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Canada probes Google on wireless data collection | Reuters

June 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart said on Tuesday that she was concerned about the privacy implications stemming from the collection of data from wireless networks in Canada, the United States and other countries.

“We have a number of questions about how this collection could have happened,” she said in a statement. “We’ve determined that an investigation is the best way to find the answers.”

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has already begun an informal inquiry into the matter.

Google said in a statement that it would cooperate with authorities to answer their questions and address their concerns. It has previously denied any wrongdoing.

The Internet giant has sent fleets of cars around the world for several years to take panoramic pictures that it uses in its online atlas.

Google first revealed that cars were also collecting wireless data in April, but said that no personal information from Wi-Fi networks was involved. But after an audit requested by Germany, Google acknowledged in May it mistakenly had collected samples of “payload data.”

via Canada probes Google on wireless data collection | Reuters.

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Legal Documents Reveal AT&T Has Exclusive IPhone Rights Until 2012 | DailyTech

May 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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Those who follow the smartphone industry knew that Apple and AT&T had a very tight contract with the iPhone which has compelled the electronics maker to stay AT&T exclusive to date.  However, it was unclear just how long that contract was good for, until now. According to unsealed court documents, AT&T has exclusive rights to sell the iPhone in the U.S. until 2012.

The documents come from a California antitrust class action lawsuit.  The plaintiffs claim that Apple attempted to create an illegal monopoly in 2007 when it failed to reveal that the secret deal would make it impossible for them to transfer their phones to other carriers in 2 years, without unlocking.

The case also accuses Apple of antitrust violations for blocking third party applications, a concern that still exists thanks to Apple’s blocking of Flash and Flash ports, actions the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is currently examining for antitrust violations.

via DailyTech – Legal Documents Reveal AT&T Has Exclusive IPhone Rights Until 2012.

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Apple Draws Scrutiny From Regulators – WSJ.com

May 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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U.S. antitrust enforcers are taking a keen interest in recent changes that Apple Inc. made to its licensing agreement with iPhone application developers and are likely to open a preliminary investigation into whether the company’s actions stifle competition in mobile devices, according to people familiar with the situation.

The Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department, which are jointly tasked with enforcing federal antitrust laws, are holding discussions over which agency would hold the inquiry, these people said. Apple, the FTC and Justice Department all declined to comment.

Antitrust regulators are studying recent changes Apple made to its licensing agreement with iPhone application developers and are likely to open a preliminary investigation into whether the company's actions stifle competition in mobile devices.

The process is at a preliminary stage and any resulting investigation wouldn’t necessarily lead to action. It’s also unclear what grounds an investigation would cover. News of the regulators’ talks were earlier reported by the New York Post.

The growing interest in Apple’ activities by antitrust authorities shows the extent to which the Cupertino, Calif., company has become a powerful player in mobile devices like smartphones, which many people see as the next dominant computing platform after personal computers.

People familiar with the matter said the latest interest from regulators was triggered by complaints from Apple competitors and application developers over the terms of company’s agreement with iPhone and iPad app developers.

Apple recently revised the terms to forbid developers from using software tools other than Apple’s tools to build their programs. It also banned apps from transmitting certain technical iPhone data to third parties.

via Apple Draws Scrutiny From Regulators – WSJ.com.

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Apple may face antitrust scrutiny for FTC – NYPOST.com

May 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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After years of being the little guy who used Washington to fend off Goliaths like Microsoft, Apple CEO Steve Jobs is about to learn what life is like when the shoe’s on the other foot.

According to a person familiar with the matter, the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission are locked in negotiations over which of the watchdogs will begin an antitrust inquiry into Apple’s new policy of requiring software developers who devise applications for devices such as the iPhone and iPad to use only Apple’s programming tools.

Regulators, this person said, are days away from making a decision about which agency will launch the inquiry. It will focus on whether the policy, which took effect last month, kills competition by forcing programmers to choose between developing apps that can run only on Apple gizmos or come up with apps that are platform neutral, and can be used on a variety of operating systems, such as those from rivals Google, Microsoft and Research In Motion.

An inquiry doesn’t necessarily mean action will be taken against Apple, which argues the rule is in place to ensure the quality of the apps it sells to customers. Typically, regulators initiate inquiries to determine whether a full-fledged investigation ought to be launched. If the inquiry escalates to an investigation, the agency handling the matter would issue Apple a subpoena seeking information about the policy.

Officials at both the Justice Department and FTC declined comment. Apple did not return calls seeking comment.

The threat of Apple being the subject of an investigation would be a remarkable turnabout for a company that has long seen itself as being outside the establishment, and one that has egged on antitrust officials to blunt the momentum of larger rivals.

