Globalisation now comprehends the movement not just of physical goods,
but also services, finance, people, information and ideas. As a result the
world is becoming ever more interlinked putting pressure on global, national
and local governance systems designed in a previous era by those with power and
influence at the time and, as trade agreements are negotiated, even now.
Technology continues to play an important role in communication, entertainment
and improving productivity. Convergence is leading to the merging of computers,
cell-phones, hi-fi, TV and other electronic devices, as well as the blending of
cable, wireless and satellite communication. The rise of outsourcing services
in countries such as India and the Philippines is underpinned by improvements
in the global telecommunications infrastructure.
The Internet plays a key role in all of this. Industry players are extremely active in producing new products and services, forming joint ventures or acquiring companies. Competition is fierce, particularly to gain access to the huge advertising revenues forecast. Litigation, protection of intellectual property and crime are all major challenges.
In the sections below, we list some of the key statistics and
developments for the two years prior to December 2007. To see how this fits
into our global outlook, we refer you to our
World overview. For more
recent information, we suggest you refer to the
MBendi Blog: Signposts to 2020 and the
twice monthly
MBendi
Newsletters.
The Internet industry is particularly litigious, with most actions
concerning matters of intellectual property.
In 2006 Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior sued eBay for selling fakes. In
September 2006, Universal Music threatened to sue YouTube for copyright
infringement. In September 2006, Apple sued over misuse of the term "podcast".
In November 2006, Universal Music sued MySpace for copyright infringement. In
November 2006, Hollywood puts pressure on Apple to limit film downloads from
iTunes to a small number of iPods. In January 2007, the music industry
announced plans to sue Internet service providers. In February 2007, Viacom
demanded that YouTube removes video clips from its website; Viacom web traffic
increased significantly after YouTube removed Viacom video clips. In March
2007, Viacom launched a lawsuit against YouTube / Google for theft of
copyright. In September 2007, PPR threatened to sue Ebay over fake goods on
sale. In October 2007, Media groups including NBC Universal, Disney, News Corp,
CBS, Viacom and Microsoft, but excluding Google, agreed a set of principles to
govern the way copyright law and anti-piracy measures could be applied to music
and video on the internet.
In October 2006, IBM sued Amazon for patent infringements. In February
2007, the courts rule Microsoft must pay Alcatel-Lucent for using digital music
technology without permission. In May 2007, Amazon settled a patent dispute
with IBM. In October 2007, Vonage, the Internet VOIP company, settled a patent
lawsuit with Sprint. Vonage has a similar case pending involving Verizon. In
March 2007, Microsoft launched lawsuits against cybersquatters.
There was also action in European courts. In September 2006, Google
announced that it was to appeal Belgian court ruling against Google News,
ruling Belgian copyright rules laws had been broken. In January 2007, the
Norwegian consumer ombudsman ruled Apple iTunes illegal. In February 2007,
Google announced it is to appeal the copyright ruling relating to use of
Belgian newspaper articles. In April 2007, the EC announced an anti-trust probe
against Apple and major record companies for having different prices for
different countries. In April 2007, Agence France Press and Google settled a
copyright lawsuit regarding newspaper content.
Asia was also the scene of several legal disputes. In January 2007, EMI
pulled out of an industry piracy lawsuit against Baidu.com. In February 2007,
the South Korean market regulator started investigating Gmarket for abuse of
its dominant market position. In March 2007, Warner music, Sony BMG and 9 other
music firms sued Yahoo China for copyright violations. In April 2007, Google
apologised to Sohu.com for using copywrited material in its kanji entry
program.
The authorities were also active. In September 2006, the US Congress
made Internet gambling illegal. In January 2007, the US arrested two
shareholders in an international online gambling company. In February 2007, the
US IRS announced plans to tax revenue earned trading on Ebay. In March 2007,
the SEC shut down trading in 35 OTC stocks subject of E-mail spam touting. In
May 2007, the Federal Trade Commission launched an anti-trust investigation
into Google's planned acquisition of Doubleclick. In June 2007, Luxembourg
vetoed attempts at Internet VAT reform in the EU. In July 2007, European
consumer group Beuc protested Google's acquisition of Doubleclick. In August
2007, UK Government and some companies ban adverts on Facebook after adverts
appeared on pages for the National Front. In November 2007, the EC announced it
is to open an investigation into Google's acquisition of DoubleClick. In
November 2007, France proposed legislation to cut off Internet connections of
persistent Internet pirates. In December 2007, US anti-trust regulators
approved the Google acquisition of DoubleClick.
In January 2007, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Vodafone signed a human
rights agreement. In March 2007, Turkey shut down YouTube access, citing an
insult to Kemal Ataturk. In April 2007, Thailand banned YouTube for posting a
video of the Thai king. In September 2007, Thailand lifted the ban on YouTube
after Google removed offensive video.
In March 2007, Google agreed to limit the amount of time it will keep
information about searches made on its search engine. In June 2007, Google came
in for criticism of its privacy policy. In July 2007, Microsoft and Yahoo
announced they were to amend their privacy policies to reduce the time personal
search information is held.
In January 2007, Paris-based Advestigo announced it had developed
software to detect copyrighted products passing through websites.
