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Internet Congestion During A Severe Emergency

Experts have for years pointed to the potential problem of Internet access during a severe pandemic, which would be a unique kind of emergency. It would be global, affecting many areas at once, and would last for weeks or months, unlike a disaster such as a hurricane or earthquake.

"Such network congestion could prevent staff from broker-dealers and other securities market participants from teleworking during a pandemic," reads the GAO report.

"Because the key securities exchanges and clearing organizations generally use proprietary networks that bypass the public Internet, their ability to execute and process trades should not be affected by any congestion."

[ PDF ] Internet Congestion During A Severe Emergency

Ever-Present Surveillance Rankles the British Public

It has become commonplace to call Britain a “surveillance society,” a place where security cameras lurk at every corner, giant databases keep track of intimate personal details and the government has extraordinary powers to intrude into citizens’ lives.

A report in 2007 by the lobbying group Privacy International placed Britain in the bottom five countries for its record on privacy and surveillance, on a par with Singapore.

But the intrusions visited on Jenny Paton, a 40-year-old mother of three, were startling just the same. Suspecting Ms. Paton of falsifying her address to get her daughter into the neighborhood school, local officials here began a covert surveillance operation. They obtained her telephone billing records. And for more than three weeks in 2008, an officer from the Poole education department secretly followed her, noting on a log the movements of the “female and three children” and the “target vehicle” (that would be Ms. Paton, her daughters and their car).

» NY Times [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

FCC Commissioners Support Open Internet Rule

U.S. communications regulators voted unanimously Thursday to support an open Internet rule that would prevent telecom network operators from barring or blocking content based on the revenue it generates.

» Reuters [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

Online Retailers Anticipate a Dreary Christmas

The leaves are just beginning to change color, but e-commerce companies are already starting to think about Christmas. So far, it looks like a dreary one. Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore, the Web analytics firm that tracks e-commerce spending, predicted that online sales this holiday season might be flat. “I’d be delighted if the growth was around 5 percent, but I am worried that we’ll see it continue to go sideways for a while,” he said.

» NY Times [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

FTC: Bloggers must disclose payments for reviews

Advertisers, celebrity endorsers and even some internet bloggers will be held liable for false statements they make about products as part of a crackdown by US regulators on deceptive advertising practices.

The new rules on the use of testimonials in advertising, released by the Federal Trade Commission on Monday, also say that anyone who endorses a product, including celebrities and bloggers, must make explicit the compensation received from companies. In an effort to hold companies and endorsers accountable, the FTC guidelines state that businesses and reviewers will be liable for any false statements made about a product. If a blogger receives a free sample of skin cream and untruthfully claims it cures eczema, for example, the company and the blogger could be held liable for false advertising.

» FTC GOV - FT [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]