Yesterday the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on behavior-based online advertising. Testifying were representatives of Google, Microsoft, NebuAd (a company that sells behavior-based advertising systems) and the Federal Trade Commission. There weren't any ISP representatives participating in the hearing, and according to the article in Broadcasting and Cable (linked below) the committee chairman will be holding another hearing on the issue focusing on the role of ISPs.
Here's my roundup of articles on the hearing.
Senate Commerce Committee Examines Online Privacy [Broadcasting and Cable]
Senators Weigh Possible Rules for Advertising and Online Privacy [NYT Bits Blog]
Privacy implications of online advertising [Google Public Policy Blog]
I was glad to see that ISP's weren't singled out during the hearing - see my story about Google advertising in one of my posts yesterday. I did find it interesting that Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) called the hearing a "solution in search of a problem," and the FTC representative said that comprehensive privacy legislation was not needed.
Privacy of our customers' online information is of utmost concern here at Insight. That said, policy makers should weigh carefully additional privacy legislation.
Retransmission consent and the digital transition
ACA asks FCC for quiet period during digital transition [CED Magazine]
Retransmission agreements allow Insight and other cable operators to retransmit the signal of local broadcast television stations. With the upcoming digital transition there is cause for confusion if some retransmission negotiations fail, resulting in a broadcaster station's refusing to allow a cable operator to continue carriage. I think the proposal for a "quiet period" that runs through the digital transition is a great idea. Indeed, Insight filed a request for the Commission to consider this type of moratorium along with four other cable companies several months ago.
Microsoft updates
DNS Fix Knocks Zone Alarm Users Offline [Broadband Reports]
If any of you are using a firewall called Zone Alarm, you might have been knocked offline yesterday after Microsoft released an operating system patch that was incompatible with Zone Alarm. The company that manufactures the firewall has released a fix, so all you Zone Alarm users can get back online.
Windows XP SP3 automatic updates kick off tomorrow [The Inquirer]
And on that note, Microsoft is preparing to release the last major update to Windows XP tomorrow. All of you running this operating system with automatic updates will have a copy of Service Pack 3 automatically downloaded and installed on your computer. This article provides some tips that may be helpful to implement before the automatic install begins.
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