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Seeking to quell a growing uproar over its mishandling and possible cover-up of sexual abuse allegations, the British Broadcasting Corporation broadcast a highly critical examination Monday night of what one insider called the worst crisis in half a century to afflict the BBC, a national institution once viewed as an emblem of ethical probity.
The unusual spectacle of one BBC show broadcasting a hard-edged look at the journalistic integrity of another reflected the sense of crisis across Britain, as journalists, school officials, politicians and others question whether they did enough to stop decades of widely-rumored abuse by Jimmy Savile, a high-profile television personality and disc jockey known also for his philanthropy, who is accused of victimizing some 200 girls. Previous BBC associates of Savile who appeared on the “Panorama” investigative program spoke of their suspicions about him — even of his seeming boasting about what he had done — and of their failure to expose him.
BBC Episode Examines Its Own Sex Scandal Savile Scandal Claims BBC Editor (WSJ)
McDonald’s said it has removed social networking features in some of its online games after a privacy advocacy group complained to federal regulators that the restaurant chain was violating child online privacy laws.
In a complaint filed last August to the Federal Trade Commission, the Center for Digital Democracy said McDonald’s was using a “tell-a-friend” feature on games and other functions of HappyMeal.com and McWorld.com that asked children to upload photos and videos onto the site and then pass along that information to friends. McDonald’s also asked for children to list the e-mail addresses of friends, without gathering parental consent for that information. The practice, CDD said, was a form of deceptive viral marketing that violates the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. By collecting information such as e-mail addresses, McDonald’s wasn’t adequately disclosing its collection of personal data and didn’t ask for parents’ permission. McDonald’s said in a statement that it has scrapped the “forward-to-a-friend” options that “allowed users to e-mail ecards, links and photos to friends and family.”
McDonald’s removes networking features in some online games
Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) sent a letter to Microsoft requesting detailed information about recent revisions to its policies for handling customer data, saying he is concerned the new privacy rules will allow Microsoft to construct "detailed, in-depth consumer profiles.”
“Such collection may be in Microsoft’s corporate interest, but not necessarily consumers’ interest," he wrote in the letter to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Rep Markey asked Microsoft to explain why the new policy does not prohibit targeted advertising. Rep Markey asked Microsoft to explain what customer information it shared across its services before the changes and what it is able to now share after the changes. He also requested a list of all the services affected by the revision. He asked whether users will have any way to opt out of the changes and how Microsoft will handle the information of children and teens.
Rep Markey grills Microsoft over privacy changes Markey Concerned About Microsoft Tracking (B&C)
If the sequester is implemented on Jan. 2, government information technology vendors can look forward to a world of pain, including terminated or restructured contracts, a redefinition by government agencies of critical programs, and an increase in disputes, including monetary claims by agencies against contractors, according to Elizabeth Ferrell, a Washington lawyer specializing in federal procurement.
The numbers are stark. The White House Office of Management and Budget is charged with implementing $54.7 billion in non-defense budget cuts for fiscal year 2013 in the event Congress does not find a way to stave off sequestration. "All agencies are planning," she said, "but they're planning behind closed doors and they're not telling people." Government contractors, Ferrell said, are "frustrated at the lack of detailed information on how sequestration will be implemented." Her advice for tech companies doing business with the government is to determine the status of their funding. Projects that are fully funded won't be clawed back under sequestration, but just about everything else that isn't funded or protected as exempt, like Veterans Affairs' programs, will face drastic cuts as agencies squeeze 8.2 percent in annualized funding reductions into three fiscal quarters.
Sequester Would Bring Deep Cuts for IT Vendors
The Government Printing Office’s future lies in offering permanent and secure access to online content and producing paper copies only in rare circumstances, according to the agency’s five-year strategic plan.
97 percent of government documents are now “born digital,” meant for a life on the Web rather than piled on a shelf or filed in a binder. As a result, GPO said, its future plans will focus on making government content more easily available online through e-books, mobile-optimized websites and application programming interfaces that stream content onto third-party websites.
