Consumers gladly pay more for mobile content April 10, 2008
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A study conducted late last year revealed that about 40 percent of U.S. adults with mobile phones pay extra for non-voice applications. That is good news for a mobile content provider who is feeding off the customer’s willingness to pay for their services.
Personalization, such as ring tones, logos, wallpapers, screensavers, etc., makes the most money today for mobile content services, but will quickly shift to more complex applications like interactive games, stock tickers, mapping systems and video on demand. The study also found that although charges are just 10 percent of the bill, non-voice application users tend to have higher than average bills.
“Because non-voice services are in their early, high-growth stage, they are already having an important impact on ARPU [average revenue per user] growth,” said Andrew Roscoe, partner with ForceNine Consulting, which conducted the study.
A single service can be delivered to millions of customers at a small price. The wireless carrier handles the billing in exchange for a percentage and passes the remaining revenue along to the content provider.
Related links:
Mobile users define content services
summary: Mobile content service provides are racking in revenue for non-voice applications from millions of mobile consumers at a small price. Despite a study that proved that non-voice app users have higher bills, about 40 percent of U.S. adults are willing to pay extra for them.
MLK in common with immigration April 3, 2008
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April 4th marks the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination. A single bullet to the neck took away one of the most celebrated and influential civil rights leaders.
Dr. King made it his mission to combat racial injustice and discrimination in non-violent ways. His speeches and peaceful protests continue to be taught and referenced 40 years after his death. Although great strides for black American’s rights have been made since his time, the fear of illegal immigrants has caused a similar problem of prejudice against Hispanics.
Robert Gittelson, a garment manufacturer in Los Angeles, wrote an article titled, “Anti-Latino Racism: The Equality Issue of Our Time” for Immigration Daily. In the article, he remembers Dr. King’s influence on him when he was a child, and discusses the need for reform on immigration and the racism illegal immigrants face in America.
“It is obvious to me that in addition to new laws, a new tolerance and open-mindedness will be required of our country to aid in the assimilation and equality of our immigrant population,” Gittelson states in his article. “A lot has happened in our country over the past 40 years or so, but in the case of racism, it seems that the more things change, the more they stay the same.”
Prisons return purged religious books April 1, 2008
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alanna_owusu@yahoo.com
After a 2004 Department of Justice report mentioned that religious books that incite violence could infiltrate prison chapel libraries, the federal Bureau of Prisons purged certain religious materials from the shelves of the libraries.
The action created widespread outrage with religious groups, civil libertarians and members of Congress prompting the bureau to immediately return the items that were removed.
The bureau had originally set out to take an inventory of all materials in the chapel libraries to weed out books that might incite violence, but after the list grew to the tens and thousands, it decided to compile lists of acceptable materials in a plan called the Standardized Chapel Library Project.
Republican lawmakers, liberal Christians and evangelical talk shows criticized the the bureau for creating a list of acceptable religious books.
Bob Moore, director of prison policy oversight at Aleph, an advocacy group for Jews in prison, said the lack of detail and transparency about how the lists were determined troubled him.
“Our position is there should not be a list of what should be on the shelves,” Moore said. “But what shouldn’t be.”
Script:
When the federal Bureau of Prisons removed certain religious books from prison chapel libraries, it incited a public outcry from religious groups, civil libertarians and members of congress demanding that the books be returned.
In wake of the criticism, the bureau will immediately return the books that were removed in June 2007. The bureau said it was prompted to create a list of acceptable religious books after a report from the department of Justice mentioned that certain religious books could incite violence.
Unidentified religious experts helped the bureau compile the list, which independent scholars say omitted many important religious texts.
Related Stories:
Fox News: Inmates file suit after prisons ban come religious books over terrorism fears
Herald Tribune: 2 New York prisoners sue to get their banned religious books back
A blog entry questioning banned books from prison
A forum about the issue with international perspective
Library for Fairness organization: Inmates say Torah now banned
