Scoble on Facebook Talks About Twitter, Etc.
Uploaded by deanwhitbread
I really liked this muse on Twitter and Facebook by the insightful Robert Scoble. So much so, that I stole this video from Facebook. Am I wrong? They claim to own everything. I'm not sure who I even stole this from. Anyway, it's a great rap.
Robert, I hope you're not offended that I posted this here. I will give you the traffic reports. Thank you for letting me share this.
FUNK: we make nice stuff happen
-
Funk Social Media Experiment $1
Posted: July 18th, 2007, 4:26pm BST by Dean Whitbread
Dean Whitbread
-
Funk Social Media Experiment
Posted: July 17th, 2007, 7:21pm BST by Dean Whitbread
The Funk Social Media Experiment: One Dollar
History is being made - I just made my first dollar from the blog I started writing in June 2004, shortly after starting this one. This didn't take long, I'm happy to report, just few days to reach a whole US dollar or 50 pence as we like to call it.
Funk had 57,525 visits and 252,435 page impressions in June 2007, using 16GB bandwidth.
FUNK: we make nice stuff happen
-
Google Search Funk Content
Posted: July 15th, 2007, 1:51am BST by Dean Whitbread
Enter your search terms
Submit search form
Web
funk.co.uk
podcastnation.co.uk
deekdeekster.com
Dean Whitbread
-
Save The Planet: 1987 - 2007
Posted: July 7th, 2007, 7:51pm BST by Dean Whitbread
I have to admit to being a little bit cynical about Live Earth. Global warming is at best a misnomer, at worst, a false doctrine. For starters, climate change is probably caused by sun spot activity, which is reaching a 1,000 year high; and anyway, it's rampant industrialisation, pollution, human over-population and mass species extinction which are the real dangers facing life on earth.
I wasn't always so jaded. My very first single, twenty years ago, raised money for Greenpeace and the Women's Environmental Network, and it was called, Save The Planet. Save some for me, will you? -
George Melly RIP
Posted: July 5th, 2007, 11:14am BST by Dean Whitbread
Goodbye George. Still don't know quite what you died of, but whatever it was, enjoy Valhallah, which with your surrealist tendencies should be a more colourful place.
-
My Heritage
Posted: June 28th, 2007, 2:06am BST by Dean Whitbread
Facial Comparisons courtesy of http://www.myheritage.com -
New Frontiers In Blogging
Posted: June 27th, 2007, 9:21am BST by Dean Whitbread
The BBC website gives me hours of pleasure. Today I found an article entitled, "New frontiers in journalism" which was about using social media. I'm not certain that my rather cynical comment will be appearing any time soon though:"YouTube, Flickr, Del.icio.us and Twitter." Why stop there? And, why choose these four? Why not, Digg (which is much more directly related to news - although people might not vote you to the front page), Facebook, MySpace and Slashdot, to name but four more ?
These "social media" sites attract (and are the venue for) many different, only slightly overlapping groups; by choosing the few you mention, and not using others, you are weighting your internet content towards certain constituencies and away from others equally valid.
Admit it: your choice of networks is not made just on popularity, is it? You've gone for YouTube fair enough because the BBC have a deal with them, but the others all tend to be favoured by the new media "Twitterati" currently in broadcast jobs.
Until news media actually engages with the great internet unwashed on their own terms, it's just playing at internet for the sake of appearing relevant, IMHO. -
PodCamp Europe
Posted: May 26th, 2007, 4:55pm BST by Dean Whitbread
The PodCamp / BarCamp phenomenon is a grassroots movement which is dedicated to the concept of Unconferences - i.e. they are free to attend and you don't have to remain in any seminar / conversation which you find pointless or boring.
Since this is exactly what I always wished school was like, I am attending PodCamp Europe, June 12th - 13th in Stockholm, Sweden and offering a session on Creativity. Because I am demonstrating creativity, not merely explaining, I keep on changing the name of the session. It will be interesting seeing who turns up and what they expect.
PodCampUK arrives September 1st. -
Assimilated? You Decide...
Posted: May 18th, 2007, 5:42pm BST by Dean Whitbread
-
Steady, AIM, Fire!
Posted: May 17th, 2007, 7:39pm BST by Dean Whitbread
A good news day.
Back in 2006 when we started the UK Podcasters Association, we asked all the people who joined what we should be doing, and sorting out podcast music licensing was top of the list. I'm really pleased the music industry is starting to recognise the role podcasting plays in supporting and championing music.
FUNK: we make nice stuff happen
-
Podcast User Magazine
Posted: May 5th, 2007, 8:36am BST by Dean Whitbread
Nice piece in this month's Podcast User Magazine about our work with John Cleese.
We're now averaging over 85,000 downloads a month for the first three months of 2007.
Dean Whitbread
-
Funk Publishing: Art, Music, Words
Posted: April 28th, 2007, 6:26pm BST by Dean Whitbread
Funk Publishing: we set this up a month or two ago.
Gregarius is a nice way of combining the feeds of all the different creative projects I'm working on, including collaborations and work for clients.
My current favourites are the Anglo-Irish podcast and deekdeekster.com which afford me a lot of enjoyment and maximum editorial freedom.
-
Podcast User Magazine Has A Competitor
Posted: April 26th, 2007, 1:41pm BST by Dean Whitbread
The podcast magazine space has just changed with the advent of Blogger and Podcaster magazine.
The much-employed aphorism about imitation being flattery is fairly easy to employ, with much similarity to existing and well-established online podcasting publication Podcast User Magazine clearly evident - but B&P could be flattering to deceive. The first issue isn't bad, and it can definitely improve.
This new kid on the block looks like it's doing a few things PUM aren't, including having a sharp eye on revenue. They seem to be well organised, spending money and selling themselves as the first professional podcast magazine. They are also offering in multiple formats, and it could be said that this throws a gauntlet down to PUM, which has remained staunchly written-not-spoken since launch.
All of which leads me to take a long hard look at this unique, podcaster-centred project. Despite a good-sized audience, a developed sense of self, and a brand both smart and obvious, PUM is still not widely recognised outside of podcasting. PUM has not been marketed aggressively since it's birth, and this is no criticism. It can easily be argued that this relaxed, semi-commercial, blog-based, collegiate attitude is the online magazine's charm, and the team of intelligent, enthusiastic practitioner-contributor podcaster-writers a major reason for it's widespread appeal among podcast afficionados, producers, viewers and listeners.
