June 2011

Social networking sites and our lives

Use of social networking sites is growing and those who use these sites, especially Facebook users, have higher measures of social well-being.

Facebook users are more trusting than others. Controlling for other factors, the research found that a Facebook user who uses the site multiple times per day is 43% more likely than other Internet users and more than three times as likely as non-Internet users to feel that most people can be trusted.
Facebook users have more close relationships. Controlling for other factors, the research found that someone who uses Facebook several times per day averages 9% more close, core ties in their overall social network compared with other Internet users.
Facebook users are much more politically engaged. The survey was conducted over the November 2010 election season. Compared with other Internet users, and users of other social networking platforms, a Facebook user who uses the site multiple times per day was an additional two and half times more likely to attend a political rally or meeting, 57% more likely to persuade someone on their vote, and 43% more likely to have said they would vote.
Facebook users get more social support. The survey explored how much total social support, emotional support, companionship, and instrumental aid (such as having someone help you when you are sick in bed) adults receive. Controlling for other factors, a Facebook user who uses the site multiple times per day receives more emotional support and companionship. For Facebook users, the additional boost is equivalent to about half the total support that the average American receives as a result of being married or cohabitating with a partner.
Facebook helps users retain high school ties and it revives dormant relationships. In our sample, the average Facebook user has 229 Facebook friends.

Social Media Help Keep the Door Open to Sustained Dissent Inside Saudi Arabia

Social media, which helped drive protests across the Arab world, seems tailor-made for Saudi Arabia, where public gatherings are illegal, women are strictly forbidden to mix with unrelated men and people seldom mingle outside their family.

When Manal al-Sharif posted a video of herself breaking the law by driving her own black S.U.V. around this hot, flat city and called for a collective protest on Friday, the government responded harshly: she was jailed for nine days. But unlike in the past, government censure did not quash debate. Instead, the Internet buzzed to life in Ms. Sharif’s defense, building on the surge of social media here after the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. Twitter and Facebook overflowed with comments denouncing both Saudi Arabia’s ruling princes and the clerics who called for her to be flogged as Neanderthals completely detached from the realities of life for women here. More than 30,000 comments about Sharif’s arrest showed up within days on Twitter, the vast majority from supporters, said Abdulaziz al-Shalan, who tracks Saudi-related Twitter messages.

Unaffordable Roaming

[Commentary] In a plugged-in, hyperglobalized world, one might expect that our communications networks would allow us to roam widely, cellphones and tablets connected to the matrix, no matter the location. But when it comes to telecommunications pricing, globalization stopped at the border.

A new survey found that international data roaming among the industrialized countries (members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) costs, on average, $6 to $10 per megabyte — about the amount needed to e-mail a few low-resolution snapshots. Talking isn't much cheaper. A similar study two years ago reported that the average price of a three-minute local call in an O.E.C.D. country while roaming internationally was $6.76. These exorbitant prices have little to do with the cost of moving a byte or a sentence over telecom networks, which has fallen sharply in recent years. Rather, the OECD suggests it reflects a lack of competition among wireless carriers offering cross-border roaming services. This has likely been compounded in the United States by a lack of regulation of the interconnection fees that telecom operators charge each other to let data flow across their networks.

Falcone's Venture Runs Into Static

Philip Falcone's plan to build a multibillion-dollar telecom network, the defining bet of his metamorphosis from hedge-fund manager to technology start-up investor, is getting dogged by interference. The challenges to his plan, which has involved dedicating much of his hedge funds' money to a single technology venture, range from technical and regulatory issues to twists in deal talks with a potential wireless partner.

Meanwhile, angst has risen among hedge-fund investors who feel tied to the future of a company they never bought into, investors said. Some investors who have wanted to withdraw money from Mr. Falcone's firm, Harbinger Capital Partners, have had to wait for much of that money. This month, Harbinger told clients who are withdrawing money that they would be paid in part with stakes in the wireless start-up. The developments are the latest signs that Falcone, who since 2007 has garnered attention for making, as well as losing, billions of dollars as a hedge-fund manager, still has an uphill climb to succeed in his most ambitious bet yet.

State lawmakers approve online sales tax

One of the more intriguing pieces of the last-minute budget approved by California legislators is an online sales tax, a controversial and previously failed effort to tax purchases from online retailers.

Its sponsors say the tax would bring in an estimated $200 million a year, a relative drop in the bucket but still a tantalizing chunk of change for a state whose finances are in utter turmoil. For consumers, it would mean they can't avoid sales tax by buying online. The proposed tax, which has been sought several times before in California and rejected, is part of legislation passed Wednesday by the Senate and Assembly and now heading to Gov. Jerry Brown. Under federal law, states can tax sales only if the seller has a physical presence in the state. The California bill seeks to get past that issue by letting the state tax board collect from any retailer with a so-called business "nexus" or connection with an affiliate inside California. Supporters say it would make the tax code more fair, forcing Internet retailers to collect taxes just as brick-and-mortar stores already do. "We're finally on the way to creating a level playing field for California companies," said Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, author of one of the three bills that were merged into the budget proposal. "All in-state businesses already collect and remit taxes, so those that do not -- like Amazon, Overstock and others -- have an unfair advantage." Opponents and some tax-reform groups across the country insist the proposed law is unconstitutional and would lead California to the same disappointment experienced by the handful of other states that have enacted similar legislation.

