FederalTradeComission
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FTC appoints Ed Felten as agency's first Chief Technologist
It may come as a bit of a surprise to some considering that seemingly every company and government agency has one these days, but the Federal Trade Commission has never had a Chief Technologist. It's now finally filled that gap, however, and has appointed Edward W. Felten to the post. As you may be aware, Felten's a professor of computer science and public affairs at Princeton and the founding director of the university's Center for Information Technology, but he's probably best known for his efforts to expose problems with electronic voting machines, and for his vocal advocacy against DRM -- he also uses his Mii for his profile image on the Freedom to Tinker blog, so you know you're not exactly dealing with your usual government bureaucrat. Felten has actually already been serving as a part-time adviser to the FTC, and it seems like he'll now basically be continuing that role in a full-time capacity, with the FTC only saying that he will "advise the agency on evolving technology and policy issues."
FTC clears Verizon acquisition of Alltel, last hurdle crossed
It's already made it past the Department of Justice and the FCC after making a few concessions, and Verizon has now cleared the last major hurdle blocking its acquisition of Alltel, with the Federal Trade Commission today giving the deal its all-important stamp of approval. Unlike the other regulatory agencies, the FTC apparently didn't require that Verizon make any further concessions, and instead simply approved an early termination of their antitrust review and indicated that they had "no objections." For those keeping track, the deal easily pushes Verizon past AT&T to become the largest wireless carrier in the United States and, as we have heard, it'll also likely have the side effect of some job cuts from the Alltel benches.[Via RCR Wireless]
FTC: Viral ties must be disclosed
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission yesterday said that companies must disclose ties in word-of-mouth marketing campaigns. These fake grass-roots efforts -- dubbed "astroturfing" by critics -- hire people to endorse products as themselves, rather than as company representatives.The FTC didn't announce any specific action or fines against this type of misleading marketing, although it may investigate campaigns on a case-by-case basis. The Washington Post covers the story.Gamers see these sorts of campaigns all the time, from fake commentors who are actually paid marketers to the recent fake-PSP-fan weblog. While this kind of hidden corporate sponsorship makes us distrustful, we think better of companies, like Ubisoft, that disclose ties to its affiliates like the Frag Dolls. We most like the Major Nelson-type relationships, where a weblog spokesperson and a company are obviously linked.
