November 2009

Big Tribune creditors seek control of bankruptcy case

A large group of prominent investment firms sought to wrest control of the Tribune Co. bankruptcy case Tuesday in a move that threatens to intensify a pitched battle between senior and junior creditors. In a filing Tuesday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, the group asked Judge Kevin Carey to deny a request by Tribune management to extend its exclusive right to file a reorganization plan for the media company, which is the parent of the Los Angeles Times. The group hopes to win its own right to propose a plan that would enhance senior creditor returns at the expense of the junior creditors.

Google Announces Plan in Baghdad to Put Iraqi Artifacts Online

Eric Schmidt, the chief executive of Google, announced that his company would create a virtual copy of Iraq's National Museum's collections at its own expense, and make images of four millenniums of archaeological treasures available online, free, by early next year. The museum, badly looted during the American invasion, has been declared reopened three times: in 2003, by the American occupation authorities, again in 2007 by Iraqi officials and most recently in February by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. None of those openings, however, involved letting the public back in. A few invited scholars, journalists and the occasional school group have been allowed to visit. Only 8 of the museum's 26 galleries have been restored; most of the collection's treasures are in secret storage.

Web Shopping Gains Speed

Consumers spent more shopping online in the first 22 days of November—the windup period for the holiday frenzy—than they did during the same period last year, according to Internet researcher comScore. But even though they are expected to spend more this holiday season than during last year's downtrodden period, consumers are likely to keep their online spending tempered, the group said.

Facebook in lawsuit over unauthorized charges

Facebook has become entangled in a dispute over advertising practices after some of its users claimed they received unauthorised charges to their credit cards while playing games on the social networking site. A class-action lawsuit filed last week accuses Facebook, the world's fourth-largest website, and Zynga, the largest social gaming company, of illegally charging users millions of dollars by getting them to sign up for recurring payments without their knowledge. The Facebook dispute comes as US lawmakers are looking at other Internet marketing practices that can result in unexpected charges for consumers. A technique known as "post-transaction marketing" - in which customers unwittingly sign up for offers that result in recurring credit card charges - is being investigated by a US Senate committee.

The Year Of The Mega Data Breach

Glance at 2009's data breach statistics, and you might think the IT world had scored a rare win in the endless struggle against cybercrime. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, government agencies and businesses reported 435 breaches as of Nov. 17, on track to show a 50% drop from the number of breaches reported in 2008. That would make 2009 the first year that the number of reported data breaches has dropped since 2005, when the ITRC started counting. But the decrease in data breaches is deceptive. In fact, the number of personal records that were exposed--data like Social Security numbers, medical records and credit card information tied to an individual--that hackers exposed has skyrocketed to 220 million records so far this year, compared with 35 million in 2008. That represents the largest collection of lost data on record. And the majority of 2009's data loss stems from a single source: credit card processing firm Heartland Payment Systems.

Keeping Personal Data Private

[Commentary] Computers hold an enormous amount of personal information about people. In the wrong hands, the data can be used to steal identities or drain bank accounts. There is a patchwork of laws that offers varying levels of protection to residents of most, but not all, states, but there is no overarching federal law. Finally, a bill is moving in the Senate that would put more protections in place for personal data. There are many important issues competing for Congress's attention, but keeping people's personal information safe should rank high on the list. Senate leaders should find the time for a vote on the Personal Data Privacy and Security Act of 2009, and the House should pass its own bill without further delay.

Feds To Sharpen Cybersecurity Job Policies

On the heels of a report that raised concerns about the competency of cybersecurity pros at the Department of the Interior, the Office of Personnel Management plans to develop better ways to ensure that the federal cybersecurity workforce is up to snuff. In a recent memo to federal HR directors, OPM director John Berry said the effort will include developing policies and guidance on job classification, hiring, performance management, and workforce education and development. He implied that the work was brought on by a consensus among OPM, the federal CIO Council, and federal Chief Human Capital Officers Council that cybersecurity workforce development required a government-wide framework.

How Data is Shaping History

[Commentary] Innovation and advances in technology have continuously created circumstances that significantly alter how people live their lives, make a living, thereby changing the course of history. The Computer Age arose in the 1980's and with it came a revolution around how people and organizations could harness information and, subsequently, make their lives more informed and efficient. We're seeing yet another iteration of that change right now; interestingly, it is not material or machine based -- the catalyst is data itself. Human behavior is now being qualified and quantified and the nature of digital interactions is driving massive scale and the potential for immediacy. Sophisticated algorithms and systems now exist to apply mathematical and statistical analysis to the extreme nuances of people's wants and needs. This ability to numerate, and therefore anticipate, the behavior of the individual is driving a wave of new business philosophies and practices that stretch across industries.

[Jeff Hirsch is the president and CEO of AudienceScience]

FCC 'Net Neutrality' Rules Would Keep the Web Free for Speech and Trade

[Commentary] To understand the debate over network neutrality on the Internet, it is useful to start with the adage "To not act is to act." If the federal government does nothing—that is, if it does not adopt network neutrality rules—it will be allowing telephone and cable companies to block, degrade, or slow down any content on the Internet for any reason. Without such rules, the Internet will not live up to its full potential for fueling economic growth and serving as a vehicle for artistic, political, and social expression. Big broadband providers would like to change the Internet as we now know it. They want to be able to slow down or even block content for whatever reason they choose. They want to be able to keep such practices secret, too. Do we really want AT&T or Comcast selling Domino's Pizza the right to have its website always load faster than those of local independent pizzerias? What about blocking either pro-choice or pro-life websites or, for that matter, both of them? Right now, service providers are free to do so. In short, network neutrality is about your freedom to use the full potential of the Internet for commercial, political, artistic, and social expression. We need it, and that is why the FCC needs to act on its proposal. Not to do so would be an unfortunate action. [Andrew Jay Schwartzman is president and CEO of the Media Access Project.]

FCC Could Mess Up Internet With 'Net Neutrality' Rules No One Needs

[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission has proposed rules that would shift service and network management decision-making from Internet service providers to regulators in the name of "preserving the open Internet." Yet the FCC hasn't addressed what consumer harms it aims to remedy and whether the costs of imposing this remedy are exceeded by the benefits. Simply put, the case has not been made for regulating America's dynamic Internet sector at this time. In the real world, the fact is that the Internet ecosystem we have is functioning quite well to satisfy customer needs without the ministrations of the FCC. In fact, one might go so far as to say it functions as well as it does because of that.

[Barbara Esbin is a senior fellow at the Progress and Freedom Foundation.]

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