Halloween presents business opportunities for Thai sellers on eBay, the world's largest online marketplace and online shopping destination for holiday gifts.
According to eBay, Thai sellers are taking advantage.
Most of the products offered by Thai sellers are costumes for parties and events, such as vampire capes, thematic costumes and latex masks.
Allis Ghim, the Southeast Asia director of eBay, said Halloween-related sales amounted to $4.3 million, or about 144 million baht, in September.
She noted that buyers typically started shopping for Halloween items on eBay in early August, with the strongest buying activity in the middle of October.
"Prior to festive celebrations like Halloween, we see spikes in sales of related products on eBay two weeks before the actual day," she said.
eBay provides such potential for entrepreneurs by connecting to international markets such the US where festive periods such as Halloween and Christmas are highly celebrated events.
The total September listings for eBay.com topped 450,000, with almost half finding a sale. The most popular words used by shoppers to search for items were Halloween, costume, witch,pumpkin, and black.
Popular categories for Halloween items listed by eBay sellers are clothing,shoes, accessories, collectibles and crafts.On average, the price of Halloween items sold on eBay was $17.
Interestingly, the most expensive item sold on eBay in the past month was a "complete Halloween haunted house",which went for $6,001.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Mail-order company goes bust
The venerable German mail-order company Quelle is shutting down more than 80 years after revolutionising the country's retail landscape, having missed customers' move to online shopping.
The unit of insolvent German retailer Arcandor failed to find new investors and would be closed down, Arcandor's insolvency administrator Klaus Hubert Goerg said on Tuesday.
A Quelle employee who took part in a staff meeting at the company's headquarters in Nuremberg said October's salaries would still be paid but beyond that nothing was certain.
"It's over, crying doesn't help," Quelle employee Marianne Thieg told Reuters.A colleague added:"Quelle is dead."
At least half of the 10,500 employees of Arcandor's Primondo unit, which Quelle is part of, could lose their jobs,but no official figures have yet been given.
Marco Atzberger, retail expert at EHI retail institute, said Quelle's downfall was a result of the company's own problems rather than an industry-wide malfunction."Quelle is a tragic story,because the mail order business in general works quite well. They failed to integrate the online business properly and relied too strongly on the catalogue business," he said.
The Quelle catalogue used to be a common feature in Germany's letter boxes and fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld even offered his collection "KL by Karl Lagerfeld" in the autumn/winter 1996-97 catalogue.
Quelle was founded by Gustav Schickedanz in 1927, naming it after his business idea to sell products directly to the customers right from the source, or "Quelle," in German.
But the emergence of the Internet took shoppers online, rapidly boosting sales of online retailers like Amazon.com Inc and eBay Inc.
"While the catalogue is not obsolete,it is not the main sales driver either, any more," EHI's Atzberger said.
The German E-Commerce and Distance Selling Trade Association (bvh)expects online shopping will for the first time this year make up more than half of the overall sales in the mail-order industry, which it estimates at 29.1 billion ($43.6 billion) for 2009.
The unit of insolvent German retailer Arcandor failed to find new investors and would be closed down, Arcandor's insolvency administrator Klaus Hubert Goerg said on Tuesday.
A Quelle employee who took part in a staff meeting at the company's headquarters in Nuremberg said October's salaries would still be paid but beyond that nothing was certain.
"It's over, crying doesn't help," Quelle employee Marianne Thieg told Reuters.A colleague added:"Quelle is dead."
At least half of the 10,500 employees of Arcandor's Primondo unit, which Quelle is part of, could lose their jobs,but no official figures have yet been given.
Marco Atzberger, retail expert at EHI retail institute, said Quelle's downfall was a result of the company's own problems rather than an industry-wide malfunction."Quelle is a tragic story,because the mail order business in general works quite well. They failed to integrate the online business properly and relied too strongly on the catalogue business," he said.
The Quelle catalogue used to be a common feature in Germany's letter boxes and fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld even offered his collection "KL by Karl Lagerfeld" in the autumn/winter 1996-97 catalogue.
Quelle was founded by Gustav Schickedanz in 1927, naming it after his business idea to sell products directly to the customers right from the source, or "Quelle," in German.
But the emergence of the Internet took shoppers online, rapidly boosting sales of online retailers like Amazon.com Inc and eBay Inc.
"While the catalogue is not obsolete,it is not the main sales driver either, any more," EHI's Atzberger said.
The German E-Commerce and Distance Selling Trade Association (bvh)expects online shopping will for the first time this year make up more than half of the overall sales in the mail-order industry, which it estimates at 29.1 billion ($43.6 billion) for 2009.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Twitter on the look for translators
Twitter, the fastgrowing service, is seeking volunteer French, German, Italian, and Spanish translators to render its website into other languages.
Twitter's website, Twitter.com, is currently only offered in English or Japanese.
Biz Stone, a co-founder of the San Francisco-based startup, said in a blog post on Friday that Twitter was planning versions of its website in other languages,starting with French, German, Italian and Spanish.
He invited a "small group" of Twitter users to become "volunteer translators"to suggest translations for the Twitter website.
"We will distribute the translations to Twitter platform developers making it easier for them to offer multiple language support as well," he said.
"We're very excited that more people will be able to use Twitter in their native language!" he added.
Twitter, which allows users to pepper one another with 140-character-or-less messages known as "tweets," has grown rapidly in popularity since it was launched in August 2006 and claims to have topped 50 million users.
Twitter's website, Twitter.com, is currently only offered in English or Japanese.
Biz Stone, a co-founder of the San Francisco-based startup, said in a blog post on Friday that Twitter was planning versions of its website in other languages,starting with French, German, Italian and Spanish.
He invited a "small group" of Twitter users to become "volunteer translators"to suggest translations for the Twitter website.
"We will distribute the translations to Twitter platform developers making it easier for them to offer multiple language support as well," he said.
"We're very excited that more people will be able to use Twitter in their native language!" he added.
Twitter, which allows users to pepper one another with 140-character-or-less messages known as "tweets," has grown rapidly in popularity since it was launched in August 2006 and claims to have topped 50 million users.
Facebook to boost tourism
Tourism should take advantage of social networking as a tool to attract new visitors while carefully monitoring bad corporate image, said the president of the Tourism Technology Association (TTA).
Apichai Sakulsureeyadej, president of the TTA, said that the increasing popularity of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter as well as using YouTube and blogs as marketing tools allows tourist to share their experiences and suggestions about the country.
