What We're Reading 4-1-2011
A company selling a popular series of guitar-lesson DVDs will pay $250,000 to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it deceptively advertised its products through online affiliate marketers who falsely posed as ordinary consumers or independent reviewers.
Reuters: EU wants Facebook, Google to comply with new data rules
Social-networking sites such as Facebook, or search engines such as Google, may face court action if they fail to obey planned EU data privacy rules, European Union justice chief Viviane Reding said on Wednesday.
Reuters: Judge slaps down Google's digital library settlement
A U.S. judge on Tuesday rejected a $125 million settlement between Google Inc (GOOG.O) and authors that would have let the company publish millions of books online to create the world's largest digital library.
ClickZ: Google, Yahoo and TRUSTe Advance Self-Reg Plans
Google, Yahoo and privacy certification firm TRUSTe have each taken steps to advance industry self-regulation for online behavioral advertising. Google and Yahoo are switching to the standard behavioral ad icon associated with the Digital Advertising Alliance's self-regulatory initiative. Meanwhile, TRUSTe is trying to help consumers prevent online tracking by bad actors.
MediaPost: Kerry Privacy Bill Could Impose 'Major' Obligations On Ad Networks
A draft of privacy legislation floated by Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) would give the Federal Trade Commission authority to craft privacy regulations and to operate a Web site where consumers can opt out of online behavioral targeting. The potential measure would generally require companies to notify consumers about the collection of their data, and also allow them to opt out of having data used by third parties, like ad networks.
