Satisfied with Google's promise to restrain Street View, FTC drops privacy ... - Washington Post

The federal government has ended an inquiry into a privacy breach involving Google's Street View service, satisfied with the company's pledge to stop gathering e-mail, passwords and other information from residential WiFi networks as it rolls through neighborhoods.

Wednesday's decision by the Federal Trade Commission is a sharp contrast with the reaction of regulators in Europe. The United Kingdom has launched a new investigation into Google's collection of unencrypted WiFi data, exposing the company to potential fines. Germany told Google to mark its Street View cars that take pictures of neighborhoods and homes. The Czech Republic banned Google from expanding its mapping software program.

The differences highlight an increasing gap between regulators in the United States, where the freewheeling Internet culture has birthed many of the social networking sites and search engines used worldwide, and governments in Europe and Canada, which tend to be much more aggressive about privacy.

"Part of it is cultural, and part of it is that the U.S. and Europe have radically different privacy regimes," said Chris Calabrese, legislative counsel for the ACLU. "The European model is extensive data protection in private information, and the U.S. model is piecemeal."

The result is a rising number of trans-Atlantic conflicts. The Obama administration has been criticized for its efforts to allow law enforcement to surveil Internet networks, for instance. In addition, the European Union is pushing back against U.S. demands to share data about U.S.-bound air passengers.

Many European nations have laws that sanction or fine companies for learning too much about Web users and sharing that information with other companies. Regulators there tend to focus on consumers' rights to their own information on the Internet. In the United States, companies argue that consumers lose their rights after information is shared with a third party.

U.S. regulators are working on suggestions for how far companies can go with information they collect, store and share about Internet users. Those suggestions, to be released in a report by the FTC in the coming weeks, could result in a legislative road map for Congress. But because of the agency's limited rule-making power, the FTC's report could have limited impact, privacy groups fear.

The advocates also argue that U.S. companies have a strong voice in debates at the FTC and on Capitol Hill over privacy legislation. As a result, critics say, the U.S. government has been more sensitive to how privacy regulation or laws could affect the businesses of Web sites like Facebook and Amazon and media sites, such as The Washington Post and CNN.com.

"We are trying to develop a framework with input of many stakeholders that would be useful as we all go forward on privacy," said Jessica Rich, deputy director of the FTC's Consumer Protection Bureau.

In a letter to Google on Wednesday, the FTC said privacy concerns from its Street View cars' data collection were allayed when the search giant announced that it would beef up privacy training for employees and not use any collected data for any Google products or services.

"This assurance is critical to mitigate the potential harm to consumers from the collection of payload data," David Vladeck, head of the FTC's Consumer Protection Bureau, wrote in closing the review.

While taking photos of cars and homes, Google's Street View cars were also collecting information about the placement of WiFi networks. After German authorities investigated the practice, Google said its cars had accidentally also collected Internet user data - or payload data - while passing homes.

"We are deeply disappointed that FTC dropped the ball on Google," said Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy. "It took other regulators in Germany and Canada to expose the extent of the privacy violation. And the U.S. is saying it will continue to be absent on this issue."

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Apple`s White iPhone Delays Causing Color Coordination Angst - eWeek

Apple executives are attempting to comfort customers dismayed by Oct. 27 news reports that the eagerly-awaited White iPhone would be delayed until spring. Apple is claiming that production of a phone with white plastic proved significantly more challenging than production of the same phone with black plastic. For reasons that remain obscure, iPhone fanciers have been waiting with bated breath for the white version. 

After a few minutes of in-depth research on the problem with white iPhones, I?ve been able to make some basic determinations as to what might be going on here, really. Clearly, making a phone white does not strain the limits of phone production technology. After all, Western Electric was making white phones back in the days of rotary dials. Since that time a number of companies, including Panasonic and General Electric have sold white cordless phones. So the color white clearly does not preclude the phone-worthiness of a device.

Nor does being white keep a smart phone from working. Rim has been making white BlackBerries for a couple of years, and has just announced a new version of the Bold, running BlackBerry OS 6.0, that will come in white. So it has to be something besides manufacturing. Some Apple sources say it?s because the white home button doesn?t match the case. But that reason is also clearly bogus since the existing black iPhone cases and the black buttons don?t match either.  

No, something more sinister is at work here. Perhaps Apple is suffering a case of political correctness run amok? Perhaps by creating a white iPhone, Apple might lose its status of being the coolest phone out there. Or perhaps they?re afraid of being too much like RIM, which is, after all, from Canada, not California which is the home of all that?s cool (as differentiated from cold, which is what Canada has to offer). 

