As the holiday season wound down, U.S. residents kept on shopping significantly more than they did in 2006, particularly on the day after Christmas, but they also reported being less satisfied with e-tailers, according to a pair of studies.
Between Nov. 1 and Dec. 27 -- the first 57 days of the holiday season -- U.S. shoppers spent almost US$28 billion in online retail purchases, up 19 percent compared with the same period in 2006, according to comScore.
Shoppers spent $545 million on Dec. 26, more than doubling the spending on that day in 2006, as they took advantage of "late-season" offers and discounts, according to comScore.
Still, it looks like online spending growth for the 2007 holiday season will fail to meet comScore's 20 percent forecast, and fall way below the 26 percent growth registered during this period in 2006.
ComScore chalks up the smaller-than-expected growth to several factors, including warm weather in early November and various economic challenges this year, including higher gas prices, the real estate crunch and a "jittery" stock market, the company said Sunday.
Another important metric that dropped this holiday season compared with 2006's was customer satisfaction, according to ForeSee Results, a provider of online customer-satisfaction measurement services.
A survey of more than 11,000 shoppers revealed that, on a 100-point scale, customer satisfaction with the largest 40 e-tailers dropped, in aggregate, to 74 points, down 1 point from the 2006 holiday season, according to ForeSee. It conducted the survey in conjunction with FGI Research using the methodology of the University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index.
Still, the spending growth in online shopping this holiday season, even at 19 percent, would greatly outpace the growth of overall U.S. retail holiday spending, forecast at 4 percent by the National Retail Federation.
That 4 percent growth rate -- which would put 2007 holiday season retail spending in the U.S. at almost $475 billion -- would fall below the 10-year average of 4.8 percent and be the slowest since 2002, according to the National Retail Federation.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
US-CERT warns of flaw in latest RealPlayer
The US-CERT is warning computer users of a possible problem with the latest version of RealPlayer after a Russian security company claimed to have found a way to exploit a critical flaw in the multimedia software.
US-CERT (United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team) published its warning on Wednesday, the day after Gleg Ltd. Chief Technology Officer Evgeny Legerov announced the exploit code in a posting to the Daily Dave security discussion list.
The flaw affects the latest version 11 of RealPlayer running on Windows XP, service pack 2, according to Gleg. A Flash demonstration of the vulnerability has been posted to the Gleg Web site, but the company has not released its attack code or any technical details of the flaw.
Legerov discovered the flaw, called a stack overflow bug, during an audit of the RealPlayer source code, he said via e-mail.
Gleg sells "penetration testing" software that can be used by security professionals to find holes in computer networks. The RealPlayer flaw was added to Gleg's VulnDisco SA software on Dec. 16, which means that subscribers have had access to the code for more than two weeks. VulnDisco SA is sold as an add-on to Immunity's Canvas penetration testing platform.
There have been no reports of the code being released to the general public so far. US-CERT has not been able to study the exploit code and confirm that it works, said Art Manion, vulnerability analysis team leader at US-CERT.
Real is working to confirm whether the exploit code actually works, a company spokesman said Wednesday.
US-CERT is doing the same thing, Manion said. In the meantime, RealPlayer users should be cautious. "If one wants to assume the most cautious possible stance, you don't use it," Manion said.
In October, criminals exploited another flaw in RealPlayer in order to sneak unauthorized software onto victim's computers. That bug has been patched.
US-CERT (United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team) published its warning on Wednesday, the day after Gleg Ltd. Chief Technology Officer Evgeny Legerov announced the exploit code in a posting to the Daily Dave security discussion list.
The flaw affects the latest version 11 of RealPlayer running on Windows XP, service pack 2, according to Gleg. A Flash demonstration of the vulnerability has been posted to the Gleg Web site, but the company has not released its attack code or any technical details of the flaw.
Legerov discovered the flaw, called a stack overflow bug, during an audit of the RealPlayer source code, he said via e-mail.
Gleg sells "penetration testing" software that can be used by security professionals to find holes in computer networks. The RealPlayer flaw was added to Gleg's VulnDisco SA software on Dec. 16, which means that subscribers have had access to the code for more than two weeks. VulnDisco SA is sold as an add-on to Immunity's Canvas penetration testing platform.
There have been no reports of the code being released to the general public so far. US-CERT has not been able to study the exploit code and confirm that it works, said Art Manion, vulnerability analysis team leader at US-CERT.
Real is working to confirm whether the exploit code actually works, a company spokesman said Wednesday.
US-CERT is doing the same thing, Manion said. In the meantime, RealPlayer users should be cautious. "If one wants to assume the most cautious possible stance, you don't use it," Manion said.
In October, criminals exploited another flaw in RealPlayer in order to sneak unauthorized software onto victim's computers. That bug has been patched.
Company suing OLPC asked for $20 million
A company suing the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Association for patent infringement has asked for US$20 million to settle claims that the nonprofit had copied its keyboard.
Lagos Analysis Corp., or Lancor, is still trying to settle after filing the patent lawsuit in Federal High Court, Lagos Judicial Division in Nigeria, said Adé Oyegbola, Lancor's CEO. Lancor, now based in Natick, Massachusetts, has offices in Nigeria and owns a Nigerian patent for a four-shift keyboard, allowing computers to better handle multiple languages, Oyegbola said.
