Bigmouthmedia Search Engine News: /brand-protection/

Patents row over for Facebook and Yahoo

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 08:36:00 GMT

Facebook and Yahoo have revealed they're tired of fighting - putting their patents dispute to bed and opting instead to form an ad alliance.

In a joint statement, the two companies announced they would cross-licence innovations and collaborate on future patents. No money was paid to either party.

Yahoo took legal action against the social network in March, claiming Facebook infringed 10 of its patents relating to advertisements, privacy controls, news feed, messaging and website personalisation. Facebook then countersued - alleging Yahoo violated 10 of its patents, many of which formed a huge portion of the flagging internet giant's business.

However, following the appointment of interim CEO Ross Levinsohn, Yahoo immediately began taking steps to resolve the dispute.

"We are excited to develop a deeper partnership with Facebook, and I'm grateful to Sheryl and her team for working hard together with our team to develop this dynamic agreement. We are looking forward to building on the success we have already seen to provide innovative new products and experiences for both consumers and sponsors," Yahoo's interim CEO Ross Levinsohn said in a press release.

"Combining the premium content and reach of Yahoo as the world's leading digital media company with Facebook provides branded advertisements with unmatched opportunity."

Facebook's chief operating officer was also involved in negotiations.

"I'm pleased that we were able to resolve this in a positive manner and look forward to partnering closely with Ross and the leadership at Yahoo," said Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer at Facebook.

"Yahoo's new leaders are driven by a renewed focus on innovation and providing great products to users. Together, we can provide users with engaging social experiences while creating value for marketers."

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Users complaining on social networks

Thu, 17 May 2012 03:00:00 GMT

Social Media is emerging as an effective way of making customer complaints about a company, according to a new survey.

Conducted by Fishburn Hedges and Echo Research, the survey polled 2,000 UK adults on their use of social media platforms to air their grievances.

36 per cent of those questioned said they had used social media to contact a large company in April 2012. A further 65 per cent said social media was a better way to communicate with companies than call centres.

In fact, half of people polled aged between 18 and 24 had contact with big brands in this way and 27 per cent of people aged 55 plus also employed this tactic.

Eva Keogan, head of innovation at Fishburn Hedges, calls this quick response, "VIP treatment from brands on social media".

"Fear of public complaints evens up the balance for us all. However, the smartest businesses are the ones that will manage to avoid injecting needless processes," she told the BBC.

"Social media can bring a business and its customers much closer."

However, in order to deal with the volume of complaints, brands have to allocate more resources to customer service departments.

Richard Dodd, of the British Retail Consortium, told the BBC that dealing with social media complaints "has the potential to need more staff."

"If you are actively engaging in social media you are setting up an expectation amongst customers that they will receive a response, so you have to be geared up to fulfil those expectations," he said.

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Court rules Pirate Bay to be blocked by UK ISPs

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 07:00:00 GMT

The High Court has ruled Swedish file-sharing website The Pirate Bay must be blocked by internet service providers in the UK. This means that TalkTalk, O2, Sky, Everything Everywhere, and Virgin Media will have to stop their users from accessing the site.

Launched in 2003, Pirate Bay hosts download links to free music and video that has been mostly pirated. In November 2011 the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) asked UK ISP's to block the site voluntarily. The ISP's refused to do so unless a court order was made.

"The High Court has confirmed that The Pirate Bay infringes copyright on a massive scale," said the BPI's chief executive Geoff Taylor in an interview with the BBC.

"Its operators line their pockets by commercially exploiting music and other creative works without paying a penny to the people who created them.

"This is wrong - musicians, sound engineers and video editors deserve to be paid for their work just like everyone else."

The ISP's will now comply with the ruling. Talking to the BBC, Virgin Media confirmed it will honour the high court judgement.

However, the company was keen to stress that the blocking of Pirate Bay is only part of the solution: "As a responsible ISP, Virgin Media complies with court orders addressed to the company but strongly believes that changing consumer behaviour to tackle copyright infringement also needs compelling legal alternatives, such as our agreement with Spotify, to give consumers access to great content at the right price."

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Security-risk websites to be 'named and shamed'

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 05:24:00 GMT

A list of good and bad websites is to be published regularly by non-profit security watchdog group Trustworthy Internet Movement (TIM) in an effort to highlight sites that are either failing or excelling in security.

The group have carried out a survey and found above half of the sites reviewed were using compromised security measures. The group will test the websites in order to see if basic security measures have been implemented.

Frustration at the slow movement of online safety improvements has led to security experts and entrepreneurs setting up the group.

"We want to stimulate some initiatives and get something done," TIM's founder Philippe Courtot, serial entrepreneur and chief executive of security firm Qualys, told the BBC.