On the other hand, perhaps it?s fear of losing a competitive advantage. After all, Android phones are available in silver and black, but not white. Is this the fear of losing the silver and black market to the Android masses? Think about it. The hyper successful Droid line from Verizon Wireless is black. Most BlackBerries are black, except for those which are red or purple or gold or whatever. Perhaps black is the color of success in phones, just like in the old days when pay phones were all black. 

Or, perhaps the black iPhones have priority on the secret underground iPhone production line because Verizon Wireless likes black phones and there simply isn?t capacity for white phones on the same line. Sometime next spring, after Apple has sold Verizon Wireless its ten million black iPhones, the production lines will free up and they can start using up that supply of non-matching white cases that have been gathering dust since July. After all, who is really going to care if the white home button doesn?t match the white case? Who is even going to be able to tell? They?re on different sides of the phone, after all.

But if white is that big a problem, maybe it might be better if Apple chooses some other color. Granny Smith Green, perhaps? Delicious Red? That won?t come with the marketing baggage of the white iPhone, and it?ll be a lot less boring. And they ARE Apple colors, right? 

There are, of course, solutions. The most obvious is spray paint. The advantage is that you can have a white iPhone in seconds. It?s also cheap, readily available, and if you let it dry properly it won?t cause too many serious health hazards. The primary downside is that you have to be careful what part of the phone you paint. 

And of course, you can buy up scrap Western Electric white phones, melt them down into a nice batch of phenolic resin and cast the iPhone parts from that. The resulting phones will be white, they?ll be cheap and rugged. The fact that they?ll weigh three pounds each is a small price to pay for a white iPhone. 

And of course, you can take a marketing lesson from Steve Jobs and simply deny that your black iPhone is actually black. You can hold a press conference and explain that it?s just a different kind of white, that the whole discussion is just the media causing ?black case gate.? If you think about it, the case is the color it should be. Calling the case black will just show that you?re out of touch. 

Or, of course, you can just wait until Apple gets its act together to make white phones. But where?s the fun in that? 

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Obama gets his 'Daily Show' moment of zen - USA Today

By David Jackson and Lindsay Deutsch, USA TODAYWASHINGTON — President Obama stayed mostly serious during Wednesday's appearance on The Daily Show, defending his record as the host Jon Stewart poked him about the promises of "change" he made during the 2008 campaign.Less than a week before Tuesday's elections, Obama said his team prevented an economic depression, revived private sector job growth and passed a historic health care plan. "We have done an awful lot that we talked about in the campaign, and we are going to do more," Obama said.

At one point, Stewart said Obama ran for the presidency with "audacity," but some of his legislation felt "timid." Obama somewhat testily replied, "Jon, I love your show, but this is something where I have a profound disagreement with you ... this notion that health care was timid."

When Obama said his administration has done things people don't know about, Stewart said: "What have you done that people don't know about? Are you planning a surprise party for us?"

Discussing complaints by supporters, Obama said his actions are discounted because the "assumption is we didn't get 100% of what we wanted, we only get 90% of what we wanted, so let's focus on the 10% we didn't get."

The interview took place in a playhouse in downtown Washington about 10 blocks from the White House. Stewart, normally based in New York City, is broadcasting this week in Washington before hosting a "Rally to Restore Sanity" with fellow Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert here on Saturday.

"Obviously you've got a constituency of younger voters that watch that show, and it's a good place to go and reach them," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

Naomi Seligman was in the audience with her fiancé, Andrew Gumbel. The couple from Santa Monica are getting married in Washington on Saturday.

Seligman said she thought the talk was "smooth and funny."

Obama's appearance was "a great vehicle for people who don't usually care about politics," she said. "The prism they know it through is Jon Stewart. ... This makes you feel like you're sitting with him having a beer."

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Ex-Paul campaign volunteer wants apology - The Associated Press

Ex-Paul campaign volunteer wants apology(AP) – 3 hours ago

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A former campaign worker for U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul wants an apology from the liberal activist he reportedly roughed up, but he won't be getting his campaign donation back from the Paul campaign that dropped him after the incident.

Paul's campaign has tried to distance itself from Tim Profitt, the supporter caught on video stepping on the head of a MoveOn.org activist outside a debate Monday night between the Republican nominee and Democrat Jack Conway.

Profitt, who contributed some $1,900 to Paul's campaign, acknowledged his role in the altercation. But he insisted Wednesday that he had been wronged by the activist, 23-year-old Lauren Valle.

"I would like for her to apologize to me, to be honest with you," Profitt told WKYT-TV in an interview in which he would not allow the television station to show his face.

Neither Profitt nor Valle returned telephone calls Wednesday from The Associated Press.

Following Monday's incident in Lexington, the Paul campaign promptly dropped Profitt as campaign coordinator in Bourbon County in central Kentucky and banned him from future events.

However, Paul campaign manager Jesse Benton said the tea party-backed campaign won't return Profitt's contributions.

