May 2010

The fight over regulating the Internet has become the engine for a perpetual Washington fund-raising machine. By definition, this means the battle won't end anytime soon.

Victor E. Schwartz, who chairs the Washington policy group at Shook, Hardy & Bacon, has seen this drill before. "You have a Washington game with certain perennial issues important to business," he says. "They come back again and again. Why? They're fund-raising gushers." Members of Congress see little reason to resolve the clash quickly, so long as conflicting interests fill their campaign coffers. Schwartz served as an industry field general in a 20-year war against the plaintiffs' bar over product liability restrictions. That scorched-earth exercise in the courts and Congress finally burned out in 2005. Business interests won selected litigation curbs, including limits on state court class actions and securities suits. Total victory -- broad federal "tort reform" -- eluded Schwartz and his allies. Net regulation could be the new product liability. The FCC announcement "is likely to set off a politically charged conflagration and deep-pocketed lobbying war," pitting the digital service providers against Google, Amazon, and others that want their content disseminated free of special charges or limitations, says Jeffrey Silva, a Washington-based analyst with Medley Global Advisors.

The Federal Trade Commission and the National Association of Attorneys General are being asked to investigate digital marketing of alcoholic beverages, both beer and distilled spirits.

The request is coming from the Center For Digital Democracy and the Berkeley Media Studies Group, which plan Tuesday (May 18) to release a report, Alcohol Marketing In the Digital Age, with examples of online alcohol marketing via mobile phones, social networks and more they argue has the potential to attract underage drinkers. The study was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The beer and distilled spirits industries already have self-regulatory codes that prohibit marketing to youth, but the groups want them to toughen those, including banning the use of psychographic information on underage users from any Web site. That report cites various digital and social marketing campaigns, including Google (YouTube), MySpace, and Facebook that the alcohol industry uses in an effort to track and target their audience. "The alcohol industry's digital and social media marketing tactics are blurring the boundaries between advertising and content with unprecedented sophistication," said report co-author Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center For Digital Democracy. "The FTC and state attorneys-general should launch an investigation into this new threat to young people online."

The Cyber Challenge, which is part national talent search and part skills development program, has set a goal of finding 10,000 Americans with the skills to fill the ranks of "cybersecurity practitioners, researchers, and warriors."

The idea is to nurture and develop participant skills, give them access to training and practice, and give them exposure to colleges and employers "where their skills can be of the greatest value to the country." The challenge is being put to the test this summer in an alpha run. Participants in California, New York, and Delaware can try out a free online treasure hunt, developed by the SANS (SysAdmin, Audit, Network, Security) Institute, an organization that provides security training and certification. Those who pass muster will be invited to attend a summer camp in that state where they'll receive a week of training by SANS and university faculty and students.

Online privacy is at worst an illusion, and at best harder to come by than ever -- and it's making headlines every day. Facebook's under fire for everything from its labyrinth of confusing privacy settings to apparently banning users who want to share. Google inadvertently collected data transmitted on open Wi-Fi networks its Street View cars drove by. People search engines like Spokeo make your photo, salary, and home address accessible at the press of a button. Privacy breaches (or just obfuscated settings) are all too common among Web applications of all stripes, so the savvy surfer has to know how to safely navigate. In an online world where personalization rules, there are two main ways to protect your personal data: Be vigilant about what you publish online; and be willing to roll up your sleeves and dig into the settings area of the tools and services you use to do so.