Vogel Internet, Information Technology and e-Discovery Blog : Texas Internet, Information Technology, eCommerce & E-Discovery Lawyer & Attorney Peter S. Vogel : Gardere Wynne Sewell Law Firm : Dallas TX

The recent conviction of 3 Google executives in Italy for a video posted on Google which showed the bullying of a disable teenager captured many headlines. No question that the video was in poor taste and Google took the video down within 24 hours of its posting after Google got 2 complaints. The conviction of the Google’s global privacy counsel, Peter Fleischer and two other executives raises significant issues. A fourth Google executive was acquitted, and Google plans to appeal these convictions. Does it make sense that Google, or any other ISP (Internet Service Provider), be liable for content posted over which the ISP has no control? The US Communications Decency Act of 1996 protects ISPs from liability since they have no control over content posted. How Google fares with these convictions may have an interesting impact on ISPs around the world.

Google Street View May Breach EU Law

Only to make things more complicated recent reports that the Google’s Street View violates EU Data Protection laws since they retain the images for too long. As well it was reported that “Switzerland’s data-protection agency in November sued Google for allegedly failing to comply with proposals to make it harder to identify people and cars on Street View.” Of course disputes regarding Street View are not new since claims of breach of privacy have been under way since at least 2008 in Japan.

Google has More EU Antitrust Problems

ComScore recently reported that Google has about 79% of the searches in the EU and the EU renewed its investigation about Google anticompetitive behavior. Google claims that Microsoft may be the source of the investigation since Microsoft owns one of the companies that complained. It seems reasonable to assume that the search engine wars will continue, but how the EU ultimately rules may have a far reaching impact.

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The Robert S. Mueller III's (FBI Director) warning is not a surprise but how the IT community deals with these threats impact us all. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano “admitted there is an urgent need to step up efforts to protect Americans from cyber attacks.” Also Ms. Napolitano’s predecessor Michael Chertoff, former DHS secretary, under President George W Bush, agreed. "We are seeing in the intervening time the adversaries, whether they be criminals or nation states or terrorists, are not taking time off. So with each passing year, the need to move faster becomes greater." So far new the Cyber Czar as been low profile, but based on these presentations at the recent RSA Conference that low profile cannot continue.

Cyber Crime: A Clear and Present Danger

Deloitte’s recent white paper is the result of the 2010 CSO (Chief Security Officer) CyberSecurity Watch Survey in conjunction with the CSO Magazine, the US Secret Service, and the CERT Coordination Center at Carnegie Mellon. The white paper concludes that:

Data is more valuable than money. Once spent, money is gone, but data can be used and reused to produce more money. The ability to reuse data to access on-line banking applications, authorize and activate credit cards, or access organization networks has enable cyber criminals to create an extensive archive of data for ongoing illicit activities.

There is a clear message about how vulnerable businesses are and how every business must be vigilant or risk great damages.

Tweet this: Social Network Security is Risky Business

With the recent report of 50 million tweets a day it’s no wonder that a panel at the RSA Conference devoted a great deal of discussion to how vulnerable social networks are. Cybercrime is so easy because users of Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace are easy marks since the feel at ease communicating with their “friends.” However cybercriminals can more easily Web 2.0 commit cyber crime because most “…users are willing to click if they think, 'It's my friend. I'm OK, because I'm inside my network and that's Fred. Only it's not Fred, it's Fred's hijacked account." So all in all, things are becoming more dangerous and apparently businesses and web 2.0 social networkers are still not getting the scope of their risk!
 

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As more business rely on cloud computing and ERP systems it is essential to negotiate contracts to suit the needs of each enterprise. Please watch my new video entitled "The Price You Pay for IT: From ERP to Cloud Computing" where many of the important IT contract topics are presented.

Videos from SmartPros Ltd.

It is an honor to be a contributor to the library of video programs for SmartPros Ltd. which I have done since 2001. I encourage you to investigate SmartPros Ltd. where my video is one of many outstanding programs for “corporate accounting, financial management, public accounting, governmental and not-for-profit accounting, financial services training, banking, engineering, legal, and ethics and compliance.”

