Category «E-Commerce»

Internet Caucus Advisory Committee Hosts Discussion and Posts Issue Papers on Net Neutrality

June 8, 2006: “The Internet Caucus Advisory Committee (ICAC) hosted a discussion focusing on the legislative proposals percolating in Congress on so-called Network Neutrality. No fewer than six House and Senate bills are circulating in Congress that in some way address this amorphous policy question.” [Link] “…the ICAC has requested of all its 200 member …

Subjects: Congress, E-Commerce, Internet, Legislation, Search Engines

Offshoring of Web Content Maintenance and Support Increasingly Common

BusinessWeek.com: Life On The Web’s Factory Floor – Who do you think turns all those words into an easy click? “Behind the seemingly magical offerings of the Internet are thousands of human beings madly inputting data around the clock…The number of third-party, offshore companies that will perform contract work has more than doubled since 2002, …

Subjects: E-Commerce, Internet, Knowledge Management, Search Engines

Pros and Cons On Net Neutrality Legislation

5/18/2006 – Press release: Sensenbrenner, Conyers Introduce Bipartisan Net Neutrality Legislation [H.R. 5417: Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act of 2006] Related documents and links: The Economics of Net Neutrality, Robert W. Hahn, Scott Wallsten. Related Publication 06-13. Apr 2006. “This essay examines the economics of ‘net neutrality’ and broadband Internet access. We argue that mandating …

Subjects: Congress, E-Commerce, Internet, Legislation

Call for Regs to Limit Sale of Social Security Data On Net

Social Security Numbers: Internet Resellers Provide Few Full SSNs, but Congress Should Consider Enacting Standards for Truncating SSNs, Full-text report GAO-06-495, and Highlights, May 17, 2006. “According to experts we spoke to, there are few federal laws and no specific industry standards on whether to display the first five or last four digits of the …

Subjects: E-Commerce, E-Government, Government Documents, Privacy

Image Based Searching Using Cell Phone Photos

From Microsoft Research, Photo2Search: Explore the Real World via Camera Phone “Seeking information about something seen, a user takes a photo of the object and sends the photo, via e-mail or Multimedia Messaging Service, to a Web-based server, which searches an image database for matches. The server then delivers database information—whether it be a Web …

Subjects: E-Commerce, Microsoft, Search Engines

House Cmte. Issued Subpoenas to Companies Selling Cell Phone Records

As noted in a series of previous postings on the sale of cell phone records and associated privacy issues, it was reported on April 7, 2006 that the House Engery and Commerce Committee’s demand for the business records of companies engaged in this commerce has not yielded reponses. Therefore, the committee issued subpoenas to 12 …

Subjects: Congress, E-Commerce, Legislation, Privacy

Data Brokers Supplying Gov’t Don’t Consistently Protect Privacy of Citizen Info

Personal Information: Agencies and Resellers Vary in Providing Privacy Protections, Full-text GAO-06-609T, April 4, 2006. Highlights. “In fiscal year 2005, the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and State and the Social Security Administration reported that they used personal information obtained from resellers for a variety of purposes, including performing criminal investigations, locating witnesses and fugitives, …

Subjects: Cybercrime, E-Commerce, E-Government, Government Documents, Privacy

Data Accountability and Trust Act Unanimously Approved by House Cmte.

Press release: “The House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously approved new data security laws Wednesday that will ensure consumers’ personal information is closely guarded and consumers are notified when they are at risk…The bill places new requirements on specific companies that specialize in collecting personal data. These “data brokers” will be required to implement effective …

Subjects: Congress, E-Commerce, ID Theft, Legislation, Privacy