1) World Cartoon, especially when we are thinking on “subject with humor” have a stoppage. Almost without any researches we are working on a very first idea that comes to our mind. The result of this ends with similar cartoons. Do you think, we need to solve this problem? What can be done?
Answer: Maybe the subjects are too broad. For example, the topic “city issues” is definitely one of them. A more specific subject could be better for a competition. As for similarities I think they are not something you can eliminate, and they are not always caused by plagiarism.

2) According to us, one of the biggest responsible of frequently appearance of ”similar” cartoons is jurors of the contests. In particular the jurors who do not use the Internet as a medium votes for similar cartoons. We have a suggestion to prevent similarities on cartoons: Just to exhibit all submissions posted for contest in a digital gallery on the web site of the arrangers. This can maintain a healthy result for the final cartoons. ”Don Quichotte” has already lunched this method for a while ago. Do you have any different suggestions about this?
Answer: I liked this idea, but personally, I hardly ever can dig through all of the cartoons to see all the names or all works.

3) What is your opinion on ”Censorship in Cartoon?” Should a cartoon be restrictions on it? If yes, what is the borders of this?
Answer: I think there can be no restrictions on artistic activity, and censorship can never lead to anything creative. I believe every artist has their own conscience, which can help them judge what to do in order not to offend people if it is not the goal of their work. Maybe it should be somehow made clear to all participants in global cartoon collections, that there are religions which forbid depictions of people and animals, to avoid misunderstandings.

4) Also at recent periods we find more technically perfect cartoons, almost close to ”illustration” in definition and it seems they concern more plastic art which replace the traditionally cartooning with simple lines. It is a reality that there exists cartoonists/artists who produce on this track and who be very successful too. Our concern is mostly on that the priority of humor -the gag or the idea if you wish- stays in background. As it is known, the cartoon in definition is an expression with ”least and original” lines. Do you think so you too?
Answer: It is difficult to answer, because in my language (Polish) there is nothing like “cartoons” (although we used to, and still have, great cartoonists!) – we have terms for either illustrations, comics or satirical drawings. I think cartoons can be elaborate, and still function within sharp, immediately grabbing humour.

5) What kind of structures the cartoonists need to act in solidarity, organized as a whole against lawsuits? We need your alternative suggestions in order to create more strong cartoon unity, shoulder to shoulder, which will work internationally. Do you have any suggestions?
Answer: I think visual artists should form unions to organize for common goals. The example of film artists organizing into trade unions (e.g. script writers in USA) shows that organized communities of artists can be no less successful than labour unions. However, I believe that such organizations should be unhierarchic and should base on common and equal debates among artists.

Email Spam Harmful to Environment

Spam emails are a nuisance, clogging up inboxes and cluttering accounts, but a new report says the unwanted messages can also be damaging to the environment.
The report by security technology company McAfee Inc. says researchers found the amount of energy used to transmit, process and filter spam emails totals 22 billion kilowatt hours annually.
“We are raising environmental awareness in different ways,” said David Marcus, the security research and communication director for McAfee Avert Labs.
He said the report shows the yearly environmental impact from spam emails adds up to a person driving around the world 1.6 million times.
The emission associated with a single spam message is only a meagre 0.3 grams of carbon dioxide, but multiplied, Marcus said the impact is severe.
“You may think that’s fluff, that’s a dinky amount, but when you take a look at 2008 and you realize there was 62 trillion email messages that were spam, that actually adds up to an awful lot of carbon. I think it’s actually the same amount of power that would power 3.1 million homes.”
Marcus said 80 per cent of the energy expended comes from users deleting the spam from their inboxes.
Good filtering technology prevents junk messages from ever ending up in inboxes, saving massive amounts of energy and much frustration, according to McAfee, which is known for its anti-spam and anti-virus products.
However, Marcus said the study hasn’t compared the research to the general energy consumed through other Internet uses such as web surfing.
“Believe it or not, regular email consumes more energy and creates more carbon emissions than spam email,” he said.
“But take into account that rough estimates put most email traffic at 80 to 85 per cent of spam anyway, so the vast majority of email traffic out there is spam.”