1. With bookstores dying, chains and independents alike, many have great expectations for digitization. Thankfully, libraries might still matter in such a world, as indicated by Amazon making Kindle books available to libraries, even allowing you to make saveable margin notes and highlights. Amazon also has a Netflix-style e-book rental service in the works.

2. Amazon was also in the news for awful warehouse conditions, its Appstore quietly going international, and being targeted by new Internet retailer tax legislation in California. Cloud computing services are about to make the latter even more complicated. Also likely to get even more complicated is the Net Neutrality issue, which might see new rules go into effect on November 20, but those will likely be challenged in court. Meanwhile, we can all look at this cool infographic and lament that Eastern Europe and a lot of other countries are leaving the US in the dust when it comes to internet speeds.

3. You’ve heard all about Netflix’s rough times lately, but you may not have seen this handy chart of the company’s diving stock value or heard about its headquarters lawsuit. A possible future threat looms in the form of the studio-backed cloud service UltraViolet, which Wal-Mart might get on board with, while the indie world is watching SnagFilms and Prescreen with interest.

4. Oscar season might have more serious dramas in the mix, thanks especially to Sony, and it will also have some new publicity party rules, though those might mean nothing in the end. Serious drama of the non-fictional sort continues to play out in Iran, where the co-director of Jafar Panhi’s This is Not a Film has been arrested. The British apparently prefer serious drama on screen to real life, as a BFI report found that the British public considers cinema to be more worthy of their attention than world news.

5. DreamWorks might expand production into China, while Paramount is expanding in its own back yard. Stephen Spielberg regrets expanding digital effects for an earlier release of E.T. and says he won’t do it again, but you can plan to see (or not see) an expansive version of Top Gun in 3D, while James Cameron doesn’t think just anybody should be able to make films in 3D.

6. Nielsen released a comprehensive report on social media use, including a person-shaped infographic; with a mere silhouette stance, it clearly signifies hipster. (Bonus international social media use infographic!) It was only a little over five years that us hipsters started using Twitter, though it was called Twttr then (slogan: “If you have a cell and you can txt, you’ll never be bored again…E V E R!”). And now any hipster who wants to can join Google+; nearly 50 million already have (though according to my feed, only about five are regularly posting).

7. In Japan, the Tokyo Game Show was packed, but the Microsoft Kinect booth wasn’t. In the US, video game makers are enjoying big tax breaks, and GameFly professes not to be worried by Netflix’s move into video game distribution. And online, YouTube is a frequent destination for gamers, and online gamers might help to cure AIDS.

8. Spotify is now open for business to all Americans, but it’s also dealing with significant dissension and defection from indie labels over low royalty payments. Spotify argues it’s being fair, and you can compare for yourself via this handy primer on how much money a band earns from various outlets. The streaming competition is about to get even thicker; unfortunately, users seem to prefer ownership to streaming.

9. This headline deserves its own entry: “Actually, there really isn’t that much porn on the internet.”

10. Some of the finer News for TV Majors (@N4TVM) post from the past two weeks: Lost History, Facebook and Social TV, Making the Daily Show, Blockbuster Streaming, Farewell to AMC, Louis on Louie, The V-Word, CBS Likes Reverse Comp, Top Chef Transmedia, Downton Breaks, Netflix & Qwikster, TV Changers, SpongeBob’s Effects, TV Everywhere Campaign. 

2. The Government Accountability Office acknowledged that media piracy is a problem, but says there isn’t good enough data available yet to determine how much of a problem it really is. Geekologie helps out with an infographic about music piracy. Meanwhile, Paramount has turned to distributing movies on pre-loaded hard drives, and those drives will be heavily laden with DRM protection. Finally, Pirate Bay, the BitTorrent site, might be holed up in a nuclear bunker (no kidding), and the major studios are developing smart bomb capabilities to penetrate it (kidding…I think).