More seriously, although the magazine carries regular, high quality, niche content, PUM has not been anywhere near monetized to it's potential, and despite a lot of drumming up advertising revenue, no inroads have yet been made into lucrative pastures such as Real Life publishing syndication, which surely holds the promise of greater reward to the writers and editors for their thousands of hours of unpaid work.
Can Bloggers and Podcasters keep the content coming? If they can, then they will inevitably grow their readership. Is this likely to impact upon PUM's ever-increasing readership? Probably, and possibly that won't be negative. There are many more potential readers out there than are currently reached by PUM's marketing, and some of these will be alerted by B&P's launch.
But until the recent launch of B&P, having seen off early opposition, PUM had no serious competitors. Will another podcast magazine crowd PUM and make it difficult for them to achieve wider visibility and cross over into mainstream media? This is more threatening to the ultimate scale of the success of PUM, if not to the magazine's continued existence. They are unlikely to lose their currently loyal readership, but as new people come into podcasting, without increasing promotion and adopting more aggressive marketing, they could lose their position as the main contender for the podcast consumer / industry crown.
PUM's recently reorganised management will now have to look soberly and hard at this new publication as it attempts to differentiate itself and sell itself to businesses, the professional end of the scene.
PUM may be the current "market leader" but their respectable online success does not guarantee it a place in the future. There is competition, and it will be fascinating to see how this shapes the new PUM. -
Probably The Least Frequent Podcast In The World
Posted: April 20th, 2007, 12:15am BST by Dean Whitbread
I am referring of course to the UKPA podcast, which is designed to bring members of the UK national organisation for podcasters closer to the action. Recently I've been doing a lot of standing up and talking about podcasting among other media professionals, and although sometimes it can be scary (for them) most of the time, I've received a warm and interested welcome.
The UKPA podcast feed is here: [feeds.feedburner.com]
The Official Radio Academy podcast is here.
UK Podcasters Association
-
This Blog Is Moving To UKPA.INFO
Posted: April 13th, 2007, 1:22pm BST by Dean Whitbread
To celebrate the first anniversary of UK Podcasters Association, we're moving this blog to our new site, UKPA.INFO.
The existing site, ukpodcasters.org.uk will continue to function as a domain. -
AIM Podcast License
Posted: April 9th, 2007, 11:17am BST by Dean Whitbread
Exciting developments in the world of UK music podcasting - UKPA has been in discussion with AIM (Association of Independent Music) about their podcast license. We anticipate making an announcement on this in the next few days.
Coming up in the UKPA Podcast: interview with Simon Wheeler, head of AIM Digital.
Dean Whitbread
-
UGC, BBC, 23
Posted: April 4th, 2007, 6:29pm BST by Dean Whitbread
I've been speaking on UGC. When I was at art school, we called this engagement. Is the work complete without it's audience's response?
I'll compost your corpse - Number 23. -
Dublin
Posted: April 1st, 2007, 9:31pm BST by Dean Whitbread
Or treblin', even.
Off to see Brian Greene tomorrow in Dublin. Aside from the appallingly early start, I'm really looking forward to it - haven't been there since 2004.
FUNK: we make nice stuff happen
-
Virginia Grey Photography
Posted: March 10th, 2007, 5:41pm GMT by Dean Whitbread
Dean Whitbread
-
Old Planet Earth
Posted: March 8th, 2007, 10:02pm GMT by Dean Whitbread
It was inevitable I suppose. At some point, YouTube would make it's presence felt in this humble blog. I've been waiting 70 million years or so for this.
UK Podcasters Association
-
International Podcast Group
Posted: January 23rd, 2007, 10:00am GMT by Dean Whitbread
The UKPA along with affiliated organisations Podrepbod and Podcastverband have started the International Podcast Group.
Having set up the UKPA back in April 2006, affiliated to several other national groups, taken part the successful WIPO campaign, introduced the UK government to podcasting, advised several members in various legal and rights issues, and joined the Association of Online Publishers, we thought it would be a good idea to extend a democratic umbrella to podcasters internationally.
Our first aim is to form a collective global voice, democratically run, for the benefit of podcasters. If you are part of a group, and interested to be a founder member, we’d be glad for your involvement.
We are currently drafting our aims and we welcome input into this process. -
Bye Bye, Britcaster, Hello National Grid
Posted: December 2nd, 2006, 5:58pm GMT by Dean Whitbread
Popular UK forum Britcaster is to close 15th December, it was announced yesterday. Neil Dixon the man behind it, who now works for PodShow in the UK, has decided to pull the plug after two years.
A new forum, National Grid, is already in existance, set up by the UK Podcasters Association.
This UK Community Podcast forum is open to podcasters from anywhere in the world. -
Sony Podcast Award
Posted: November 29th, 2006, 9:10am GMT by Dean Whitbread
Next year's Sony Radio Awards will include The Internet Programme Award, which has been created specifically for streamed, Podcast and download programmes. UK Podcasters Association has been pushing for recognition, and a category to include podcasting.
"We now have a more level playing field," said UKPA Chairman Dean Whitbread. "Thanks go to Trevor Dann, head of the Radio Academy, who had the far-sightedness to organise a meeting with us on his first day in the job, and who persuaded me to join his organisation. It remains to be seen whether the award will go to one of the usual high-profile media suspects, or whether the judges will look at the great range of independently produced content that's out there." -
Curry Wants A UKPA Tshirt
Posted: November 27th, 2006, 7:41pm GMT by Dean Whitbread
Photo by CC Chapman
This may thrill fans of the PodShow host, Adam Curry - about 14 minutes into his podcast Daily Source Code #504, he glowingly describes our fund-raising tshirt.
Tshirts cost £15. Leave comments here and we'll process your orders - all proceeds go to the UK Podcasters Association - a non-profit company. -
Swecasters Join Hands Across The North Sea
Posted: November 8th, 2006, 6:54pm GMT by Dean Whitbread
A new podcast group, Swecasters, has emerged in Sweden which we happily welcome into the national podcast group fraternity. You have to be a native Swede to join this group. -
Two Victories at WIPO!
