Online advertisers joined the blogger backlash against the Federal Trade Commission’s new guidelines that require bloggers, Twitterers and others to disclose any cash or freebies they’ve received to hawk stuff online.
Noting the new guidelines have created a “firestorm of controversy within the ad-supported interactive-media industry,” Interactive Advertising Bureau President Randall Rothenberg suggested the FTC rescind the new guidelines.
by Andrew LaVallee, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
The Federal Trade Commission is planning three public discussions, starting in December, devoted to technology and consumer privacy.
According to the FTC, the roundtables will address topics such as social networking, cloud computing, online advertising and mobile marketing, the goal being “to determine how best to protect consumer privacy while supporting beneficial uses of the information and technological innovation.”
Patrick Moorhead, vice president of advanced marketing at Advanced Micro Devices, is a prolific blogger and tweeter about issues of concern to the chip maker. One of his biggest pet peeves is how battery life is measured in laptops, a topic that he thinks is going to become very hot.
Readers of Adventures in Babywearing, a blog for parents, got an up-close look at the Ergo, a $135 embroidered baby carrier in a shade called “organic blue” in a May 14 post on the site.
In an interview Friday, Rep. Rick Boucher, (D-Va.) called for Congress to take a tougher stance in regulating online ad-targeting, despite the FTC’s endorsement of industry self-regulation.
“I am coming to believe (industry self-regulation) is not sufficient,” said Rep. Boucher, chairman of the House subcommittee on communications, technology and the Internet. He noted that there is a need for a set of laws that dictate parameters for how companies collect, share and use online data about their consumers.
Of all the methods scammers use when hunting for victims, phishing is one of the most difficult to guard against. Phishing attacks are designed to exploit societal vulnerabilities more than technical flaws, and, in some cases, are extremely difficult to block. Even the best anti-malware software suite can’t stop an end user from willingly revealing personal information, particularly if the Web site being used to collect the data doesn’t trip any high-alert security alarms.
The Federal Trade Commission has taken an interest in educating consumers on the dangers of phishing. To that end, the government organization has prepared three separate 60-second videos on the ways and scenarios a consumer might possibly encounter a phisher.
This is a section of the All Things Digital Web site featuring posts from around the Web, from other Dow Jones properties and also original pieces we solicit. The section is now explicitly labeled that it comes "from other Web sites."
We are fully aware of the controversies around how linking and aggregating is done on the Web and we, in no way, are attempting to "scrape" original content created by others. Instead, regarding third-party posts, we are trying to point readers of this site to other posts from around the Web that we admire and are trying to do so in the quickest manner possible.
The Internet is full of terrific content that is not ours and we want to help our readers find it by making editorial suggestions--Look, Mom, no algorithm!--of posts we think are worth their time.
That is why we have made even more changes to Voices to ensure we do this in the most transparent and timely way. While we don't expect that everyone will agree with our policies, we have made changes that reflect our intent in pointing to content outside our site.
Because the site is wholly owned by Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, we aim to adhere to the journalistic standards of the best of the mainstream media. But, because it is run autonomously as a small online startup, we aim to exhibit the fresh thinking and nimbleness of the best of the new media. We want to be first, and sassy, but also well sourced and accurate. We will offer lots of opinion and analysis, but plenty of fact as well.