Oyegbola on Wednesday confirmed information published on the Groklaw blog saying that in August his company had asked OLPC for $20 million. That figure was based on OLPC information on potential distribution in Nigeria, Oyegbola said.
Nigeria, in July 2006, placed an order for 1 million of the laptops, but the Nigerian government is now reviewing that decision. Lancor's Konyin Multilingual Keyboards sell for $19.95, meaning 1 million of them would be worth approximately $20 million.
Lancor in December obtained a temporary injunction against OLPC distributing its laptop in the country.
"We didn't start the process because we're looking for the money," Oyegbola said. "It doesn't make sense for us not to protect our intellectual property."
Lancor, in its lawsuit, accuses OLPC of illegal reverse engineering its multilingual keyboard.
But OLPC had not yet begun selling its laptop at the time of the demand, OLPC's lawyer wrote in a letter published on Groklaw. "I feel obliged to note that, given the fact that OLPC has sold no multilingual keyboards, and that, according to Lancor's Web site, its multilingual keyboard sells for $19.95, your demand for $20 million is not well founded," lawyer Bruce Parker of the Foley Hoag law firm wrote.
Groklaw's Pamela Jones, a frequent critic of patent lawsuits against open-source projects, called the lawsuit "ridiculous."
"In short, they apparently jumped the gun, sending the dunning letter before OLPC had even shipped anything, not to mention that OLPC is a charity, not a business, and asking for money in a sum that doesn't match reality," she wrote.
A OLPC spokeswoman didn't immediately respond to a request for a comment.
Oyegbola said he hopes his company can still settle with OLPC. "We're hoping it doesn't get to [a trial]," he said. "It's in the hands of the lawyers now."
The evidence against OLPC is sketchy, Jones wrote on Groklaw. She questioned Oyegbola's motives, saying his actions may aid a rival project by Intel.
"Maybe this doomed litigation effort will last just long enough for a Nigerian knock-off of the OLPC, or the OLPC on Intel, to become ready for release," she wrote. "Maybe it's just about money a couple of guys want. Who knows why people do things like this?"
The goal of the nonprofit OLPC, founded by Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nicholas Negroponte, is to donate laptops to children in developing nations. Through Dec. 31, residents of the U.S. and Canada could donate $400 and get one laptop for themselves, while sending a second to a child overseas.
Lagos Analysis Corp., or Lancor, is still trying to settle after filing the patent lawsuit in Federal High Court, Lagos Judicial Division in Nigeria, said Adé Oyegbola, Lancor's CEO. Lancor, now based in Natick, Massachusetts, has offices in Nigeria and owns a Nigerian patent for a four-shift keyboard, allowing computers to better handle multiple languages, Oyegbola said.
Oyegbola on Wednesday confirmed information published on the Groklaw blog saying that in August his company had asked OLPC for $20 million. That figure was based on OLPC information on potential distribution in Nigeria, Oyegbola said.
Nigeria, in July 2006, placed an order for 1 million of the laptops, but the Nigerian government is now reviewing that decision. Lancor's Konyin Multilingual Keyboards sell for $19.95, meaning 1 million of them would be worth approximately $20 million.
Lancor in December obtained a temporary injunction against OLPC distributing its laptop in the country.
"We didn't start the process because we're looking for the money," Oyegbola said. "It doesn't make sense for us not to protect our intellectual property."
Lancor, in its lawsuit, accuses OLPC of illegal reverse engineering its multilingual keyboard.
But OLPC had not yet begun selling its laptop at the time of the demand, OLPC's lawyer wrote in a letter published on Groklaw. "I feel obliged to note that, given the fact that OLPC has sold no multilingual keyboards, and that, according to Lancor's Web site, its multilingual keyboard sells for $19.95, your demand for $20 million is not well founded," lawyer Bruce Parker of the Foley Hoag law firm wrote.
Groklaw's Pamela Jones, a frequent critic of patent lawsuits against open-source projects, called the lawsuit "ridiculous."
"In short, they apparently jumped the gun, sending the dunning letter before OLPC had even shipped anything, not to mention that OLPC is a charity, not a business, and asking for money in a sum that doesn't match reality," she wrote.
A OLPC spokeswoman didn't immediately respond to a request for a comment.
Oyegbola said he hopes his company can still settle with OLPC. "We're hoping it doesn't get to [a trial]," he said. "It's in the hands of the lawyers now."
The evidence against OLPC is sketchy, Jones wrote on Groklaw. She questioned Oyegbola's motives, saying his actions may aid a rival project by Intel.
"Maybe this doomed litigation effort will last just long enough for a Nigerian knock-off of the OLPC, or the OLPC on Intel, to become ready for release," she wrote. "Maybe it's just about money a couple of guys want. Who knows why people do things like this?"
The goal of the nonprofit OLPC, founded by Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nicholas Negroponte, is to donate laptops to children in developing nations. Through Dec. 31, residents of the U.S. and Canada could donate $400 and get one laptop for themselves, while sending a second to a child overseas.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Nokia Siemens to buy Apertio for €140M
Nokia Siemens Networks will buy Apertio, which specializes in network management applications for telecommunications operators, for €140 million (US$205 million), the companies said Wednesday.