Posted: October 2nd, 2006, 2:11pm BST by Dean Whitbread
Via Gwen Hinze, EFF, and Glyn Wintle, Open Rights Group:
The negotiations have been tough (we hear), but the 2007 WIPO General Assemblies have come to a close with two huge victories for the public interest. On the Broadcasting Treaty, while the GA agreed to convene a Diplomatic Conference in November/December 2007, we now have two welcome safeguards in place (document after the jump).
First, there will be two more meetings of the SCCR to work through some of the issues on which countries are still clearly divided (Technological Protection Measures, and coverage of certain Internet transmissions) and a "pre-conference" before the November/December dipcon. In effect, this represents a rejection by the GA of the recommendation passed amidst controversy at last month's WIPO Copyright Committee meeting (the SCCR). The previous schedule included only a pre-conference, at which nothing substantive would have been accomplished before a July Diplomatic Conference. The four month reprieve and two additional meetings are good news indeed. The full text of the decision follows, below.
Second, and most importantly, the GA's compromise has an escape clause that allows for the convening of a dipcon *only if all outstanding issues are resolved* in those two SCCR meetings. By implication, for the first time, WIPO has indicated that there might not be a diplomatic conference and a new treaty if all member countries can't reach agreement. An eminently appropriate outcome if countries are not able to reach agreement after almost nine years of negotiations.
It has also been decided that the treaty will now take a signal-based approach instead of the messy, dangerous rights-based approach that is used in the current treaty text. This, too, is good news for the Internet community, and reflects the concerns raised by many WIPO member countries at last month's meeting. There's much support for narrowing the treaty's overbroad scope to signal protection. The key question will now be how the next treaty draft reflects this in practice.
The colossal effort required to broker this deal was recognized when the meeting's Chair said, "I would like especially to thank Mr. Jukka Liedes, who must have lost a few kilos trying to work out this agreement." Liedes, the Chair of the infamous meeting earlier in September that closed by an unpopular "silence as consent" procedure, was charged with finding a compromise at the GA, and appears to have done so this time.
On the Development Agenda, there's good news also. The GA agreed to continue the dialogue, and most importantly, to keep all the issues on the table, not just those that have the support of the developed countries. The Assemblies agreed to extend the mandate of the Provisional Committee on Proposals Related to a WIPO Development Agenda (the now non-provisional PCDA).
And so we end this year's WIPO General Assemblies with good news on all fronts. We're mighty chuffed. -
US Companies Say No To WIPO Broadcast Treaty
Posted: September 21st, 2006, 11:48pm BST by Dean Whitbread
In brief: post about the group of US corporations who are asking the US Government to reject the Broadcast Treaty.
The companies are:
AT&T
Broadband Service Providers
Association
Cingular Wireless
Computer and Communications Industry
Association
Consumer Electronics Association
CTIA - The Wireless Association
Dell Inc.
Hewlett Packard Company
Home Recording Rights Coalition
Intel Corporation
Panasonic Corporation of North America
RadioShack Corporation
Sony Electronics Incorporated
TiVo Inc.
U.S. Internet Industry Association
USTelecom
Verizon Communications Inc.
Verizon Wireless
Lack of formatting to follow - I'm pasting this from email...
This afternoon a coalition of industry groups submitted the following
Request for US Government Opposition to Advancing a Diplomatic Treaty
Conference on the Proposed WIPO Treaty on the Protection of
Broadcasting Organizations From Certain Information Technology,
Consumer Electronics and Telecommunications Industry Representatives.
Contact:
James M. Burger
Attorney at Law
Dow Lohnes
1200 New Hampshire Avenue, NW Suite 800 Washington, DC 20036-6802
T 202-776-2300
F 202-776-4300
E jburger@dowlohnes.com
www.dowlohnes.com
*********************************************************************
REQUEST FOR US GOVERNMENT OPPOSITION TO ADVANCING A DIPLOMATIC TREATY
CONFERENCE ON THE PROPOSED WIPO TREATY ON THE PROTECTION OF
BROADCASTING ORGANIZATIONS FROM CERTAIN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY,
CONSUMER ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY REPRESENTATIVES
On behalf of the undersigned companies and associations, many of whom
attended last week's SCCR 15th session in Geneva, we would like to
express our concerns about the controversial decision to convene a
Diplomatic Conference on the proposed WIPO Treaty on the Protection
of Broadcasting Organizations which is proposed for mid-2007. We ask
that the US Government reach out to other country delegations and
express its objections to proceeding with a Diplomatic Conference at
this time.
The outcome of last week's meeting leaves us with broad draft treaty
language which is not limited to signal theft, does not address
network intermediary liability, does not adequately address
limitations and exceptions, and includes broad technical protection
measure (TPM) protections language. In addition, the actual text of
proposed treaty language, which would form the basis of a diplomatic
conference, was, at the end of last week's meeting, very much up in
the air.
During the last day of the 15th SCCR, the Chairman did promote a
different approach to developing a treaty. His approach appears to
provide a basic framework more consistent with both US law and the
undersigned companies' interests. In addition, it is our view as
observers that there was growing support for such an approach on the
floor. Given the amount of disagreement regarding the SCCR 15/2 text,
and the strong support throughout these negotiations by most
delegations for protecting signals only, we do not believe that it is
appropriate to proceed to a Diplomatic Conference without doing so on
the basis of a text which clearly has consensus and is focused on
such an approach.
In discussions between industry and delegations, we detected shared
concerns regarding the state of the SCCR 15/2 text. We believe that
the US Delegation should engage in bilateral outreach to a number of
countries that expressed concern and seek support to: (1) reject
moving forward with a Diplomatic Conference until there is a stable
text; (2) narrow the treaty's scope to signal theft; (3) narrow the
term of protection; (4) ensure limitations on network intermediary
liability; (5) ensure other appropriate limitations and exceptions,
such as excluding home and personal networks; and, (6) exclude TPMs
from the scope of the treaty.
We appreciated the opportunity to consult with the US Delegation and
we were disappointed that the initial objections they raised at the
meeting about proceeding with a Diplomatic Conference were ignored.
