What We're Reading 5-5-11
Environmental Leader: Green Consumerism in Doubt
As companies push to capitalize on eco-sensibilities this Earth Day (see our wrap-up), a suite of reports suggest mixed prospects for such products and marketing efforts.
Sales of Green Works, the Clorox environmental cleaning line launched with great fanfare and a Sierra Club endorsement in 2008, have fallen from about $100 million to $60 million a year, according to the New York Times. The paper reports that many green products are struggling to keep up sales during recession.
paidContent.org: Less Than 1 Percent of Firefox Users Using ‘Do Not Track’ Option
Is it because it’s tucked away in an “advanced” menu that users don’t know about? Or is it because most users simply aren’t that bothered by targeted advertising? Whatever the reason, less than 1 percent of users of Firefox 4 are adopting the “Do Not Track” option, according to Jules Polonetsky, founder of the Future of Privacy Forum think tank. Firefox 4 is the first web browser to send a Do Not Track signal to websites based on users’ requests.
Bloomberg Businessweek: Apple, Google Queried by U.S. Lawmakers on Tracking Technology
Apple Inc. and Google Inc. were among six companies that drew inquiries from U.S. lawmakers seeking to determine whether their products breach privacy rules by tracking, storing and sharing user locations.
Reuters: Government to regulate electronic cigarettes as tobacco
The government said on Monday it plans to regulate electronic cigarettes as tobacco products.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's announcement came after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a decision that electronic cigarettes are not drugs or devices unless they are marketed for therapeutic purposes.
MediaPost: Supreme Court Weighs Privacy Against Marketers' Rights
Lawmakers have recently proposed measures that would require Web companies to allow consumers to opt out of online data collection, but significant questions remain about whether such laws would violate companies' First Amendment rights to communicate with each other.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that could go a long way toward answering those questions. The matter stems from a Vermont law that prohibits pharmacies from selling records of prescriptions written by doctors without their opt-in consent.