Apertio, in Bristol, England, sells a software application suite with components for managing mobile phone subscribers. Features allow operators to authenticate and deliver applications to users, shut off lost handsets and collect real-time data on subscribers.
The management and consolidation of subscriber data is becoming more important, particularly as operators offer "converged" services, the term for offerings that combine mobile, fixed-line and Internet-based services, the companies said.
The deal is expected to close by May. When complete, Paul Magelli, Apertio's CEO, will head a new section within the Converged Core business of Nokia Siemens.
Apertio's software and equipment is used by operators such as Orange, T-Mobile, O2 and Vodafone. Apertio, a private company, estimates its 2007 revenue at €28 million.
Apertio, in Bristol, England, sells a software application suite with components for managing mobile phone subscribers. Features allow operators to authenticate and deliver applications to users, shut off lost handsets and collect real-time data on subscribers.
The management and consolidation of subscriber data is becoming more important, particularly as operators offer "converged" services, the term for offerings that combine mobile, fixed-line and Internet-based services, the companies said.
The deal is expected to close by May. When complete, Paul Magelli, Apertio's CEO, will head a new section within the Converged Core business of Nokia Siemens.
Apertio's software and equipment is used by operators such as Orange, T-Mobile, O2 and Vodafone. Apertio, a private company, estimates its 2007 revenue at €28 million.
Personal information record losses reach new heights
More than 120 million people in the U.S. had personal data exposed in 2007 as identity theft reached record heights. That's according to research from the nonprofit organization the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) which reported 446 separate breaches exposing 128 million records.
The data shows a more-than sixfold increase over its 2006 figures, when 312 incidents were recorded, involving more than 19 million individuals.
Another group, attrition.org, shows 319 personal information data loss incidents in 2007 in its database, both in the U.S. and other countries.
Criminals can fraudulently use other another person's identity data to buy goods, take out loans, take money from savings accounts, and hire cars. That person has to recover from the loss and endure badgering by debt-recovery organizations and bailiffs.
In the U.K. in 2007 we saw:-
- HMRC and Standard Life - 15,000 records exposed
- HMRC child benefit database - 25 million records lost
- HMRC and Countrywide Assured - 6,500 records leaked
- Northern Ireland Driving Agency - 6,500 records exposed
- Driving Standards Agency - 3 million records lost.
This means that U.K. government agencies alone lost over 28 million people's identity data in 2007. Additional medical data records were lost due to NHS errors.
The number of new identity fraud victims contacting credit reference checking agency Experian continues to grow: 2,570 victims of identity fraud contacted it for assistance in the first half of 2007; a 68 percent year-on-year increase.
Helen Lord, Experian's fraud and regulatory compliance director at Experian, said: "The rate of identity fraud growth continues to be scary."
Identity theft criminals are being caught and punished. However, ITRC founder, Linda Foley, herself an identity theft victim, said: "Identity theft is like the never-ending story. It acts like an oil spill that spreads in yet another direction with the ocean currents and wind despite best efforts to contain it."
The data shows a more-than sixfold increase over its 2006 figures, when 312 incidents were recorded, involving more than 19 million individuals.
Another group, attrition.org, shows 319 personal information data loss incidents in 2007 in its database, both in the U.S. and other countries.
Criminals can fraudulently use other another person's identity data to buy goods, take out loans, take money from savings accounts, and hire cars. That person has to recover from the loss and endure badgering by debt-recovery organizations and bailiffs.
In the U.K. in 2007 we saw:-
- HMRC and Standard Life - 15,000 records exposed
- HMRC child benefit database - 25 million records lost
- HMRC and Countrywide Assured - 6,500 records leaked
- Northern Ireland Driving Agency - 6,500 records exposed
- Driving Standards Agency - 3 million records lost.
This means that U.K. government agencies alone lost over 28 million people's identity data in 2007. Additional medical data records were lost due to NHS errors.
The number of new identity fraud victims contacting credit reference checking agency Experian continues to grow: 2,570 victims of identity fraud contacted it for assistance in the first half of 2007; a 68 percent year-on-year increase.
Helen Lord, Experian's fraud and regulatory compliance director at Experian, said: "The rate of identity fraud growth continues to be scary."
Identity theft criminals are being caught and punished. However, ITRC founder, Linda Foley, herself an identity theft victim, said: "Identity theft is like the never-ending story. It acts like an oil spill that spreads in yet another direction with the ocean currents and wind despite best efforts to contain it."
IBM buys Israeli storage startup XIV
IBM has bought XIV, an Israeli manufacturer of SAN (storage area network) equipment. XIV's main product is Nextra, a storage system based on a grid of standard hardware components.
Nextra's self-healing, self-tuning and dynamic scaling capabilities will give IBM new technology to address the growing requirement for high-performance storage for digital archives, digital media and Web 2.0 applications, IBM said.
Around 4 petabytes (4 million gigabytes) of Nextra storage are already in service, XIV said.
XIV employees will join IBM's system storage business unit, the companies said. Moshe Yanai, chairman of XIV, previously worked at EMC.
The companies would not put a price on the deal, but reports in the Israeli financial press earlier this week valued it at US$300 million to $350 million.
This is the latest in a line of storage-related acquisitions for IBM, which recently bought Softek, FileNet and NovusCG to beef up its storage offering.
