Beware Social Media Masters, FTC Taking Long Look at Phony Blogs

source: Beware Social Media Masters, FTC Taking Long Look at Phony Blogs | Loeb & Loeb LLP - JDSupra

Wyndham Decision: FTC Can Sue Businesses For Getting Hacked

re: federal trade commission, cybersecurity, liability

source: Burning Down The House – The Wyndham Decision Allows The FTC To Sue Businesses For Getting Hacked | Fowler White Burnett, P.A. - JDSupra

FTC as Data Security Cop Affirmed

source: FTC as Data Security Cop Affirmed | Kelley Drye & Warren LLP - JDSupra

more news links below (on mobile go to web version link below)


Follow @expvccom

Data, Privacy, Security, Lessons from FTC Enforcement Actions

Data, Privacy, Security, Lessons from FTC Enforcement Actions - source: Davis Wright Tremaine LLP - JDSupra

more news links below (on mobile go to web version link below)


Follow @expvccom

Internet of Things, IoT, FTC Data Privacy And Security Enforcement

FTC Commissioner Says That The FTC’s Data Privacy And Security Enforcement Authority Applies To The “Internet of Things” | King & Spalding - JDSupra:


more news links below (on mobile go to web version link below)


Follow @expvccom

ICANN53 Buenos Aires

18-26 Jun 2015

Domain Mondo coverage

Remote/Online Access
Twitter Feeds

FTC Office of Technology Research and Investigation

FTC Announces Office of Technology Research and Investigation | DLA Piper - JDSupra:

more news links below (on mobile go to web version link below)

Follow @expvccom

FTC Best Practices for Consumer-Facing IoT Devices

What Your TV Wouldn’t Tell You and Your Fridge Didn’t Know: FTC Best Practices for Consumer-Facing IoT Devices | Pepper Hamilton LLP - JDSupra:
Internet of Things, IoT, FTC

more news links below (on mobile go to web version link below)

Follow @expvccom

FTC Landmark Report on Internet of Things, Privacy, Security

FTC Issues Landmark Report on Internet of Things | Morrison & Foerster LLP - Social Media - JDSupra:
FTC Landmark Report on Internet of Things:

Federal Trade Commission Staff Report On the November 2013 Workshop Entitled The Internet of Things: Privacy and Security in a Connected World

Bureau of Consumer Protection January 2015

DOCUMENT:
FTC Staff Report on the Workshop "Internet of Things: Privacy and Security in a Connected World" (655.54 KB)

more news links below (on mobile go to web version link below)

Follow @expvccom

Now May Be The Best Time to Start a Business on the Internet

You Are Not Late — The Message — Medium: "... So, the truth: Right now, today, in 2014 is the best time to start something on the internet. There has never been a better time in the whole history of the world to invent something. There has never been a better time with more opportunities, more openings, lower barriers, higher benefit/risk ratios, better returns, greater upside, than now. Right now, this minute. This is the time that folks in the future will look back at and say, “Oh to have been alive and well back then!”..." (read more at link above)

