The Great Firewall of China vs. Internet Filtering

The position of the Chinese government on controlling the content and access to the internet has been in the news for quite a while. This has raised the issue of Google 'voluntarily' filtering search results, Yahoo providing blogger identities and monitoring of dissidents. Below is a link to a video from the ABC's Hungry Beast program from 03/03/10:

http://hungrybeast.abc.net.au/stories/great-firewall-china

In Australia the government is also concerned with 'illegal' content being accessible on the web. Hungry Beast has a video that explains how this works and puts a particular point of view.

http://hungrybeast.abc.net.au/media/how-internet-filter-works

Please note that both videos are 'Hungry Beast' points of view and may represent partisan interests.

Q1. How different are the approaches to internet 'control' between the Chinese and Australian Governments.

Q2. What are the implications for legitimate commercial activity on the internet in either

country?

Q3. What can marketers do in dealing with these internet restrictions?

$70 Million Lost in Scams

From the ACC web site:

http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/916279

"During 2009, losses reported to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission through scams totalled almost $70 million, ACCC deputy chair Peter Kell said today when launching Targeting scams - Report of the ACCC on scam activity 2009.

"Scams continue to make up a large proportion of total complaints that the ACCC receives and more than 20,000 scam reports were made to the ACCC in 2009 - a 16 per cent increase compared with 2008," Mr Kell said.

"Realistically, this figure is likely to be the tip of the iceberg – given people can be embarrassed about reporting that they have fallen victim to scams and lost money in the process."

Online scams are the focus for the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce's 2010 Fraud Week campaign. The campaign, Online Offensive—Fighting Fraud Online runs from 1-7 March.

...The report notes that the dominance of online scams. "Nearly 70 per cent of consumers that contacted the ACCC about scams during 2009 said they were contacted by scammers via the internet," Mr Kell said."

Q1. How serious is this in relation to other crimes such as burglary and robbery?

Q2. Go to the Scam Watch web site: www.scamwatch.gov.au and find out how:

Identity theft works

What are 'Chain letter' scams?

Email Hoaxes, Scams, Spam and Chain Emails

The power and ease of using email can also be abused. Emails are used for un-ethical marketing purposes, promotion of illegal schemes and for spreading false rumours. Some examples:

1. Nigerian scam

2. Get rich quick scams - work from home - stock market tips

3. Health and weightloss scams

4. Pharmacy items

5. Politically or racially motivated hoaxes

6. Chain letters to help child cancer victim

Hoaxes can be recognised by a number of characteristics:

1. It appeals to a common fear (heart attack/cancer)

2. It presents an explanation that is simple, seems intuitive and easily understood (but wrong)

3. It looks and sounds scientific or authoritative, and may contain some 'facts'

4. It does not cite or refer to any authority or provide any links to other sources

5. It asks you for forward it on to all your friends etc.

6. All it does is increase your internet download, wastes your time and creates anxiety

7. Hoax chain emails are often associated with viruses and spammers collecting email addresses.

Basic rule is that most chain emails are hoaxes. Check the chain email with one of the hoax web sites and other authorities and do not pass it on!

Check these web sites:

www.sophos.com/security/hoaxes

www.snopes.com

www.truthorfiction.com

www.breakthechain.org

www.scambusters.org

http://www.hoax-slayer.com

www.scamwatch.gov.a

http://www.afp.gov.au/national/major_fraud/internet_scams

http://www.ahtcc.gov.au/tech_crimes_types/fraud.htm

http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_310529

Q1. What is the impact on internet marketing of these email scams and hoaxes?

Q2. How can consumers be protected in these cases?

Q3. What can ethical internet marketers do?

Business Risks of Social Networking

The enthusiastic take up of social networking web services is showing up some serious issues of privacy and business risk.  In the early days of 'chat rooms' the risks were of unwanted attention from strangers and using pseudonyms or nick names to hide identity.  The style now is to reveal your identity and communicate relatively openly with your 'friends'.  The problem still remains, that your friends may not be that friendly.

