Making the Web a friendlier place for streaming video and other data-rich endeavors, the average global connection speed witnessed a healthy 11% gain over the past year, according to new data from content delivery network Akamai. The global average peak connection speed grew 36% in the third quarter of 2012, compared to the same period in 2011. Supporting the speedier Web, the global “high broadband” adoption rate grew by 8.8% from the second quarter of 2012 through the third quarter of the year -- reaching 11% worldwide penetration -- while the global broadband adoption rate increased 4.8% to an impressive 41%. In the third quarter of 2012, average connection speeds on surveyed mobile network providers ranged from a high of 7.8 Mbps to a low of 324 kbps. Seven providers showed average connection speeds in the “broadband” range, while an additional 68 mobile providers had average connection speeds greater than 1 Mbps. Average peak connection speeds for the quarter ranged from 39.2 Mbps down to 2.8 Mbps. Based on data collected by Ericsson, the volume of mobile data traffic doubled from the third quarter of 2011 to the third quarter of 2012, and grew 16% between the second and third quarter of 2012. Analysis of Akamai OI data collected in the Q3 indicates that for users of mobile devices on cellular networks connecting to the Akamai Intelligent Platform, the largest percentage of requests (37.6%) came from devices using the Android Webkit, while devices using Apple’s Mobile Safari were a close second at 35.7%. However, for users of mobile devices across all network types, Apple’s Mobile Safari accounted for 60.1% of requests, with the Android Webkit responsible for 23.1%. Experiencing a bona fide Web boom, Brazil saw the greatest year-over-year growth (39%) in IP addresses during the third quarter of 2012. Overall, analysis of the full set of countries that connected to Akamai’s Intelligent Platform in the third quarter showed that nearly 60% saw a quarterly increase in IP addresses, while nearly 12% saw increases of 10% or more.
The actress who says she was tricked into appearing in "Innocence of Muslims" is urging a federal appeals court to order YouTube to take down a trailer for the anti-Muslim film.Cindy Lee Garcia says in new legal papers that YouTube and the film producer, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, are infringing her copyright by continuing to display the 14-minute incendiary clip. She argues that she owns a copyright interest in her performance and says she never gave a signed release allowing the producer to display the film. Last year, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Fitzgerald in the Central District of California rejected Garcia's copyright arguments. He ruled that as an actress, Garcia doesn't currently own a copyright in the finished product. He added that even if Garcia at one time owned an interest in her performance, she implicitly assigned it to the film's author.Garcia is now asking the 9th Circuit to reverse Fitzgerald's ruling. Garcia contends that she still owns a copyright interest in her performance and that any license she might have granted was for the movie she thought she was making -- an adventure film called "Desert Warrior" -- rather than the incendiary clip that was posted to YouTube."Even if Ms. Garcia did convey an 'implied' license ... that license extended only to the performance that she actually gave, which was a benign supporting role in the 'Desert Warrior' adventure film," her legal papers state.Garcia says that she was duped into making "Innocence of Muslims" after answering a Backpage casting call for an adventure film called "Desert Warrior." She alleges that she never spoke the dialogue that's in the incendiary clip; instead, it was dubbed in after filming.Garcia says in her legal papers that she received death threats since the film was posted to YouTube, and that she had to move due to security concerns. The trailer, which went live last September, has been blamed for sparking protests in the Mideast.Some legal scholars have said that Garcia likely has an uphill battle. Santa Clara University law professor Eric Goldman previously told Online Media Daily that he was skeptical of Garcia's claim, given that copyright law applies to works of authorship that are fixed in a medium. In Garcia's case, even if she is considered the author of her performance, she didn't fix it on film.
Super Bowl XLVII, which will air on CBS, is just around the corner. Media buyers suggest that CBS is selling its in-game 30-second ad slots at an average cost of $4 million -- a 14% increase from a year ago, and a record high. That means the Super Bowl represents perhaps the biggest investment a marketer may make in a single media property all year (more millions are spent to produce their commercials, apart from air time fees). What’s an advertiser’s justification for spending so much?