3. Investment in digital music is on the rise, but songwriters complain that they’re not getting the revenue they’re due from services like Spotify; for instance, Lady Gaga earned only $167 from one million plays of “Poker Face.” If that factoid doesn’t strike you, perhaps this graphic visualization of what music artists earn from online distribution will. Leor Galil considers the possible upsides of offering free music online. In a different post, Galil writes about the dreadful state of radio formatting and playlists. The band Pomplamoose has fostered a strong following almost solely from their YouTube videos (which I highly recommend), though since the group mainly plays covers, which thus turn up in searches for the mainstream originals, it may not be a strategy that most indie bands can capitalize on. Another strategy most other musicians won’t be able to capitalize on: being Kevin Costner.

4. Facebook’s recent privacy (or lack thereof) changes are worrisome to many. Plenty of others don’t seem to mind, though, as Facebook (and YouTube, which just turned five) continue to dominate social media traffic; one study says that Facebook is by far the most popular internet site in the workplace; and Gerd Leonhard, in his discussion of how to build an entertainment brand with social media, points out that “it took TV 13 years to reach 50 million people, but it took Facebook just two years.” Maybe Facebook can even help to save newspapers.

5. Twitter also had a big change during this fortnight, launching promoted tweets. Josh Bernoff says this is great for marketers, but user opinion is mixed, and there are challenges to its potential for success. Anil Dash says this is nothing truly new for Twitter, while B.L. Ochman says it changes the game. Ads and all, the Library of Congress will have every single tweet archived for future reference. Christopher Beam provides suggestions for how historians could best capitalize on this archive; short version: hashtag it, folks. Things are quite complicated for Twitter in Mexico.

6. Right on the heels of being at the center of one taste culture debate (over Kick-Ass), Roger Ebert quickly stirred up another with a post saying that video games can never be an art. His comments section exploded (3300+ at last check), and video game defenses appeared all over Twitter and the blogosphere (here’s just one from Olivia Collette). If there’s a museum in Paris devoted to video games, does that make them art? Video games are at least doing better as commerce, as sales were finally up last month, and Sony’s Playstation format enjoyed some rare victories. Other good video game news links: Eduaro Baraf provides a lengthy discussion of the game development process; Call of Duty’s creators have launched their own company; Nielsen looks at video game playing measurements; the Wikileaks Iraq video raises questions about the convergence of war and video games; and Tanner Higgin raises questions about the convergence of violence and laughter in videogames.

7. DVD sales and rentals dropped sharply in the first quarter, and such struggles for home video could usher in new models. But Blockbuster’s CEO is still optimistic about rentals, anyone who’s got a piece of Avatar’s DVD sales is thrilled, and Netflix’s CEO is also very happy, though more due to streaming than DVD. Speaking of streaming, Redbox has some new studio agreements for DVD rental delays, but is looking more into streaming, and YouTube is getting into streaming movie rental now. Telco 2.0 considers how the studios can best leverage their position in regard to online distribution.

8. A company called Kickstarter could help boost independent film distribution with an innovative DVD funding model. Successful Kickstarter-funded indie releases include an online comedy and an acclaimed documentary. Video-on-demand is also heating up as a viable indie distribution outlet, with Comcast making available via VOD a set of Tribeca Film Festival entries. Tired of having to capitulate to funding and marketing needs, a group of indie filmmakers generated a manifesto (rant?) that says filmmakers should just focus on making films, and that generated a voluminous and varied response on Twitter.

9. Random film links worth a look: a short history of short films; how theaters decide on trailers; theaters are once again trying live events; there was a crazy development process behind Cruise and Diaz’s Knight and Day; a study says people are more emotionally attached to movies than other media (source: Cinema Advertising Council, so…); Tyler Perry got a lot of analysis (here, here, and here); Hollywood appears to be terrified of I Love Phillip Morris, which has been delayed yet again; Scorsese’s going 3D; porn’s going 3D with a Caligula remake; porn parodies are proliferating; actresses can’t seem to win no matter their weight; and Andrew O’Hehir tells film critics to quit moaning about criticism being dead and just go back to writing about movies.

10. Links to the best News for TV Majors links of the fortnight: BBC Budget Allocation; Transmedia Presentations; Madness Changes; $9.95 for Hulu; Economic Value of Networks; Conan, TBS, Syndication; Sitcoms Are Back; What Directors Do; Tina Fey Backlash; 3Dizzy; SyFy Gets Wrestling; DVD Extras Online.