Employers are also using social networking sites to check up employees and applicants for jobs.  There is an emerging private investigation business, that will do internet searches to gather information on people.  On the other hand businesses are at risk from employees revealing commercially sensitive information, or criticising their employer publicly.  The media had a few reports of recent events:

1. Digging up dirt: Facebook spies for hire - The Age 17/04/09
2. Telstra lays down the law on Twitter - The Age 20/04/09
3. Spokeo - people finder service
4. Enter 'people finder' into a search engine

Australia in the Digital Economy - Trust and Confidence

ACMA March 2009

http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_311655

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has just released an interesting report on the trends in the take-up and use of the internet by Australian consumers.

The evidence is that the growth and uptake of the internet is approaching saturation in Australia. However consumer behaviour in relation to e-commerce has a long way to go yet. Some of the interesting statistics:

1. Over 11 million use the internet for a variety activities
2. 27% prefer the internet as a source of information rather than radio, newspapers and TV
3. Over 80% of 18-64 year olds use the internet. Only the 70+ year olds have less than 50% usage.
4. Education level affects usage. Of those who have achieved senior secondary school or higher over 80% use the internet.
5. There is a very positive attitude to use of the internet, which declines with age, but stays relatively high across education levels. However there are significant concerns about privacy and security.
6. There is still a significant barrier to internet use for some due to the complexity and technology.
7. However internet users’ measures against online risks and dangers are quite low with less than 50% have anti-virus software and about 22% having a firewall.
8. There is a low level of knowledge of risks and measures to reduce risk.
9. Just over 68% are self-taught and less than 18% received formal training.
10. All internet users rate themselves as having average or well above average skills.

Q1. How would you describe the take-up of the internet from a marketing point of view?

Q2. What should internet marketers pay more attention to in the light of these results?

Q3. What are the emerging marketing opportunities?

Health and Medical Records on the Internet

Recently Google and Microsoft have launched two internet based products for people to maintain their medical and health information on line. Both products are still 'beta' and are only USA based. Being internet based, your medical records are available anytime, anywhere.

Imagine that you are travelling abroad and have a medical emergency. By providing your login the local doctor can access your on-line medical record to help him/her provide the most appropriate assistance. Sound good? Google and Microsoft also provide links with health service providers to upload their medical records to your Google/Microsoft medical record web site. There are also 'value-added' services to find doctors, clinics and even connect some medical devices directly to the PC to upload the data to your medical record!

Links:
The Age: This Won't Hurt a Bit
Google Health
Microsoft HealthVault

Questions:
1. What are the security and privacy issues?
2. What are the marketing opportunities for health service and product providers?
3. Who makes money out of this and how?

Behavioral Targeting

We know what you clicked last night
The Age June 20, 2007 - 2:55PM Reuters

"Personal identity has taken on a new meaning in the digital age, where basic facts like your name, address or age are far less important to some people than the collected records of what you were looking at online.

Technologies for monitoring and interpreting internet habits as a predictor of future behavior cropped up at the start of this century, but only now are gaining momentum as the newest gold mine for websites and their advertisers. Known as behavioral targeting, the premise is to follow the sites you visit and build a picture of what products may interest you, then deliver related advertising in time for you to choose your purchase."

This article explores new methods for targeting consumers based on their internet habits. With many people having a public internet presence with blogs, websites, myspace, facebook and other social networking web sites, a great deal of personal data is exposed. While this gives marketers some interesting opportunities, there are ethical and privacy issues.

Latest article:
Every click you make, they'll be watching you

1. How effective do you think this web tracking technology is?

2. From a marketing perspective, what are the ethical issues?

3. From a consumer's perspective, what would be their concerns?

Smile you are on googles candid camera

http://www.theage.com.au/news/web/smile-youre-on-googles-candid-camera/2007/06/04/1180809390551.html


Hmmmm!!