Currently, at least 50 percent of travellers do their research over the Internet prior to embarking on their trip. Many of these travellers also plan, book, and pay through various websites. The rate of online information for users and buyers of tourism products is increasing at an alarming rate. Around 80 percent of those tourists who use the Internet use social network sites.
Use of social networking sites is going beyond normal e-marketing that uses the Web as a new channel to sell or send email marketing. So if the country uses networking sites it will be easier to reach those travellers and have a beneficial effect on Thai tourism.
For example, if a tourist takes pictures of a beautiful place and posts the photos on Facebook and connects with their network of friends, those pictures may be more effective than if the TTA or the hotel operators had posted them.
There are successes in some countries that already use social networking sites such as Australia. Activities on Twitter and Facebook are getting those who have visited Australia to talk and tweet about their experiences.
Moreover, new research by academics at Bournemouth University in the UK showed that Information Acquisition obtaining up-to date information - was found to be the most influential factor for users of tourist social networks, followed by Social-Psychological factors such as seeking identity, forming relationships and seeking a sense of belonging, and hedonistic benefits including having fun with content, entertainment and being amused.
The research was carried out on Internet users in South Korea, which has one of the largest populations of Internet users in the world.
However, the country and tourism operators should be aware of carefully monitoring feedback and responding to negative opinions rather than ignoring and deleting negative views.
Early next year the TTA will collaborate with the National Statistics Office (NSO)on the first "National ICT for Tourism Survey" done within Thailand. Apichai believes that the information will give the ICT industry a better idea on which areas of technology to focus when catering to the tourism industry.
It will be easier to transform the tourism industry to become a knowledge and information rich industry, giving the operators in Thailand the edge over competition from other countries in marketing, internal management, service levels and technology-savvy staff.
"In today's economic environment,the tourism industry relies heavily on Information Technology. Technology is embedded within every stage of the travel life-cycle. It is important that the tourism operators have the knowledge of how technology can empower their businesses to do better,"Apichai said.
Apichai Sakulsureeyadej, president of the TTA, said that the increasing popularity of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter as well as using YouTube and blogs as marketing tools allows tourist to share their experiences and suggestions about the country.
Currently, at least 50 percent of travellers do their research over the Internet prior to embarking on their trip. Many of these travellers also plan, book, and pay through various websites. The rate of online information for users and buyers of tourism products is increasing at an alarming rate. Around 80 percent of those tourists who use the Internet use social network sites.
Use of social networking sites is going beyond normal e-marketing that uses the Web as a new channel to sell or send email marketing. So if the country uses networking sites it will be easier to reach those travellers and have a beneficial effect on Thai tourism.
For example, if a tourist takes pictures of a beautiful place and posts the photos on Facebook and connects with their network of friends, those pictures may be more effective than if the TTA or the hotel operators had posted them.
There are successes in some countries that already use social networking sites such as Australia. Activities on Twitter and Facebook are getting those who have visited Australia to talk and tweet about their experiences.
Moreover, new research by academics at Bournemouth University in the UK showed that Information Acquisition obtaining up-to date information - was found to be the most influential factor for users of tourist social networks, followed by Social-Psychological factors such as seeking identity, forming relationships and seeking a sense of belonging, and hedonistic benefits including having fun with content, entertainment and being amused.
The research was carried out on Internet users in South Korea, which has one of the largest populations of Internet users in the world.
However, the country and tourism operators should be aware of carefully monitoring feedback and responding to negative opinions rather than ignoring and deleting negative views.
Early next year the TTA will collaborate with the National Statistics Office (NSO)on the first "National ICT for Tourism Survey" done within Thailand. Apichai believes that the information will give the ICT industry a better idea on which areas of technology to focus when catering to the tourism industry.
It will be easier to transform the tourism industry to become a knowledge and information rich industry, giving the operators in Thailand the edge over competition from other countries in marketing, internal management, service levels and technology-savvy staff.
"In today's economic environment,the tourism industry relies heavily on Information Technology. Technology is embedded within every stage of the travel life-cycle. It is important that the tourism operators have the knowledge of how technology can empower their businesses to do better,"Apichai said.
YouTube to broadcast UK TV shows
British independent television network Channel 4 last week announced a "pioneering" deal to broadcast its shows on YouTube after first being viewed on TV.
"YouTube and Channel 4 have signed a pioneering content deal that will make the broadcaster's original programmes available on demand, in full and freeof-charge via YouTube in the UK in the coming months," said a statement.
"The strategic partnership marks the first time a broadcaster anywhere in the world has made a comprehensive catchup schedule available on YouTube."
Neither group disclosed financial terms of the deal that would run for at least three years and be supported by advertising revenue.
"Channel 4 was the first broadcaster in the world to make all its commissioned content available online," said Channel 4 Chief Executive Andy Duncan.
"This is another important milestone for us and we're delighted to be combining the power of the '4' brand and the appeal of our content with YouTube's unrivalled reach and reputation online."
The number of views on the videosharing website has surpassed one billion a day, the co-founder of the site Chad Hurley said last week on the third anniversary of its acquisition by Google.
YouTube's director of partnerships Patrick Walker said the deal was in reaction to calls from the site's followers for it to broadcast full-length shows.
"This demonstrates our commitment to bringing an even greater range of content to YouTube," he added.
"YouTube and Channel 4 have signed a pioneering content deal that will make the broadcaster's original programmes available on demand, in full and freeof-charge via YouTube in the UK in the coming months," said a statement.
"The strategic partnership marks the first time a broadcaster anywhere in the world has made a comprehensive catchup schedule available on YouTube."
Neither group disclosed financial terms of the deal that would run for at least three years and be supported by advertising revenue.
"Channel 4 was the first broadcaster in the world to make all its commissioned content available online," said Channel 4 Chief Executive Andy Duncan.
"This is another important milestone for us and we're delighted to be combining the power of the '4' brand and the appeal of our content with YouTube's unrivalled reach and reputation online."
The number of views on the videosharing website has surpassed one billion a day, the co-founder of the site Chad Hurley said last week on the third anniversary of its acquisition by Google.
YouTube's director of partnerships Patrick Walker said the deal was in reaction to calls from the site's followers for it to broadcast full-length shows.
"This demonstrates our commitment to bringing an even greater range of content to YouTube," he added.
GOOGLE WOOING RIVAL FIRMS' CUSTOMERS
Google on Monday ramped up a campaign to convert businesses worldwide into users of e-mail, calendar, document and other software programs it offers online as services on the Internet.