Nextra's self-healing, self-tuning and dynamic scaling capabilities will give IBM new technology to address the growing requirement for high-performance storage for digital archives, digital media and Web 2.0 applications, IBM said.
Around 4 petabytes (4 million gigabytes) of Nextra storage are already in service, XIV said.
XIV employees will join IBM's system storage business unit, the companies said. Moshe Yanai, chairman of XIV, previously worked at EMC.
The companies would not put a price on the deal, but reports in the Israeli financial press earlier this week valued it at US$300 million to $350 million.
This is the latest in a line of storage-related acquisitions for IBM, which recently bought Softek, FileNet and NovusCG to beef up its storage offering.
Qualcomm maneuvers around court's chipset ban
Qualcomm is shipping four new wireless chipsets that do not infringe on a video encoding patent held by competitor Broadcom. Qualcomm expects the WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) handsets containing the chips to go on sale in the U.S. by April, it said Wednesday.
The announcement comes two days after a U.S. federal judge issued an injunction that stops Qualcomm from selling some wireless chipsets found to infringe on the Broadcom patent.
Under a special provision of the injunction, Qualcomm can continue to use Broadcom's patented technology in some existing QChat push-to-talk and 1xEV-DO (Evolution-Data Only) products through Jan. 31, 2009, as long as it pays royalties to Broadcom. New products, or existing products sold to new customers, are not covered by the automatic license.
Qualcomm is still developing workarounds for infringing technology included in the QChat and 1xEV-DO products, it said.
Broadcom won a patent infringement suit against Qualcomm in May and was awarded US$19.6 million in damages. However, Broadcom said the injunction -- which only applies to chipsets sold in the U.S. -- was far more important than the money.
Monday's injunction, issued in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, also prohibits Qualcomm from some marketing and customer support activities related to WCDMA and EV-DO chips.
Qualcomm said it still wants further clarification on some aspects of the injunction, saying it could affect the company's product development. The company said it is also considering filing an appeal or for a stay of the injunction.
The two companies still have other patent infringement and antitrust claims pending.
The announcement comes two days after a U.S. federal judge issued an injunction that stops Qualcomm from selling some wireless chipsets found to infringe on the Broadcom patent.
Under a special provision of the injunction, Qualcomm can continue to use Broadcom's patented technology in some existing QChat push-to-talk and 1xEV-DO (Evolution-Data Only) products through Jan. 31, 2009, as long as it pays royalties to Broadcom. New products, or existing products sold to new customers, are not covered by the automatic license.
Qualcomm is still developing workarounds for infringing technology included in the QChat and 1xEV-DO products, it said.
Broadcom won a patent infringement suit against Qualcomm in May and was awarded US$19.6 million in damages. However, Broadcom said the injunction -- which only applies to chipsets sold in the U.S. -- was far more important than the money.
Monday's injunction, issued in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, also prohibits Qualcomm from some marketing and customer support activities related to WCDMA and EV-DO chips.
Qualcomm said it still wants further clarification on some aspects of the injunction, saying it could affect the company's product development. The company said it is also considering filing an appeal or for a stay of the injunction.
The two companies still have other patent infringement and antitrust claims pending.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Federal judge orders stop to Qualcomm chip sales
A U.S. federal judge has clamped further restrictions on Qualcomm's ability to sell and support certain wireless chipsets, saying that they infringe on three patents held by rival Broadcom.
The injunction, issued Monday by U.S. District Court Judge James Selna, prohibits Qualcomm from making and selling certain third generation (3G) chipsets, used to provide Internet access to mobile phones. Qualcomm is also barred from engaging in a range of marketing and customer support activities related to its WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) and EV-DO (EVolution-Data Only) chips, which are used to process data on high-speed wireless networks.
The ruling is the latest in a series of actions in the long-running dispute between the two chip vendors. In July, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that Qualcomm infringed Broadcom patents and barred Qualcomm from importing chips to the U.S., but the Commission allowed mobile phone vendors to ship the chips in their products.
"The ITC order did not go nearly as far in prohibiting other activities from Qualcomm," said David Rosmann, vice president of intellectual property litigation with Broadcom. "The U.S. District Court order has in some respects much broader remedies. So the activities that are going to be barred by this injunction go a long way to stopping Qualcomm's continued operations in support of these infringing chips."
Broadcom sued Qualcomm in May 2005, claiming that Qualcomm's chips violated three of the company's patents. In May of this year, a jury found in Broadcom's favor and awarded the company US$19.6 million in damages. Monday's injunction stems from that decision.
Broadcom is also suing Qualcomm on other patent infringement and antitrust claims, Rosmann said. The antitrust case is expected to go to trial in 2009.
Qualcomm executives could not be reached immediately for comment.
The injunction, issued Monday by U.S. District Court Judge James Selna, prohibits Qualcomm from making and selling certain third generation (3G) chipsets, used to provide Internet access to mobile phones. Qualcomm is also barred from engaging in a range of marketing and customer support activities related to its WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) and EV-DO (EVolution-Data Only) chips, which are used to process data on high-speed wireless networks.
The ruling is the latest in a series of actions in the long-running dispute between the two chip vendors. In July, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that Qualcomm infringed Broadcom patents and barred Qualcomm from importing chips to the U.S., but the Commission allowed mobile phone vendors to ship the chips in their products.