Interesting

MySpace to Share Data With States on Offenders

By BRAD STONE

Published: May 22, 2007 New York Times

SAN FRANCISCO, May 21 — MySpace and the 50 state attorneys general appear to have made peace.

In a statement released Monday, MySpace, the popular social networking site, said it had agreed to hand over to the states the names, addresses and online profiles of thousands of known convicted sex offenders who have opened up accounts on the service.

The company also said it had deleted the online profiles of 7,000 convicted sexual predators, whose names were flagged through the cross-matching of its membership rolls with a database of registered sex offenders maintained by Sentinel Tech Holding.

MySpace to turn over sex-offender data after all

The Complying Game

By Dan Goodin in San Francisco → More by this author

Published Monday 21st May 2007 19:56 GMT - The Register

The use of MySpace by registered sex offenders is only one of a litany of abuses critics have heaped on the social networking site. Other complaints include MySpace's liberal rules for the use of javascript, which in the past has allowed users to infect visitors' machines with malware. Also an issue is the growing prevalence of spam in MySpace Groups, much of which redirects users to scatological porn sites so shocking and vile they aren't fit for adult viewing let alone viewing by children.

The state AGs have been calling on MySpace to do more to protect children from such threats. Among other things, they have urged MySpace to raise the age requirement for members from 14 years old to 16 and to verify both the age and identify of its users. ®

Discussion Questions:
1. Is there a privacy issue here?
2. Can this be extended to other categories of users to be reported on?
3. What obligation has MySpace for the protection of underage users?
4. What ethical issues does this raise for marketing on the internet?

Google and Privacy

Google has recently acquired DoubleClick, a leading on-line based advertising company. Concerns have been expressed about the dangers of one organisation having access to a vast amount of personal information.

Google to Buy DoubleClick for $3.1 Billion

Google in Privacy Hot Seat
"Google's proposed acquisition of DoubleClick will give one company access to more information about the Internet activities of consumers than any other company in the world."

How Paranoid Should I Be about Google?

Tuesday, April 17, 2007 12:06 PM PT Posted by Edward N. Albro

What I search for: Google's cookie lasts for decades and could be keeping a record of every search query I submit.

What Web sites I've visited since 1996: DoubleClick's been around longer than Google and has probably had its own tracking cookie on every computer I've used virtually since I started browsing the Net.

What I write and read in email: I have two Gmail accounts with a total of 26,389 messages, all of which have been scanned by Google so they can place contextual ads within them.

What I'm doing when: Google Calendar doesn't have all of my activities, but it's got a lot.

What's on my hard drive: Google Desktop indexes the contents of my hard drive and mixes search results from that index in with my Web search results.

Where I go: I've got Google's great Maps app on my Treo and use it frequently to get directions to new places.

What I'm producing: So far, I've only dabbled with Google's Docs & Spreadsheets applications,

1. How is DoubleClick different from Google?
2. What can Google gain from this acquisition?
3. What can be done to protect privacy in this situation?

Google Privacy Statement Highlights
DoubleClick Privacy Statement

Internet Security

New Woman [newsletter@newwoman.com.au]
The computer stole my privacy!So much for technology making our lives easier, studies have shown we're actually spending more time at work and now our privacy is in danger, with reports of cyber stalking and identity theft at an all time high. This new form of 21st Century crime even prompted George Bush to sign a Cyber-stalking bill recently, making it a crime to be online 'with the intent to annoy'. Not that it's restricted to the virtual world. One poor New Woman staffer was shocked to discover while out on a romantic dinner, that a strange woman at a nearby table was trying to send messages to her boyfriend via the bluetooth on her mobile. Even more disturbing is the case of murdered Adelaide teen, Carly Ryan. Her body was found floating in shallow water at Port Elliot, and police quickly tracked her killers through her MySpace site. It appears the father and son pair had befriended Miss Ryan through the website and arranged a meeting before she dissappeared. Consider yourselves warned, ladies.

Hope this post works...VK