Farr Systems/BravoTECH CIO Roundtable Breakfast

In February I had the privilege to participate in a CIO Roundtable sponsored by Farr Systems and BravoTECH and here is a summary of the topics we discussed:

Please reach out to my friends Phil Farr (Farr Systems) and Andrew Jackson (BravoTECH) to discuss important IT issues. I thank Farr Systems and BravoTECH for allowing me to participate with a group of CIO leaders. Events such as this allow IT leaders to share experiences and create thought-provoking discussion about common thorny issues confronting businesses today, including cloud computing and social networking.

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Computerworld reported that 600 tweets are sent per second - 50 million per day which is significant for many reasons. Not the least of which is that 3 years ago Twitter handled 5,000 tweets per day! As well, in early 2009 Twitter raised $35 Million in its third round of financing with no business plan. What’s not clear if 10% of those sending tweets account for 80% of the total volume. Obviously something is happening to cause Twitter’s amazing growth, and it bears watching.

Yahoo, Twitter in deal to share content

A report from the LA Times states that Jim Stoneham, vice president of communities for Yahoo! described the Yahoo! deal with Twitter:

…will enable users to take material from both sites without having to leave either one. Specifically, users will be able to access their Twitter feed on Yahoo's sites. They will also be able to update their Twitter status and share content from Yahoo. And Yahoo search and media properties will include Twitter updates.

Hopefully this will help revive Yahoo!’s fortunes and expand Twitter’s reach.

Doonesbury Character Roland Hedley Tweets with 14,000 Followers

Followers of tweets was made a little more interesting in a recent National Public Radio story of “Roland Hedley, a fictional Fox News correspondent created by cartoonist Garry Trudeau, has attracted more than 14,000 followers since he began "tweeting."” As a matter of fact, Garry Trudeau wrote a book about tweets from Roland Hedley entitled My Shorts R Bunching. Thoughts?: The Tweets of Roland Hedley. So maybe all 50 Million tweets a day are not all that serious if a cartoon character tweets regularly! Nonetheless this is worth watching given these astonishing numbers.

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After the news reports about the cyber attacks in China it’s no wonder that that more than “75,000 computer systems at nearly 2,500 companies in the United States and around the world have been hacked in what appears to be one of the largest and most sophisticated attacks by cyber criminals discovered to date.” Unfortunately those computer systems hacked included the US government, “educational institutions, energy firms, financial companies, and Internet service providers. “ Included were access to “e-mail systems, online banking accounts, Facebook, Yahoo, Hotmail and other social network credentials, along with more than 2,000 digital security certificates and a significant cache of personal identity information.” Doesn’t sound much security given these facts, and this is pretty scary since we now have a Cyber Czar to protect us.

Kneber bot

Amit Yoran, NetWitness's chief executive reported how the Kneber bot was launched in this attack on the +75,000 computer systems:

The hackers lured unsuspecting employees at targeted firms to download infected software from sites controlled by the hackers, or baited them into opening e-mails containing the infected attachments, Yoran said. The malicious software, or "bots," enabled the attackers to commandeer users' computers, scrape them for log-in credentials and passwords -- including to online banking and social networking sites -- and then exploit that data to hack into the systems of other users, Yoran said. The number of penetrated systems grew exponentially.

Clearly educating employees is critical to avoid such attacks in the future, but what’s the likelihood of avoiding these kind of disasters? Not good!

Privacy at Home? - School Official Defended in Webcam Spy Case

The Lower Merion School District (in suburban Philadelphia) acknowledged that the District remotely activated webcams inside students’ homes, but the District claimed it was only to find missing, lost or stolen laptops. However a student and his parents filed a federal civil rights suit alleging violation of wiretap laws and violation of privacy. Among other problems created was that allegedly the District thought a piece of candy was a pill and that the student was selling drugs. This reminds me of Big Brother from George Orwell’s 1984. he just missed the year!

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EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Center) filed a complaint with the FTC that Google’s new Buzz significantly breached “consumers' expectations of privacy.” Many complaints were made after Google’s recent launch of Buzz, because Buzz automatically created “public circles of friends for users based on their most frequent Gmail contacts.” EPIC wants the FTC to order Google to make Buzz “opt-in.” What this means to Google’s social media evolution will be interesting to watch.

HEADLINE: “Facebook directs more online users than Google”

At the same time that Google’s social media is taking center stage a report was released that indicates that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is being replaced with Social Media Optimization (SMO):

“According to Web measurement firm Compete Inc., Facebook has passed search-engine giant Google to become the top source for traffic to major portals like Yahoo and MSN, and is among the leaders for other types of sites.”