We therefore would encourage the USG to send a follow up letter to
the Director General of WIPO and other appropriate parties further
expressing its strong objections to authorizing a Diplomatic
Conference at the General Assembly.
Should there be a proposal to convene the SCCR again in early 2007 to
consider a redraft of the Draft Basic Proposal based on the
Chairman's outline and associated comments, as well as the many
interventions of a similar nature by other delegations including the
USA at SCCR 15, such a draft text should be developed and broadly
circulated before such a meeting is held. No Diplomatic Conference
should be authorized until there is a real consensus text.
The role of WIPO in norm setting is extremely important to the
undersigned, all of whom are significant intellectual property
holders. Given the unstable condition of the current draft treaty,
there is a low probability of a successful Diplomatic Conference. The
damage to the institution of a failed Diplomatic Conference would
detract from international intellectual property norm setting - a
fate all of the undersigned wish to avoid.
We recognize that there is limited time to undertake outreach to
other country delegations; however, we believe this outreach is
critical. We stand ready to meet with the US Delegation at any time
to further express our concerns and lend our support.
AT&T
Broadband Service Providers
Association
Cingular Wireless
Computer and Communications Industry
Association
Consumer Electronics Association
CTIA - The Wireless Association
Dell Inc.
Hewlett Packard Company
Home Recording Rights Coalition
Intel Corporation
Panasonic Corporation of North America
RadioShack Corporation
Sony Electronics Incorporated
TiVo Inc.
U.S. Internet Industry Association
USTelecom
Verizon Communications Inc.
Verizon Wireless
************************************************
Manon Anne Ress
manon.ress@cptech.org,
www.cptech.org
Consumer Project on Technology
1621 Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20009 USA
Tel.: +1.202.332.2670, Ext 16 Fax: +1.202.332.2673
Consumer Project on Technology
1 Route des Morillons, CP 2100, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 791 6727
Consumer Project on Technology
24 Highbury Crescent, London, N5 1RX, UK
Tel: +44(0)207 226 6663 ex 252 Fax: +44(0)207 354 0607
_______________________________________________
A2k mailing list
A2k@lists.essential.org
http://lists.essential.org/mailman/listinfo/a2k -
Pods and Blogs
Posted: September 18th, 2006, 10:12am BST by Dean Whitbread
-
Michael Geist on WIPO
Posted: September 15th, 2006, 5:37am BST by Dean Whitbread
Canadian Internet law professor Michael Geist on the Broadcast Treaty - BBC article.
Michael Geist's blog. -
WIPO Steamrolls Member States and Insists on Controversial Broadcast Treaty
Posted: September 14th, 2006, 1:01pm BST by Dean Whitbread
The Broadcast Treaty is on course to drastically affect the way the Internet works. If you enjoy this vibrant new culture of podcasts, blogs and shared media, take the time to follow some of the links, understand the issues, and most importantly, tell your friends.
September 11th - 13th in Geneva, Switzerland: WIPO (the World Intellectual Property Organisation - see below) attempts to finalise the new Broadcast Treaty, a project which has been going on for nine years. The Broadcast Treaty is intended to do things such as prevent signal theft., i.e. someone illegally taking your TV program and retransmitting it. Some WIPO members have been trying to 'add in' the Internet to the new Treaty, and at this late stage they have introduced podcasting to their legislation.
This is where the UK Podcasters Association comes in. UKPA has been campaigning for three months with the Irish and German podcast groups, the Open Rights group in the UK, and EFF in the United States, and representing thousands of concerned Internet users, EFF attorney Gwen Hinze presented a joint statement to WIPO on why podcasting should not be included in the Broadcast Treaty.
[www.eff.org]
UKPA is part of an extraordinarily broad coalition against this version of the Treaty, alongside technology companies, NGOs, and member states such as India, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Iran, Nigeria and South Africa. Even the corporation-dominated United States eventually stated its opposition to calling for a diplomatic conference based on the existing draft - although for entirely different reasons than developing countries.
The main arguments against this extension of the Treaty into the Internet are that it gives new, wide-ranging and long-lasting rights to broadcasters over Internet content; it does not respect the Creative Commons system of content licencing which has been adapted by 49 countries and used for millions of works worldwide, including podcasts and blogs; and it threatens to impose severe restrictions on the development of technology and the personal use of media.
It also creates a whole set of problems for new technologies. Intel's Global Policy Director Jeffrey Lawrence explained how the treaty will prevent the roll out of home networking technologies because permission will be required from broadcasting companies for consumers to access and use the cable and television programs that they have already paid for in their own homes. Verizon Vice-President Sarah Deutsch said that Internet service providers and other intermediaries also face significant legal liability under the treaty for transmitting programming. "A broadcaster's right of control should stop at the front door of the home," she said.
IP Justice Executive Director Robin Gross:
"It is already illegal to steal cable television under existing law in all countries. This proposal, however, will give broadcasting companies the power to control what consumers can do with those programs.
This creates a problem for a growing number of consumers who use technology to copy, edit, comment on, and re-use media in otherwise lawful ways. Internet bloggers and websites such as YouTube where people post snippets of media programming based on copyright law's fair use privilege are also at risk. Since this is not copyright, but rather a brand new type of IP right, traditional fair use privileges would not apply to protect consumers. Television programs like Jon Stewart's "Daily Show," which uses short video clips of politician's speeches and other news to provide political commentary on them, can also be prevented from re-using the footage if this treaty is passed.
One of the most dangerous provisions in the treaty is the proposal to grant broadcasters the right to lock up public domain programming using technological restrictions that it will then be illegal to bypass in order to access the public domain information."
Despite lengthy objections, at the end of this three-day session, Chairman Liedes dismissed all arguments against the Treaty, and
"...dropped the gavel to conclude the meeting after announcing there would be no time for further discussion on the controversial treaty.
Rather than address legitimate concerns about theft of broadcast signals, the treaty would create 8 new intellectual property rights over broadcasts that are so broad they will stifle technological innovation, freedom of expression and access to knowledge." (RG)
Despite this, we at UKPA and the other EU podcast groups take heart from the fact that we have come together with so many different and disparate bodies, groups and corporations agreeing to a cohesive position - this is a real achievement. The Broadcast Treaty is a direct threat to much of the culture we all share, and this has created exceptional unity.
