US consumer spending rose 0.4 percent in November

In this Friday, Nov. 23, 2012 photo, a cashier hands a customer his change and receipt during a transaction at a Sears store, in Henderson, Nev. Consumers spent and earned more in November, reflecting a rebound from the disruptions caused by Superstorm Sandy. The Commerce Department says, Friday, Dec. 21, 2012, consumer spending rose 0.4 percent compared with October. Personal income jumped 0.6 percent, the biggest gain in 11 months. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

In this Friday, Nov. 23, 2012 photo, a cashier hands a customer his change and receipt during a transaction at a Sears store, in Henderson, Nev. Consumers spent and earned more in November, reflecting a rebound from the disruptions caused by Superstorm Sandy. The Commerce Department says, Friday, Dec. 21, 2012, consumer spending rose 0.4 percent compared with October. Personal income jumped 0.6 percent, the biggest gain in 11 months. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

(AP) ? Consumers spent and earned more in November, reflecting a rebound from the disruptions caused by Superstorm Sandy.

The Commerce Department said Friday that consumer spending rose 0.4 percent compared with October. Personal income jumped 0.6 percent, the biggest gain in 11 months.

Economists noted that the spending and income growth in November was a healthy sign for the economy, especially in the midst of anxiety and uncertainty from the stalemate in Washington over the fiscal cliff.

Wages and salaries rose $41 billion in November. Sandy had reduced wages at an annual rate of $18 billion in October. Spending had fallen 0.1 percent in October compared with September.

With income rising faster than spending, the saving rate rose to 3.6 percent of income in November. That was up from 3.4 percent in October.

Concerns have been rising that income growth has been too weak to support sustained increases in spending, especially when Americans are worried about possible tax increases in the new year from the "fiscal cliff." That's the name for automatic tax increases and spending cuts due to take effect in January unless Congress and the Obama administration reach a budget deal before the new year.

Consumer spending is closely watched because it accounts for about 70 percent of economic activity.

A separate government report Friday showed that orders to U.S. factories for nondurable goods rose a solid 0.7 percent in November. And a key category that tracks business investment spending gained sharply for a second straight month.

"Despite concerns about the fiscal cliff, businesses appear to have boosted spending at year-end," said Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.

He said his forecast that the economy would grow at an annual rate of 1.5 percent in the October-December quarter might need to be revised higher.

Paul Ashworth, senior economist at Capital Economics, said that based on Friday's reports, he's revising up his estimate of growth for this quarter to an annual rate between 1.5 percent and 2 percent.

On Thursday, the government said the economy grew at an annual rate of 3.1 percent in the July-September quarter, more than twice the 1.3 percent growth rate from April through June. Part of the improvement came from a 1.6 percent increase in consumer spending, slightly better than in the spring.

But analysts think economic growth has slowed in the October-December quarter to an annual rate below 2 percent. Uncertainty about whether or how the fiscal cliff will be resolved has led some businesses to delay or reduce hiring and investment in major equipment.

Many economists expect no improvement in the January-March quarter. The latest forecast from a panel of 48 economists with the National Association for Business Economics is that the economy will expand at an annual rate of 1.8 percent in the first quarter of 2013. Growth at that pace is considered too weak to significantly lower the unemployment rate, now at 7.7 percent.

But economists say growth could strengthen in 2013 if Congress and the administration resolve their budget debate in a way that doesn't too drastically raise taxes or cut government spending.

The Federal Reserve ended a policy meeting last week by deciding to extend its current level of $85 billion in monthly bond purchases indefinitely to try to keep long-term interest rates low.

The Fed also for the first time tied any increase in a key short-term interest rate to a substantially improved job market. It said it planned to keep banks' overnight lending rates at a record low near zero until unemployment has fallen below 6.5 percent ? as long as the outlook for inflation remains tame.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-12-21-US-Consumer-Spending/id-44f2f1e952284819a23d238325bbf282

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Bells toll for Newtown massacre victims

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) ? The chiming of bells reverberated throughout Newtown on Friday, commemorating one week since the crackle of gunfire in a schoolhouse killed 20 children and six adults in a massacre that has shaken the community ? and the nation ? to its core.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy gathered with other officials in rain and wind on the steps of the Edmond Town Hall as the bell rang 26 times in memory of each life lost at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The gunman also killed his mother before the massacre, and himself afterward.

