Techdirt. Stories filed under "tourism" Easily digestible tech news... http://www.techdirt.com/ en-us Techdirt. Stories filed under "tourism"http://www.techdirt.com/images/td-88x31.gifhttp://www.techdirt.com/ Thu, 14 Jun 2012 17:00:00 PDT DailyDirt: Space Tourism Is Almost Here Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100712/11454010177/dailydirt-space-tourism-is-almost-here.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100712/11454010177/dailydirt-space-tourism-is-almost-here.shtml mini-shuttle) to get people into space. On top of that, though, the private space industry is starting to kick in with more and more ambitious plans to offer rides into space -- or at least to the edge of space. Here are just a few more examples of these private efforts. By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20100712/11454010177 Wed, 12 Jan 2011 10:13:12 PST Guy Claims He Owns The Idea Of Oprah Visiting Australia, Plans To Sue Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110112/03022212613/guy-claims-he-owns-idea-oprah-visiting-australia-plans-to-sue.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110112/03022212613/guy-claims-he-owns-idea-oprah-visiting-australia-plans-to-sue.shtml planning to sue Tourism Australia, because of Oprah Winfrey's recent visit. You see, back in 2004, this guy by the name of John Heuvel, had the idea that it would be good for Austalia's tourism if Oprah visited the country. That seems like the kind of idea just about anyone could have, of course, however he insists that it was unique to him. He pitched it to Tourism Australia, who agreed to work with him to get Oprah to visit. They pitched Oprah in 2005, and she (or, rather, her company) turned them down. Fast forward to 2009. Heuvel thought he'd try again, and pitched Oprah's company directly (without the help of Tourism Australia). It appears there was no response.

However, last month, Oprah did finally go visit Australia, and Tourism Australia was (not surprisingly) heavily involved. However, Heuvel claims that since Tourism Australia had promised to work with him, it had now breached a contract. As for the idea that perhaps (just maybe) plenty of others at Tourism Australia might have had the idea of bringing perhaps the most recognizable entertainer in the world to the country to play up tourism in Australia? Why, that's impossible, according to Heuvel:
"Tourism Australia is saying that it thought up the idea, which is ludicrous."
Ludicrous? Really? Tourism Australia admits that it worked with Heuvel in 2005, and that that bid to lure Oprah down under failed. End of story. This latest trip was entirely unrelated. However, it appears that Heuvel really thinks that the idea itself is his and his alone, and that Tourism Australia owes him "millions" for actually having Oprah visit the country, without paying him first.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
]]> ownership-society-at-work http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20110112/03022212613 Thu, 21 Oct 2010 08:27:00 PDT Visiting Australia? Make Sure You Tell The Customs Officials About The Porn On Your Hard Drive Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101020/17152311516/visiting-australia-make-sure-you-tell-the-customs-officials-about-the-porn-on-your-hard-drive.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101020/17152311516/visiting-australia-make-sure-you-tell-the-customs-officials-about-the-porn-on-your-hard-drive.shtml searching laptops at the border. The reason it doesn't make much sense is that the purpose of border patrol is to make sure nothing bad gets into a country, but the content on your laptop can easily get into the country via the internet, rather than at the border. And even bigger concern, of course, is that people store everything on their laptops. If you're packing your suitcase for a trip somewhere, you pack only the things you want to take. Everything you bring is effectively "opt-in." However, on your laptop, you already have everything. If anything, you might (though I doubt many people do) delete some stuff to avoid having it searched. In other words, unlike your suitcase, the data on your laptop is more of an "opt-out" situation.

Well, it appears that down in Australia, they've taken border laptop concerns to a new and ridiculous level. Slashdot points us to claims for Australian officials that travelers entering Australia should have to declare all porn on their laptops. After some public outcry, that original claim was downgraded to "all illegal porn," but as some people are still pointing out, it's not at all clear what constitutes "illegal porn" in Australia, and it's a violation of privacy to demand that travelers reveal their laptop porn. Again, I'm at a loss as to how this actually helps with anything. It's not like having people declare it at the border will do anything to stop "illegal" porn. It just seems like an easy way to have something else to hold over people.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
]]> perhaps-I'll-visit-new-zealand-instead... http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20101020/17152311516 Fri, 28 May 2010 17:40:34 PDT Australian Artists Upset That Australian Tourism Campaign Crowdsourced Images Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100525/1759569571.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100525/1759569571.shtml sought to crowdsource photographs that could be used as part of the campaign. To me, that seems like a perfectly reasonable idea -- in fact, a good idea in engaging people and getting them to take part in the campaign. But the problem comes from the fact that Tourism Australia asked people to let it use the photographs for free. That's when a bunch of groups went ballistic:
The National Association for the Visual Arts, the Australian Copyright Council and the Arts Law Centre of Australia are protesting the conditions.

