Tunisians jailed for surfing Islamist sites 
 Twenty Tunisian men caught logging on to a radical Islamist web site have been arrested, according to the Tunisian Human Rights League (THRL). According to the group, most of the men, who range in age from 18 to 22, were in high school, and were arrested earlier this month in the town of Zarzis. Tunisian officials had banned the site last year. Tunisia has begun to tighten its internet monitoring, having jailed its first “internet dissident” in 2002 on charges of disseminating false information. The banned Tunisian Islamist party Nahda was allegedly one of the sites the arrested men looked at. The THRL claims that the Tunisian government used a new cyber-police special-forces group to track down the surfers. Another group, the International Association for Support of Political Prisoners, said that police had not allowed any family visits yet for the prisoners, whom they were still interrogating a week after the arrests. The Committee to Protect Journalists has named Tunisia one of the 10 worst enemies of the press in the past.

More newspaper sites get hip to registration
Two more newspaper companies are switching to a registration-only format. Cox Enterprises, owners of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, among others, and Morris Communications, owners of the Juneau Empire, Savannah Morning News and more, will require registration this year. They follow the lead of the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Washington Post, which all switched last year.  The New York Times and Wall Street Journal, the latter the only one requiring a paid subscription, have used the model for years. The registration mostly asks for basics, such as zip code, that do not infringe on privacy, as many feared when the idea was first broached. It took a while for the concept to catch on, but with the internet advertising turndown, sites had to find something to offer to potential advertisers. A recent study by Editor & Publisher found that site traffic does not drop when registration is added. Although initially the numbers may dip, they quickly recover and sometimes outdo the old model. Nonetheless, several news sites say they will not move to registration mode, including USA Today, MSNBC and CNN.

Fortune 1000-ers treated to copyright booklet
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) are getting proactive in their battle on copyright infringement. The two have combined to produce “A Corporate Policy Guide to Copyright Use and Security on the Internet,” which will be distributed this week to Fortune 1000 companies. Lest you think the groups have become noble, the guides mainly advise companies on how to ensure that film and music piracy is not being perpetrated via company sites or on corporate time. The groups warn that illegal activities may take place without the Fortune 1000 companies’ knowledge. The guide suggests advising employees about what constitutes copyright infringement and warning them of the risks of the illegal practice. One such caveat would be the case against Arizona’s Integrated Information Systems, which ended in a $1 million settlement after employees were found downloading thousands of music files using the company server.

Slumping Sega merges with slot machine maker
Video games themselves aren’t the only ones getting more pricey. The technology required to make them is also increasingly expensive. That’s led Japanese video game pioneer Sega to explore other money-making options. The slumping company has decided to team with slot machine maker Sammy to become more active in amusement gaming. The two hope that the merger will help new technology get on track a bit quicker, and alleviate the development costs that have hampered both. About 40 percent of Sega’s fiscal year 2001 sales came from the consumer game market. That year the company posted its fifth-straight annual group net loss, $148 million. Sega has fared better so far in 2002, but not as well as it had hoped. An earlier profit and revenue forecast was re-estimated. The company blames slumping U.S. game sales and delays of new Japanese releases. Sammy, on the other hand, had a group net profit of $199 million last year. Sammy gets its money mainly from Japanese vertical pinball-type pachinko slot machines. The company had expressed interest in expanding to video games before the merger.

February 19, 2003© 2003 Media Life


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