Officials didn't make any formal remark, and similar commemorations took place throughout the country.

Though the massacre does not rank as the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history ? that happened at Virginia Tech ? the tender age of the victims and the absence of any apparent motive has struck at Americans' hearts and minds. The gunman used a military-style assault rifle loaded with ammunition intended to inflict maximum damage, officials have said.

The White House said President Barack Obama privately observed the moment of silence.

Just a week after the attack on the first grade students and members of the school's staff, gun control has taken a front burner in Congress, where previous mass shootings produced only minimal legislative reaction. Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday that the Obama administration would push to tighten gun laws.

The National Rifle Association, at its first public event since the shootings, called Friday for armed police officers to be posted in American school to stop the next killer "waiting in the wings."

Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the nation's largest gun-rights lobby with 4.3 million members, said at the Washington news conference that, "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."

He blamed video games, movies and music videos for exposing children to a violent culture.

Though security was tight, the briefing was interrupted twice by people holding up signs that blamed the NRA for killing children. The protesters were taken from the room.

Newtown schools superintendent Janet Robinson told The Associated Press on Friday that consolidating the first grade classes at Sandy Hook Elementary School is part of the process of preparing for the students' return Jan. 3 to a refurbished middle school in Monroe. She said most of the classes will remain intact, except the first grade where 20 students were killed. She said one of the three classes has a single remaining student.

Traffic stopped in the streets outside the town hall in Newtown early Friday as bells rang out to honor the dead.

Malloy, taking deep breaths with his hands folded in front of him, was joined by the Newtown superintendent of schools, lawmakers and other officials as bells rang out at the nearby Trinity Episcopal Church.

Firefighters bowed their heads around a memorial filled with teddy bears, other stuffed animals and a New York Giants pillow. Some hugged and onlookers shook their hands afterward.

"When I heard the 26 bells ring it just melted my soul," said Kerrie Glassman, of Sandy Hook, who said she knew seven of the victims. "It's just overwhelming. You just can't believe this happened in our town."

Among those who gathered in Newtown was a group of 13 survivors of the 2005 school shooting on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota. The group drove nearly 1,500 miles to support and comfort the families and survivors. They brought gifts intended to bring a message of resilience and hope, including a plaque that survivors of the 1999 Columbine shooting gave to them after their experience.

"This is just something we had to do," said Ashley Lejeunesse, 23, who was also in the Red Lake classroom.

The chiming of bells reverberated throughout the nation, and there were observances around the world.

In Washington, religious leaders from a broad range of faiths gathered at Washington National Cathedral to call for their congregations to lobby Congress to enact gun control and mental health reforms to address pervasive gun violence. In a garden beside the National Cathedral, they paused to listen as a funeral bell tolled.

In New York City, bells at the historic Trinity Church near the World Trade Center tolled 28 times. In Massachusetts, bells in churches around the state, including Boston's historic Old North Church, rang in honor of those killed in the attack. A moment of silence was observed throughout Colorado, and bells rang out in Denver.

In the west African nation of Liberia, 20 children from a school sponsored by the Newtown Rotary Club gathered at the U.S. Embassy to give their condolences. Each child from the Caroline Miller School in Monrovia placed a flower on a poster bearing the name of a victim of the shooting.

When the bells tolled to honor the victims of last week's shooting rampage, they did so 26 times, for each child and staff member killed.

There is rarely a mention by residents of the first person police said Adam Lanza killed that morning: his mother, Nancy, who was shot in the head four times while she lay in bed.

A private funeral was held Thursday in New Hampshire for Nancy Lanza, according to the police chief in Kingston, N.H., where her funeral was held. About 25 family members attended.

The Newtown area weathered more funerals Friday, with five planned.

A standing room-only crowd filled the St. Stephen Roman Catholic Church in Trumbull for the funeral of Mary Sherlach. The school psychologist who rushed toward the gunman during the shooting was remembered as a caring professional, a fan of the Miami Dolphins and a woman who ultimately put the lives of others ahead of her own.