UKPA is going to continue to lobby the UK Government to bring pressure on WIPO, via our elected representatives at national level, to challenge what we consider to be an autocratic and dangerous decision. What we share with many thousands worldwide is the view that podcasting is an important new medium which deserves proper consideration in any leglislative framework.
About WIPO
World Intellectual Property Organisation is one of the most powerful international bodies in the world. It controls the regulation of Intellectual Property - ideas - and it occupies a uniquely powerful position in important development areas such as patents and copyrights, and this impacts upon new technologies, media content, and transmission rights.
WIPO is composed of many parts: broadcasters, technology and internet companies, NGOs, public interest groups, and member nations. WIPO is a United Nations mandated organisation - its decisions pass into international law at the diplomatic level and are internationally binding. The organisation has been run by on man for over 10 years - Chairman Liedes of Finland, sometimes referred to as "chairman for life".
The WIPO General Assembly will decide whether to accept Liedes’ recommendation at its annual meeting which takes place 25 September – 3 October 2006.
More Information on WIPO Broadcasting Treaty:
Electronic Frontier Foundation:
http://www.eff.org/IP/WIPO/broadcasting_treaty/
Open Rights Group:
[www.openrightsgroup.org]
IP Justice:
[www.ipjustice.org]
Chairman's current draft proposal [SCCR/15/2]
[www.wipo.int]
Cory Doctorow on TWiT:
[www.twit.tv]
Creative Commons:
[en.wikipedia.org]
Petition:
[www.petitiononline.com]
Fax Your MP:
[www.writetothem.com] -
WIPO Casting Treaty: CPTech Blog
Posted: September 13th, 2006, 9:28am BST by Dean Whitbread
-
Joint Statement of Podcasting Organizations and Podcasters on the Proposed Wipo Treaty for the Protection of Broadcasts and Broadcasting Organizations
Posted: September 11th, 2006, 11:29am BST by Dean Whitbread
Joint Statement of Podcasting Organizations and Podcasters on the Proposed Wipo Treaty for the Protection of Broadcasts and Broadcasting Organizations Presented to 15th Session of Wipo Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights
Sept 11-12, 2006
We, the undersigned individuals and organizations, representing the views of thousands of individuals who create audio and audiovisual podcasts and make them available on the Internet for others to listen to and enjoy, are extremely concerned about the draft World Intellectual Property Organization Treaty for the Protection of Broadcasts and Broadcasting Organizations (the Treaty) and its proposed extension to the Internet.
The rapid adoption of podcasting by groups and individuals, both commercial, semi-professional and non-profit, for political commentary, news reporting, music distribution, and other important information dissemination is testament to its effectiveness. The Treaty proposes to create new rights that are not only unnecessary to sustain novel forms of online communication such as podcasting, but will also inhibit their growth.
The Treaty will stifle innovation in podcasting-related technologies because the Treaty would require signatory countries to provide legal protection for technological protection measures (TPM) and is likely to lead to technology mandate laws controlling the design of broadcast-receiving devices. The Treaty will also inhibit online communication by impeding access to and non-infringing use of copyrighted content. At the same time, where podcasts are made available under a Creative Commons licence, the Treaty could allow subsequent casters to make podcasts available on more restrictive terms, overriding the wishes of the podcast creator.
We oppose the extension of the draft Treaty to the Internet for three reasons.
1. There is no need for the proposed new rights. Webcasting, podcasting, and myriad other forms of online distribution have flourished without the sort of rights this Treaty would grant. Though podcasting is only in its infancy, tens of thousands of podcasts are already being made available, reaching an estimated total audience in the millions. To the extent this Treaty would grant rights to podcasters who also stream their content, including many of the undersigned, we have no desire for such rights.
2. Innovation in podcasting and other new Internet distribution tools will suffer. Podcasting came about because of the widespread adoption of general purpose portable audio players like iPods, as well as use of web syndication technologies like RSS. Had these novel tools been hampered by the secondary liability concerns that the treaty's overbroad intellectual property rights pose for technology developers and manufacturers of devices that could be used to infringe the new rights, podcasting might never have flourished. This Treaty would hinder innovation in future tools by forcing technology developers to obey government TPM mandates over device design. Along with increasing the potential financial costs for innovators, the TPM mandates will limit the types of features on new devices.
3. Extending the Treaty to the Internet will harm the flow of information and free speech online. Podcasters' freedom of expression is likely to suffer as a result of reduced innovation. Moreover, the treaty will impede podcasters' access to and non-infringing use of copyrighted content. Podcasters can currently rely on national copyright laws to lawfully include copyrighted materials in their programs, whether for news reporting, education, or other permitted uses. The proposed Treaty would undermine those uses by layering a new and overbroad set of rights on top of copyright. This will require a second layer of rights clearance for transmitted materials. This will increase transaction costs for podcasters, who already face significant hurdles in obtaining necessary copyright clearances due to undeveloped licensing markets. But it will also give broadcasters the ability to silence podcasters who depend on use of copyrighted materials.
Signed,
United Kingdom Podcasters' Association (UKPA)
Irish PodRepBod
German Podcastverband
U.S. Podcast Guild
Ev Williams Odeo, Inc., USA
Emmanuelle Bordes, Canada
Frederick Wells, USA
Andrew Hoehler, USA
Cory Doctorow, USA The Cory Doctorow Podcast
James Anthony Christian, United Kingdom The Posithink Podcast (http://www.posithink.net)
Jonathan M. Reiter, USA, Oregon Free Culture Movement.