Resources:
Online Businesses | The U.S. Small Business Administration | SBA.gov: "Establishing a business presence on the Internet can be a lucrative way to sell, market, and advertise your business’s goods and services. The following topics provide details on how to start and manage an online business.
1. Start a Business
Regardless of where you choose to operate your business, certain general requirements always apply. Before you can begin completing specific online business steps you must follow the basic rules for starting a business. Use these tools and resources to help take you from preparing your business plan and to becoming a successful business owner.
2. Register a Domain Name
A domain name is the web address of your online business. Choosing and registering a domain name is the first step to starting an online business. After you've chosen the name you'd like to register, the process is simple and cost-friendly. Where to register your name is up to the discretion of individual businesses.
Certified Registering Authorities
Internet Domain Name Registration Services
Abusive Domain Name Registration
Be careful to avoid possible security risks by becoming aware of potential scams. The Federal Trade Commission issued a consumer alert about Domain Name Registration Scams.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is the non-profit corporation that has technical oversight of Internet protocol address space allocation, protocol parameter assignment, domain name system management, and root server system management functions. It provides current news on issues surrounding domain names.
3. Select a Web Host
A web host provides you with the space and support to create your website. Choosing the host that best suits a business is up to the discretion of that business. Costs and abilities, such as site maintenance, search registration, and site development, vary from host to host but it is important for it to be both reliable and secure.
4. Design Your Website
The website of your online business is extremely important to its success. Because you don't have a physical location, this is considered your "store front". Websites can be designed personally, by hiring someone to work as your site designer, or by using an independent design firm.
Be sure to comply with U.S. trademark and intellectual property laws. The same laws and regulations apply to online businesses as regular businesses. Search for trademarks currently in use to avoid infringing on another company's rights on your website.
5. Begin Advertising and Marketing
Similar to the traditional market place, online businesses cannot be successful without customers. For online businesses, these customers come in the form of site visitors or viewers. Generating the highest amount of traffic possible on your website will create the highest chance that those visitors will become customers. Register with search engines and use keywords that will drive the most traffic to your site. Advertising and marketing on the internet is regulated very similarly to the real world, and many of the same rules apply. The Federal Trade Commission has created several guides to help online businesses comply with these regulations.
Advertising and Marketing on the Internet: Rules of the Road
DotCom Disclosures: Information About Online Advertising
For additional information, visit our guide to Online Advertising Law.
6. Comply with Online Business Regulations
Online businesses must comply with special laws and regulations that apply only to them. A lawyer that specializes in internet law can assist businesses with all aspects of starting and operating an online business. Contact an expert at the Federal Trade Commission for more information.
The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act of 1999
Selling on the Internet: Prompt Delivery Rules
Children's Online Privacy Protection Act
7. Find State and Local Compliance Information
In addition to Federal requirements, businesses must know and comply with state and local laws and regulations. Select your state, county, and city to determine what's required of your online business.
8. Learn Federal, State, and Local Tax Requirements
Online business are required to follow the same federal, state, and local tax laws as regular businesses. If you are operating your online business in a state that charges a sales tax; or levies a gross receipts or excise tax on businesses you may have to apply for a tax permit or otherwise register with your state revenue agency. Online businesses are responsible for collecting state and local sales taxes from their customers when applicable, and paying these taxes to state and local revenue agencies.
9. Understand International Trade Laws
Operating internationally requires many additional considerations from finding overseas markets and suppliers to shipping and tax regulations. Follow international trade laws for online business to be sure you are in compliance with all regulations.
10. Additional Startup Resources
These guides provide additional information relevant to starting and operating an online business.
Self-Employment
Resources for business owners who are starting or operating a business through self-employment.
Home-Based Business
Resources for online businesses that are based at home.
Strategies for Growth: Technology and Growth
A video series where experts and entrepreneurs discuss how taking advantage of the latest technology can help your business." (source of the above: SBA.gov )

11 Reasons Why Your Website Doesn't Sell (source: Entrepreneur Magazine)

Also a "must read"--Starting an Internet Business | BCP Business Center (source: ftc.gov)

more news links below (on mobile go to web version link below)

Follow @expvccom

Cybercrime, Rogue Registrars: Is ICANN Unfit For Internet Governance?

Documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal show that thousands of complaints about suspicious online pharmacies and other websites in 2012 weren’t reviewed for months because ICANN stopped maintaining one of its computer systems.

Law-enforcement officials told ICANN that the website posed an immediate health risk. Less than 15 minutes later, ICANN responded in an email that the organization had “reviewed and closed your complaint.”

Axelle Lemaire, France’s secretary of state for digital affairs, says the “lack of transparency” at ICANN “is very worrying. When it comes to selling illegal drugs online, it’s the health of world-wide citizens at stake.”

“I don’t know how contractually we could do something different than we are doing,” says Akram Atallah, president of ICANN’s Global Domains Division... Mr. Atallah says employees are “doing a very good job.” ICANN’s overall budget is $101 million for the current fiscal year.

Former Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz says ICANN needs continued oversight, partly because of its small compliance staff. Just 22 of the agency’s 300 employees are devoted to policing websites. An independent ICANN could be “dangerous for stakeholders, and more importantly, consumers,” says Mr. Leibowitz.

(source of the above: Wall Street Journal)

Update: See the Economist: The Amazons of the dark net and Independent ICANN Could Be Dangerous, Needs Continued Oversight, Says Former FTC Chairman (domainmondo.com)

ExpVC.com Contributing Editor's Opinion:

Here's one truism ICANN has yet to grasp: good governance is hard, but necessary. The Internet's days as a free-wheeling, unregulated marketplace are soon coming to an end. What the end result will look like is yet unknown, but the world re-discovered in 2008 that markets are not self-regulating, and there is a need, and place, for good, effective governance. This applies to the Internet as in all other sectors of public life. Of course, ICANN, a California corporation with no membership nor stockholders, and only a self-interested, self-selected Board of Directors which apparently owes a fiduciary duty only to the corporation itself, not employees nor stakeholders, is anxious to gain independence from all government oversight, without taking on any of the burdens (and costs) inherent in exercising such global authority and responsibilities. Whatever the outcomes of the IANA transition and ICANN enhancing accountability processes, if effective and responsible governance of the DNS and internet root zone, on a global level, from criminal activity is not included (to take just one example), it will not be long before governments throughout the world do whatever is necessary to wrest control of the DNS and internet, globally, or within their respective borders, in order to protect their own populations and public interest from ICANN's "hands-off, just pay me the money" approach to internet governance.

