The 2001 New Zealand Internet Awards have concluded, with winners announced in 19 categories. The organization also announced the winner of "The NotAward", a boobie prize for consistent web ineptitude! The big winner is Scoop, picking up three Awards, Best On-line Writing, Best Content Site and Overall "Best Use" Award. Naturally enough, they have placed an article on their home page titled "Scoop scoops NZ Net wards!". Ah, I wish I'd written that :)

Mediawatch was the other big winner, picking up Best Internet Coverage and Top Industry Personality, while MSN NZ had mixed results, winning the Best Chat Room, but picking up "The NotAward" for the XTRAMSN portal. I get lost in the Australian MSN portal too - looks like the Kiwis have the same problem!

Visit the NZ Internet Awards and check out the sites here. The NZ Internet Awards is run by Anotion, a non-profit organization based in Auckland NZ, comprised of volunteers from the IT and media industries, and is an "open source" initiative. If you are interested in the judges, visit this page.

Hard times in the Australian IT industry?

The Australian Internet Awards website still features the "coming soon" notice I reported in the last issue of NetNacs! I e-mailed Claire Pattinson at Blackie McDonald for any information available on a proposed timetable, and Claire replied with the following: "Unfortunately I do not have any information at this stage. We are still securing sponsors and making some revisions to the categories and hope to get the Awards up and running in the early part of next year."

Hard times in the Australian IT industry? Certainly sounds like it. To my knowledge, this is the first year since 1996 that the Australian Internet Awards have skipped a year. The organizers may have to make the Awards for 2001-2002 or drop a year entirely. I am sure most keen Australian web developers will be disappointed, as this is the premier Australian Award program, and has been a mainstay of the local industry, with outstanding execution and judging, and a great list of winners. Anyway, if any more information comes my way, you will read it here.

Copyright and the Awards community

I recently had occasion to write to Maya Draisin, Executive Director of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, the orgDownUnderation behind the Webby Awards. I was enquiring about the music used on one of the winning sites, and I was curious about the licensing and the copyright.

Interestingly, Maya informed me that the Webby Awards do not check licensing or copyrights, and place the responsibility on the website owner; "We judge on 6 criteria of good web development. The sites are responsible for maintaining the legality of their content."

For those who are not aware, it is a breach of copyright to use or broadcast popular music on a website, unless you have permission from the copyright owner. In the case of recorded commercial music, this would involve negotiating the price and paying a fee to the record company. And this fee may be very high, possibly out of reach for most website owners.

Don't think you can just plonk a Classical Midi on your page either. Although you are unlikely to attract the interest of the record industry (Classical music is generally in the public domain - copyright-free), in most cases the performer or performers own copyright on the performance itself! And again you need permission.

If your website features music, it is a good idea to include licensing and copyright details somewhere on your site, to avoid confusion or misunderstanding. If you have paid a fee and the music is licensed, say so. If the music is yours, and is original, say so. But be very careful about using an Elton John MP3 - should you be caught out, it could be very costly - just ask Napster!