Michael Thebo, United States of America Podcaster of the Twilight and Thebes Show
Stephanie Thebo,United States of America Podcaster of the Twilight and Thebes Show
Miles Metcalfe Head of IT Research and Development Ravensbourne College of Design & Communication Chislehurst, United Kingdom http://www.rave.ac.uk/
Jon Berlin, USA
Melissa Gira, USA melissagira.com, 'whorecast'
Matthew Wayne Selznick, USA MWS Media
Tomislav Medak, Croatia Multimedia Institute, http://www.mi2.hr
Brandon McGrody
Alan Wolf, Ph.D, USA
Patrick Buckley, USA
Douglas E. Welch, USA Career Opportunities Podcast
Kevin H. Devin In the Trenches podcast, http://kevindevin.com Friends in Tech, http://www.friendsintech.com
Jamie Nelson, USA The Didgeplanet Podcast
Kara Shallenberg http://kayray.org/; http://librivox.org/
Cheryl Oda
Chuck Tomasi http://www.chuckchat.com/
Steven Garrity
James L. Johnson Jr., USA
Mark Rafferty
Janne Jalkanen, Finland podcaster ("Saunan Takaa", and "Verkkokakkonen")
Martin McKeay, CISSP, CCNA The Network Security Podcast http://www.mckeay.net/ http://podcastroundtable.com/
James M. Van Verth The Vintage Gamer podcast, www.thevintagegamer.net
Dennis R. Miller
Laura Ross coffeeandteashow.com rockyhorrorpodshow.libsyn.com
Wrong Notes Podcast, The Music Blog of the Ear Reverends HearJam Records http://earreverends.com/
Stephen Okay, USA
Billy Bowers
Michael C Young, Canada
Ron Brinkmann Co-host VFXShow Podcast
Victor Cajiao Typical PC User Podcast, www.typicalpcuser.com Typical Mac User Podcast, www.typicalmacuser.com Immigration Tales Podcast, www.immigrationtales.com
Brian Vawter
Strange Company
Dennis Hays http://www.haysdesign.com Secrets of Digital Imaging, http://www.imagingsecrets.com Photo News Today, http://photonewstoday.com The Blues and Jazz Show, http://bluesandjazz.thepodcastnetwork.com
The Command Line Podcast http://thecommandline.net/
Daniel Emery
William J. Beaty, USA
The Pixel Corps, Guild of Digital Content Creators, 2000 members in 35 countries Producers of "Macbreak", "Macbreak Weekly", "this WEEK in MEDIA"
Michael Croke
Samantha Murphy SMtv Podcast http://www.samanthamurphy.com
Neal Foley The Podchef http://www.podchef.motime.com feeds.feedburner.com/podchef
Rick Kleffel Editor, The Agony Column Book Reviews, News, Interviews and Commentary http://trashotron.com/agony
Christian Splie and Sheryl The Drunken Clam Girl
"Life On Tap" Podcast, http://www.lifeontap.net/
AudioLuxe, Inc, USA
www.audioluxe.org
James Raygan Kelly
Co-Producer Dollars: Dog of Privilege Podcast, http://dollars.libsyn.com
Carl Malamud, USA
Chief Technology Officer, Center for American Progress, Washington, D.C.
Founder of the Internet Multicasting Service, distributor of first audio programs on the Internet in 1993.
George Nemeth, USA
Managing Partner, Meet The Bloggers LLC
Meet The Bloggers podcast
Paul Parkinson
Podcaster and Editor of Podcast User Magazine
http://www.podcastusermagazine.com
Hrvoje Mitic, Croatia
Jay King
Audio Lingo Podcast, http://www.audiolingo.org
Anja Ivekovic-Martinis, Croatia
Howard Shepherd
Goran Pavlic, Croatia
Tobias D. Robison, USA
Peter Scheidl
David Bruce Hughes
Rick Jackson Publisher, www.wonderaudio.com
Howard Chang
Action for civil transparency (ACT)
Non-governmental organization, Croatia
Nenad Baric, Croatia
Confusion - association for promoting audio-visual arts
Robert Newson
Publisher of original Creative Commons-licensed music at http://feeds.feedburner.com/Newsonic
Podiobooks.com (representing 50+ authors releasing audio versions of their books under Creative Commons license)
Lauren McLaughlin
Maggie Bonham
Host of the Sci Fi Traveling Road Show
[www.eff.org] -
Letter From Emily Thornberry, MP, To Lord Sainsbury Re: WIPO
Posted: August 21st, 2006, 10:35am BST by Dean Whitbread
-
WIPO Update
Posted: August 7th, 2006, 11:30am BST by Dean Whitbread
You may remember that WIPO co-organized an event in Barcelona entitled "From the Rome Convention to Podcasting" on June 21. Despite the title, there was apparently little discussion of podcasting. Here's notes of the meeting from Michelle Childs of CP Tech, who was a panelist at the meeting:
[downontheriver.blogspot.com]
We've been waiting for a new draft of the treaty to be released by WIPO. That happened on Wednesday. The new draft is at:
[www.wipo.int]
At the last WIPO meeting in May, it was agreed that "webcasting" would be taken out of the new draft, and put into a separate instrument. It was also agreed that "simulcasting" (meaning simultaneous transmission of broadcasts and cable transmissions) would be taken out and put into the 2nd, separate instrument. The new draft has removed webcasting, but not simulcasting.
This week the US delegation submitted a new definition of "netcasting" to WIPO so it may well be discussed at the next meeting, even if "webcasting" (as previously defined) is not in the new draft of the treaty treaty.
WIPO has set the dates for the next meeting. It will be at WIPO HQ in Geneva on September 11-13 (not 11-15 as previously thought). We received the formal invitation today. This will be the last meeting before the treaty is put forward to the WIPO General Assembly on September 25-October 3, and member countries will be asked to vote to convene an inter-governmental diplomatic conference in early 2007. The treaty would be formally agreed and adopted at that conference.
The concerns that we UKPA members have :
- Not wanting to be regulated in the same way as broadcasters, and wanting to ensure that broadcasters could not use the treaty to use and obtain rights over podcast content. The treaty states that it is not intended to interfere with existing copyright rights, but because of the unclear drafting and the overlap with copyright, there's some concern about how this will work in practice.
There's also concern that Creative Commons-licensed podcasts could be restricted by later users including "webcasters" under the Treaty, particularly if these use "technological measures" or DRM.