"Gone Google" advertising was expanded to Britain, France, Canada, Japan, Australia, Singapore and other countries.
Ads are being displayed in places such as train stations and airports "to help companies, schools and organisations learn all about the benefits of going Google with our enterprise products".
Google has been enhancing and expanding online software services as a trend toward Internet-based cloud computing has gained momentum.
Companies hustling to survive the grim economic conditions have been attracted to cost savings that stem from renting software instead of buying, installing and maintaining it on their own machines.
US software giant Microsoft has responded to the trend with a "software plus services" model that combines its core pakcaged products with programs hosted online.
Google Apps programs hosted on the Internet giant's computers are used by more than two million businesses in more than 100 countries, according to a blog post by Vivian Leung and Tom Oliveri of the Google Enterprise Team.
"Each day, thousands of companies choose to 'go Google', that is, switch to Google Apps,' Leung and Oliveri said. "These companies no longer have to deal with the hassles of managing e-mail servers or rolling out software updates, and their employees now enjoy the convenience of shared documents and calendars, Gmail and more."
Konica Minolta, Rentokil Initial, and TOTO are among firms that have recently "gone Google", according to Leung and Oliveri.
"Gone Google" advertising was expanded to Britain, France, Canada, Japan, Australia, Singapore and other countries.
Ads are being displayed in places such as train stations and airports "to help companies, schools and organisations learn all about the benefits of going Google with our enterprise products".
Google has been enhancing and expanding online software services as a trend toward Internet-based cloud computing has gained momentum.
Companies hustling to survive the grim economic conditions have been attracted to cost savings that stem from renting software instead of buying, installing and maintaining it on their own machines.
US software giant Microsoft has responded to the trend with a "software plus services" model that combines its core pakcaged products with programs hosted online.
Google Apps programs hosted on the Internet giant's computers are used by more than two million businesses in more than 100 countries, according to a blog post by Vivian Leung and Tom Oliveri of the Google Enterprise Team.
"Each day, thousands of companies choose to 'go Google', that is, switch to Google Apps,' Leung and Oliveri said. "These companies no longer have to deal with the hassles of managing e-mail servers or rolling out software updates, and their employees now enjoy the convenience of shared documents and calendars, Gmail and more."
Konica Minolta, Rentokil Initial, and TOTO are among firms that have recently "gone Google", according to Leung and Oliveri.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Google adds automatic translation
Internet giant Google added automatic translation to Google Docs on Thursday allowing users to translate documents into 42 languages.
The "Tools" menu on Google Docs now includes a "Translate Document"feature which provides a list of the various languages offered, which run from Albanian to Icelandic to Vietnamese.
A translation is done "in a matter of seconds," Google said in a blog post,and formatting and layout is preserved whatever the language of the document.
"Translations aren't perfect, but we are continuously working on improving translation quality over time," Google said. Google Docs provides word processing, spreadsheet and other programs hosted on the Internet.
The Mountain View, California-based company has already built automatic translation features into its popular email program Gmail and into services such as its blog reader.
The "Tools" menu on Google Docs now includes a "Translate Document"feature which provides a list of the various languages offered, which run from Albanian to Icelandic to Vietnamese.
A translation is done "in a matter of seconds," Google said in a blog post,and formatting and layout is preserved whatever the language of the document.
"Translations aren't perfect, but we are continuously working on improving translation quality over time," Google said. Google Docs provides word processing, spreadsheet and other programs hosted on the Internet.
The Mountain View, California-based company has already built automatic translation features into its popular email program Gmail and into services such as its blog reader.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Students get second chance
The National Institute of Educational Testing Service will spend four million baht to arrange catch-up tests for students who missed the third round of the General Aptitude Test and the Professional Aptitude Test, Niets director Uthumporn Jamornmarn says.
The Niets website was attacked by hackers last week, causing students who applied to sit in the third round of GAT and PAT, running from Thursday to Sunday, to miss their exams.
Mrs Uthumporn said Niets had to close down its website for three days after the attack. Many GAT and PAT applicants could not print their identity cards from the website or check the time and places of their exams.
Niets decided to organise make-up rounds for the GAT and PAT.
Two groups of students are eligible to take the replacement exams, Mrs Uthumporn said. Those who missed the exams because of the website hacking problem and those who could not apply for the third round of GAT and PAT are eligible. These students could apply to sit the make-up exams via Niets website at www.niets.or.th from Thursday to Oct 22.
The names of those eligible to take the catch-up exams will be announced on Oct 25.
The make-up exams will be held from Oct 29 to Nov 1 at test centres in seven provinces -Bangkok, Chiang Mai,Phitsanulok, Ubon Ratchathani, Khon Kaen, Hat Yai district in Songkhla and Nakhon Si Thammarat.
Exam results will be announced on Nov 10, also via the website, Mrs Uthumporn said.
The Niets website was attacked by hackers last week, causing students who applied to sit in the third round of GAT and PAT, running from Thursday to Sunday, to miss their exams.
Mrs Uthumporn said Niets had to close down its website for three days after the attack. Many GAT and PAT applicants could not print their identity cards from the website or check the time and places of their exams.
Niets decided to organise make-up rounds for the GAT and PAT.
Two groups of students are eligible to take the replacement exams, Mrs Uthumporn said. Those who missed the exams because of the website hacking problem and those who could not apply for the third round of GAT and PAT are eligible. These students could apply to sit the make-up exams via Niets website at www.niets.or.th from Thursday to Oct 22.
The names of those eligible to take the catch-up exams will be announced on Oct 25.
The make-up exams will be held from Oct 29 to Nov 1 at test centres in seven provinces -Bangkok, Chiang Mai,Phitsanulok, Ubon Ratchathani, Khon Kaen, Hat Yai district in Songkhla and Nakhon Si Thammarat.
Exam results will be announced on Nov 10, also via the website, Mrs Uthumporn said.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Exam chaos after hackers attack site
Computer hackers have attacked the website of the National Institute of Edu-cational Testing Service (Niets), prompt-ing about 40% of students applying to sit in the General Aptitude Test (GAT)and the Professional Aptitude Test (PAT)at test centres to miss the exams yester-day.The third round of GAT and PAT tests ran from Thursday to today at 314 test centres nationwide, including at Sukho-thai Thammathirat Open University.
Deputy Education Minister Chaiwuti Ban-nawat admitted yester-day that the GAT and PAT had been targetted by hackers.