Conway said Wednesday during a campaign stop in Shepherdsville that the skirmish was "horrifying," and called on the Paul campaign to identify all its supporters who were involved.

"These are the people that carry around the signs that say, 'Don't Tread on Me,'" he said. "Sounds to me like they've got it backwards."

Benton defended the Paul campaign's response, and accused Conway of trying to exploit it.

"The Paul campaign condemned the incident far before Conway's camp ever addressed it and decisively severed all ties with the supporter in question," Benton said in an e-mail.

The scuffle broke out while scores of vocal supporters for both candidates rallied outside the studios of Kentucky Educational Television in Lexington, where Paul and Conway held the final debate of their highly contentious race.

Profitt told the AP on Tuesday that the scuffle wasn't as bad as it looked on video and blamed police for not intervening.

Valle was roughed up as she tried to give Paul a fake "employee of the month" award. She told police she was assaulted while trying to take a picture of Paul.

She said her face was swollen and her neck and shoulder were sore after she was wrestled to the ground by Paul supporters.

Lexington police have said officers would deliver a summons to Profitt to appear in court. A judge will determine whether to proceed with an assault case.

In a conference call with reporters Wednesday, Conway spokesman John Collins criticized Paul's campaign for a "tepid" response that has "evolved." Conway's campaign also distributed a photo that it said shows Profitt with an arm on the shoulder of a smiling Paul.

The Kentucky Senate race, one of the nation's most closely watched, turned personal when Conway aired an explosive ad this month that asked why Paul was a member in college of a secret campus society that mocked Christians.

The ad also revisited accusations that Paul, while a student at Baylor University, participated in a prank in which he tied up a woman and told her to worship an idol, and that he told the woman his god was "Aqua Buddha." Those claims by a woman who requested anonymity were made in articles this year in GQ Magazine and The Washington Post.

Paul has denied being involved in any kidnapping and has called the ad false.

Associated Press writer Brett Barrouquere and Janet Cappiello Blake in Louisville contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Sony exec sees value in a PlayStation phone - CNN

The technology blog Engadget has posted photos of a PlayStation phone -- strong evidence of its existence.A Sony executive declined to address rumors about the PlayStation Phone
He indicated that the PlayStation Portable system could be due for a change
Specifically, only connecting to the internet via Wi-Fi can be limiting, he said

San Francisco, California (CNN) -- Stopping short of directly addressing intensifying speculation about a PlayStation phone, Sony's Peter Dille acknowledged that its portable game system could be due for a change soon.

Dille, the senior vice president of marketing at Sony Computer Entertainment of America, was asked about the so-called PlayStation Phone, which was first reported by Engadget, in a fireside chat Wednesday at a conference in San Francisco.

Refusing to confirm or deny rumors, Dille did say the lack of a cellular data connection could be holding back Sony's PlayStation Portable game system.

"The PSP is a Wi-Fi device," he said. "People are used to having always-connected devices."

Sony's home game consoles have had life spans of 10 years each, and the PlayStation 3 will continue to be supported for at least that long, Dille said.

But "the portable market moves so fast," he said. At six years, the PSP may be looking dry. Indeed, Sony has had to reverse its marketing strategy to target younger gamers for that system, Dille said.

Now, the PSP is having to compete with more fully featured hand-held game systems that can also make calls, send text messages and provide a window to thousands of games and apps.

Apple chief Steve Jobs has boasted in news conferences, saying the iPod Touch and iPhone have become the hand-held gaming leaders. The company recently launched a social networking hub called Game Center.

However, Dille said Sony has competitors, like Apple's iPhone and Google's Android, beat for the attention of serious gamers. PSP's focus is on long, immersive entertainment, not five-minute battles between meetings.

"These are largely time-killers," Dille said of smartphone games. "Gamers aren't satisfied with that."

Whether Sony sees Android's gaming marketplace as a competitor or potential partner, Dille declined to comment. Engadget reported that Android could power the rumored PlayStation Phone.

A spokeswoman present during a CNN interview with Dille after the onstage chat said, "We have relationships with Google."

The PSP can already do more than just gaming, Dille said. It has applications for watching movies, making calls over Skype and limited Web browsing.

But many of those functions are limited by whether you have Wi-Fi access. Plus, it's not a phone, so you need to carry multiple gadgets. But that could be a selling point, said Dille.

"Consumers like different boxes," he said.

Sony's goal for the PlayStation Network -- the online component for gaming and downloading video of which Dille is also the senior vice president -- is to be an entertainment centerpiece and be always accessible. The current PSP doesn't quite fulfill that vision.

"I don't think we fully realize that vision with a Wi-Fi device," Dille told CNN. "If it's not connected [to a cell network] then it does sort of limit people."

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