However, thanks to the popularity of the iPod and iPhone, Apple is having a tough time continuing to play the role of David fighting against Goliath. Indeed, its market cap of $237.6 billion exceeds that of the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart, whose market cap is $201.7 billion.

via Apple may face antitrust scrutiny for FTC, Justice – NYPOST.com.

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Consumer Tracking Outstrips Protections – NYTimes.com

May 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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It’s called behavioral tracking:

• Cameras that can follow you from the minute you enter a store to the moment you hit the checkout counter, recording every T-shirt you touch, every mannequin you ogle, every time you blow your nose or stop to tie your shoelaces.

• Web coupons embedded with bar codes that can identify, and alert retailers to, the search terms you used to find them and, in some cases, even your Facebook information and your name.

• Mobile marketers that can find you near a store clothing rack, and send ads to your cellphone based on your past preferences and behavior.

To be sure, such retail innovations help companies identify their most profitable client segments, better predict the deals shoppers will pursue, fine-tune customer service down to a person and foster brand loyalty. (My colleagues Stephanie Rosenbloom and Stephanie Clifford have written in detail about the tracking prowess of store cameras and Web coupons.)

But these and other surveillance techniques are also reminders that advances in data collection are far outpacing personal data protection.

Enter the post-privacy society, where we have lost track of how many entities are tracking us. Not to mention what they are doing with our personal information, how they are storing it, whom they might be selling our dossiers to and, yes, how much money they are making from them.

On the way out, consumer advocates say, is that quaint old notion of informed consent, in which a company clearly notifies you of its policies and gives you the choice of whether to opt in (rather than having you opt out once you discover your behavior is being tracked).

“How does notice and choice work when you don’t even interface with the company that has your data?” says Jessica Rich, a deputy director of the bureau of consumer protection at the Federal Trade Commission.

via Slipstream – Consumer Tracking Outstrips Protections – NYTimes.com.

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Antitrust Bar Reacts to New Merger Guidelines | National Law Journal

April 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday released proposed revisions to their horizontal merger guidelines, drawing a mixed reaction from the antitrust bar.

The guidelines were last modified in 1997, and the agencies said the new version, which practitioners describe as a top to bottom rewrite, is intended to “more accurately reflect the way the FTC and DOJ currently conduct merger reviews.”

Though the guidelines have no force of law, they are hugely influential. Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz described the old guidelines as “one of the most cited documents in modern antitrust.”

To some, like Davis Polk & Wardwell counsel Michael Sohn, the new guidelines are “overall a very thoughtful and helpful effort.”

Sohn said the 34-page draft will better enable lawyers and companies to “predict if a merger can be done … the new guidelines conform to what the agencies are actually doing, and provide a much greater level of explanation of points that in some instances were in the old guidelines, but weren’t as fully developed.”

But Dechert partner Paul Denis, who was the principle draftsman of the 1992 guidelines (revised in 1997), said he is troubled by the “enormous amount of flexibility the government has given itself … you don’t know what they’ll do.”

Denis agreed his old guidelines were ripe for revision, but argued the new version is “not as helpful to the business community and the bar. With the old guidelines, you could read them and figure out where the government was likely to come out — you had a good idea where the line is. Now, the line has been re-drawn, but you don’t know where.”

via Law.com – Antitrust Bar Reacts to New Merger Guidelines.

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Lawyers Galore in FTC’s Intel Case – The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

April 3, 2010 By

Lawyers Galore in FTC’s Intel Case

As discovery heats up in the Federal Trade Commission’s monopolization lawsuit against Intel Corp., at least seven tech giants have been dragged into the fray.

Microsoft, Oracle, Hewlett-Packard, Via Technologies, Lenovo, Acer and Gateway have all been hit with subpoenas for documents either by the FTC, Intel, or both. Lawyers for the companies have responded with motions asking for more time to comply or to quash or limit the scope of the requests.

The FTC on Dec. 16 charged Intel with using its dominant market position to illegally stifle competition in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act. Trial is set for September.

via Lawyers Galore in FTC’s Intel Case – The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.

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FTC set to examine cloud computing – The Hill’s Hillicon Valley

January 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating the privacy and security implications of cloud computing, according to a recent filing with the Federal Communications Commission.

The FTC, which shares jurisdiction over broadband issues, says it recognizes the potential cost-savings cloud computing can provide. “However, the storage of data on remote computers may also raise privacy and security concerns for consumers,” wrote David Vladeck, who helms the FTC’s Consumer Protection Bureau.

“For example, the ability of cloud computing services to collect and centrally store increasing amounts of consumer data, combined with the ease with which such centrally stored data may be shared with others, create a risk that larger amounts of data may be used by entities not originally intended or understood by consumers,” the filing says.

The FTC is also looking at identity management systems — i.e., how people authenticate their identities when logging into websites — and how they can better protect citizens’ privacy.

via FTC set to examine cloud computing – The Hill’s Hillicon Valley.

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