They have written a computer programme to manipulate the web-site of Niets, an agency responsible for organ-ising the GAT and PAT,blocking students from accessing the website for three days. Many stu-dents have not been able to check the time and place of their tests since Wednesday.
Niets closed down its website,www.niets.or.th , to fix the hacking prob-lem for three days. Its operation resumed only yesterday.
It was the first time that university admission tests have been troubled by hackers.
"We never thought this could hap-pen," said Mr Chaiwuti.
He said hackers in the past have derailed university admission tests in Russia and South Korea, but this kind of incident has never happened in Thailand before. In the case of South Korea,authorities had to cancel the test.
However, Mr Chaiwuti said Niets did not have to cancel the ongoing GAT and PAT because the hackers could not steal or damage information stored in the agency's data system, they only blocked students' access to the website.
He said the incident was a lesson for authorities that they need to be prepared for future technical problems and hacks.
Niets should have a back-up website or a back-up system in which students may telephone to ask for their test in-formation, he added.
There were 400,000 students regis-tering for the tests yesterday. At Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University alone,1,994 students sat tests but another 1,300 students, or 40%, did not show up.
Niets is checking on the amount of students missing this round of GAT and PAT at other places.
During the second round of GAT and PAT,only about 20% of stu-dents missed their tests.Officials have asked about 10 students at the university test centre about their friends who missed the tests. Most of them said friends missed the tests as they could not access the in-formation on the time and places of their tests,according to Mr Chaiwuti.
If the website attack caused students to miss their tests, Niets might have to consider organising make-up tests, the deputy minister said.
Niets director Uthumporn Jamorn-marn confirmed that the agency will arrange make-up tests for students who missed the tests.
The agency has filed a complaint with police, asking investigators to search for the hackers and take action against them, said Mrs Uthumporn.
Niets has also sought help from the Information and Communication Tech-nology Ministry as well as private detec-tives in its attempt to find the hackers.
If arrested the hackers will be obliged to pay compensation for Niets' expenses related to the organisation of make-up tests for affected students as well.
Deputy Education Minister Chaiwuti Ban-nawat admitted yester-day that the GAT and PAT had been targetted by hackers.
They have written a computer programme to manipulate the web-site of Niets, an agency responsible for organ-ising the GAT and PAT,blocking students from accessing the website for three days. Many stu-dents have not been able to check the time and place of their tests since Wednesday.
Niets closed down its website,www.niets.or.th , to fix the hacking prob-lem for three days. Its operation resumed only yesterday.
It was the first time that university admission tests have been troubled by hackers.
"We never thought this could hap-pen," said Mr Chaiwuti.
He said hackers in the past have derailed university admission tests in Russia and South Korea, but this kind of incident has never happened in Thailand before. In the case of South Korea,authorities had to cancel the test.
However, Mr Chaiwuti said Niets did not have to cancel the ongoing GAT and PAT because the hackers could not steal or damage information stored in the agency's data system, they only blocked students' access to the website.
He said the incident was a lesson for authorities that they need to be prepared for future technical problems and hacks.
Niets should have a back-up website or a back-up system in which students may telephone to ask for their test in-formation, he added.
There were 400,000 students regis-tering for the tests yesterday. At Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University alone,1,994 students sat tests but another 1,300 students, or 40%, did not show up.
Niets is checking on the amount of students missing this round of GAT and PAT at other places.
During the second round of GAT and PAT,only about 20% of stu-dents missed their tests.Officials have asked about 10 students at the university test centre about their friends who missed the tests. Most of them said friends missed the tests as they could not access the in-formation on the time and places of their tests,according to Mr Chaiwuti.
If the website attack caused students to miss their tests, Niets might have to consider organising make-up tests, the deputy minister said.
Niets director Uthumporn Jamorn-marn confirmed that the agency will arrange make-up tests for students who missed the tests.
The agency has filed a complaint with police, asking investigators to search for the hackers and take action against them, said Mrs Uthumporn.
Niets has also sought help from the Information and Communication Tech-nology Ministry as well as private detec-tives in its attempt to find the hackers.
If arrested the hackers will be obliged to pay compensation for Niets' expenses related to the organisation of make-up tests for affected students as well.
TWITTER - THINK BEFORE YOU TWEET
Times are tough for the "tweet before you think" crowd. Courtney Love was sued by a fashion designer after she posted a series of inflammatory tweets, one calling the designer a liar and a thief. A landlord in Chicago sued a tenant for US$50,000(1.67 million baht) after she tweeted about her mouldy apartment. And Demi Moore slapped back at Perez Hilton over a revealing photograph of the actress' daughter.
A growing number of people have begun lashing out at their Twitter critics, challenging the not-quite rules of etiquette on a service where insults are lobbed in brief bursts, too short to include the social niceties. Some offended parties are suing. For others, extracting a public mea culpa will do. In some cases, the payback is extreme: Mark Cuban,the owner of the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association, was fined $25,000 for criticising a referee in a tweet after a game.
Blogs, of course, have long been rife with the discontented heaping abuse on foes. But academics and researchers who study online attitudes say that same behaviour has been less common on Twitter, in part, because many people use their real names. Now it is migrating to the service, attracting lawsuits and leaving users to haggle among themselves about what will be tolerated.
Complicating matters, there are few prescribed social norms on Twitter like those in more closed communities like Facebook.The service has attained mass popularity without much time to develop an organic users' culture. On top of that, with tweets limited to 140 characters, users come right to the point without context or nuance.
"It's the same reason why schoolyard fights don't start out with,'I have a real problem with the way you said something so let's discuss it'," said Josh Bernoff, a researcher and an author of Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies ."You get right to the punch in the nose.Twitter doesn't allow room for reflection. It gets people to the barest emotion."
The same laws of libel and defamation when someone knowingly says something false that causes harm- that apply to traditional media and the internet also apply to Twitter, according to free speech experts.What is likely to shift, said Floyd Abrams, the well known "first amendment lawyer", is what language is considered acceptable and whether it is deemed harmful. In the 1950s,he explained, it was libellous to call someone a communist; today it is not.
"The basic law will be the same, but I would think that a defendant might argue that the language used on Twitter is understood to not be taken as seriously as is the case in other forms of communication," said Mr Abrams, who has represented The New York Times ."We will have to wait and see how judges and juries figure out how to deal with this."