Thanks to Gwen Hinze from EFF. -
BBC Radio Five Live Up All Night
Posted: June 20th, 2006, 9:57am BST by Dean Whitbread
Great coverage of our WIPO campaign from the BBC - Tuesday 20th June, BBC Radio Five Live, Howard Benson interview. - it will be available for the next seven days. -
European Podcasters Team Up To Lobby WIPO
Posted: June 19th, 2006, 6:23pm BST by Dean Whitbread
Podcasters across the world have come together to emphatically reject the re-drafted Broadcast Treaty. UK Podcasters Association has been joined by the Irish Podrepbod and German Podcastverband to lobby WIPO in a pan-european effort to assert podcasters' rights at the WIPO meeting in Barcalona Wednesday, June 21st, presenting a petition, the text of which follows:
To: World Intellectual Property organization (WIPO)
This is a petition to the World Intellectual Property organization (WIPO) regarding the Broadcast Treaty as it affects podcasting and podcasters.
This treaty as it stands gives broadcasters (not creators or copyright holders) the right to tie up the use of audiovisual material for 50 years after broadcasting it, even if the programs are in the public domain, Creative Commons licensed, or not copyrightable. We consider this to be an infringement of the right of the originator of a work to determine its form of licence, future usage and copyright status. Further, the extension of the Broadcast Treaty to include Podcasting does not take into account the many forms of the new medium of podcasting which do not correspond to broadcast models. We uphold our right to be different from broadcasting and therefore subject to legislation which takes these differences into account.
We, podcast creators, producers and supporters of the global podcasting community, earnestly request that WIPO respect, acknowledge and include the following in any revision of the Broadcast Treaty:
- Broadcaster copyright cannot overrule podcast copyright or other licence
- Podcasting is not broadcasting and the two must not be conflated (forced together)
- The wishes of the creator regarding their rights in their work must be respected
- Creative Commons licences, GPU licences, "free forever" licences (in whatever form) are legitimate and must be upheld in perpetuity.
http://www.petitiononline.com/ukpod001/petition.html
UKPA Chairman Dean Whitbread said: “UK Podcasters Association is pleased to team up with our European colleagues in Germany and Ireland in order to present a united front for these very important lobbying issues. WIPO must respect the rights of podcasters and not superimpose a out-dated model which will have a negative impact upon this fast-growing cultural industry.”
Brian Greene, head of the Irish Podcasters Representative Body, said, “Extending IPRs at the expense of the public domain is a developing trend that will be to the detriment of all media, be it corporate, state or citizen-developed.”
Thomas Wanhoff from the German Podcastverband said, “As radio and TV loses its audience, podcasters are finding their own means of making content in a very creative way. We just want to maintain our rights - and this is what we are fighting for."
Download PDF here. -
Open Rights WIPO Wiki
Posted: June 18th, 2006, 2:22pm BST by Dean Whitbread
-
WIPO Podcast Petition
Posted: June 18th, 2006, 12:40pm BST by Dean Whitbread
To: World Intellectual Property organization (WIPO)
This is a petition to the World Intellectual Property organization (WIPO) regarding the Broadcast Treaty as it affects podcasting and podcasters.
This treaty as it stands gives broadcasters (not creators or copyright holders) the right to tie up the use of audiovisual material for 50 years after broadcasting it, even if the programs are in the public domain, Creative Commons licensed, or not copyrightable.
We consider this to be an infringement of the right of the originator of a work to determine its form of licence, future usage and copyright status.
Further, the extension of the Broadcast Treaty to include Podcasting does not take into account the many forms of the new medium of podcasting which do not correspond to broadcast models. We uphold our right to be different from broadcasting and therefore subject to legislation which takes these differences into account.
We, podcast creators, producers and supporters of the global podcasting community, earnestly request that WIPO respect, acknowledge and include the following in any revision of the Broadcast Treaty:
- Broadcaster copyright cannot overrule podcast copyright or other licence
- Podcasting is not broadcasting and the two must not be conflated (forced together)
- The wishes of the creator regarding their rights in their work must be respected
- Creative Commons licences, GPU licences, "free forever" licences (in whatever form) are legitimate and must be upheld in perpetuity.
Sincerely,
Sign the petition. -
WIPO Puts Podcasting Back In Firing Line
Posted: June 16th, 2006, 9:54pm BST by Dean Whitbread
Glyn Wintle from the Open Rights Group sent me this link about the WIPO plans to regulate podcasting in Barcalona on June 21st.
This treaty gives broadcasters (not creators or copyright holders) the right to tie up the use of audiovisual material for 50 years after broadcasting it, even if the programs are in the public domain, Creative Commons licensed, or not copyrightable. -
Podcasting Is Selling Music - And It's Legal
Posted: June 8th, 2006, 1:03pm BST by Dean Whitbread
This alternative UKPA graphic has been provided by Mark. -
Broadcasters are not Podcasters, says UKPA: Music Alliance Review UK podcasting Licence “Podcast Rules”
Posted: June 1st, 2006, 11:55am BST by Dean Whitbread
The UK Podcasters Association met Tuesday 30th May with the MCPS-PRS Music Alliance, the two principal UK music licensing and royalty collection agencies at their Berners Street offices. The objectives of the meeting were to establish working contact, indicate the important differences between UK podcasting activities and formats and broadcast, discuss access to the licensed music catalogue to which they act as gate-keepers, and to give direct feedback on their podcast music licence. The meeting was a fair and frank exchange of views conducted in a friendly and supportive way by both groups.
UKPA is greatly concerned by the imposition of format restrictions applying to all podcasters who pay for the licence, and the results of the Podcast Nation poll on this hot topic were presented to and welcomed by the Music Alliance as valuable feedback.
UKPA's view was that imposing restrictive controls developed from the broadcast media model, rather than taking a new sheet of paper for a new entertainment and business model, was preventing take-up of the license as in its current draft, and the MCPS-PRS podcasting licence could inhibit the development of new content formats and stifle a nascent industry.
The Music Alliance’s podcast licence was initially released in March 2006 and, because of a number of vague and imprecise clauses contained within it, appeared to be attempting to set up a licensing scheme for all podcasts, including podsafe and speech-only podcasts. This was later withdrawn by the MA, but a large proportion of the 300 or so independent UK podcast producers remained concerned that in order to play the mainstream music the Music Alliance control, they were being forced into adopting a set of “rules” controlling the way they create, adapt and release their content and this proved to be the rallying cry that launched the first UK representative body for podcasters.