Investigators have said that Nancy Lanza, a gun enthusiast, visited shooting ranges several times and that her son also visited an area range.

Authorities say Adam Lanza shot his mother at their home and then took her car and some of her guns to the school, where he broke in and opened fire. A Connecticut official said Nancy Lanza was shot four times in the head with a .22-caliber rifle.

Adam Lanza was wearing all black, with an olive-drab utility vest, during the school attack. Investigators have found no letters or diaries that could explain the rampage.

Friends and acquaintances have described him as intelligent, but odd and quiet.

Friends said he would stare down at the floor and not speak when she brought him into a local pizzeria. They knew that he'd switched schools more than once and that she'd tried home schooling him. But while she occasionally expressed concern about his future during evenings at the bar, she never complained.

___

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Michael Melia, John Christoffersen, Eileen Connelly, Susan Haigh and David Klepper in Newtown.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bells-toll-victims-one-week-shooting-143254939.html

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e-Commerce Overtakes the High Street | OnTop Media Blog

2012 was the year that the inevitable happened. No, not the apocalypse: internet retail finally overtook the high street. In a shift that has long been predicted, increasing numbers of people have left behind traditional bricks & mortar shops in favour of shopping online, with a recent survey revealing it is more popular here in the UK than in any other major country in the world.

So what is it that we love about internet shopping? Convenience and price are the main factors when deciding between trawling the high street and shopping from the comfort of the sofa ? and when everything you need is all in one place, available to buy with just a few clicks of a button and delivered straight to your door, it?s no wonder that online shopping has won over the masses. But while the internet provides an informative and convenient platform for buying, retailers still face the challenge brought about by customers inability to appreciate the tactile qualities of the items they are considering purchasing.

There is a way of overcoming this issue, though. Multi-channel operations are the key to keeping customers happy, and cater exactly for the type of shopper who prefers to physically see a product before buying online. 55% of respondents to Ofcom?s survey reported that they still visit shops to review potential purchases in person, then browse online for the best price. This provides customers with the opportunity to ensure the quality of the product before finding the optimum offer online, and retailers don?t lose out in the process ? after all, a sale is a sale, regardless of whether it is carried out in a shop or on the internet.

The popularity of online shopping has been significantly helped along by mobile technology. Mobile web means that it is even easier to access the internet, and users can browse the web wherever they are, making it perfect for the busy lives of today?s on-the-go consumers. Almost half (44%) of people have made purchases from a smartphone, tablet or other mobile device in the last six months, and this figure is set to continue to rise well into 2013 as features like responsive design and mobile-specific content come to the fore of web development.

Unsurprisingly, the festive period saw a massive surge in e-commerce with the majority of Christmas shopping carried out online. 54% of people revealed that they?d completed all of their present-buying on the internet, with 40% opting to brave the chaos of the high street in search of gifts. The new heights reached by online retail in 2012 look to be a continuing trend as more and more consumers realise the benefits of internet shopping. Convenience aside, online retail provides consumers with discounts that?aren?t?available in the shops, the ability to browse multiple retailers and the chance to find the best value for money.

Many online shoppers, however, stated that price is irrelevant in relation to the service. Over half of UK consumers remain loyal to their favourite websites despite lower costs elsewhere, with 57% of internet shoppers preferring to shop from a handful of websites rather than scouring the web for the best price. Why is this? Customer experience is the most vital element in retail: if a customer has a positive experience with excellent service, they are more likely to return to that retailer for future purchases. A negative experience, on the other hand, drives customers away from that business ? even if it is offering the best prices. Customer experience is still more important than price, so it is fundamental to the success of any online retailer that the service they provide is top quality. Good customer service instils trust in consumers, which in turn encourages loyalty to that business.

Source: http://www.ontop.co.uk/blog/ecommerce/e-commerce-overtakes-the-high-street/

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You Can Now Buy Ads On Facebook Using - Business Insider

Getty Images / Justin Sullivan

Google CEO Larry Page and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg are going head to head.

?

Facebook just allowed search retargeting firm Chango into its ad exchange, which means that advertisers can now use Chango's trove of search data -- including info it's collected from Google users -- to target Facebook users with ads.

