For Wednesday, March 12, 2014, here are some media stories of note:
Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, has called for the creation of an online Magna Carta to protect and enshrine the independence of the medium. His call for a "bill of rights" comes 25 years to the day after the launch of the web. Under his proposal each country would create its own digital bill supported by governments and institutions. He told The Guardian that the web needs to remain free of intrusive governments.
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The European Parliament has passed long-anticipated privacy measures that will make it easier for citizens to have data about them erased and much more challenging for web companies to share data. GigaOm reports that non-European firms will find it more difficult to share personal information about Europeans.
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It takes all sorts of routes to make for effective policy, so it was no grand surprise to see U.S. President Barack Obama hitch on to the wildly viral and edgy Between Two Ferns online "interview" show with actor Zack Galifianakis on the Funny or Die site. What also shouldn't be surprising is that the ObamaCare website traffic grew when the president used the mock interview to tout the importance for young people to sign on to the government health care initiative. The healthcare.gov site had three million visits within an hour of the posting of the segment, Hollywood Reporter says.
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Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, has called for the creation of an online Magna Carta to protect and enshrine the independence of the medium. His call for a "bill of rights" comes 25 years to the day after the launch of the web. Under his proposal each country would create its own digital bill supported by governments and institutions. He told The Guardian that the web needs to remain free of intrusive governments.
***
The European Parliament has passed long-anticipated privacy measures that will make it easier for citizens to have data about them erased and much more challenging for web companies to share data. GigaOm reports that non-European firms will find it more difficult to share personal information about Europeans.
***
It takes all sorts of routes to make for effective policy, so it was no grand surprise to see U.S. President Barack Obama hitch on to the wildly viral and edgy Between Two Ferns online "interview" show with actor Zack Galifianakis on the Funny or Die site. What also shouldn't be surprising is that the ObamaCare website traffic grew when the president used the mock interview to tout the importance for young people to sign on to the government health care initiative. The healthcare.gov site had three million visits within an hour of the posting of the segment, Hollywood Reporter says.
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