Government Printing Office Looks to Digital First Future GPO Strategic Plan (read the plan)
Technology is everywhere in the president’s responsibilities. Demonstrating that the president has a comprehensive understanding of technology plus a mature view of its capacities, limitations and dangers should be central to the electoral process. Unfortunately, as with so much other heavy policy, technology is largely left out of the political debate. Here are three reasons why there should be a presidential debate on technology.
- Cyberwar is war.
- What the Supreme Court will really be dealing with: whether advertisers, Web browsers and Internet service providers can troll your email and search history for personal information, whether and when law enforcement and debt collectors can access that information and whether law enforcement can use the GPS in your cellphone to track you and gather evidence of wrongdoing.
- Transparency and free speech are different in the Internet age.
Why We Need a President Debate on Technology
A coalition of rivals prodding regulators in the U.S. and Europe to bring antitrust lawsuits against Google is raising a series of new concerns with the search company’s business practices — this time claiming that Google is using Android to squash competition and corner the increasingly lucrative mobile market.
A confidential white paper provided to POLITICO outlines a range of alleged anti-competitive conduct that is allowing Google to “extend its desktop search dominance and eliminate competition in the mobile OS,” according to the report. The paper written by FairSearch.org — a group that includes some leading Google competitors, such as Microsoft and Expedia — has already been presented to antitrust enforcers in Europe. A version of the report, sources said, will also be shared with U.S. regulators, who are getting ready in the coming weeks to announce whether they will sue Google as part of an investigation into whether it is illegally monopolizing Internet search.
Mobile: The new frontier in claims against Google
The merger of Deutsche Telekom AG’s T-Mobile USA with MetroPCS Communications will increase competition with larger rivals and benefit consumers, the companies said in a regulatory filing.
The companies made the arguments in papers they submitted Oct. 18 to the Federal Communications Commission. The companies will file later with U.S. antitrust authorities, according to the filing. By having more customers, the company will be able to distribute the fixed costs of its network over a broader base, giving it greater pricing flexibility, according to the filing. The transaction doesn’t harm competition and strengthens the smallest of what the FCC has described as nationwide carriers, the filing said. It said the new company intends to be the leading low-priced carrier in the U.S., with a focus on offering plans attractive to customers seeking affordability.
T-Mobile Asks FCC to Approve Merger With MetroPCS Filing (read the filing)
SoftBank’s acquisition of Sprint Nextel would likely give the Japanese company effective control over two U.S. wireless carriers that hold rights to coveted airwave spectrum, adding to the appeal of the $20 billion deal.
Telecom carriers are fighting over spectrum because of the explosive demand for mobile data and the need to build faster networks to accommodate smartphones. Airwaves for wireless signals are controlled by the government, and are licensed by telecom carriers and broadcasters. How much spectrum access a carrier has can determine its coverage, service quality and, ultimately, its competitiveness. The battle over spectrum has been a factor behind recent telecom deals in the U.S. and globally. Softbank's deeper ties with Clearwire through Sprint could speed construction in the U.S. of a type of 4G network called TD-LTE, which is compatible with the technology Softbank is using for some of its 4G mobile services in Japan.
SoftBank Deal for Sprint Turns on Spectrum
Sprint Nextel Chief Executive Dan Hesse said he may seek to buy out corporate investors in wireless venture Clearwire at the right price. Clearwire’s other corporate investors have lost their interest in the company, Hesse said. Clearwire’s corporate investors include Intel, Comcast, and Time Warner Cable. Hesse said he doesn’t need 100 percent of Clearwire because Sprint’s current partnerships give it access to the spectrum it needs until 2014. “We just never made an offer to buy all of Clearwire, that’s just not on the table,” Hesse said. “We don’t need to do anything, we have a commercial arrangement with Clearwire, we have a contract and they provide us with WiMax 4G service and they are beginning to build out LTE 4G services.”
Sprint CEO Hesse May Buy More Strategic Clearwire Stakes