Facebook statement re: privacy The Star
We appreciate the constructive dialogue we have shared with the OPC, starting more than a year ago and continuing since the release of their July 15th report. From our many discussions with the OPC, it is clear that we share the same goals of ensuring people have control over their information and that they are able to make informed choices about privacy. Many of the recommendations in their Report provide an excellent opportunity to clarify and enhance our privacy practices in a way that is consistent with our company`s values and our users` expectations. Since the report was released, Facebook has maintained an on-going dialogue with the OPC, including a lengthy and productive discussion with the Commissioners` team at our Headquarters in Palo Alto. We are finalizing such a proposal in response to concerns from the OPC and will be submitting it for their review by the August 17 due date.

Facebook, privacy commissioner make friends The Star
Friendship, fittingly, appears to have broken out in the dispute between Canada`s privacy commissioner and the Facebook social networking site.

Facebook prepares privacy response Globe & Mail
At the same time, the statement`s amendments include a new set of provisions for Facebook users outside of the United States. It includes the following statement: You consent to having your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States.

Dear iPhone Users: Your Apps are Spying on You ReadWriteWeb
If you think you aren`t affected by these types of troubles because you don`t own a Pre, think again. Multiple iPhone applications – yes, even the ones approved by Apple – are also busy tracking your personal data and phoning home. Which applications? What data? As an end user, determining this information is difficult. But some iPhone developers have been digging into this issue and the results of their findings may surprise you . [Comment: Will the Privacy Commissioner be taking this on? Also notice the fa$ebook info being shared. Will this be in the new Canadian Telecom "wireless code of conduct"? See below.]

Telecom complaints agency finally going public CBC
The agency is also set to re-examine its funding system. Some of its members would prefer their share of funding be proportionate to the number of complaints they generate. Maker says the agency`s board is about to begin that debate with members. Consumers may also get more relief on Sept. 1, when cellphone providers roll out a wireless code of conduct, a set of self-governing rules that will aim to head off complaints before they happen. [Comment: I can't wait to see this "wireless code of conduct" fairty tale. If there was REALLY something for the customer to take serious, it would be incorporated into Consumer Protection Acts. and Policies protecting customers from these vultures. But the regulatory body deems it fit to have a "code of conduct". What a joke.]

[Internet support based on your Value to the company] Calls answered based on your worth IT News
He said a US Genesys user placed their customers in 40 buckets or categories from which they were scored based on their present and future value to the company. Based on that – and what you asked – you`re going to get different types of skills. Most interactive voice response systems put callers into queues for departments but this will be extended in Australia to cover speed and type of response based on value. An Australian internet service provider used Genesys software to prioritise sales calls over technical support. How does it make you feel to know organisations answer your calls based on your value to them? And would you be more or less inclined to do business with such an organisation? Would you even know if they were answering calls this way? [Comment: ah profiling and discrimination at its best. Poor? Low income? You get the bottom of the support bucket. Enjoy being profiled.]

China, Malaysia scale back censorship; Vietnam steps it up Ars Technica
Not all the news is positive, though. Vietnamese Internet users began reporting that Catholic websites were being blocked by the government following a number of Catholic protests within the country. Although the Vietnam government claims it only filters the Internet for pornographic and obscene content, it`s an open secret among citizens and Internet-watchers that the filters are often used to regulate politically sensitive chatter while, ironically, porn can easily be accessed within Vietnam. Human Rights Watch, Writers Without Borders, Amnesty International, and other human rights groups are also blocked within Vietnam.

Swine flu inspires video game Canoe
Since swine flu first emerged in April, it has sparked panic, vaccine production and now, a video game. In an effort to further raise awareness, Dutch researchers have created a game that challenges players to control a new pandemic The game can only be played online at http://www.thegreatflu.com and it is free. A World Health Organization spokesman said Monday the agency was not familiar with the game and had not had time to play it.

The Media Bundle Is Dead, Long Live The News Aggregators TechCrunch
Here we go again The newspaper industry wants to go back to the world before the Web, when each newspaper was a small media bundle packed with stories, 80 percent of which sucked. But it didn`t matter because you`d gladly pay a dollar to read the one or two stories that caught your eye on the front page, hoping there would be more inside. Well, guess what? The media bundle is dead. News sites can no longer capture reader`s attention with 20 percent news, and 80 percent suck.