Bryan Freedman is the lawyer in Los An-geles who is representing Dawn Simorangkir,a designer who markets clothes under the Boudoir Queen label, and who sued Love for libel in March.
The lawsuit contends that Love "became infatuated" with the designer, asking her to create costumes using vintage material the singer owned.
When Ms Simorangkir asked to be paid,Love balked at the price. Ms Simorangkir, in return, refused to return Love's vintage material, according to legal documents filed by Love's lawyers. The singer accused the designer of being a liar and thief (among other things) in a number of rambling, misspelled tweets.
"You will end up in a circle of corched eaeth hunted til your dead," read one tweet from Love in March.
Love and her lawyers, Keith Fink and Olaf Muller, declined to comment on the lawsuit.But in August Love's lawyers sought to dismiss the case, saying it would violate and inhibit her right to free speech. Mr Freedman maintains, however, that Ms Simorangkir's business has suffered because of Love. A hearing is set for this month."I find with this kind of communication you will always end up saying something that will get you in trouble," Mr Freedman said.
Mr Freedman's perspective is interesting because he also represents Perez Hilton, the gossip blogger known for taunting celebrities with embarrassing posts. In September, Hilton was involved in a public spat with Demi Moore on Twitter after he posted a link on his website to a photo of Moore's 15-yearold daughter in a low-cut blouse.
In a series of tweets, Moore accused Hilton,whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, of flouting child pornography laws. Hilton went on the attack, posting tweets that said Moore was an inept mother.
Both parties' lawyers exchanged threatening letters. Through Mr Freedman, Hilton accused Moore of defamation. On Sept 4,Moore's lawyer, Marty Singer, responded in a letter, calling Hilton "regularly crude, insulting and cruel".
No lawsuits were filed. As Stephen Huvane,Moore's publicist, put it:"No one wins in these situations."
In defence of Hilton, Mr Freedman said that as long as his tweets reflect opinion, it doesn't matter if his targets think he is cruel.But he conceded that much of the tension arises from the unthinking way that some people use Twitter."I'm not saying it is right or wrong," Mr Freedman said,"but I think we are seeing a blurring of lines between nastiness and free speech."
According to legal experts, much of what is said on Twitter is opinion - even nasty name-calling - which means it is protected speech.
"When you look at a lot of the things people are complaining about it is not actual defamation, it is a statement of opinion,"said David Ardia, director of the Citizen Media Law Project at Harvard University."In many cases, it's about two people who had a breakdown in a relationship and took that online."
Twitter has made a choice not to become involved in such disputes."We don't want to be a mediator," said Alexander Macgillivray,Twitter's general counsel.
In June, though, the company began verifying accounts after complaints from celebrities about others falsely using their identities.
A growing number of people have begun lashing out at their Twitter critics, challenging the not-quite rules of etiquette on a service where insults are lobbed in brief bursts, too short to include the social niceties. Some offended parties are suing. For others, extracting a public mea culpa will do. In some cases, the payback is extreme: Mark Cuban,the owner of the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association, was fined $25,000 for criticising a referee in a tweet after a game.
Blogs, of course, have long been rife with the discontented heaping abuse on foes. But academics and researchers who study online attitudes say that same behaviour has been less common on Twitter, in part, because many people use their real names. Now it is migrating to the service, attracting lawsuits and leaving users to haggle among themselves about what will be tolerated.
Complicating matters, there are few prescribed social norms on Twitter like those in more closed communities like Facebook.The service has attained mass popularity without much time to develop an organic users' culture. On top of that, with tweets limited to 140 characters, users come right to the point without context or nuance.
"It's the same reason why schoolyard fights don't start out with,'I have a real problem with the way you said something so let's discuss it'," said Josh Bernoff, a researcher and an author of Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies ."You get right to the punch in the nose.Twitter doesn't allow room for reflection. It gets people to the barest emotion."
The same laws of libel and defamation when someone knowingly says something false that causes harm- that apply to traditional media and the internet also apply to Twitter, according to free speech experts.What is likely to shift, said Floyd Abrams, the well known "first amendment lawyer", is what language is considered acceptable and whether it is deemed harmful. In the 1950s,he explained, it was libellous to call someone a communist; today it is not.
"The basic law will be the same, but I would think that a defendant might argue that the language used on Twitter is understood to not be taken as seriously as is the case in other forms of communication," said Mr Abrams, who has represented The New York Times ."We will have to wait and see how judges and juries figure out how to deal with this."
Bryan Freedman is the lawyer in Los An-geles who is representing Dawn Simorangkir,a designer who markets clothes under the Boudoir Queen label, and who sued Love for libel in March.
The lawsuit contends that Love "became infatuated" with the designer, asking her to create costumes using vintage material the singer owned.
When Ms Simorangkir asked to be paid,Love balked at the price. Ms Simorangkir, in return, refused to return Love's vintage material, according to legal documents filed by Love's lawyers. The singer accused the designer of being a liar and thief (among other things) in a number of rambling, misspelled tweets.
"You will end up in a circle of corched eaeth hunted til your dead," read one tweet from Love in March.
Love and her lawyers, Keith Fink and Olaf Muller, declined to comment on the lawsuit.But in August Love's lawyers sought to dismiss the case, saying it would violate and inhibit her right to free speech. Mr Freedman maintains, however, that Ms Simorangkir's business has suffered because of Love. A hearing is set for this month."I find with this kind of communication you will always end up saying something that will get you in trouble," Mr Freedman said.
Mr Freedman's perspective is interesting because he also represents Perez Hilton, the gossip blogger known for taunting celebrities with embarrassing posts. In September, Hilton was involved in a public spat with Demi Moore on Twitter after he posted a link on his website to a photo of Moore's 15-yearold daughter in a low-cut blouse.
In a series of tweets, Moore accused Hilton,whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, of flouting child pornography laws. Hilton went on the attack, posting tweets that said Moore was an inept mother.
Both parties' lawyers exchanged threatening letters. Through Mr Freedman, Hilton accused Moore of defamation. On Sept 4,Moore's lawyer, Marty Singer, responded in a letter, calling Hilton "regularly crude, insulting and cruel".
No lawsuits were filed. As Stephen Huvane,Moore's publicist, put it:"No one wins in these situations."
In defence of Hilton, Mr Freedman said that as long as his tweets reflect opinion, it doesn't matter if his targets think he is cruel.But he conceded that much of the tension arises from the unthinking way that some people use Twitter."I'm not saying it is right or wrong," Mr Freedman said,"but I think we are seeing a blurring of lines between nastiness and free speech."