It's a significant move for Facebook. Previously, advertisers could target Facebook users with their own data collected from "cookies," the little pieces of software that web sites drop onto your browser as you surf the web. That data tells advertisers what you're interested in -- cars, volleyball, whatever -- but it often doesn't indicate what you're shopping for.

Search data, however, does. Anyone searching for "Prada shoes" is likely interested in buying some. This is called shopping "intent" data.

Until now, Facebook has had very little ability to serve ads based on intent. Mostly, its ads are based on demographic data from your profile. Who you are, not what you're buying, so to speak.

Chango has 300 million "search profiles" it's collected from the various publishers it has worked with. And yes, a lot of that data comes from Google searches. (As a technical matter, it's not actually data that Google has given to Chango, rather it's data from Google searches that Chango has collected itself by dropping cookies on users' browsers.)

Given that the Facebook Exchange (FBX) already boasts higher than average returns for advertisers using it, adding search data to the mix seems like a significant challenge to Google's dominance of the area. As AdExchanger's Zach Rodgers puts it:

The move is notable in that it represents an incursion by Facebook on the ?intent currency? of Google (Bing and Yahoo too), after a period of failed efforts by the search giant to capture Facebook?s social graph data to enhance its own core search functionality and advertising.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/chango-deal-with-facebook-uses-google-data-2012-12

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LeAnn Rimes: I Wasn't Drunk on 'The X Factor'

When LeAnn Rimes showed up on Wednesday's X Factor, she was supposed to be supporting finalist Carly Rose Sonenclar. Unfortunately, Rimes ended up casting some unflattering attention on herself instead. During their "diva duet" of Rimes' hit "How Do I Live," the country star seemed a little bit... off. The judges didn't seem to mind, but viewers immediately began to speculate on whether Rimes had been drinking. Watch the performance below!

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/leann-rimes-denies-being-drunk-x-factor/1-a-510253?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Aleann-rimes-denies-being-drunk-x-factor-510253

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Scientists create nanoscale window to biological world

Dec. 20, 2012 ? If the key to winning battles is knowing both your enemy and yourself, then scientists are now well on their way toward becoming the Sun Tzus of medicine by taking a giant step toward a priceless advantage -- the ability to see the soldiers in action on the battlefield.

Investigators at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute have invented a way to directly image biological structures at their most fundamental level and in their natural habitats. The technique is a major advancement toward the ultimate goal of imaging biological processes in action at the atomic level.

"It's sort of like the difference between seeing Han Solo frozen in carbonite and watching him walk around blasting stormtroopers," said Deborah Kelly, an assistant professor at the VTC Research Institute and a lead author on the paper describing the first successful test of the new technique. "Seeing viruses, for example, in action in their natural environment is invaluable."

The technique involves taking two silicon-nitride microchips with windows etched in their centers and pressing them together until only a 150-nanometer space between them remains. The researchers then fill this pocket with a liquid resembling the natural environment of the biological structure to be imaged, creating a microfluidic chamber.

Then, because free-floating structures yield images with poor resolution, the researchers coat the microchip's interior surface with a layer of natural biological tethers, such as antibodies, which naturally grab onto a virus and hold it in place.

In a recent study in Lab on a Chip, Kelly joined Sarah McDonald, also an assistant professor at the VTC Research Institute, to prove that the technique works. McDonald provided a pure sample of rotavirus double-layered particles for the study.

"What's missing in the field of structural biology right now is dynamics -- how things move in time," said McDonald. "Debbie is developing technologies to bridge that gap, because that's clearly the next big breakthrough that structural biology needs."

Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrhea among infants and children. By the age of 5, nearly every child in the world has been infected at least once. And although the disease tends to be easily managed in the developed world, in developing countries rotavirus kills more than 450,000 children a year.

At the second step in the pathogen's life cycle, rotavirus sheds its outer layer, which allows it to enter a cell, and becomes what is called a double-layered particle. Once its second layer is exposed, the virus is ready to begin using the cell's own infrastructure to produce more viruses. It was the viral structure at this stage that the researchers imaged in the new study.

