The Voice of the eCommerce Industry

What’s the Real Agenda of Georgia Event Owners/Operators?

Why would Georgia’s event owners and operators be opposed to a secondary ticket market bill that would enable consumers to have greater access to their events?  We think it’s because they want to have total control over which secondary markets are used - forcing ticket holders to use only a secondary market exchange that compensates the event owners whenever tickets are resold.

This isn’t the best way for a competitive environment to work.

We sent a letter today to Senator Don Balfour, Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee in Georgia, to clearly state our support of the HB1238 bill currently in review there (see Letter).

This bill ensures that fans can choose among competing secondary markets when they decide to buy or sell a ticket, which is in the best interests of Georgia fans and consumers.

Georgia’s consumers have been waiting long enough for the choice and convenience of an open, online marketplace.  Let’s not take it away from them now.

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Cybercrime experts from around the world will meet in Europe to discuss how governments should counter attacks aimed at crippling the internet and hitting users with data loss, identity theft and fraud.

Warner Music Group may propse an internet tax for unlimited online access to music. This new idea is intended to somewhat compensate the major losses music companies have recorded because of illegal music downloads.

Rep. Kevin Ambler, who has sponsored the Florida“Internet Predator Awareness and Online Safety Act” four times in a row, said senior women are often targets for predators, as they are more likely to be widowed and have savings. The bill would require sites to prominently post whether they required background checks and how the checks are done, as well as give safety tips

Spotlight on Cybersquatting

An article in the Wall Street Journal found that Complaints of "cybersquatting," surged to a record high in 2007. The practice was barred in the U.S. in 1999, and after declining for several years, incidents began to rise in 2004 and have risen18% in 2007. (Subscription Only)

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Top leaders are lining up votes for a plan to replace Maryland's new computer services tax with an income tax surcharge on top earners and cuts to transportation and other spending. The "tech tax," has had business groups calling for its repeal from the moment it passed, claiming it will destroy a growing part of Maryland's economy.

Alabama Attorney General Troy King held a forum on Tuesday addressing child internet safety, and the concerns parents should have if their child is using the Internet.   

The Dental Network, one of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield's HMOs, posted the Social Security numbers and other personal information associated with 75,000 patients online for at least two weeks last month. As of now, the company attributes the data breach to a technical error.

New reports of phishing scams targeting Facebook users.

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Syria is imposing tighter internet monitoring of citizens who link to the Web, as well as jailing bloggers who criticize the government and blocking YouTube and other Web sites deemed harmful to state security. Internet café owners are now required to keep detailed logs of their customers to make it easier to track down anyone deemed to be a threat.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is hosting a roundtable event to discuss new strategies aimed at increasing awareness of phishing schemes in Washington, DC on April 1^st.

Under a bill approved in Florida’s Senate, online dating services would have to inform customers whether they are attempting to secure the site by performing background checks on members. The bill does not require any background checks - only that companies say prominently whether they do them or not, and whether they allow people with criminal backgrounds to be members.

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Human rights and pro-democracy groups sympathetic to anti-China demonstrators in Tibet are being targeted by cyber attacks, with organization receiving on average 20 e-mail virus attacks daily. The attacks are designed to disrupt their work and steal information on their members and activities.

The Executive Committee of the ICANN  Board agreed to grant a month long extension to the public comment period on the GNSO Improvements Report, and will now close on April 25, 2008.

Lawmakers locked in the crosshairs of repeal on the issue of tax on computer services in Maryland. The larger issue is if the bill is repealed, how they will replace the estimated $200 million that the tax would create if it goes into effect in July.

An "F" for Florida

Last week we testified in Tallahassee about Florida's upcoming online dating bill - HB 411.  In our view, this particular bill is ineffective and should be replaced with something much stronger.

Even with its latest modifications,  we give it 3 “F” grades:
1.     An F for creating a FALSE sense of security. 
2.     An F for FREEZING the state of technology and effort to do truly effective background checks.   
3.     An F because it FAVORS ONE COMPANY in the way they do business - true.com.

We know to dial 411 to get useful information, but HB 411 dials-in to mis-information for Florida consumers.  We encourage Florida legislators to pass HB 411 over.

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ICANN reportedly proposed a new policy that could stop individuals from domain name tasting by changing the refund process. Currently, domain name buyers have a 5 day grace period with a full refund which enables dishonest operators to test domains to see if they produce more in advertising profits than the cost of their registration for a year.

The Associated Press reports the military is increasing efforts to gather intelligence, fend off cyber-attacks and improve relations with other nations as part of a strategy for keeping the U.S. safe.

Facebook plans to roll out new privacy features that will give users more control over who sees the data stored on their profile pages.

Delegate LeRoy E. Myers Jr (R-Washington/Allegany) introduced a bill to the House on Tuesday that would make it a crime to steal wireless access in MD. According to the bill, unauthorized access to another person's computer, network, database or software is a misdemeanor.

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Hannaford Brothers, a Maine based supermarket chain disclosed it has suffered a data intrusion into its computer network that has resulted in the theft of customer credit and debit card numbers. The information was reportedly illegally accessed from the computer systems during transmission of card authorization. The intrusion affected stores in  Florida and the Northeast.

Chinese authorities have blocked domestic access to YouTube.  In an effort to limit coverage of violence in the Tibetan capital, these online news sites, including BBC, CNN, and Yahoo have reportedly been inaccessible in the region over the past few years.

 

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McAfee discovers over 20,000 pages have been hacked to redirect surfers to a site that infects the visitor’s computer. Affecting thousands of web surfers, McAfee described it as one of the largest cyber attacks to date of this kind. With government and travel sites hit, thousands of web surfers’ computers have been affected.

South by Southwest Music Conference offers a rare opportunity to hear some of the industry’s biggest behind-the-scenes player’s talk about ticket sales, and the secondary ticket market.