According to legal experts, much of what is said on Twitter is opinion - even nasty name-calling - which means it is protected speech.
"When you look at a lot of the things people are complaining about it is not actual defamation, it is a statement of opinion,"said David Ardia, director of the Citizen Media Law Project at Harvard University."In many cases, it's about two people who had a breakdown in a relationship and took that online."
Twitter has made a choice not to become involved in such disputes."We don't want to be a mediator," said Alexander Macgillivray,Twitter's general counsel.
In June, though, the company began verifying accounts after complaints from celebrities about others falsely using their identities.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Consult the sommelier in your pocket
Shopping for wine is a lot like parenting a teenager. You feel stupid when you're in the middle of it,and when you finally emerge, you're desperately ready for a drink.
There is, alas, no app for raising teenagers. But mobile software developers have begun aiming at oenophiles, and in so doing, they have established one of the more useful categories of wireless apps.
Appropriately enough, choosing the right one can be puzzling and tedious.Some of the refined entries in the current vintage include Cor.kz, Wine Enthusiast Guide, Nat Decants Food & Wine Matcher and Pair It!. I'd give them a rating of 85,with an asterisk. They're fairly good now,and they should age nicely.
Before digging into the details, though,consider the overall value of these services for a moment. Let's say you're at your favourite wine shop with about 15 minutes to spare, and you want a bottle that will make your dinner guests coo,without maxing out your credit card.
The shop owner is helping someone near the Mouton Rothschild, and the other employees are 23-year-olds with extensive beer-stocking skills. Rather than choosing a random bottle or asking the beer guys, you can now just reach for the sommelier in your cell phone.
From there you have a couple of options. Some apps, like Wine Enthusiast,let you find the most highly rated wines at specific price levels, so you can quickly browse the store - or, if you're in a restaurant, the wine list - for suitable matches.
If you have Cor.kz or, to a lesser extent,Nat Decants, you can reverse the process,and look through the wine list or shelves until you find a promising label. Then it's a matter of doing a quick check on its rating.
The second approach has limits, simply because it takes too long to type in,say,"2003 Hochheimer Koenigin Victoriaberg Riesling Beerenauslese," to say nothing of the time it might take to click through the ratings and then move onto another bottle.
Smartphone mavens are already wondering why you can't just use the phone's camera to scan the bottle's bar code and have the app display the wine's rating? In the coming weeks, you'll be able to get fairly close to that bit of grape-soaked geekery, thanks to a new feature from Cor.kz.
But first, more about the core features of this app, which will soon be available to BlackBerry users and owners of Android devices like T-Mobile's MyTouch 3G.
Cor.kz stands on the shoulders of an Internet giant, cellartracker.com, which houses more than a million reviews by roughly 82,000 wine aficionados. Cor.kz can also help users manage their wine cellar inventory, but it is perhaps best used by those who just want to buy more intelligently.
Type in the name of the wine you are considering - Del Dotto, say - and Cor.kz retrieves everything in CellarTracker's data base about the wine.
This can be a blessing and a curse.Wines from Del Dotto, a small but muchbeloved vintner in Napa Valley, California, yield 581 tasting notes. If you type something more specific into your iPhone, like "2005 Del Dotto Cabernet,"Cor.kz returns 95 matches.
Some of these results include a numerical rating. To save yourself wasted clicks, choose those listings. The rating represents the average from CellarTracker's reviewers, and those entries will also include detailed reviews and retail prices.
There is, alas, no app for raising teenagers. But mobile software developers have begun aiming at oenophiles, and in so doing, they have established one of the more useful categories of wireless apps.
Appropriately enough, choosing the right one can be puzzling and tedious.Some of the refined entries in the current vintage include Cor.kz, Wine Enthusiast Guide, Nat Decants Food & Wine Matcher and Pair It!. I'd give them a rating of 85,with an asterisk. They're fairly good now,and they should age nicely.
Before digging into the details, though,consider the overall value of these services for a moment. Let's say you're at your favourite wine shop with about 15 minutes to spare, and you want a bottle that will make your dinner guests coo,without maxing out your credit card.
The shop owner is helping someone near the Mouton Rothschild, and the other employees are 23-year-olds with extensive beer-stocking skills. Rather than choosing a random bottle or asking the beer guys, you can now just reach for the sommelier in your cell phone.
From there you have a couple of options. Some apps, like Wine Enthusiast,let you find the most highly rated wines at specific price levels, so you can quickly browse the store - or, if you're in a restaurant, the wine list - for suitable matches.
If you have Cor.kz or, to a lesser extent,Nat Decants, you can reverse the process,and look through the wine list or shelves until you find a promising label. Then it's a matter of doing a quick check on its rating.
The second approach has limits, simply because it takes too long to type in,say,"2003 Hochheimer Koenigin Victoriaberg Riesling Beerenauslese," to say nothing of the time it might take to click through the ratings and then move onto another bottle.
Smartphone mavens are already wondering why you can't just use the phone's camera to scan the bottle's bar code and have the app display the wine's rating? In the coming weeks, you'll be able to get fairly close to that bit of grape-soaked geekery, thanks to a new feature from Cor.kz.
But first, more about the core features of this app, which will soon be available to BlackBerry users and owners of Android devices like T-Mobile's MyTouch 3G.
Cor.kz stands on the shoulders of an Internet giant, cellartracker.com, which houses more than a million reviews by roughly 82,000 wine aficionados. Cor.kz can also help users manage their wine cellar inventory, but it is perhaps best used by those who just want to buy more intelligently.
Type in the name of the wine you are considering - Del Dotto, say - and Cor.kz retrieves everything in CellarTracker's data base about the wine.
This can be a blessing and a curse.Wines from Del Dotto, a small but muchbeloved vintner in Napa Valley, California, yield 581 tasting notes. If you type something more specific into your iPhone, like "2005 Del Dotto Cabernet,"Cor.kz returns 95 matches.
Some of these results include a numerical rating. To save yourself wasted clicks, choose those listings. The rating represents the average from CellarTracker's reviewers, and those entries will also include detailed reviews and retail prices.
NEW SANOOK SERVICE MAKES ONLINE SHOPPING SAFER
Shopping.co.th, a two-year-old online market place run by Sanook.com and eBay, has added a "TRUST by Shopping.co.th" service to make buyers more confident and protect its merchants from fraud.