"The ITC order did not go nearly as far in prohibiting other activities from Qualcomm," said David Rosmann, vice president of intellectual property litigation with Broadcom. "The U.S. District Court order has in some respects much broader remedies. So the activities that are going to be barred by this injunction go a long way to stopping Qualcomm's continued operations in support of these infringing chips."
Broadcom sued Qualcomm in May 2005, claiming that Qualcomm's chips violated three of the company's patents. In May of this year, a jury found in Broadcom's favor and awarded the company US$19.6 million in damages. Monday's injunction stems from that decision.
Broadcom is also suing Qualcomm on other patent infringement and antitrust claims, Rosmann said. The antitrust case is expected to go to trial in 2009.
Qualcomm executives could not be reached immediately for comment.
Researcher says Sears downloads spyware
Sears and Kmart customers who sign up for a new marketing program may be giving up more private information than they'd bargained for, a prominent anti-spyware researcher claims.
According to Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Ben Edelman, [cq] Sears Holdings' My SHC Community program falls short of U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) standards by failing to notify users exactly what happens when they download the company's marketing software.
And given the invasive nature of the product, Sears has an obligation to make its behavior clearer to users. "The software is not something you'd want on your computer or the computer of anyone you care about," Edelman said in an interview. "It tracks every site you go to, every search you make, every product you buy, and every product you look at but don't buy. It's just spooky."
Edelman has written up an analysis of Sears's software, set to be made public on Tuesday.
Problems with the retailer's My SHC Community program were first brought to light in late December, when CA senior engineer Benjamin Googins, wrote a blog entry criticizing the software, which was written by VoiceFive, a subsidiary of Internet measurement firm ComScore.
Sears launched the My SHC Community in March, intending it to be a vehicle for customers who want a voice in the company's direction. "It's still kind of in its early days," said Rob Harles, vice president of MY SHC Community, in an interview conducted prior to Edelman's post. "It's mainly used right now for research, but what we want to do is open it up so it's creating dialogue with our customers."
Sears Holdings, the owner of the Sears Roebuck and Kmart department stores is the third-largest retailer in the U.S.
Sears offers members $10, and a chance to win one of several sweepstakes as an extra incentive to join the program.
But in return, a small percentage of members must install extremely invasive software.
According to Googins, the product monitors not only all of the user's Web traffic, but also keeps track of secure sessions such as visits to bank sites, sniffs through email headers, and then sends that information to a ComScore.
While Googins called the software "a significant threat to privacy," Harles doesn't see it that way. First off, he said that members can join the community with or without the tracking software and that less than 10 percent of the members have signed up for the tracking program.
And those who get the tracking software installed have all personally identifying information scrubbed by ComScore, and are informed of exactly what's going on, he added.
Harles sent Googlins a detailed rebuttal to his claims, which the CA researcher has published on his blog.
Edelman said Monday the Sears executive is simply wrong. "The comments from... Rob Harles are remarkable," he said via e-mail. "Exactly contrary to actual facts, as best I can tell."
Sears does disclose that it is installing tracking software, but doesn't do enough to make sure that users have seen these disclosures before they download the program, Edelman said in his analysis.
"The FTC requires that software makers and distributors provide clear, prominent, unavoidable notice of the key terms," he wrote. "SHC's installation of ComScore did nothing of the kind."
In an interview, Harles said that Sears had no immediate plans to change its disclosure policies, but he did say that My SHC Community would undoubtedly evolve in some ways.
This isn't the first time ComScore's software has been in the news. In June, Edelman documented how they company's tracking software was being installed on some PCs without consent.
"Why so many problems for ComScore?" Edelman wrote in his latest blog posting. "The basic challenge is that users don't want ComScore software. ComScore offers users nothing sufficiently valuable to compensate them for the serious privacy invasion ComScore's software entails. There's no good reason why users should share information about their browsing, purchasing, and other online activities. So time and time again, ComScore and its partners resort to trickery (or worse) to get their software onto users' PCs."
According to Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Ben Edelman, [cq] Sears Holdings' My SHC Community program falls short of U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) standards by failing to notify users exactly what happens when they download the company's marketing software.
And given the invasive nature of the product, Sears has an obligation to make its behavior clearer to users. "The software is not something you'd want on your computer or the computer of anyone you care about," Edelman said in an interview. "It tracks every site you go to, every search you make, every product you buy, and every product you look at but don't buy. It's just spooky."
Edelman has written up an analysis of Sears's software, set to be made public on Tuesday.
Problems with the retailer's My SHC Community program were first brought to light in late December, when CA senior engineer Benjamin Googins, wrote a blog entry criticizing the software, which was written by VoiceFive, a subsidiary of Internet measurement firm ComScore.
Sears launched the My SHC Community in March, intending it to be a vehicle for customers who want a voice in the company's direction. "It's still kind of in its early days," said Rob Harles, vice president of MY SHC Community, in an interview conducted prior to Edelman's post. "It's mainly used right now for research, but what we want to do is open it up so it's creating dialogue with our customers."
Sears Holdings, the owner of the Sears Roebuck and Kmart department stores is the third-largest retailer in the U.S.
Sears offers members $10, and a chance to win one of several sweepstakes as an extra incentive to join the program.
But in return, a small percentage of members must install extremely invasive software.
