p2pnet headline roundup, August 13, 2008
p2pnet headline roundups | Last of the day
Some Web Firms Say They Track Behavior Without Explicit Consent – Washington Post
Several Internet and broadband companies have acknowledged using targeted-advertising technology without explicitly informing customers, according to letters released yesterday by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. And Google, the leading online advertiser, stated that it has begun using Internet tracking technology that enables it to more precisely follow Web-surfing behavior across affiliated sites. The revelations came in response to a bipartisan inquiry of how more than 30 Internet companies might have gathered data to target customers. Some privacy advocates and lawmakers said the disclosures help build a case for an overarching online-privacy law. “Increasingly, there are no limits technologically as to what a company can do in terms of collecting information . . . and then selling it as a commodity to other providers,” said committee member Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), who created the Privacy Caucus 12 years ago. “Our responsibility is to make sure that we create a law that, regardless of the technology, includes a set of legal guarantees that consumers have with respect to their information.”
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EFF Urges Judge to Lift Gag Order on MIT Students – Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged a federal judge Tuesday to lift an unconstitutional gag order issued to three students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) whose academic research uncovered vulnerabilities in Boston’s transit fare payment system. A hearing on the temporary restraining order is set for 11am Thursday at the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts in Boston. The students – Zack Anderson, RJ Ryan and Alessandro Chiesa – would like to resolve this dispute amicably with the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA). However, it has been hard to find an amicable resolution when the students are the subjects of a vigorous lawsuit and under the restrictions of a temporary restraining order. This remains true even though the MBTA filed a motion earlier this week to modify the restraining order to only prohibit disclosure of “non-public” information.
Paris Sued for Lack of Pledge Class - E! Online
Paris Hilton is in trouble for supposedly not doing enough to make National Lampoon’s Pledge This! sound hot. Not concerning itself with what a daunting task that was, the film’s distributor, Florida-based Worldwide Entertainment Group, sued the heiress Tuesday for breach of contract, charging that she didn’t come through after being paid $1 million to star in and promote the 2006 comedy. Oh, she starred in it alright, playing sorority queen Victoria English. But, per the lawsuit filed today in U.S. District Court in Miami, Hilton —- who was also listed as an executive producer—owes $75,000 in damages for failing to provide “reasonable promotion and publicity” for the movie.
program that enables the leagues to be managed within the popular Internet hangout Facebook.
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Card-counting whiz eyes Facebook football fantasy – Associated Press
By the time he graduated from MIT, Jeff Ma already had led a life many guys dream about. His card-counting prowess at blackjack tables during wild weekends in Las Vegas and Atlantic City won him and his college buddies millions of dollars, inspiring a best-selling book and the recent movie “21.” Now 35 years old, Ma thinks he can hit his next jackpot in a different fantasy land — the fanciful football leagues that will preoccupy millions of people during the next four months as they accumulate points based on the statistics of NFL players picked for their imaginary teams. Hoping to introduce a younger generation to the game of fantasy football, Ma and his primary business partner, Mike Kerns, have launched a program that enables the leagues to be managed within the popular Internet hangout Facebook.
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‘Digital exploitation’ in play in Allman-UMG suit – CNET News
A ringtone can make a star–or at least a one-hit-wonder–out of a musician, as the likes of T-Pain can attest to. So it should come as no surprise when musicians such as the Allman Brothers Band focus on the profits from ringtone sales, downloaded singles, and other electronic sources of revenue. The popular group sued UMG Recordings in federal court on Monday, Reuters reported, claiming that it was the victim of “digital exploitation.” The band is asking for a larger cut of recordings sold through third parties, demanding at least $13 million, plus additional royalties from CD sales and digital downloads.
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Cyber hitching a ride – Media General News Service
Here’s what caused Crystal Guillen to make a bold change in her life: spending $350 a month on gas and tolls for her daily commute to MacDill Air Force Base. So Guillen placed an ad on Craigslist to see whether anyone wanted to share her 88-mile round-trip commute. Her 2008 Volkswagen Passat gets 29 miles per gallon, but the commute still cuts deep into her family’s budget. There sits her post, between someone offering cheap rides for convicted drunken drivers who lost their license and another from someone seeking a rider to New York, offering “room for one nonsmoker, no drugs.” Guillen is among a new breed of otherwise content solo motorists who have turned to Internet ride boards to find passengers and save on gas.
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