AllThingsD » violence

Firms Seek Supply Route Around Conflict in Congo

Devon Maylie — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 11:45:40 +0000

While the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake is causing many companies to worry about the electronics supply chain, a different pall is hovering over a rare, blue-gray metal that is mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The substance is tantalum, an ingredient in components that are a mainstay of devices like smartphones, digital tablets and personal computers. And recently big technology companies like Intel Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co., which either use tantalum directly or buy semiconductors made with it, have started a push to find sources without links to war-torn regions of Africa.

A new U.S. law requires publicly traded companies to ensure key minerals in their products aren’t coming from the Congo’s rebel-controlled mines. A civil war in the Congo, the world’s third-largest producer of tantalum, ended in 2003, but violence in the eastern part of the country continues.

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Justices Split on Violent Games

Jess Bravin — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 07:00:05 +0000

The Supreme Court seemed split Tuesday over First Amendment protection for videogames, scrambling the justices’ typical ideological lineup in a conflict between a new medium’s free expression rights and government efforts to shield youth from bad influences.

A 2005 California law bans those under 18 from buying or renting violent videogames that appeal to “a deviant or morbid interest in minors.” Lower courts struck down the law, under precedent authorizing government to restrict youth from only one type of material, obscene sexual content.

In seeking the law’s reinstatement, Zackery Morazzini, a deputy state attorney general, told the court: “California is no less concerned with a minor’s access to the deviant level of violence that is presented in a certain category of video games” than it is with sexually explicit material.

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Supreme Court to Hear Videogames Case

Brent Kendall — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 12:00:58 +0000

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide the constitutionality of a California law that seeks to ban the sale of violent videogames to minors.

Two lower courts struck down the law as an unconstitutional restriction on freedom of speech.

How the high court rules could affect videogame makers such as Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI), producer of “Call of Duty,” and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.’s (TTWO) Rockstar Games, which makes “Grand Theft Auto.” The case could also have implications for the broader entertainment industry, specifically for producers of violent movies and television shows.

Last week, the court took a broad view of the First Amendment when it struck down a federal law banning depictions of animal cruelty. The court said the law was too sweeping in restricting speech.

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Web Access Is New Clinton Doctrine

Siobhan Gorman — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 07:23:16 +0000

The U.S. plans to make unrestricted access to the Internet a top foreign-policy priority, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton plans to announce Thursday.

The announcement, which has been scheduled for weeks, comes in the wake of accusations last week that Chinese hackers penetrated Google Inc.’s (GOOG) computer networks. The attack, which also targeted Chinese dissidents, is the kind of issue Mrs. Clinton aims to address, said Alec Ross, a senior adviser.

The growing role of the Internet in foreign policy became clear last year during protests in Iran after allegations of election fraud. The government tried to crack down on protesters’ Internet communications, but they circumvented digital blockades to send out video and Twitter messages about violence against demonstrators.

In one new initiative, the State Department plans to offer financial support to grass-roots movements that promote Internet freedom, Mr. Ross said.

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Girls in Tech "Journalism 2.0" Panel: Speak Loudly and Carry a Big Stick

Kara Swisher — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:07:59 +0000

Last night, BoomTown moderated a really interesting panel for an organization called Girls in Tech, titled “Journalism 2.0 RoundTable.”

Girls in Tech describes itself as a “social network enterprise focused on the engagement, education and empowerment of like-minded, professional, intelligent & influential women.”

With those lofty requirements–combined with the fact that I was a girl when we had yet to land on the moon–I have no idea what I was doing there.

In any case, it was held in the San Francisco offices of MySpace and covered such topics such as: How blogging and citizen journalism have changed the landscape, what works in the highly connected digital media space, and, of course, the ups and down of being a woman in the male-choked tech industry in Silicon Valley.

The panelists included former San Francisco Chronicle tech editor Deborah Gage, ZDNet’s Jennifer Leggio, Ubergizmo Editor Eliane Fiolet, VentureBeat’s Camille Ricketts and TechieDiva’s Gina Hughes.