For a view of what real governance within the sphere that ICANN operates, looks like, see this search of US Federal Trade Commission actions. ICANN's source of authority, shield of immunity, and excuse not to govern, has heretofore been its contractual privity with the US government. Once that is gone, from what sovereign source of authority does ICANN have any legitimate claim to exercise authority over the global internet community, domain name registrants, registrars, registries, the DNS, and the internet root zone? No one has really given a good answer to that yet, but it will be a fertile area for litigation worldwide and other international disputes if left unanswered.

And apparently, neither ICANN's President of Global Domains Division (see quote above of Akram Attalah) nor anyone else at ICANN has a clue as to how ICANN, contractually, could do anything differently than it has been doing (or not doing). Perhaps, at a minimum, Mr. Atallah should consult with competent counsel who have FTC, or similar governance and regulatory experience, much of which is based solely on contractual terms.

On the other hand, if you are that clueless, perhaps you are unfit for internet governance.

Submitted by: Contributing Editor, John Poole, Domain Mondo

more news links below (on mobile go to web version link below)

Follow @expvccom

International Safe Harbor Privacy Compliance, What You Need to Know

International Safe Harbor Privacy Compliance: What You Need to Know | Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP - JDSupra:

"If you are not Safe-Harbor certified, review your website content, especially your privacy policy, and delete any language, including images of the Safe Harbor seal, that would express or imply your company’s claiming to participate and to comply with the Safe Harbor Framework. This is the only surefire way to ensure your company does not violate the FTC Act by misrepresenting participation."(source supra)

more news links below (on mobile go to web version link below)

Follow @expvccom

FTC investigating ICANN's new gTLDs program

FTC Chairman Leibowitz said near the end of a press conference on January 3, 2013 (announcing the Google settlement), in answering a question, that the FTC is investigating ICANN and its new gTLD program – requiring companies to spend six figure sums for “mostly defensive purposes.”

2012 Domain Dunce: new TLD applicants
Domain Name Wire
Consider VeriSign, which messed up its transliteration of .com in Hebrew. According to IDN experts, the string VeriSign submitted would take 7 keystrokes instead of the intended 3. For one of the characters, you'd have to type a character, then switch ...

WIPO received record number of cybersquatting cases in 2012
Domain Name Wire
The cases covered a total of 5,081 domain names. That shouldn't ... 5. The base of registered second level domain names continues to climb. Compared to the total number of domain names registered, the number of cases filed is at or near all time lows.

Sedo holiday end user sales report
Domain Name Wire
Thursday, January 3rd, 2013. A slow couple weeks but some good end user domain purchases.Domain sales typically slow during the holidays, and that's evident in Sedo's year end sales report. The company turned in $1.38 million in sales over two weeks.

PSA: Art.sy Is Down! Is its Syrian Domain Name to Blame?
In the Air, Art+Auction's Gossip Column (blog)
Art.sy isn't having the best start to 2013. On Tuesday afternoon, the online image repository went, well, offline. Art.sy staff still aren't sure what caused the outage. By Wednesday, engineers had successfully transferred the website over the Artsy ...

In the Air, Art+Auction's Gossip Column (blog)

SmartRecovery.com Lost In UDRP
TheDomains.com
Respondent has registered and is using the disputed domain name in bad faith and primarily for the purposes of intentionally attempting to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to Respondent's website, by creating a likelihood of confusion with ...

Zlatan fan lays down hilarious challenges in web war
Goal.com India
"An avid Zlatan Ibrahimovic who owns the Zlatan.fr domain name has laid down a hilarious option of challenges that the Paris Saint-Germain star must complete if he wants to own the URL...."

Goal.com India

InfoSec Institute Resources – Domain name parking of gTLDs
By Daniel Dimov
A cybersquatter is a person who registers a domain name with the intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else. The cybersquatter may also offer to sell the domain to another person or company who owns a ...
InfoSec Institute Resources

Domain Name Flipping & Investing: Revenue Opportunities for 2013
By Jamie Simmerman
Is there money in online business? Some say no. But a recent Business Insider article listed the top-selling domain name sales for 2012, with Investing.com.
MoneyNing

more news below

Follow @expvccom