There’s no rocket science to understand that Facebook’s 400 million friends have changed communications forever and SMO’s impact of search engines and SEO cannot be ignored. As Facebook rolls out its Titan email system SMO is certain to expand.

Aardvark joins Google!

At the same time of this Buzz controversy Google purchased Aardvark which is interesting since Vark.com “has defined a new kind of social search: sometimes you want a person, not a web page, to answer your question.” SMO and SEO are in the middle of Google’s evolution. This is a lot to digest at one time. Stay tuned.

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Hard to believe that Facebook turned 6 with another milestone- 400 million friends! According to Facebook 50% logon on any given day and 35 million update their status each day. Since it took Facebook 4 ½ years to reach 100 million friends in August 2008, the current growth rate is pretty incredible. What this portends is hard to image, but growth sure seem likely.  Just look at these statistics from Facebook:

Facebook’s Project Titan – Gmail Killer?

In the meantime reports came out that “Facebook is completely rewriting their messaging product and is preparing to launch a fully featured webmail product in its place… unofficially and perhaps over-enthusiastically, the Gmail killer.” Whether Titan is the Gmail killer is probably beside the point as the critical issue here is that Facebook is expanding into webmail to help its 400 million friends communicate more efficiently.

Gmail Adds New Features

Not so fast for Titan being a Gmail killer as reports also came out that “Google Inc. is taking a swipe at Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. with a new feature that makes it easier for users of Gmail to view media and status updates shared online by their friends.” One might wonder if Google was watching Facebook’s Titan and needed to offer new Gmail services to compete. Interesting dynamics for Web 2.0 which this blog will continue to monitor!

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My “Pool Ball Theory” is that if pool balls are not moving on a pool table the probabilty that a ball will fall in a pocket is ZERO, and my business opportunities will be ZERO if I don’t continually network. The Internet has expanded networking, and thankfully I started this blog in 2008 as part of networking. As well I actively participate in LinkedIn, Facebook, and other Web 2.0 activities….so the pool balls keep moving on the table!

Real Lawyers Have Blogs

While in New York this week for LegalTech I had breakfast at my favorite deli, The Stage on 7th Avenue, with my blog host Kevin O’Keefe (CEO at LexBlog) and Jake Ludington (VP of Product Development at LexBlog). Over breakfast we discussed the “Pool Ball Theory” and lots of other topics about how Social Networking is changing the practice of law and society. Overall LegalTech was a great experience as I got to see many old friends and make many new friends.

Pool Ball Theory Not Related to Mike Shamos

Dr. Michael Ian Shamos is a graduate school colleague and friend of many years who teaches eCommerce courses. Mike is the Distinguished Career Professor, Institute for Software Research International and Language Technologies Institute, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University. But Mike is also a world renowned Pool and Billiards expert who houses the largest library in the world about Pool and Billiards in his home. As well he is the author of a number of books on the subject including The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Billiards. Just so there’s no confusion, Mike had nothing to do with my “Pool Ball Theory!” Nonetheless Mike’s participation in the evolution of the Internet has been longstanding and I know that he uses the Internet to network as much as I.
 

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Google added two new links for “My social circle” and “My social content” that permit Social Networking searches! This blending of the most popular search engine in the US with social networking is getting more interesting since “Google is striking real-time deals with both Facebook and MySpace. Updates from public pages on Facebook will appear in Google real-time search, as will any publicly posted comments on MySpace.” In the future hundreds of millions of friends on Facebook and MySpace will use Google to search.

Google “Show Options”

Many people may not have noticed that when you do a Google Search the results displays “Show options” which includes the following:

So whenever you do a Google search you can click on “>Any time, Latest” and you will find information that just happened seconds before. This service now permits real time searching rather than purely historical.

Twitter on Google and Bing

To make things a little more interesting Google just announced that it will add live results from Twitter searches. However Bing already has an early version http://www.bing.com/twitter. With the tremendous growth of Social Networking now blending into search engines seems logical and inevitable. Even though Google gives pointers on how to protect oneself with these new social network searches, Google still keeps searches for 18 months. It makes one wonder how private everyone’s information really is on Social Networks or Google.
 

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