It was a lively discussion, with highlights such as Fiolet telling a hilarious story about an encounter of the irksome kind at a gaming conference and jokingly recommending violence as a solution, and Hughes talking about the sometimes trollish commenters of Yahoo (YHOO) when she blogged there.

Overall takeaway: Be loud, be proud and ignore all the noise. That, or make some more–and, preferably, via Twitter.

I also did a short interview at the event with social media blogger and PR guy Brian Solis about his latest book, “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations.”

Natch, here is a lovely video I did–interviewing Solis, Hughes and Ricketts–which also includes yet another cruel “no comment” from Facebook’s talk-to-the-hand PR terror Brandee Barker:

[ See post to watch video ]

The Entire D6 Interview With Activision's Bobby Kotick (2 of 3)

Kara Swisher — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 07:01:52 +0000

We’re posting all the interviews from the sixth D: All Things Digital conference that took place in late May.

Unfortunately, due to issues too complicated to go into, we have to post all the D6 interviews in several 15-minute parts (I know, I know).

But–as many readers have requested–they will all be available in their entirety in this column.

Here’s an interview I did with Activision Chairman and CEO Bobby Kotick about the state of the gaming business.

The video of the interview is in three parts.

It’s a good week to focus on the gaming industry since Electronic Arts (ERTS) abandoned its hostile acquisition bid for Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) over the weekend.

EA’s effort was motivated, in part, by Activision’s recent merger with Vivendi Games, which includes Blizzard Entertainment’s “World of Warcraft,” one the most popular multi-player games.

The merger has made Activision (AVTI), with its own well-known franchises–especially the hugely popular “Guitar Hero,” which debuted version IV at D6–one of the gaming industry’s largest companies.

In this second video, Kotick talks about virtual goods and in-game advertising, the international market, set-top boxes, violence and “Grand Theft Auto,” the competitiveness of the gaming business, the situation at Yahoo (he was, until recently, a board member), and takes a question from the audience about social gaming.

[ See post to watch video ]

Hi "Lonelyterroris15″ JLieberman Has Subscribed to Your Videos!

John Paczkowski — Mon, 19 May 2008 22:46:44 +0000

Add Sen. Joe Lieberman (I., Conn.) to the list of folks who complain YouTube is neither thorough nor expedient in removing objectionable content from its servers, whether it be in violation of copyright or “good taste.”

Last week, the U.S. senator sent a letter to Google CEO Eric Schmidt decrying YouTube as a clearinghouse for terrorist propaganda videos and calling upon Google to remove them. “… Islamist terrorist organizations use YouTube to disseminate their propaganda, enlist followers and provide weapons training–activities that are all essential to terrorist activity,” Lieberman, Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, wrote. “According to testimony received by our committee, the online content produced by al-Qaeda and other Islamist terrorist organizations can play a significant role in the process of radicalization, the end point of which is the planning and execution of a terrorist attack. YouTube also, unwittingly, permits Islamist terrorist groups to maintain an active, pervasive and amplified voice, despite military setbacks or successful operations by the law enforcement and intelligence communities.”

Lieberman would like Google (GOOG) to smoke these YouTube terrorists out of their holes. To that end, he provided Schmidt with a list of offensive videos. Some featured gratuitous violence or hate speech and were removed. But many more featured legal non-violent, non-hate speech. These YouTube refused to remove because they don’t violate its Community Guidelines.

“While we respect and understand [Lieberman's] views, YouTube encourages free speech and defends everyone’s right to express unpopular points of view,” YouTube said in a post to its company blog. “We believe that YouTube is a richer and more relevant platform for users precisely because it hosts a diverse range of views, and rather than stifle debate we allow our users to view all acceptable content and make up their own minds. Of course, users are always free to express their disagreement with a particular video on the site, by leaving comments or their own response video. That debate is healthy.”

Hi "Lonelyterroris15″ JLieberman Has Subscribed to Your Videos!

John Paczkowski — Mon, 19 May 2008 22:46:44 +0000