Saturday, March 17, 2012


We argue semantics here. Apparently no one has the ability to write a clear sentence!
Viviane Reding responds to Reporters Without Borders’ criticism of “right to be forgotten”
March 16, 2012 by Dissent
From RSF:
In its 2012 “Enemies of the Internet” report, Reporters Without Borders voiced reservations about a proposed European Commission directive and regulation on online personal data protection that would enshrine the “right to be forgotten.”
[...]
Yesterday, Reporters Without Borders received a response from the spokesperson of Viviane Reding, the European Commission vice-president responsible for justice, who is the initiator of this directive. The reply follows.
Read more of their view and Viviane Reding’s reply via spokesperson on Reporters Without Borders. The reply makes it clear that the scope of any such directive does not include removal or deletion of news stories but is oriented to individuals’ rights to have their profiles or material they uploaded deleted.

(Related) Perhaps a nice quiet (avoiding the Streisand Effect) request to remove the pictures? Then people around the world wouldn't hear about it. Bad advice from his lawyer, I think.
French court awards Google France €1,200 in legal fees, tosses lawsuit over Street View image showing man peeing in his yard
March 16, 2012 by Dissent
The Connexion reports that a man who sued Google in France after Street View captured him peeing in his yard has lost his lawsuit:
Despite losing his case in court, the man snapped peeing in his back yard by Google Street View has won a victory as the internet giant has withdrawn his picture from the webpage.
The 50 year old claimed Google had made him the laughing stock of his village by publishing the picture – and lodged a complaint of intruding into his private life with the Tribunal de Grande Instance at Angers in Maine-et-Loire.
However, the judges threw out his complaint as he had made his complaint against Google France when the Street View service was edited by Google USA. They ordered him to pay €1,200 legal expenses to Google France.
The judges said he should, instead, continue his complaint against Google USA as he had also lodged a claim for €10,000 damages.
However, the man’s lawyer said he probably would not continue the case as the photo had since been pulled from the site, adding: “We lost in law but we won in fact.”
Wouldn’t have Google pulled this anyway, upon request? Did this really require a lawsuit? And did this guy ever hear of the Streisand Effect?


“We can bill you for anything.” (Translating 'we can, therefore we must' into cash!)
"Microsoft, reports GeekWire, is seeking a patent on monetizing the buttons of your TV remote. In its application for a patent on 'Control-based Content Pricing,' Microsoft explains how one can jack up the cable bill of those who dare fast-forward past a diaper commercial or replay a sports highlight. From the patent application: 'If a user initiates a navigation control input to advance past (e.g., skip over) an advertisement, the cost of a requested on-demand movie may be increased. Similarly, if a user initiates a replay of a sporting event, the user may be charged for the replay control input and for each subsequent view control input.'"


Do you think a bunch of lawyers wrote this “we don't need no stinking lawyers” ToS agreement?
"Netflix has decided to go the route of AT&T and others by trying to take away the rights of their users to form class action lawsuits against them. A copy of the new terms of use states 'These Terms of Use provide that all disputes between you and Netflix will be resolved by BINDING ARBITRATION. YOU AGREE TO GIVE UP YOUR RIGHT TO GO TO COURT to assert or defend your rights under this contract (except for matters that may be taken to small claims court). Your rights will be determined by a NEUTRAL ARBITRATOR and NOT a judge or jury and your claims cannot be brought as a class action. Please review the Arbitration Agreement below for the details regarding your agreement to arbitrate any disputes with Netflix.'"

(Related) You can't do this either...
Facebook Bans Source Code Extraction In Proposed Governance Changes
Facebook has proposed several changes to its Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and is asking the public for feedback until March 22nd. The most important changes are the prohibition of extracting source code from its downloadable software, and a clear explanation that friends can share your information through applications. The changes are necessary since Facebook released its first download “Messenger For Windows” this month, and because it has come under greater scrutiny from government privacy offices.


Rethinking the Health Insurance Industry?
Aetna: The Company Scaring Its Competition And Delighting Startups
Whither health insurance? A former medical advisor to the Obama Administration who happens to be the brother of former Presidential Chief of Staff predicted in the New York Times that by 2020 health insurance companies will be extinct. Nearly two years ago, I penned a piece entitled Health Insurance’s Bunker Buster. It outlined two key reasons that health insurance — as we have known it the last couple decades — will cease to exist.
Yet, in the midst of this backdrop, you have a CEO of a major insurance company looking positively giddy about the future when he is presenting at an event such as Health 2.0. Mark Bertolini of Aetna looks to be doing his best imitation of Lou Gerstner, who engineered the wholesale reinvention of IBM.
… Bertolini has stated that increasingly Aetna views itself as a healthIT company with an insurance component. Not exactly what you expect to hear from one of the largest health insurance corporations.


Interesting how a service that is still “Invite only” can have such a huge impact.
… Traditional social bookmarking services such as Digg and the dominant method of sharing links, Twitter, are both at risk from the polished presentation and simple features of Pinterest. In fact, Twitter could be seriously at risk from this new service.


Useful stuff?
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Dilbert explains how corporations craft those confusing messages...

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