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Tag Archives: government
FTC Sues Intel, Intel Says “Misguided”
The Federal Trade Commission has sued Intel, saying it has "abused its market dominance" according to the LA Times . Richard A. Feinstein, director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition is quoted as saying: "Intel has engaged in a deliberate campaign to hamstring competitive threats to its monopoly. It's been running roughshod over the principles of fair play and the laws protecting competition on the merits." Intel issued the following statement today: "Intel has competed fairly and lawfully. Its actions have benefited consumers. The highly competitive microprocessor industry, of which Intel is a key part, has kept innovation robust and prices declining at a faster rate than any other industry. The FTC's case is misguided. It is based largely on claims that the FTC added at the last minute and has not investigated. In addition, it is explicitly not based on existing law but is instead intended to make new rules for regulating business conduct. These new rules would harm consumers by reducing innovation and raising prices." Intel senior vice president and general counsel Doug Melamed added, "This case could have, and should have, been settled. Settlement talks had progressed very far but stalled when the FTC insisted on unprecedented remedies – including the restrictions on lawful price competition and enforcement of intellectual property rights set forth in the complaint -- that would make it impossible for Intel to conduct business." "The FTC's rush to file this case will cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars to litigate issues that the FTC has not fully investigated. It is the normal practice of antitrust enforcement agencies to investigate the facts before filing suit. The Commission did not do that in this case," said Melamed. The FTC's suit claims Intel engaged in threatening and rewarding of big-name PC makers like Dell, HP, and IBM. Last month, Intel agreed to pay $1.25 billion to settle multiple disputes with rival chip manufacturer AMD over similar accusations. Intel was also recently hit with an antitrust suit from the New York Attorney General. Continue reading
Posted in Business, Legal, Pay-Per-Click
Tagged antitrust-suit, case, doug melamed, government, intel, monopoly, price competition, senior vice president
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UK Launches Initiative To Keep Children Safe Online
Officials in the UK have announced plans to require children beginning at age 5 to be taught about online safety starting in 2011. The new initiative called "Click Clever Click Safe" was created by the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS). "The internet provides our children with a world of entertainment, opportunity and knowledge - a world literally at their fingertips," said Prime Minister Gordon Brown. "But we must ensure that the virtual world is as safe for them as this one." The government says that 99 percent of 8-17 year olds have access to the Internet. New research found that 18 percent of young people had come across "harmful or inappropriate content online," and 33 percent of children said their parents where unaware of what they do on the Internet. Under the new initiative Internet companies, charities and the government will be independently reviewed against UKCCIS standards to keep children safe online. Young people and parents will be targeted by a new Digital Code "Zip it, Block it, Flag it," that will be adopted by retailers, social networking sites, schools and charities and displayed where appropriate. Parents will be able to access a website for Internet safety advice hosted by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection center. "Today we are launching our online version of the 'green cross code'. We hope that 'zip it, block it, flag it' will become as familiar to this generation as 'stop, look, listen' did to the last," said Prime Minister Brown. Continue reading
Talks Surface of a Newspaper Industry Bailout
“You gotta be freakin’ kidding me!” That was my reaction to a Reuters article that I came across. I am still a little taken aback, as they say, about the even the threat of the US government looking into ways to bailout the struggling newspaper / old school media industry. Right now it’s more talk than anything else but if someone said it in a public forum then you know there are greater rumblings going through Washington with a similar stink on them. I guess you can guess where I stand on this one, huh? The Reuters article starts off A top Democratic lawmaker predicted on Wednesday that the government will be involved in shaping the future for struggling U.S. media organizations. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, saying quality journalism was essential to U.S. democracy, said eventually government would have to help resolve the problems caused by a failing business model. Waxman, other U.S. lawmakers and regulators are looking into various options to help a newspaper industry hurt by the shift in advertising revenues to online platforms. Can you see me shaking my head now? Did the government bailout the horse and buggy industry when the automobile was invented? Did the government bailout the radio industry when TV came along? Did anyone bailout the transcribers of the world when the Gutenberg press started producing the printed word? If journalism is essential to the US democracy then let the free market system that has built this democracy into one of the greatest powers of the modern age (at least until recently that is) take care of how this plays out! The last thing we need is the government handing tax benefits and even worse, more deficit funded handouts to the likes of the Washington Post, New York Times and anything that Rupert Murdoch is whining about these days. So who will profit from this concept more: our democracy or the likes of Rupert Murdoch? Hey let’s just go out and figure out which failing business model victim looks the most like AIG, Bank of America or Government General Motors and throw money at their executives business and see just how much better it gets. WTF! This is not a government issue for goodness sake. This is a paradigm shift issue. The world is changing and not everything survives change. Why are we so obsessed with keeping something alive that may not have a place in the new world media order? And if it does have a place let the free market principles that allowed it to thrive for so long determine what piece or pieces will move forward as we boldly go further in the digital age. Of course there is some press constituency that thinks this a great idea. Wonder who pays their bills? Free Press, a public interest group, said the search for solutions to the crisis in journalism should be premised on the idea that news-gathering is a public service, not a commodity. Waxman’s “indication that government has a role to play is both bold and soberly sensible,” said Free Press Policy Director Ben Scott on the sidelines of the FTC conference. I call BS on this one. Honestly, if the newspapers were truly a public service shouldn’t they have acted more responsibly to the change that very public is undergoing in how it consumes news? Business change is not always about failure; it’s usually more about progress and smarts or lack thereof. If the newspapers have ignored the myriad tell tale signs that have been written on the wall for years now why should MY TAX dollars save them from their own arrogance and stupidity? What have they done for me and my business? Geesh, just the rumor of this happening really ticks me off! Hey, Senator Waxman and anyone else who thinks this is a good idea! Shut up and go read your Washington Post while it’s still here! Phew! That felt great because I am part of the new free press and I plan on being around in the digital age as long as I can identify what people really want. Will it last forever? Probably not but if I am not smart enough to get on board the next train that is heading for the future don’t bail me out. That’ll be my problem not yours. UPDATE: Google CEO Eric Schmidt gives the WSJ his ideas for fixing the “crisis” in the newspaper industry. Comments Continue reading
Posted in Business, Pay-Per-Click
Tagged democracy, democratic, digital, government, industry, modern, rsquo, rupert murdoch, s media, search, transcribers
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Big Retailers Took $792 Million for Sharing Credit Card Numbers
A U.S. Senate report has revealed that retailers (a number of which you may already know and trust), have accepted as much as $792 million to share customers' credit-card information with direct marketing companies. Could your card number have been one that was shared? Would you have known? The companies engaging in such practices have been getting away with it because of terms buried in fine print, where customers accept offers without having to share their credit card info themselves, placing a certain level of trust in the retailers that are profiting off of sharing their info. The executive summary of the Senate document reads as follows: In May 2009, Chairman Rockefeller launched an investigation into a set of controversial e-commerce business practices that have generated high volumes of consumer complaints. Since that time, Commerce Committee staff has been investigating three Connecticut-based direct marketing companies – Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty – as well as the hundreds of online websites and retailers that partner with these three companies to sell club memberships to online shoppers. Although this investigation is not yet complete, it is clear at this point that these three companies use highly aggressive sales tactics to charge millions of American consumers for services the consumers do not want and do not understand they have purchased. Chances are, you've encountered the "offers" that utilize this strategy. TechCrunch provides a sample screenshot: So who are the companies that have been selling credit card information? Well, the following were paid over $10 million each to do so: - 1-800-Flowers.com - Buy.com - Classmates.com - Columbia House - Confi-Check - Expedia/Hotels.com - Fandango - FTD - Hotwire - InQ - Intellius - MovieTickets.com - Orbitz - Priceline - Redcats USA - Shutterfly - Travelocity - US Airways - VistaPrint Dozens more were paid between $1 and $10 Million. I won't name all of them (there is a full list here), but Yahoo is one of them. So is Avon, Barnes & Noble, eHarmony, Half.com, Pizza Hut, TimeLife, and Victoria's Secret. People have often expressed concerns about buying stuff online from brands that they haven't heard of. It turns out that some of the biggest brands are not exactly as trustworthy as some may have thought. Customers are not pleased. For the offending brands themselves, this has to be a PR and online reputation management nightmare. Read the whole report here (pdf) if you've got some time on your hands. Related Articles: > Continue reading
Posted in Business, Legal, Pay-Per-Click, Scams
Tagged big brands, Business, chairman, columbia-house, companies, government, investigation, Legal, online-websites, review and story, rewards, Scams, three-companies, yahoo
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NY AG Hits Intel With Antitrust Suit
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed a federal antitrust lawsuit Wednesday, against Intel, the world's largest maker of computer chips. The suit says Intel violated state and federal anti-monopoly laws by engaging in a global campaign of illegal conduct revealed in emails, in order to maintain its monopoly power and prices in the market for chips. Over the last several years, Intel has landed exclusive agreements from large computer makers in which they agreed to use Intel's chips in exchange for payments totaling billions of dollars. Intel also threatened and punished computer makers that they thought were working too closely with Intel competitors. Threats included cutting off payments the computer maker was receiving from Intel, directly funding a computer maker's rivals, and ending joint development ventures. "Rather than compete fairly, Intel used bribery and coercion to maintain a stranglehold on the market," said Attorney General Cuomo . Andrew Cuomo "Intel's actions not only unfairly restricted potential competitors, but also hurt average consumers who were robbed of better products and lower prices. These illegal tactics must stop and competition must be restored to this vital marketplace." To secure exclusive agreements, Intel paid hundreds of million dollars in "rebates" to individual computer makers. The payments for exclusivity that Intel provided could make the difference between profit and loss for a computer maker. The suit alleges Intel's behavior was detrimental to consumers and to the entire marketplace for computers. Intel repeatedly pressured computer makers to guarantee it specified market share of their sales, which prevent computer makers from responding to consumer demand. With more competition, consumers would have had more choices, lower prices and better products. The suit seeks to bar further anticompetitive acts by Intel, restore lost competition, recover monetary damagessuffered by consumers and the government, and collect penalties. In May, the European Commission fined Intel a record $1.45 billion for violating antitrust rules and other practices used to exclude competitor AMD from the computer chip market. Intel is planning to appeal the fine. Continue reading
Posted in Business, Legal, Pay-Per-Click
Tagged attorney, global-campaign, government, illegal conduct, illegal-tactics, intel chips, Legal, market, million-dollars, monopoly power
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