Kelly and McDonald coated the interior window of the microchip with antibodies to the virus. The antibodies, in turn, latched onto the rotaviruses that were injected into the microfluidic chamber and held them in place. The researchers then used a transmission electron microscope to image the prepared slide.

The technique worked perfectly.

The experiment gave results that resembled those achieved using traditional freezing methods to prepare rotavirus for electron microscopy, proving that the new technique can deliver accurate results.

"It's the first time scientists have imaged anything on this scale in liquid," said Kelly.

The next step is to continue to develop the technique with an eye toward imaging biological structures dynamically in action. Specifically, McDonald is looking to understand how rotavirus assembles, so as to better know and develop tools to combat this particular enemy of children's health.

The researchers said their ongoing collaboration is an example of the cross-disciplinary work that is becoming a hallmark of the VTC Research Institute.

"It's an ideal collaboration because Sarah provides a phenomenal model system by which we can develop new technologies to move the field of microstructural biology forward," said Kelly.

"It's very win-win," McDonald added. "While the virus is a great tool for Debbie to develop her techniques, her technology is critical for allowing me to understand how this deadly virus assembles and changes dynamically over time."

The paper "Visualizing viral assemblies in a nanoscale biosphere" was published online and will appear in a 2013 edition of Lab on a Chip.

The authors are Brian Gilmore, a research associate at the VTC Research Institute; Shannon Showalter, a research assistant at the VTC Research Institute; Madeline Dukes, an applications scientist at Protochips; Justin Tanner, a postdoctoral associate at the VTC Research Institute; Andrew Demmert, a student at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine; McDonald, in addition to her position at the VTC Research Institute, is an assistant professor of biomedical sciences and pathobiology in the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine; and Kelly, in addition to her position at the VTC Research Institute, is an assistant professor of biological sciences in Virginia Tech's College of Science.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Virginia Tech (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University), via Newswise. The original article was written by Ken Kingery.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. Brian L. Gilmore, Shannon P. Showalter, Madeline J. Dukes, Justin R. Tanner, Andrew C. Demmert, Sarah M. McDonald, Deborah F. Kelly. Visualizing viral assemblies in a nanoscale biosphere. Lab on a Chip, 2013; 13 (2): 216 DOI: 10.1039/C2LC41008G

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/5TCFMVlhxpI/121220143311.htm

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the Shift Age! - David Houle - MediaBizBloggers.com

Published: December 18, 2012 at 06:56 AM GMT
Last Updated: December 18, 2012 at 06:56 AM GMT By David Houle

We have left the Information Age and entered the Shift Age. This new age is an era of transformation unparalleled in terms of the amount of change that will occur is the next 20-30 years.

As long time readers of this column know, I have been writing and speaking about the Shift Age since 2007 and my first book of that name was published exactly 5 years ago this month. In serendipitous celebration of that anniversary, my biggest and best book about the future of humanity is being published on January 1, 2013. Parts One and Two of that book, "Entering the Shift Age" are now available as a mini-eBook, "Welcome to the Shift Age" where I look at the new age, the twenty year period 1985-2005 and the three forces of the Shift Age.

The Threshold Decades ? 1985-2005

A threshold is a place of entering or beginning. It is also a place between two rooms. The Threshold Decades is the 20-year period between the room of what was and the room of what will be. This 20-year period was a time of incredible change, a time when our worldview, our accepted economic models and how we thought about almost everything changed. Just think all that came into being and then was spread around the world: personal computers, cable television, fax machines, cell phones, laptops and the of course the early stages of the Internet. This 20-year period was the time when most of the world moved from analogue to digital with incredible consequences particularly relative to computing, media and all forms of content.

Historians will look back on this 20-year period as a clear demarcation between the past and the future, a significant time bridge from the wonders and inventions of the 20th century and the incredible alterations for humanity in the 21st century. It was a time when the Three Forces of the Shift Age took shape and took off.

The Three Forces of the Shift Age

There are many forces at play in the world today. That said there are three dominant forces that upon reflection are the source of most of the transformative, disruptive and sometime overwhelming changes we are now experiencing.

