The Newspaper Shop -- Wednesday edition

[walktalker]

Wal-Mart cancels 'smart shelf' trial
Wal-Mart Stores has unexpectedly canceled testing for an experimental wireless inventory control system, ending one of the first and most closely watched efforts to bring controversial radio frequency identification technology to store shelves in the United States. A Wal-Mart representative this week told CNET News.com that the retail giant will not conduct a planned trial of a so-called smart-shelf system with partner Gillette that was scheduled to begin last month at an outlet in Brockton, Mass., a Boston suburb. "The shelf was never completely installed," Wal-Mart spokesman Tom Williams said. "We didn't want it. Any materials that were there (in Brockton) were removed. We never had products with chips in them."
http://news.com.com/2100-1019_3-1023...g=fd_lede1_hed

Google cache raises copyright concerns
Like other online publishers, The New York Times charges readers to access articles on its Web site. But why pay when you can use Google instead? Through a caching feature on the popular Google search site, people can sometimes call up snapshots of archived stories at NYTimes.com and other registration-only sites. The practice has proved a boon for readers hoping to track down Web pages that are no longer accessible at the original source, for whatever reason. But the feature has recently been putting Google at odds with some unhappy publishers. "We are working with Google to fix that problem -- we're going to close it so when you click on a link it will take you to a registration page," said Christine Mohan, a spokeswoman at New York Times Digital, the publisher of NYTimes.com. "We have established these archived links and want to maintain consistency across all these access points."
http://news.com.com/2100-1038_3-1024...g=fd_lede2_hed

Webcasters threaten to sue RIAA
A group representing small Webcasters is threatening to sue the Recording Industry Association of America on antitrust grounds, fearful that hundreds or thousands of stations will be pushed offline. The Webcaster Alliance, a group representing about 300 Net radio stations, says royalty agreements negotiated last year at the behest of Congress and the Library of Congress threaten to put a number of small stations out of business. The group's members have not paid royalties to copyright owners under any of several possible payment schemes, one of which was passed last year by Congress in an attempt to protect the economic viability of small Net radio stations. The group contends that the big record labels and medium-sized Webcasters tailored even that agreement to shut out small operators.
http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-1020614.html?tag=fd_top