Veerawat Hongsitthiwong, a vice president at Sanook Online, said the service offered six applications for merchants and buyers, namely an enhanced payment system called PaySure by PaySbuy; Track & Trace from Thailand Post; Buyer & Seller Verification; Feedback Score; Buyer Protection Program, and Education Program.
He said the TRUST service was added to increase security and give its 2,000 online merchants and the 100,000 or so visitors it gets every day more confidence in purchasing via Shopping.co.th.
"The main benefit is that online transactions will become more secure because the TRUST option will verify buyers' identification number, which will protect our merchants from fraud," Veerawat said.
Consumers, too, will be protected from fraudulent merchants via the PaySure option.
"When buyers pay for products, the money will first be left within the PaySure system, which will pay the merchants only when the product has been delivered. This will make shoppers more confident," Veerawat explained.
Somwang Luangphiboonsri, general manager of PaySbuy, said PaySure now allows customers to use either their credit card or their PaySbuy eWallet, an online deposit account.
"Under this system, transaction fees will be a little higher, with Bt20 added on to 4.5 per cent of the total transaction value," Somwang said.
He said the TRUST service should also help double the total number of transactions from the current Bt15 million-Bt20 million per month to between Bt30 million and Bt40 million per month within the next 12 months.
"We have made these improvements to increase the confidence of online buyers and sellers, and hope this will encourage people to purchase expensive products online," Veerawat said.
In addition, customers will be able to track where their purchases are through the Track & Trace service provided Thailand Post.
The Feedback Score and Buyer Protection Programs were added to Shopping.co.th to ensure that customers are protected and remain happy while shopping at the site.
The Education Program, meanwhile, will teach merchants the tricks of remaining competitive.
At present, Shopping.co.th provides around 90,000 items, which are listed for 15 days at a time.
The top five best sellers are women's clothing, jewellery, Buddha statues, stamps and beauty products.
Veerawat Hongsitthiwong, a vice president at Sanook Online, said the service offered six applications for merchants and buyers, namely an enhanced payment system called PaySure by PaySbuy; Track & Trace from Thailand Post; Buyer & Seller Verification; Feedback Score; Buyer Protection Program, and Education Program.
He said the TRUST service was added to increase security and give its 2,000 online merchants and the 100,000 or so visitors it gets every day more confidence in purchasing via Shopping.co.th.
"The main benefit is that online transactions will become more secure because the TRUST option will verify buyers' identification number, which will protect our merchants from fraud," Veerawat said.
Consumers, too, will be protected from fraudulent merchants via the PaySure option.
"When buyers pay for products, the money will first be left within the PaySure system, which will pay the merchants only when the product has been delivered. This will make shoppers more confident," Veerawat explained.
Somwang Luangphiboonsri, general manager of PaySbuy, said PaySure now allows customers to use either their credit card or their PaySbuy eWallet, an online deposit account.
"Under this system, transaction fees will be a little higher, with Bt20 added on to 4.5 per cent of the total transaction value," Somwang said.
He said the TRUST service should also help double the total number of transactions from the current Bt15 million-Bt20 million per month to between Bt30 million and Bt40 million per month within the next 12 months.
"We have made these improvements to increase the confidence of online buyers and sellers, and hope this will encourage people to purchase expensive products online," Veerawat said.
In addition, customers will be able to track where their purchases are through the Track & Trace service provided Thailand Post.
The Feedback Score and Buyer Protection Programs were added to Shopping.co.th to ensure that customers are protected and remain happy while shopping at the site.
The Education Program, meanwhile, will teach merchants the tricks of remaining competitive.
At present, Shopping.co.th provides around 90,000 items, which are listed for 15 days at a time.
The top five best sellers are women's clothing, jewellery, Buddha statues, stamps and beauty products.
Japanese firm buys stake in TARAD.com
Rakuten Inc, a leading Japanese internet company, has acquired a controlling stake in Thailand's largest e-commerce portal to cash in on the growing local market.
Rakuten has completed the acquisition procedure to take a 67% in TARAD Dot Com Co Ltd. Established in 1999,TARAD.com is an online shopping service with about 160,000 participating merchants offering 1.4 million products, from fashion items to electronics.
The website claims to have a mem-bership of 2 million users.
Rakuten plans to use its experience and management style to expand TARAD.com by introducing new functions and services for both merchants and users from early 2010.
Three senior Rakuten executives will manage the Thai operation.
"We selected TARAD.com because it is a suitable partner for pursuing growth opportunities in the Thai e-commerce market," said Hiroshi Mikitani, the founder, chairman and CEO of Rakuten.
In Japan, Rakuten operates the portal www.rakuten.co.jp and has approximately 60 million registered members. The site offers more than 40 million products from some 30,000 merchants. Last year sales totalled US$2.7 billion.
It has set itself the ambitious goal of becoming the world's leading internet service company.
The Thai acquisition is its second move in the international market after last year forming a joint venture with Taiwan's President Chain Store Corp.
Rakuten has completed the acquisition procedure to take a 67% in TARAD Dot Com Co Ltd. Established in 1999,TARAD.com is an online shopping service with about 160,000 participating merchants offering 1.4 million products, from fashion items to electronics.
The website claims to have a mem-bership of 2 million users.
Rakuten plans to use its experience and management style to expand TARAD.com by introducing new functions and services for both merchants and users from early 2010.
Three senior Rakuten executives will manage the Thai operation.
"We selected TARAD.com because it is a suitable partner for pursuing growth opportunities in the Thai e-commerce market," said Hiroshi Mikitani, the founder, chairman and CEO of Rakuten.
In Japan, Rakuten operates the portal www.rakuten.co.jp and has approximately 60 million registered members. The site offers more than 40 million products from some 30,000 merchants. Last year sales totalled US$2.7 billion.
It has set itself the ambitious goal of becoming the world's leading internet service company.
The Thai acquisition is its second move in the international market after last year forming a joint venture with Taiwan's President Chain Store Corp.
Violence on video clips "making society violent"
Academics yesterday called for an official watch on violent and obscene media, warning that Thailand is entering the state of a so-called "online criminal society".
Repeated presentation of video clips could affect children and oversensitive or depressed people to use violence against others or themselves, they told a seminar on the impact of violent videos on Thai society, organised by the Thai Health Promotion Foundation.
The foundation's media-watch group manager Tham Saicheu said the community had entered a time when crime and the Internet were converging and becoming easily accessible.
Video clips were a new cultural trend allowing people to produce and publish the content themselves.