The Flow to Global

The Flow to Global is far more than just the 15-20 year old global economy. Humanity is being reorganized around the global construct. We are entering the global stage of human evolution, nothing less. This means that the world "globalization" is no longer an economic term. It is a term that describes what is and will be occurring in most areas of human society now through the next 15-20 years. We are getting reorganized around all of us. This is truly the evolutionary next step for humanity.

The Flow to the Individual

The Flow to the Individual had its roots in the Threshold Decade, when, in the developed countries there was an explosion of choice. Television channels, radio stations, books published, web sites, even brands of toothpaste exploded in number. This meant that the power moved from the producer to the consumer, from the institution to the individual. We as individuals have more power than individuals have ever had before.

So, at the same time that we are flowing to a global reorganization we are becoming ever more powerful as individuals. This flow of power and shape to all of us and each of us has of course created extreme disruption to many of the institutional constructs that have been in place for the last 100 years.

Both the Flow to the Global and the Flow to the Individual have, are, and will be amplified by the single most powerful force at play in the world today, and one of the most powerful forces in history.

The Accelerating Connectedness of Humanity

Humanity has become connected at a level never before experienced. In 1985, at the beginning of the Threshold Decades, there were approximately 750,000 cell phone users in the world. During the first few years of the Shift Age, 2006-2010 there were almost twice as many new, first time cell phone users, 1.5 million, being activated every day!

There are now approximately 5.6 billion cell phone users in a global population of 7.1 billion, so we basically have cell phone ubiquity today. If I call someone 20 feet away from me, cell phone to cell phone, it will probably take about 5 seconds for her phone to ring. If I were to call someone on another continent 12,000 miles away, it might take an extra 2-3 seconds due to the relay of the signal off a satellite. So there is no time, distance or place any longer limiting human communication. That could not be said 5 years ago let alone 25 or 50 years ago. This has, for the first time altered the concept of place, certainly in human communications.

To read more about the Threshold Decades and the Three Forces of the Shift Age please go here to possibly order the inexpensive mini-eBook " Welcome to the Shift Age " To learn about the Agile Publishing Model, a new model for book publishing in the future, please go here http://www.sourcebooks.com/agilepublishing/the-shift-age-news/ .

Welcome to the Shift Age!

David Houle is a futurist, strategist and speaker. He has always been slightly ahead of the curve. Houle spent more than 20 years in media and entertainment. Most recently, David is a featured contributor to Oprah.com. Check is out here www.oprah.com/davidhoule. David can be contacted at David@DavidHoule.com.

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Source: http://www.mediabizbloggers.com/media-biz-bloggers/Welcome-to-the-Shift-Age---David-Houle.html

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Offensive Twitter, Facebook messages won't be prosecuted

The Crown Prosection Service, or CPS, has unveiled guidelines on how law makers should approach policing social networks. The guidance makes a distinction between offensive messages and those that are malicious, making social media as close to spoken conversation in the eyes of the law as it is to written media.?See all: PC Advisor software downloads.

New guidelines say that merely offensive posts should not be prosecuted

The Director of Public Prosecutions, Kier Starmer, has announced guidelines that clarify the law with regard to messages posted on social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook. The new Crown Prosection Service guidance is intended to reduce the number of prosecutions arising from offensive social networking posts, following recent high-profile incidents such as the man who was arrested for posting a film on Facebook of himself burning a symbollic poppy.

In announcing the guidelines Starmer said that Twitter and Facebook posts that are merely offensive will not be treated as criminal acts. Instead the CPS should focus on credible threats of violence, malicious messages, and messages that breach existing court orders. This should have prevented the prosection of accountant Paul Chambers, who was pursued through criminal and appeal courts for more than two years for joking about blowing up Doncaster airport. His 'threat' was clearly not credible - although even under these guidelines it would have required the local police and prosecutors to have appreciated that.

Announcing the guidelines, Mr Starmer said: "These interim guidelines are intended to strike the right balance between freedom of expression and the need to uphold the criminal law.

"The interim guidelines thus protect the individual from threats or targeted harassment while protecting the expression of unpopular or unfashionable opinion about serious or trivial matters, or banter or humour, even if distasteful to some and painful to those subjected to it."

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