TIM is currently focussing its attentions on SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) technology used to protect credit card numbers and valuable data as it moves across the net.

"SSL is one of the fundamental parts of the internet," said Mr Courtot.

"It's what makes it trustworthy and right now it's not as secure as you think."

The group will be taking a double-edged initiative to test SSL. Firstly, automated tools will be used against websites to test their implementation of SSL, the results of which will be made public.

"We'll be making it public," said Courtot.

"Everyone is now going to be able to see who has a good grade and who has a bad grade."

According to early tests, around 52 per cent of sites had a compromised version of SSL.

Secondly, the group will try to work with the Certificate Authorities that guarantee a sites safety and ensure that these CA's are well run and without compromise.

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Facebook Rights and Responsibilities say no to password-sharing

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 05:36:00 GMT

Facebook have released a statement reminding users of their Statement of Rights and Responsibilities in an effort to prevent any breech of privacy.

Social media policy has been called into question in recent months, following reports that employers are requesting the login details of potential employees who have private Facebook settings.

Concerns have been raised both for the privacy of Facebook users, and for the potential employers who could expose themselves to discrimination claims if they do not hire someone, upon seeing their Facebook page.

"Employers also may not have the proper policies and training for reviewers to handle private information. If they don't - and actually, even if they do - the employer may assume liability for the protection of the information they have seen or for knowing what responsibilities may arise based on different types of information (e.g. if the information suggests the commission of a crime)," Chief Privacy Officer Erin Egan wrote on the company's blog.

Originally created by Mark Zuckerberg at Harvard University, Facebook has acquired 845 million users since February 2004 - as modern networking has become an integral part of the working environment, so must regulations to protect the privacy of these users.

Often used as a marketing tool, social media offers a platform upon which the user can share personal information like their interests, phone number and even relationship commitments.

"Facebook takes your privacy seriously. We'll take action to protect the privacy and security of our users, whether by engaging policymakers or, where appropriate, by initiating legal action, including by shutting down applications that abuse their privileges," Egan said.

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It's Yahoo vs. Facebook in impending patent fight

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 07:13:00 GMT

A new offensive has been launched in the patent war raging across the technology industry, as Yahoo sets its sights on Facebook.

According to the New York Times, the flagging web portal is asserting claims on up to 20 patents on technical mechanisms used by Facebook, including advertisements, privacy controls, news feed, messaging and website personalisation.

Representatives from both companies met on Monday to discuss the licensing issues. Though there is no official word on Yahoo's monetary demands for its intellectual property, the company has warned Facebook to pay up or risk legal action.

A Yahoo spokesperson said: "Yahoo has a responsibility to its shareholders, employees and other stakeholders to protect its intellectual property.

"We must insist that Facebook either enter into a licensing agreement or we will be compelled to move forward unilaterally to protect our rights."

While those certainly sound like fighting words, Facebook for the moment is playing it cool - stating, "Yahoo contacted us at the same time they called the New York Times and so we haven't had the opportunity to fully evaluate their claims."

Patent litigation is nothing new in the high-tech arena, particularly in the smartphone and tablet sectors, with the likes of Apple, Microsoft, Motorola, Google, Samsung and Nortel all embroiled in international legal wrangling.

However, should Yahoo go ahead with its lawsuit against Facebook, it will be mark the first time a major legal battle between technology companies has spilled over into the social media sphere.

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Apple factory workers in China receive 25% pay rise

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 03:49:00 GMT

Following international pressure, Foxconn Technology - one of the biggest manufacturers of products for Apple, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and others - has announced a raise in workers' salaries and reduction in overtime hours at its Chinese factories.

According to The New York Times, Foxconn said that salaries for many workers would immediately increase by 16 to 25 per cent, roughly equating to 1,800 - 2,500 yuan (£180 - £250) a month before overtime.

"This is the way capitalism is supposed to work," David Autor, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said. "As nations develop, wages rise and life theoretically gets better for everyone.

"But in China, for that change to be permanent, consumers have to be willing to bear the consequences. When people read about bad Chinese factories in the paper, they might have a moment of outrage. But then they go to Amazon and are as ruthless as ever about paying the lowest price."

Foxconn has become infamous in recent years, following continued reports of long hours, strict discipline and dangerous practices, as well as the subsequent spate of employee suicides and distress at its factories in China.

Most notably, Foxconn makes iPads and iPhones under contract to Apple in its factories that employ and house over a million Chinese workers.

Apple has been accused of benefiting from Foxconn's low-paid workers, especially in light of the company's record profits last quarter, which has created a PR problem for the company recently.

To help rectify matters, Apple has announced that the Fair Labor Association would independently audit Foxconn City - one of the manufacturer's biggest facilities in Shenzhen.

