March 2011

"It's not on our short-term agenda," said House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) of the proposed purchase of T-Mobile by AT&T.

He said given the recent history of big mergers, it will likely take the Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission a year or more to decide whether to approve the deal between the second and fourth largest wireless firms. While declining to give a date, Chairman Upton said he expects the committee will hold a hearing later this year to "walk through" the issues related to the merger.

The privacy practices outlined in the settlement announced Wednesday between Google and the Federal Trade Commission should apply to all firms, according to Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA). Going forward, Google will have to obtain users' consent whenever it changes how one of its products uses or shares consumer data. Rep Eshoo said that same standard should apply to all Web firms. “Personal privacy is a closely held American value. When we share our personal data with business, its use should be transparent and secure," Rep Eshoo said. “Google’s agreement to obtain consumer consent before sharing new information with third parties should apply to all companies that collect or use personal data.”

Three major health organizations, the American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association and American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, have collaborated to create a quality improvement program aimed at improving outpatient care nationwide. Working with electronic health records providers from around the country, the program will provide doctors with the ability to easily gather, access and report on important data that can ultimately lead to improved care and outcomes for patients.

The program, called The Guideline Advantage, targets four of the 10 leading causes of death in the United States today, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes. Modeled after the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines quality suite of programs, the program was first launched in 2009 as Get With The Guidelines-Outpatient, and focused on cardiovascular health. Now, as The Guideline Advantage, the program provides the basis for evaluating and improving outpatient treatment for -- and prevention of -- these four diseases, which share many similar risk factors. Through the use of electronic health records, the program will also develop a rich database of information for future heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes research.

What is the thread that ties together the rapid rise of companies as different as Facebook, Zynga, Twitter, The Huffington Post and Quora? Wedbush Securities, a brokerage firm that analyzes the valuations of private companies, says they are all players in what it calls the “Second Internet.”

Wedbush says there are certain attributes that allow such players to grow and thrive while more traditional players — including some of the leaders from the early days of the Internet — fail to prosper and gradually recede into history. The most important of these attributes, the firm says, is an understanding of the value of the social web. The social nature of this new wave of Internet companies is such a major factor that Wedbush also calls it the rise of the “Social Internet” in a new report on the sector, and says successful companies are powered by similar features, including:

• Platforms open up their API to developers
• Continuous and rapid pace of innovation (see Facebook)
• The company/brand must listen to the dialogue and participate with customers
• Customer contribution is a large percent of the value/experience
• Every customer has a personalized experience
• Social graph connections drive discovery rather than search