According to Googins, the product monitors not only all of the user's Web traffic, but also keeps track of secure sessions such as visits to bank sites, sniffs through email headers, and then sends that information to a ComScore.
While Googins called the software "a significant threat to privacy," Harles doesn't see it that way. First off, he said that members can join the community with or without the tracking software and that less than 10 percent of the members have signed up for the tracking program.
And those who get the tracking software installed have all personally identifying information scrubbed by ComScore, and are informed of exactly what's going on, he added.
Harles sent Googlins a detailed rebuttal to his claims, which the CA researcher has published on his blog.
Edelman said Monday the Sears executive is simply wrong. "The comments from... Rob Harles are remarkable," he said via e-mail. "Exactly contrary to actual facts, as best I can tell."
Sears does disclose that it is installing tracking software, but doesn't do enough to make sure that users have seen these disclosures before they download the program, Edelman said in his analysis.
"The FTC requires that software makers and distributors provide clear, prominent, unavoidable notice of the key terms," he wrote. "SHC's installation of ComScore did nothing of the kind."
In an interview, Harles said that Sears had no immediate plans to change its disclosure policies, but he did say that My SHC Community would undoubtedly evolve in some ways.
This isn't the first time ComScore's software has been in the news. In June, Edelman documented how they company's tracking software was being installed on some PCs without consent.
"Why so many problems for ComScore?" Edelman wrote in his latest blog posting. "The basic challenge is that users don't want ComScore software. ComScore offers users nothing sufficiently valuable to compensate them for the serious privacy invasion ComScore's software entails. There's no good reason why users should share information about their browsing, purchasing, and other online activities. So time and time again, ComScore and its partners resort to trickery (or worse) to get their software onto users' PCs."
Holiday electronics sales strong, says SIA
Sales of semiconductors in November indicate that consumer products such as LCD (liquid crystal display) TVs, digital music players and other devices sold well during the holidays, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said Monday.
November chip sales rose 2.3 percent year-on-year to US$23.1 billion, the SIA said.
Unit demand has far outpaced last year. But falling chip prices have hurt industry revenue, the chip association said. For example, DRAM (dynamic RAM) bit shipments grew 25 percent in the three months through mid-December, but average selling prices have declined 20 percent over the same period.
The association also noted that rising energy prices and concerns about the sub-prime lending issue in the U.S. do not appear to have had a significant impact on consumer spending for the holidays, the SIA said. The group reiterated its forecast that worldwide semiconductor sales will reach a new record in 2007. But it will take a stronger than expected December selling season to reach the 3.8 percent growth goal the group had forecast earlier this year, the SIA said.
Investment banking firm Credit Suisse was not as optimistic as the SIA.
The November data was below normal seasonal trends, noted analyst John Pitzer, in a report on Monday. Even if December reaches its normal seasonal growth, 2007 industry revenue will only reach US$255.7 billion, up 3.2 percent over last year. The growth percentage would fall short of the SIA's 3.8 percent target.
The slow November prompted Credit Suisse to lower its 2008 chip industry revenue forecast to 9.4 percent year-on-year growth, down from a previous target of 13 percent.
November chip sales rose 2.3 percent year-on-year to US$23.1 billion, the SIA said.
Unit demand has far outpaced last year. But falling chip prices have hurt industry revenue, the chip association said. For example, DRAM (dynamic RAM) bit shipments grew 25 percent in the three months through mid-December, but average selling prices have declined 20 percent over the same period.
The association also noted that rising energy prices and concerns about the sub-prime lending issue in the U.S. do not appear to have had a significant impact on consumer spending for the holidays, the SIA said. The group reiterated its forecast that worldwide semiconductor sales will reach a new record in 2007. But it will take a stronger than expected December selling season to reach the 3.8 percent growth goal the group had forecast earlier this year, the SIA said.
Investment banking firm Credit Suisse was not as optimistic as the SIA.
The November data was below normal seasonal trends, noted analyst John Pitzer, in a report on Monday. Even if December reaches its normal seasonal growth, 2007 industry revenue will only reach US$255.7 billion, up 3.2 percent over last year. The growth percentage would fall short of the SIA's 3.8 percent target.
The slow November prompted Credit Suisse to lower its 2008 chip industry revenue forecast to 9.4 percent year-on-year growth, down from a previous target of 13 percent.
Vonage, Nortel settle patent dispute for no cash
Vonage Holdings and Nortel Networks have preliminarily agreed to cross-license several patents, ending a dispute between the companies without any monetary payments, Vonage said Monday.
All claims relating to past damages as well as remaining payments will be dismissed, the company said. Documents sealing the agreement have not yet been finalized.
The agreement is a minor victory for Vonage. The company has settled or reached tentative agreements in three other patent disputes related to VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) and other telecommunications technology for what could ultimately reach $239 million in payments.
Vonage tentatively agreed last month to settle a patent infringement lawsuit filed by rival AT&T for $39 million. Prior to that deal, Vonage had reached settlements with Sprint Nextel for $80 million and with Verizon Communications for $80 million to $120 million, depending on the results of an appeal.
All claims relating to past damages as well as remaining payments will be dismissed, the company said. Documents sealing the agreement have not yet been finalized.
The agreement is a minor victory for Vonage. The company has settled or reached tentative agreements in three other patent disputes related to VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) and other telecommunications technology for what could ultimately reach $239 million in payments.
