Jill, Meet Best Buy’s Friendly Human Shopbot/Profiler
I’m a little surprised this article hasn’t generated more discussion. Last week, the Washington Post ran an article about Best Buy’s efforts to segment and target its customer base. They have developed a set of consumer profiles that they describe…
2004 Case on Advertiser Liability for Spam
Fenn v. Redmond Venture, Inc., 2004 UT App 355 (Utah Ct. App. Oct. 15, 2004). I was digging through my stack and stumbled across this case from last year. It seems apropos to a running theme on this blog about…
McDonald’s is Lovin’ It! — Contest Rules Upheld
By John Ottaviani James v. McDonald’s Corp., No. 04-2383 (7th Cir. 8/2/2005). This is not a technology case per se, unless scratch-off game cards that accompany french fry orders are considered “technology.” However, the contract principles that underlie this case…
FTC Says No Undisclosed Adware? In the Matter of Advertising.com
In the Matter of Advertising.com, Inc., and John Ferber, Federal Trade Commission File No. 042-3196 (consent order announced Aug. 3, 2005). The FTC is signaling that it is sending a “message” with this case. The only problem? I’m not sure…
Are Adware Advertisers Responsible for Adware?
The topic of “who is responsible for what?” in the adware industry keeps coming up. I’ve repeatedly blogged on this topic in somewhat piecemeal fashion, but I finally organized my thoughts into an editorial that ran this morning in News.com….
FTC Cracks Down on Porn Spam
The FTC has brought enforcement actions against seven companies for violating failing to include the “SEXUALLY-EXPLICIT” label on emails where such labels are required under CAN-SPAM and the implementing FTC regulations (as well as other violations of CAN-SPAM). Four of…
Laugh! Or You Can Be 26 Cents Richer
TBS is so convinced that people will laugh at the new Pauly Shore TV show “Minding the Store” that it says: “If his new show doesn’t make you laugh, he’ll send you a dollar!*” Just to make sure we’re clear,…
Mistaken Judgments for Content Labeled Advertising
Last week I applauded the FTC for arguing against the mandatory labeling of commerical emails. In that post, I argued that the labels would increase the rate of erroneous judgments by recipients, because the recipients would mistakenly believe that the…
No Billboards in Space
I’m a little late blogging on this, but the FAA has proposed regulations to prohibit billboards in space. Comments are due by July 18. Unfortunately, the news reports didn’t accurately capture the issue. Congress already outlawed “obtrusive space advertising” in…
Gates on Information Overload
Bill Gates says that future releases of Microsoft products will help address information overload.