Google unshaken by antitrust scrutiny

If Google is feeling the heat of antitrust regulators, the tech giant isn't publicly breaking a sweat.

Fresh off the Department of Justice’s months-long review of Google’s purchase of travel software firm ITA, with the Federal Trade Commission bearing down with a wide-ranging probe of its business practices, the tech giant invited yet another antitrust review Monday by announcing its plan to buy display ad firm Admeld for a reported $400 million. It shows that the company isn't afraid of sizable acquisitions, even if it means more wrangling with regulators. Dealing with Justice and FTC appears to be just another cost of doing business. “Google is going to do everything it possibly can before it’s constrained,” said Gary Reback, a prominent Silicon Valley antitrust attorney who has represented parties at odds with Google. On the surface, though, Google may have a strong case that the Admeld deal poses little competitive threat, one industry expert said. Unlike Web search or mobile search advertising, which Google clearly dominates, the display ad market is much more splintered.

House Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee Discusses Legislation to Protect Americans from Data Theft

The House Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, chaired by Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), held a legislative hearing on the discussion draft of the Secure and Fortify Data Act (SAFE Data Act), which establishes uniform national standards for data security and data breach notification.
Chairman Bono Mack introduced this legislation in the aftermath of several high-profile data breaches at companies including Sony, Epsilon, and Citigroup. These recent cyber attacks have compromised the personal information of millions of Americans, underscoring the need for greater online protections.

“The Federal Trade Commission estimates that nearly nine million Americans fall victim to identity theft every year, costing consumers and businesses billions of dollars annually. And the problem is only getting worse as these online attacks increase in frequency, sophistication and boldness,” said Chairman Bono Mack. “ E-commerce is a vital and growing part of our economy. We should take steps to embrace and protect it – and that starts with robust cyber security. Most importantly, consumers have a right to know when their personal information has been compromised, and companies and organizations have an overriding responsibility to promptly alert them.”

The SAFE Data Act takes the necessary steps toward ensuring American consumers are appropriately protected from data theft. The draft bill would establish uniform national data breach notification standards and enhance the authority of the Federal Trade Commission to penalize companies that fail to respond to a breach in a timely and responsible manner.

FTC Commissioner Edith Ramirez reiterated the Commission’s unanimous support for a federal data breach law at today’s hearing. “Companies’ implementation of reasonable security is important for protecting consumers’ data from identify theft and other harms. And if a breach occurs, prompt notification to consumers in appropriate circumstances can mitigate any such harm,” said Ramirez.

Members on both sides of the aisle stressed an urgent need for stronger standards to safeguard Americans online. Chairman Bono Mack voiced her commitment to working with her colleagues to advance a strong data security bill through Congress.

Netflix Helps People Cut Cable Cord, Report Says

The Diffusion Group released a report finding that people who use Netflix to stream Internet video to their televisions are twice as likely to cancel, or slim down, their cable television options as they were a year ago.

When the Diffusion Group surveyed Netflix members in 2010, they found that 16 percent of customers were planning to downgrade or cancel their cable television service. During the same survey this year, the number of customers planning to make that change had doubled to 32 percent. The report also found that although the majority of those surveyed cited economic reasons and “the need to save money” as a rationale for canceling cable, 34 percent said a growing use of online video was the culprit, “two-thirds of which cite Netflix in particular as the primary perpetrator,” the report says.

Sens Franken, Blumenthal introduce mobile privacy bill

Sens Al Franken (D-MN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced a smart phone privacy bill that would require companies like Apple and Google to get permission from users before sharing geo-locational data with third parties. The bill comes amid increased concern that mobile phone and apps makers are collecting information about a consumer’s whereabouts based on GPS and other technology and sharing that data with outside parties. The bill, called the Location Privacy Protection Act of 2011, aims to better protect users’ privacy and inform them how their data is being used.

Why is Apple offering an unlocked iPhone 4?

What prompted Apple to start selling unlocked iPhones? The best answer may be the simplest: A new iPhone is on the way, probably in September. There are three long months between now and September – long months where Apple could see interest in the outgoing iPhone 4 start to fade. By stirring up a minor press flurry around an unlocked iPhone, Apple can keep general iPhone buzz high, gin up a few sales, and generally hold off against incursions from Team Android for as long as possible. Then again, maybe we're a little conspiratorially-minded these days. What we do know is this: The iPhone 5 is almost definitely on the way.

Benton

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