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Category Archives: E-Commerce

Community Fiber in Washington, D.C., Seattle, and San Francisco

Fiber by cities: Washington DC, San Francisco, Seattle May 28, 2014 by susan crawford Developments and Lessons Learned – “This report provides detailed accounts of planning carried out in connection with community fiber networks in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, CA, and Seattle, WA. It includes information about existing fiber assets that the cities identified, funding mechanisms that were… Continue Reading

Internet Trends 2014 – Code Conference

Slides: Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends Report for 2014 (PDF version) – [snipped] – “High Level User / Usage Trend • Internet Users <10% Y/Y growth & slowing…fastest growth in more difficult to monetize developing markets like India / Indonesia / Nigeria • Smartphone Subscribers +20% strong growth though slowing…fastest growth in underpenetrated markets like China / India… Continue Reading

FTC Recommends Congress Require the Data Broker Industry to be More Transparent

Agency Report Shows Data Brokers Collect and Store Billions of Data Elements Covering Nearly Every U.S. Consumer: “In a report issued today on the data broker industry, the Federal Trade Commission finds that data brokers operate with a fundamental lack of transparency. The Commission recommends that Congress consider enacting legislation to make data broker practices… Continue Reading

Google Plans Advertising on Appliances, Including Nest Thermostat

EPIC – “In a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Google announced plans to place targeted ads on Google-controlled appliances. Google wrote that “a few years from now, we and other companies could be serving ads and other content on refrigerators, car dashboards, thermostats, glasses, and watches, to name just a few possibilities.” The proposal… Continue Reading

Consumer Reports: 85% of Shoppers Oppose Internet Ad Tracking

EPIC:  “According to a recent study by Consumer Reports, consumers overwhelmingly object to having their online activities tracked for advertising purposes. The report found that 85% of consumers would not trade even anonymized personal data for targeted ads. Additionally, 76% of consumers said that targeted advertising adds “little or no value” to their shopping activities. For more… Continue Reading

CIO – Google to launch automated tool for those wanting to disappear from search results

Follow up to EU Court of Justice – Google Must Remove Links Upon Request this news via  CIO: “People will be able to use an online tool to ask Google not to display search results about them, according to a German data protection commissioner. Google will create the tool following a decision by the Court of Justice… Continue Reading

MOOCs: Expectations and Reality

MOOCs: Expectations and Reality Full Report, May 2014. Fiona M. Hollands, Ph.D.; Devayani Tirthali, Ed.D. Center for Benefit-Cost Studies of Education, Teachers College, Columbia University “Over the past few years, observers of higher education have speculated about dramatic changes that must occur to accommodate more learners at lower costs and to facilitate a shift away from the accumulation of… Continue Reading

The Internet of Things Will Thrive by 2025

Pew – Many experts say the rise of embedded and wearable computing will bring the next revolution in digital technology. “To a notable extent, the experts agree on the technology change that lies ahead, even as they  disagree about its ramifications. Most believe there will be: A global, immersive, invisible, ambient networked computing environment built through the… Continue Reading

EU Court of Justice – Google Must Remove Links Upon Request

Court of Justice of the European Union, News Release No 70/14 Luxembourg, 13 May 2014. Judgment in Case C-131/12 Google Spain SL, Google Inc. v Agencia Española de Protección de Datos, Mario Costeja González. “An internet search engine operator is responsible for the processing that it carries out of personal data which appear on web pages… Continue Reading

Big Data: Seizing Opportunities, Preserving Values

Executive Office of the President, May 2014:  [snipped] “Today, data is more deeply woven into the fabric of our lives than ever before. We aspire to use data to solve problems, improve well-being, and generate economic prosperity. The collection, storage, and analysis of data is on an upward and seemingly unbounded trajectory, fueled by increases in… Continue Reading

Which World Bank reports are widely read?

“Knowledge is central to development. The World Bank invests about one-quarter of its budget for country services in knowledge products. Still, there is little research about the demand for these knowledge products and how internal knowledge flows affect their demand. About 49 percent of the World Bank’s policy reports, which are published Economic and Sector… Continue Reading