RSS: The Web Made Manageable

This BBC article is 2 years old, but still it's a good place to begin to get your head around the acronyms: RSS, XML, et al. Their definition of RSS is neatly explanatory.

"What is RSS?

In a world heaving under the weight of billions of web pages, keeping up to date with the information you want can be a drag.

Wouldn't it be better to have the latest news and features delivered directly to you, rather than clicking from site to site?

RSS allows you to see when sites from all over the internet have added new content. You can get the latest headlines and articles (or even audio files, photographs or video) in one place, as soon as they are published, without having to remember to visit each site every day.

It takes the hassle out of staying up-to-date, by showing you the very latest information that you are interested in.

There is some discussion as to what RSS stands for, but most people plump for 'Really Simple Syndication'. RSS feeds are just a special kind of web page, designed to be read by computers rather than people. It might help think of them as the free, internet version of the old-fashioned ticker-tape news wire machines."

Podsafe Or Not Podsafe?

Podcasters everywhere are subject to local laws designed to protect rights owners from unauthorised exploitation and illegal copying of their work. In the UK, the vast majority of podcast music, does not comply with the "Podsafe" concept, as a scroll down the Podcast Nation blogroll will show, but as yet, nobody seems to be worrying too much about it.

Appropriate licensing for podcasting, as differentiated from streaming, downloading, or filesharing, is clearly going to be an area of legal debate as UK podcasts begin to commercialise.

With currently no blanket license devised by authorities to cover UK podcasting, and the PRS/MCPS Music Alliance at loggerheads with the BPI on the issue of royalty rates for music downloads, podcasters currently have no legal framework for using music and paying royalties in the same way as radio and television, and using copyright material means getting multiple individual permissions.

The internet does great word-of-mouth service to unsigned bands and big-name artists alike, as David Bowie (among others) attests, but as some popular independent UK podcasts now maintain syndicated audiences of many thousands per week, the possibility is with continuing pressure from record companies that successful podcasters not complying with the podsafe directive may soon face measures to contain their illegal use of copyright materials.

UK Podcasters can point out the important differences between their low-level, fair and/or artistic use, and organised criminal piracy, and they can argue that they should pay for copyright music at fair rate based on audience numbers rather than be crippled by mainstream media-sized costs. But, if the UK music and broadcast licensing authorities fail to find a way for podcasters to use copyright material, and podcasters fail to make their voices heard, people who use "unpodsafe" music could one day find themselves, like file-sharers, being sued in UK courts.

Podsafe - Wiki.
Podsafe - Technorati.
Creative Commons
Copyleft
Copywrong

What is a Podcast?

CITY AM: This UK business newspaper produces high-quality, business-centred podcasts.

The website has a clean uncluttered interface with clear explanations and definitions for the novice: what is a podcast, what podcast software to use, how podcasts work, all written in simple, grammatical informative English.

I am also pleased to say that they had the good sense to feature Inde and Emma on their front page.

UK Podcast Directory Plus

Podcast Nation blog feed is here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/PodcastNationUK.

Plus, we have a nice subscribe button now.

Podcast Nation: The Podcast Map of Great Britain

Welcome, one and all, to Podcast Nation, a small but busy part of the global explosion of citizen driven media.

Our plan for Podcast Nation is a simple one.

Podcast Nation aims to list and feature the many wonderful and diverse voices coming from these sceptred isles.

Podcasts will be listed by UK region.

Anyone can submit podcast URLs or feeds and links to websites or blogs. Podcasts must have been produced in the UK and be original work. Podcasters will be able claim their podcast, edit their listings, "tag" podcasts, and suggest categories. We will with our intelligence wisdom and care® do our level best to get you, the podcaster, more listeners and viewers, with regular front-page features, podcast reviews and practical advice.

Editorially, we are non-judgemental. Our role is to aggregate UK podcasting content, not determine it. We choose not to feature pornographic material, tobacco sponsorship in any form, or political advertising, but we will feature "non-mainstream media" podcasts, including challenging, disturbing and/or controversial content, so long as they are within UK law and clearly marked.

As more UK citizens pick up podcast tools and use them and handheld video players, wireless internet, widespread broadband, fast mobile phone downloads, and RSS content syndication make podcasting in the UK a growing commercial as well as social phenomenon, we'll be keeping track of developments in key podcast areas, addressing UK-specific podcasting issues, monitoring podcast news and the ongoing podcast debate.

So, that's the mission statement. Simple, really.

Podcast Nation Planning

Plans are well underway for the Podcast Nation site searchable directory. Meanwhile, we're using trusty Bloglines (left) to collect and organise our UK Podcast links.