Vonage tentatively agreed last month to settle a patent infringement lawsuit filed by rival AT&T for $39 million. Prior to that deal, Vonage had reached settlements with Sprint Nextel for $80 million and with Verizon Communications for $80 million to $120 million, depending on the results of an appeal.
U.S. bans spare lithium batteries from checked bags
New rules will go into effect on Jan. 1 that prohibit air passengers in the U.S. from carrying spare lithium batteries in their checked baggage.
The new rules, announced Friday by the U.S. Department of Transport, are designed to reduce the risk of fires in aircraft. Lithium batteries have been identified as a possible cause of several aircraft fires.
Passengers will still be able to carry lithium batteries in checked bags if they are installed in a device like a laptop or digital camera. But loose batteries will need to be put in a plastic bag and carried on the plane as hand luggage, the DOT said.
The rules also limit each passenger to two "extended-life" lithium batteries. These are larger batteries with more than 8 grams of equivalent lithium content, examples of which are pictured in the DOT's statement.
The rules are also described at the SafeTravel.dot.gov Web site.
In February 2006 a United Parcel Service flight landed at Philidelphia International Airport after the crew detected a fire in its cargo. The National Transportation Safety Board said later that it found several burned out laptop batteries on the plane, and could not rule them out as a possible cause of the fire.
Lithium batteries are a fire hazzard because of the heat they can generate when they are damaged or suffer a short circuit, the NTSB said at a hearing about the Philidelphia incident last July.
"Several lithium battery incidents have occurred in recent years, including a lithium-ion battery fire that occurred less than two months ago on an airplane in Chicago," the NTSB said.
Several big makers of laptops and cell phones, including Dell and Nokia, have recalled batteries recently because of flaws that created a potential fire hazzard.
The new rules, announced Friday by the U.S. Department of Transport, are designed to reduce the risk of fires in aircraft. Lithium batteries have been identified as a possible cause of several aircraft fires.
Passengers will still be able to carry lithium batteries in checked bags if they are installed in a device like a laptop or digital camera. But loose batteries will need to be put in a plastic bag and carried on the plane as hand luggage, the DOT said.
The rules also limit each passenger to two "extended-life" lithium batteries. These are larger batteries with more than 8 grams of equivalent lithium content, examples of which are pictured in the DOT's statement.
The rules are also described at the SafeTravel.dot.gov Web site.
In February 2006 a United Parcel Service flight landed at Philidelphia International Airport after the crew detected a fire in its cargo. The National Transportation Safety Board said later that it found several burned out laptop batteries on the plane, and could not rule them out as a possible cause of the fire.
Lithium batteries are a fire hazzard because of the heat they can generate when they are damaged or suffer a short circuit, the NTSB said at a hearing about the Philidelphia incident last July.
"Several lithium battery incidents have occurred in recent years, including a lithium-ion battery fire that occurred less than two months ago on an airplane in Chicago," the NTSB said.
Several big makers of laptops and cell phones, including Dell and Nokia, have recalled batteries recently because of flaws that created a potential fire hazzard.
Motorola settles patent dispute with Metrologic
Motorola has settled a long-running patent dispute with Metrologic Instruments, a maker of bar-code scanners.
Motorola inherited the lawsuit as part of its 2006 acquisition of wireless handhold device maker Symbol Technologies. Symbol and Metrologic had been engaged in the spat since early 2002, when Symbol sued Metrologic, claiming that the company had failed to make adequate royalty payments.
Symbol was a maker of wireless barcode scanners that are used by delivery and warehouse workers to keep track of inventory.
In 1996, Metrologic licensed Symbol's barcode scanning technology for use with its handheld scanners, paying Symbol royalties of US$10 per scanner. However, in 2001 Metrologic stopped making these payments, claiming that "product changes had pushed the scanners beyond the scope of definitions laid out in the agreement," according to Symbol.
The actual amount in dispute had been less than $500,000 Metrologic has said.
In June 2003 Metrologic counter-sued, claiming patent infringement.
Monday's agreement settles all pending litigation, and enters Motorola and Metrologic into a patent cross-license deal that covers barcode scanning and mobile computing technology, they said in a statement. Terms of the settlement were not released.
Motorola inherited the lawsuit as part of its 2006 acquisition of wireless handhold device maker Symbol Technologies. Symbol and Metrologic had been engaged in the spat since early 2002, when Symbol sued Metrologic, claiming that the company had failed to make adequate royalty payments.
Symbol was a maker of wireless barcode scanners that are used by delivery and warehouse workers to keep track of inventory.
In 1996, Metrologic licensed Symbol's barcode scanning technology for use with its handheld scanners, paying Symbol royalties of US$10 per scanner. However, in 2001 Metrologic stopped making these payments, claiming that "product changes had pushed the scanners beyond the scope of definitions laid out in the agreement," according to Symbol.
The actual amount in dispute had been less than $500,000 Metrologic has said.
In June 2003 Metrologic counter-sued, claiming patent infringement.
Monday's agreement settles all pending litigation, and enters Motorola and Metrologic into a patent cross-license deal that covers barcode scanning and mobile computing technology, they said in a statement. Terms of the settlement were not released.