Alien thriller `District 9′ lands at box office top spot Ottawa Citizen
District 9, an alien thriller landed at the top of the North American box office on Sunday, initial weekend figures showed. The film, which touches on themes of racism and corporate greed, earned 37 million dollars in its first week of release, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

IE is the most secure web browser The Inquirer
Says Microsoft commissioned report – MICROSOFT HAS BEEN talking up a new report that says Internet Exploder is the most secure browser in the land All good stuff for Microsoft, but as Ars Technica has pointed out, the tests were paid for by Microsoft.

Microsoft Trial Misconduct Cost $40 Million SlashDot
The judge who banned Microsoft from selling its Word document program in the US due to a patent violation tacked an additional $40 million onto a jury`s $200 million verdict because the software maker`s lawyers engaged in trial misconduct, court records reveal. In a written ruling, Judge Leonard Davis, of US District Court for Eastern Texas, chastised Microsoft`s attorneys for repeatedly misrepresenting the law in presentations to jurors.

U.S. boy sets up website specializing in good news Xinhua
A U.S. boy has set up a video website that specializes in all good news in the world because he think today`s news is too depressing, according to media reports Monday. Max Jones, a 12-year-old schoolboy from Orlando, Florida, has already set up Weekend News Today at http://www.hnheadlines.com, for which he is the senior anchor. He also set a goal of presiding over a network of 15 sites in the future.

TouchTunes Announces Appointment Of [former Bell Canada] James Sura To Vice President And General Manager Of Its PlayPorTT Division Music Industry News Network
TouchTunes Corporation has announced the appointment of James Sura to the newly created position of vice president and general manager, PlayPorTT Division. Mr. Sura was formerly with Bell Canada, where he was vice president, small and medium business. He will report directly to Charles Goldstuck, president and CEO, TouchTunes. In his new capacity, Mr. Sura will be responsible for all business aspects of the PlayPorTT portable music and games product, and will be leading efforts to grow TouchTunes` games business overall. He will also handle TouchTunes` business in Canada and Mexico. [Comment: ah]

Major Chinese Electronics Manufacturer Ordered To Comply With Content Protection Technology License Music Industry News Network
The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) announced that its member studios have won a breach of contract lawsuit against China-based DVD player manufacturer Nanjing Wanlida Technology Co., Ltd. (Wanlida). The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California issued a permanent injunction that prohibits Wanlida from violating any copy protection requirement of the Content Scramble System (CSS) license agreement. Additionally, the studios are allowed to review and test any new products from Wanlida that incorporate the CSS technology before those products go to market. The Court also awarded attorney`s fees to the studios.

NAB Response To FCC Inquiry Music Industry News Network
NAB issued the following statement responding to news that the FCC is seeking comment on a musicFirst petition asking for a declaratory ruling against broadcasters for using public airwaves to oppose RIAA-supported performance tax legislation. Among its requests in the petition, musicFirst asked the FCC to force broadcasters to accept its advertising endorsing the RIAA-backed bill.

FCC enforcing imaginary laws in P2P ruling, says Comcast Ars Technica
Comcast comes out swinging in court against the spanking it got from the FCC for BitTorrent throttling. We unpack the ISP`s legal challenge. Almost a year ago, Comcast pledged that it would sue the Federal Communications Commission over its Order sanctioning the cable ISP for peer-to-peer throttling. Now, the company has filed its case with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Although Comcast`s legal arguments are complex, the crux is simple: there were and still are no statutes or credible regulations that support the Commission`s authority to act on this matter, the company says. For the FCC to conclude that an entity has acted in violation of federal law and to take enforcement action for such a violation, there must have been `law` to violate, Comcast`s Opening Brief to the court contends. Here, no such law existed.

Odd Letter-to-the-Editor of the Day Michael Geist
Conservative Huron-Bruce MP Ben Lobb. The good: encourages constituents to participate in the copyright consultation. The bad: sticks to the C-61 talking points as doesn`t seem to realize that the bill was introduced in June 2008, not 2009 (and died on the order paper last September). [Comment: This Conservative MP is also still spewing the Made-In-America Bill as Made-In-Canada. Does the propaganda ever end from these Conservatives?]

Copyright Responsibility On The Internet – In Three Acts Music Industry News Network
Changes in law are driven by widespread changes in the conditions of economic exchange, in available technology, in accepted morality, and, just maybe, in human nature. The liability of internet service providers (ISPs) for copyright infringements by ISP customers is a small, intriguing – and unfinished – story of such legal development. In the period 1998 – 2004, the issue seemed to become settled – with legislatures around the world giving mainstream ISPs substantial protection from secondary liability for copyright infringements by Internet users.

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Marc – p2pnet

August, 2009

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