Tham warned the convergence of crime and Internet-including computer and IT advancement, social circles, a tendency to use negative words as searching tools, and crime - was leading to an "online criminal society".
Young people were equipped with the ability to share information, but lacked maturity in using media, which could lead to social problems.
He urged controls on the repeated presentation of violent content, which could change society by causing people to be too familiar with it, he warned.
Youth mental health expert, Dr Kamol Saenthongsrikamol from Bangkok Hospital, said that seeing violent images repeatedly affected small children and those who were oversensitive or suffering from depression. He said small children would respond with no regard to other's pain because they lacked maturity, while those suffering depression could act out the violence, such as killing or injuring themselves.
"The media has a job to present the facts but every time they show repeated images of violence, they stimulate people's mood for violence. The media should present such images moderately," Kamol said.
The Thai Broadcast Journalists Association vice-president, Patchara Sarapimpa, said the profession this year has drafted guide-lines for news presentation and complaints could be filed if there was a violation.
He said the association had tried to oversee a professional code wihtin an appropriate frame. If the media didn't present news at all, society would have no standards of what was right and what was wrong.
A youth representative, Nareelak Pradabsil, said the violence factor often came from families in which parents beat each other in front of the kids until the act was regarded as normal, leading to a tendency for kids to use violence to solve their life problems too.
Repeated presentation of video clips could affect children and oversensitive or depressed people to use violence against others or themselves, they told a seminar on the impact of violent videos on Thai society, organised by the Thai Health Promotion Foundation.
The foundation's media-watch group manager Tham Saicheu said the community had entered a time when crime and the Internet were converging and becoming easily accessible.
Video clips were a new cultural trend allowing people to produce and publish the content themselves.
Tham warned the convergence of crime and Internet-including computer and IT advancement, social circles, a tendency to use negative words as searching tools, and crime - was leading to an "online criminal society".
Young people were equipped with the ability to share information, but lacked maturity in using media, which could lead to social problems.
He urged controls on the repeated presentation of violent content, which could change society by causing people to be too familiar with it, he warned.
Youth mental health expert, Dr Kamol Saenthongsrikamol from Bangkok Hospital, said that seeing violent images repeatedly affected small children and those who were oversensitive or suffering from depression. He said small children would respond with no regard to other's pain because they lacked maturity, while those suffering depression could act out the violence, such as killing or injuring themselves.
"The media has a job to present the facts but every time they show repeated images of violence, they stimulate people's mood for violence. The media should present such images moderately," Kamol said.
The Thai Broadcast Journalists Association vice-president, Patchara Sarapimpa, said the profession this year has drafted guide-lines for news presentation and complaints could be filed if there was a violation.
He said the association had tried to oversee a professional code wihtin an appropriate frame. If the media didn't present news at all, society would have no standards of what was right and what was wrong.
A youth representative, Nareelak Pradabsil, said the violence factor often came from families in which parents beat each other in front of the kids until the act was regarded as normal, leading to a tendency for kids to use violence to solve their life problems too.
HK journalists slam Beijing for press gag
More than 1,300 Hong Kong journalists yesterday joined in a signature campaign accusing China of "blatant trampling on press freedom".
The campaign, featuring full-page advertisements in Hong Kong newspapers, follows the detention and beating of reporters from the former British colony sent to cover news events in China.
Three television journalists were detained and beaten up as they tried to cover ethnic unrest in the western city of Urumqi in September and were later accused of inciting unrest among protesters.
In a separate incident, another Hong Kong TV journalist was accused of possessing drugs in what she claimed was a ploy to prevent her covering the trial of an anti-corruption campaigner.
Advertisements condemning the actions have been taken out by the Hong Kong Journalists Association and the Foreign Correspondents Club in Hong Kong one day ahead of Chinese National Day celebrations.
The advertisements, carrying the names of 1,300-plus signatories, said journalists were "angered by such violent stoppage of news coverage and blatant trampling on press freedom".
They call on both the Sichuan and Xinjiang provincial governments to investigate the incidents, stop repression,pledge themselves to uphold press freedoms and punish guilty officials.
The advertisement also calls for the Chinese government to abolish rules requiring journalists to apply for press permits to cover news in China and to open up dialogue with front-line journalists.
A poll by the Chinese University of Hong Kong on Tuesday found support for the Beijing government in the city of 7 million had fallen to its lowest level in almost two years following the incident.
Meanwhile, internet users in China have found more and more online roadblocks and dissidents have reported increased surveillance as the authorities nervously prepare to celebrate 60 years of communist rule.
Social websites such as Facebook and Twitter that were blocked after deadly riots in Xinjiang in July, and sensitive sites including Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International were inaccessible in China yesterday.
Some web users have seen their free proxy services, which allowed them to access sites blocked by government censors, wiped out in the run-up to Oct 1, China's National Day.
The campaign, featuring full-page advertisements in Hong Kong newspapers, follows the detention and beating of reporters from the former British colony sent to cover news events in China.
Three television journalists were detained and beaten up as they tried to cover ethnic unrest in the western city of Urumqi in September and were later accused of inciting unrest among protesters.
In a separate incident, another Hong Kong TV journalist was accused of possessing drugs in what she claimed was a ploy to prevent her covering the trial of an anti-corruption campaigner.
Advertisements condemning the actions have been taken out by the Hong Kong Journalists Association and the Foreign Correspondents Club in Hong Kong one day ahead of Chinese National Day celebrations.
The advertisements, carrying the names of 1,300-plus signatories, said journalists were "angered by such violent stoppage of news coverage and blatant trampling on press freedom".
They call on both the Sichuan and Xinjiang provincial governments to investigate the incidents, stop repression,pledge themselves to uphold press freedoms and punish guilty officials.
The advertisement also calls for the Chinese government to abolish rules requiring journalists to apply for press permits to cover news in China and to open up dialogue with front-line journalists.
A poll by the Chinese University of Hong Kong on Tuesday found support for the Beijing government in the city of 7 million had fallen to its lowest level in almost two years following the incident.
Meanwhile, internet users in China have found more and more online roadblocks and dissidents have reported increased surveillance as the authorities nervously prepare to celebrate 60 years of communist rule.
Social websites such as Facebook and Twitter that were blocked after deadly riots in Xinjiang in July, and sensitive sites including Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International were inaccessible in China yesterday.
Some web users have seen their free proxy services, which allowed them to access sites blocked by government censors, wiped out in the run-up to Oct 1, China's National Day.
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