US bans spare lithium batteries from checked bags
New rules will go into effect on Jan. 1 that prohibit air passengers in the U.S. from carrying spare lithium batteries in their checked baggage.
The new rules, announced Friday by the U.S. Department of Transport, are designed to reduce the risk of fires in aircraft. Lithium batteries have been identified as a possible cause of several aircraft fires.
Passengers will still be able to carry lithium batteries in checked bags if they are installed in a device like a laptop or digital camera. But loose batteries will need to be put in a plastic bag and carried on the plane as hand luggage, the DOT said.
The rules also limit each passenger to two "extended-life" lithium batteries. These are larger batteries with more than 8 grams of equivalent lithium content, examples of which are pictured in the DOT's statement.
The rules are also described at the SafeTravel.dot.gov Web site.
In February 2006 a United Parcel Service flight landed at Philidelphia International Airport after the crew detected a fire in its cargo. The National Transportation Safety Board said later that it found several burned out laptop batteries on the plane, and could not rule them out as a possible cause of the fire.
Lithium batteries are a fire hazzard because of the heat they can generate when they are damaged or suffer a short circuit, the NTSB said at a hearing about the Philidelphia incident last July.
"Several lithium battery incidents have occurred in recent years, including a lithium-ion battery fire that occurred less than two months ago on an airplane in Chicago," the NTSB said.
Several big makers of laptops and cell phones, including Dell and Nokia, have recalled batteries recently because of flaws that created a potential fire hazzard.
The new rules, announced Friday by the U.S. Department of Transport, are designed to reduce the risk of fires in aircraft. Lithium batteries have been identified as a possible cause of several aircraft fires.
Passengers will still be able to carry lithium batteries in checked bags if they are installed in a device like a laptop or digital camera. But loose batteries will need to be put in a plastic bag and carried on the plane as hand luggage, the DOT said.
The rules also limit each passenger to two "extended-life" lithium batteries. These are larger batteries with more than 8 grams of equivalent lithium content, examples of which are pictured in the DOT's statement.
The rules are also described at the SafeTravel.dot.gov Web site.
In February 2006 a United Parcel Service flight landed at Philidelphia International Airport after the crew detected a fire in its cargo. The National Transportation Safety Board said later that it found several burned out laptop batteries on the plane, and could not rule them out as a possible cause of the fire.
Lithium batteries are a fire hazzard because of the heat they can generate when they are damaged or suffer a short circuit, the NTSB said at a hearing about the Philidelphia incident last July.
"Several lithium battery incidents have occurred in recent years, including a lithium-ion battery fire that occurred less than two months ago on an airplane in Chicago," the NTSB said.
Several big makers of laptops and cell phones, including Dell and Nokia, have recalled batteries recently because of flaws that created a potential fire hazzard.
Holiday electronics sales strong, says SIA
Sales of semiconductors in November indicate that consumer products such as LCD (liquid crystal display) TVs, digital music players and other devices sold well during the holidays, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said Monday.
November chip sales rose 2.3 percent year-on-year to US$23.1 billion, the SIA said.
Unit demand has far outpaced last year. But falling chip prices have hurt industry revenue, the chip association said. For example, DRAM (dynamic RAM) bit shipments grew 25 percent in the three months through mid-December, but average selling prices have declined 20 percent over the same period.
The association also noted that rising energy prices and concerns about the sub-prime lending issue in the U.S. do not appear to have had a significant impact on consumer spending for the holidays, the SIA said. The group reiterated its forecast that worldwide semiconductor sales will reach a new record in 2007. But it will take a stronger than expected December selling season to reach the 3.8 percent growth goal the group had forecast earlier this year, the SIA said.
Investment banking firm Credit Suisse was not as optimistic as the SIA.
The November data was below normal seasonal trends, noted analyst John Pitzer, in a report on Monday. Even if December reaches its normal seasonal growth, 2007 industry revenue will only reach US$255.7 billion, up 3.2 percent over last year. The growth percentage would fall short of the SIA's 3.8 percent target.
The slow November prompted Credit Suisse to lower its 2008 chip industry revenue forecast to 9.4 percent year-on-year growth, down from a previous target of 13 percent.
November chip sales rose 2.3 percent year-on-year to US$23.1 billion, the SIA said.
Unit demand has far outpaced last year. But falling chip prices have hurt industry revenue, the chip association said. For example, DRAM (dynamic RAM) bit shipments grew 25 percent in the three months through mid-December, but average selling prices have declined 20 percent over the same period.
The association also noted that rising energy prices and concerns about the sub-prime lending issue in the U.S. do not appear to have had a significant impact on consumer spending for the holidays, the SIA said. The group reiterated its forecast that worldwide semiconductor sales will reach a new record in 2007. But it will take a stronger than expected December selling season to reach the 3.8 percent growth goal the group had forecast earlier this year, the SIA said.
Investment banking firm Credit Suisse was not as optimistic as the SIA.
The November data was below normal seasonal trends, noted analyst John Pitzer, in a report on Monday. Even if December reaches its normal seasonal growth, 2007 industry revenue will only reach US$255.7 billion, up 3.2 percent over last year. The growth percentage would fall short of the SIA's 3.8 percent target.
The slow November prompted Credit Suisse to lower its 2008 chip industry revenue forecast to 9.4 percent year-on-year growth, down from a previous target of 13 percent.
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