Phorm Eyes U.S. ISPs - Behavioral advertising debate far from over...Behavioral advertising debate far from over... 06:29PM Tuesday Sep 30 2008 by Karl Bode tags: legal · business · privacy While U.S.-based behavioral advertising firm NebuAD found their business model crippled by Congressional investigation, UK-based Phorm has had no such problems in the UK, despite their history as a rootkit developer. They are, in fact, moving forward with a new trial of their user-tracking ad system with British Telecom, after a huge outcry resulted from the two parties testing the system without informing subscribers. This week, Phorm expressed great interest in expanding their highly controversial UK operations to the U.S.: CEO Kent Ertugrul writes, "We believe Phorm's technology is global and is relevant to any market around the world that has a meaningful broadband user base." He goes on to describe expansion into non-U.K. markets as a "key strategic priority" for the company, and adds that it is continuing to "engage with a number of major ISP's in selected markets internationally." ... In reference to (privacy concers), Ertugrul suggests, "Our experience in the U.K. prepares us well to address concerns that have been raised in the U.S. and to engage accordingly." NebuAD's ISP clients all walked away when Congress began asking whether selling user browsing data without a functional opt-in system violated U.S. wiretap and privacy laws. Congress is now considering passing a law that would make all such systems opt-in, instead of opt-out. Verizon and AT&T recently proposed a voluntary opt-in program in order to pre-empt any new laws. Phorm's UK profits mean they can afford to wait while Congress figures out just what kind of restrictions they'd like to place on the sale of user browsing data. |
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I thought there was some kind of blocker for FF. It's still in beta, though.