"We believe that workers everywhere have the right to a safe and fair work environment, which is why we've asked the FLA to independently access the performance of our largest suppliers," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO.

Apple has also granted access to the notoriously off-limits Foxconn facilities to Nightline, a U.S. news programme, for a report set to air on Tuesday.

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Angry Birds boss doesn't see Piracy as a bad thing

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:36:00 GMT

Rovio boss Mikel Hed has said he doesn't necessarily see piracy as a bad thing when it comes to Angry Birds.

Speaking at the Midem conference in Cannes, the Angry Birds maker explained the company sees efforts to pursue pirates in the court system as 'futile' - so long as pirated products are not harmful to the brand or ripping off fans.

"We could learn a lot from the music industry, and the rather terrible ways the music industry has tried to combat piracy.

"We have some issues with piracy, not only in apps, but also especially in the consumer products," he said. "There is tons of merchandise out there, especially in Asia, which is not officially licensed products."

Hed also explained he believes there is a lesson to be learned from the music industry - namely, approaching customers as fans, rather than users.

"We took something from the music industry, which was to stop treating the customers as users, and start treating them as fans. We do that today: we talk about how many fans we have," he said.

"If we lose our fan base, our business is done, but it we can grow that fan base, our business will grow."

Hed also took the opportunity to discuss new avenues for the popular mobile game, saying the company hasn't ruled out working with musicians in the future.

Rather than just a game, Rovio sees Angry Birds as its own channel - where users are spending as much time in the app as they are with their favourite TV shows.

"Already our apps are becoming channels, and we can use that channel to cross-promote - to sell further content," he said.

"The content itself has transformed into the channel, and the traditional distribution channels are no longer the kingmakers."

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Facebook announces Hacker Cup

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 08:48:00 GMT

Calling all hackers - Facebook has announced its second annual worldwide Hacker Cup challenge.

According to the social network's official announcement: "Hacking is core to how we build at Facebook. Whether we're building a prototype for a major product like Timeline at a Hackathon, creating a smarter search algorithm, or tearing down walls at our new headquarters, we're always hacking to find better ways to solve problems."

Open to engineers everywhere, Facebook's competition lets programmers from across the globe compete against each other to prove their hacking chops.

Participants will be judged on accuracy and speed as they race to solve algorithmic problems to advance through the five rounds of programming challenges.

The Hacker Cup commences on 20 January 2012 with a 72-Hour Qualification Round, where each registered competitor will be presented with three problems. Every competitor who correctly solves at least one problem will advance to the Online Round 1.

Three Online Rounds will thin the herd of coders, with Facebook flying the top 25 competitors to its Menlo Park, California headquarters for the final round of competition on 17 March 2012.

The winner will receive the coveted Hacker Cup trophy and $5000 (£3221). Other prizes include $2000 (£1288) for the second place winner and $1000 USD for the third. Competitors coming in fourth through 25th will receive $100 (£64) and the top 100 hackers will get an "awesome" t-shirt.

Last year, nearly 12,000 programmers participated in the first Hacker Cup and Petr Mitrichev - ironically a Google employee from Russia - took home the inaugural top prize.

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Facebook hands out Visa cards to researchers

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 07:25:00 GMT

Facebook continues to build on the success of its bug bounty program, offering vigilant developers custom Visa cards as a reward for their efforts.

"White Hat Bug Bounty Program" Visa debit cards are being awarded to researchers and developers for finding and reporting security holes on the social networking site directly to Facebook rather than making the information public.

The incentive program was instantly popular with users - Facebook awarded more than $40,000 (£25,716) to developers who reported security bugs in its first month.

After receiving the Facebook Visa cards, researchers can use them to make purchases or create a PIN and take money out from an ATM. The program also allows Facebook to add more money to the cards as researchers continue to report bugs.

Facebook's security response team manager Ryan Mc Geehan told CNET the new initiative is Facebook's way of doing something special for those who help keep the social network free from malware and hackers.

"Researchers who find bugs and security improvements are rare, and we value them and have to find ways to reward them," Mc Geehan said.

"Having this exclusive black card is another way to recognise them. They can show up at a conference and show this card and said 'I did special work for Facebook.'"

Mc Geehan also said the company will continue to find ways to make researchers and developers feel valued.

"We might make it a pass to get into a party, for instance," he said. "We're trying to be creative."

By reporting confirmed bugs, researchers can make between $500 (£321) and $5000 (£3210) for their efforts, and according to Mc Geehan, Palo Alto has already paid-out to more than 81 researchers.

"Whenever possible we're going to try to load-in White Hat researchers into products early - as soon as they are in production." This, Mc Geehan says, will help Facebook "get an early warning on anything they find."

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