“We are interested in working with the Music Alliance to improve their understanding of podcasting, podcasters, and to evolve a model of licensing which strikes a balance between their concerns and ours” said Dean Whitbread. “We would like to be able to pay a reasonable fee, without worrying about restrictive "rules" whilst we pioneer, develop and exploit new commercial formats. If they let us do that, ultimately they'll make a lot more money out of us.”
Taking scales of economy into account is also an issue. Since its inception, the cost of the licence has risen from £200 pa to £400 pa, and the licence has expanded from 2 to 30 pages which may now mean the independent podcaster has to take legal advice which will add several hundred pounds to the licence cost. As commercial broadcasters who benefit from advertising revenue move into the medium, there is a real danger that the small percentage (estimated 20%) of would-be commercial independent podcasters who might wish to play MA-licensed content could be priced out of the market.
The MCPS-PRS was firm in its view that the record labels were the ultimate gate-keepers to the content and their concerns needed to be addressed. It was agreed that there is an educative role for the UKPA to explain to publishers and record companies that podcasting is not file sharing – podcasters are program-makers - and opportunities to explain the differences will be sought.
The advantages of including MA-licensed repertoire within podcasting were laid out, and UKPA accepted the great benefit of a one-stop licensing shop which removes the need to negotiate with multiple content owners. On the other hand, the huge influx of artists self-licensing their work into “podsafe” podcasts was potentially fuelling an alternative to existing rights organisations.
Podcasting actually boosts sales of licensed music. Before the vast majority of podcasters went “podsafe” some played licensed music and the bands played noted spikes in sales on service such as iTunes. “Bands which might never have got a record deal are now generating sales and significant income from plays on “podsafe” podcasts which tell the listener where to buy the music – direct from the band and cutting the middle man (the record company) out of the loop completely,” said Paul Parkinson.
Discussed at some length were the anomalies which the widely-adopted Creative Commons licenses bring to the exclusive nature of MCPS-PRS licence schemes, MySpace, and other artist-driven variants of online music, and the difficulties in establishing an effective global scheme, which is currently being researched by the MA. Marla Shapiro reported that the MA were planning to release a General Entertainment on Demand scheme later this year.
UKPA presented the case for podcasting as a medium in itself, establishing the major differences between the original programmed content of the majority of UK podcasters and radio stations re-purposing broadcast content. Podcasting started with individuals creating fresh and exciting content breaking the mould of the stale audio and video formats. Podcasting now has been seized upon by broadcast radio as a way of regurgitating their shows on a time-shift basis.
In 2006 independent UK podcasts deliver in multiple media to hundreds of thousands of listeners in more than 100 countries. Independent UK podcasters have invented new styles of content, provided very specialised niche shows (knitting, anyone?) through to mass appeal shows covering technology, soccer, parenting, and of course, music. UKPA requested recognition in the licensing scheme of individuals, small groups, communities and small-to-medium sized businesses who were now using and creating successful podcasts using different commercial models to those that applied to established traditional businesses.
The Music Alliance accepted the need to distinguish between the small-scale, amateur enthusiast “bedroom” podcasters, new podcast businesses, and the commercial broadcasters’ use of the medium, but it was also clear that they had not seen very much hard data on UK podcasting from UK podcasters. It was agreed that working contact would be established between the two organisations on this basis.
Representing the UKPA was Dean Whitbread. Businesses who are also UKPA members were represented in the room by Paul Parkinson from Podcast User Magazine, Paul Pinfield from Pinnacle Media, and Mark Crook from Funk. Also present were Ben Brassington from Harbottle and Lewis, and Louise Ferguson from the Open Rights group. This group met with Jez Bell, Online Director, Marla Shapiro, Broadcast and Online Projects Director, and Chris Morrison, Online Licensing Manager.
Download a press release PDF document. -
Open Rights Group Wiki
Posted: May 25th, 2006, 10:04am BST by Dean Whitbread
Edited the Open Rights Group wiki to their standard format. -
New Members Add Definition To UKPA
Posted: May 23rd, 2006, 10:56pm BST by Dean Whitbread
Pleased that UK podcasters are adding their constructive input to the basic set up of the organisation. Thanks in particular to Alasdair of Aycliffe Podcast for his review of the Memorandum and Articles and the Terms and Conditions, which will be revised and improved in response to his meticulous work. -
UKPA Members Get Involved
Posted: May 19th, 2006, 1:18am BST by Dean Whitbread
In the midst of much debate about the purpose and relevance of UKPA, we go from strength to strength.
Martin from Green Dragon has designed this logo, perfect for members' websites and blogs should they wish to add it. I also added some details about who is "behind" UKPA and clarified the Founders' statement, in response to blog and forum comments. -
UKPA Links To German & Irish Podcast Groups
Posted: May 14th, 2006, 5:02pm BST by Dean Whitbread
UKPA has established contact with German Podcasters Group and the Irish Podcasters Representative Body. Both groups have aims very similar to UK Podcasters Association.
The Irish group is 40+ strong and have met the equivalents of PRS and MCPS IMRO, and are soon due to meet the Irish Recorded Music Association IRMA.
Dean Whitbread: Poetry
-
Black Cab Conversation
Posted: October 11th, 2004, 10:45am BST by Dean Whitbread
He said
You got that broadband then
What's it like ?
I said
It's like the difference between pedals
And a motorbike
He said
I was going to try it free for sixty days
- NTL cable
But the wife wouldn't let me put no wires
Under the kitchen table
I said
You don't need wires these days
You can do it wireless
He said
Plug the computer into the radio ?
Blimey, what will they think of next
I laughed
Then spent 15 minutes explaining and extolling
Standards 802.11b & g
He said
You know who I had in this cab the other day ?
Tim Berners-Lee
DFRW 28th September 2004
-
The Move
Posted: October 4th, 2004, 8:22pm BST by Dean Whitbread
Removal men, in overalls
Wheeling cupboards, wardrobes,
Crates, boxes, teachests and the like
The green van, it's great white letters
Ten feet high and fifty wide
Standing patient, quiet,
In leafy and autumnal Lilac Drive.
A small bird twitters, darting in and out
The repeated territorial refrain
"Careful of my life" and "Put that there."
A steady plod of booted feet
The slow drainin