They are demanding the agency relicense any photographs used in the campaign to pay royalties to the artists.
Let me get this straight. Even though the whole thing is completely optional, and photographers, who don't like the terms, have every right to just not participate, they're pissed off that others can participate -- of their own free will -- by letting the Tourism campaign use their photographs freely. If the photographers don't mind the terms, why should others? The reality is that these groups are trying to stomp out amateur competition. This whole hissy fit is about limiting the market to professionals, and keeping the amateurs out.
Arts Law Centre of Australia chief executive Robyn Ayres says the copyright rules set a "worrying precedent".

"The creative industries play a huge role in our economy and our culture," she said in a statement.
Of course the creative industries play a huge role in the economy and culture. But what does that have to do with willing participants letting the Tourism campaign use their images for free of their own free will?
"Refusing to license these photographic works in an appropriate way sends a message that it (government) does not value creative work in the same way as it values other economic assets."
No, it shows that the Tourism group realizes that some people are more than willing to contribute their works for free for reasons other than direct payment.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
]]> overreact-much? http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20100525/1759569571 Fri, 2 Apr 2010 12:05:52 PDT New Positioning From Tourism Australia: We Have Lawyers And No Sense Of Humor Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100401/0122358828.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100401/0122358828.shtml Tourism Australia recently launched a new tourism advertising campaign to try to attract people to Australia, using the slogan, "There's nothing like Australia." This campaign was launched following the disastrous "So where the bloody hell are you" campaign. Seriously. Of course, minutes after announcing the new campaign, someone went out and registered the domain NothingLikeAustralia.net, and started posting spoof versions of the campaign.

Now, if Tourism Australia had a sense of humor, they'd laugh it off, or maybe embrace it in some way. Instead, they're sending out the lawyers:
TA is understood to have launched a legal hunt for the creator of the site, seeking for it to be taken down for using the logo from the campaign that is a registered trademark of TA.
Yes, and the message that sends to potential tourists? Go somewhere else where people actually have a sense of humor. Update: As noted in the comments, Tourism Australia has apparently come to its senses and decided not to pursue a legal strategy. But the fact that they even considered it is pretty telling...

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
]]> well-that-makes-me-want-to-visit http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20100401/0122358828 Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:44:00 PDT Trademark Lawsuit For Using Kazoos To Quack Like A Duck Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090827/0135176013.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090827/0135176013.shtml a trademark lawsuit between two tourist tour operators that have passengers use kazoos to quack like a duck was not silly. But, I'm left scratching my head. I found the article via Eric Goldman, who notes that "I can't imagine this lawsuit has a good ROI."

Here's the basic story. Apparently, there are some tour operations out there that involve amphibious truck/boats, that take tourists around different places both on land and in water. One company, Ride the Ducks, does this in various areas around the country, and has trademarked the sound of kazoos being used to quack like a duck -- which it asks passengers to play as the truck goes from land to water. Now it turns out, right nearby where I am, in San Francisco, there's a tour called Bay Quackers, that does something similar, also involving quacking kazoos. Ride the Ducks isn't happy and has sued Bay Quackers, saying that the specific quack of the kazoo is trademarked.

My first question is why Bay Quackers just doesn't get different kazoos. Well, actually, my first question is a slightly unprintable question about why tourists might ride amphibious boat/trucks while using kazoos to sound like ducks... but I figure that's a tangent. Either way, it's difficult to see what benefit there really is to this lawsuit, other than Ride the Ducks being pissed off that someone else is using their idea. But ideas aren't protectable, and competition is a good thing. So, we're left with a silly lawsuit about quacking kazoos that does, still, seem pretty frivolous.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
]]> quack-quack http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20090827/0135176013 Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:09:00 PST Google So Dominant That A French Town Might Need To Change Its Name? Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090226/0123443910.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090226/0123443910.shtml can't find the town via a Google search, that it's considering changing its name. The mayor of the town is quite concerned about how this is impacting the town's tourism business -- which does show the cultural dominance of Google, these days, on some things. Of course, as the article notes, a search on Eu french town turns up plenty of results -- though, even those are currently dominated by stories like this one about the name search. Perhaps the town just needs to hire better SEO experts...

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story
]]> or-hire-some-better-seo? http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20090226/0123443910