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Privacy Update at Google and Microsoft

Admin — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 22:49:31 +0000

Google has a team of 60 engineers, & Microsoft has 40 people, fully devoted to avoiding violation of privacy laws in the US and around the world. At a recent legal seminar executives from Google and Microsoft described how many resources they devote to privacy law compliance.

Google’s senior privacy attorney Keith Enright said that the Google team of 60 engineers “work on developing products and then the legal team steps in to examine them.” As well, Google employs Anne Toth (former Yahoo! Chief Trust Officer) to oversee privacy for Google+.

In addition to the 40 Microsoft employees dedicated to privacy full time, Microsoft also has another 400 people who spend time on privacy law compliance.

Although the US privacy laws are generally managed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), there is not a single privacy law like the 1995 EU Data Directive. However a recent NY Times report indicated that it may be time to harmonize the privacy laws in the EU since the now very old 1995 privacy laws do not seem to apply well as the Internet and Social Media in 2011.

No surprise that Google and Microsoft want to avoid the sort of problems that led to the FTC’s 20 year monitoring of Google for its failure to manage privacy with its Social Media Buzz, and the FTC’s proposed 20 year monitoring of privacy compliance of Facebook.

What is your organization doing to comply with privacy laws? When was the last time you look at the privacy policies on your website?

Vogel Internet, Information Technology and e-Discovery Blog

Microsoft Purchases Skype – Facebook and Google Unlucky Suitors

Admin — Thu, 12 May 2011 04:14:28 +0000

VOIP is likely headed in a new direction now that Microsoft agreed to pay .5 billion for Skype. It was reported that Facebook and Google’s offers were in the to 4 billion range, while at the same time Skype was still considering an IPO later this year. As a result of this purchase, Microsoft may end up the Internet leader of communications, information, and entertainment. Clearly Facebook’s play for Skype would have extended the reach of the 600+ million friends and Google’s plan would have enlarged the Google Talk and Voice offerings.

Skype was founded in 2005 in Luxemburg, and purchased by eBay for .1 billion in 2005. But in 2009 eBay sold a majority to an investor group.

Without question VOIP is the future of communications and it will be interesting to follow Skype in the future. What do you think about Microsoft winning this competition over Facebook and Google?

Vogel Internet, Information Technology and e-Discovery Blog

Mobile Search Wars – Microsoft & BlackBerry vs. Google

Admin — Thu, 05 May 2011 03:48:38 +0000

By the fall of 2011 BlackBerry mobile devices will use Microsoft’s Bing as the default search engine (with Bing maps) in direct competition with Google and to try to capture location based marketing opportunities. This should not be a surprise to anyone since Microsoft’s reported a 4% decline in sales of the Windows operating system in the wake of the sales of Apple’s iPad 2 and a many other tablets including the BlackBerry Playbook. No one should really feel sorry for Microsoft however since their overall profits were up 31%, but clearly Microsoft and BlackBerry teaming up against Google sends interesting messages to the location based marketers.

Needless to say there are a myriad of competitors to BlackBerry, including the Google’s Driod which of course defaults to Google for search and maps. Of course on the iPad/iPhone default to Safari so neither Microsoft nor Google benefit. As location based marketing evolves which mobile browser is default on your device may be a game changer.

Do you think the default browser on the BlackBerry will help Bing?

Vogel Internet, Information Technology and e-Discovery Blog

Software Patents – US Government vs. Microsoft

Admin — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 15:16:34 +0000

The US Supreme Court will hear argument on April 18 in the patent infringement case in which Microsoft has been enjoined from selling Word with XML features. The US Solicitor General filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court against Microsoft and endorsing the US Patent & Trademark Office who issued the 5,787,449 patent that protected i4i’s metacode technology. More than 100 companies have filed amicus briefs supporting i4i including the military and venture capitalists. On the other hand Microsoft has “20 amicus briefs, which represent about 60 companies and individuals, including Google, Apple, Cisco, Intel, Red Hat, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and 37 law and economics professors.” The Supreme Court ruling in the i4i case will have a significant impact on patent law in the US, but many thought the Supreme Court would clarify software patents in the Bilski case, but unfortunately that did not happen. In the meantime Congress is once again considering legislation reforming patent laws. Stay tuned for changes to patent laws in the US.

2009 Patent Judgment

Before the case got to the Supreme Court, Microsoft lost its appeal to the US Federal Circuit which sustained the trial court decision from 2009 where US District Judge Leonard Davis (Eastern District of Texas in Tyler) enjoined Microsoft from selling XML components of Word. Also Judge Davis ordered Microsoft to pay million for willful infringement and million in prejudgment interest. This injunction and award of willful damages follows a May, 2009 jury verdict that ordered Microsoft to pay i4i 0 million for infringing the 5,787,449 patent.

Vogel Internet, Information Technology and e-Discovery Blog

Legitimate Microsoft Executable files and Malware

Admin — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 03:20:13 +0000

Executable (exe) files are used in Microsoft operating systems to run routines and applications, and enable the stable, secure running of your computer. However as they can run without any user intervention these files are an ideal way for hackers to infect your computer with a virus or malware program, as they can run malicious programs without your knowledge. Some malware programs disguise themselves as legitimate exe files to make them even harder to identify, and the only way you can tell them apart is to look at where they are in your directory.

Legitimate files that run key routines are saved in the subfolder “C:\Program Files”, and a good anti-malware program will scan your computer and identify if any duplicate files have been saved in other subfolders. For example the fssm32 process (filename fssm32.exe) is located in “C:\Program Files”, and part of the F-Secure Anti-Virus Client Security program, which monitors and makes adjustments to applications on your computer. However malware programs can also disguise themselves under this name, and in this case the fake files can appear in other subfolders such as “C:\Windows” or “C:\Windows\System32” folders.

Another systems file that is vulnerable to exploitation by hackers is groovemonitor.exe. This file is a multi user resource which is part of Microsoft Office 2007, and is used to track groove behaviour and create error reports that are send back to Microsoft central. This exe file is saved into “C:\Program Files”, but like the fssm32.exe malware, the filename can also be used to camouflage malicious files in other subfolders such as “C:\Windows\ Folders”.

It is important to note that this groovemonitor file will not uninstall automatically if you uninstall Office 2007, and will continue to load up and run when you start up your computer. You will need to manually delete this from your system by accessing your Control Panel and then selecting ‘Add/Remove programs’. Check through the list until you see the groovemonitor application, and then click on ‘Remove Program’. Sometimes this file can prove difficult to remove, and in this case you will need to use the ‘msconfig’ function by going to the ‘Start Menu’ and clicking on ‘Run’. Then type in ‘msconfig’ and press enter. In the ‘Startup Table’ uncheck anything that relates to groovemonitor and then reboot your system.

ScriptDebate.com

Microsoft slapped with injunction against selling Word in U.S.

Admin — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 06:50:18 +0000

This is huge:

Welcome to the world of surprising patent lawsuits. A Texas judge ruled Tuesday that Microsoft cannot sell Word – yes, Microsoft Word, the cornerstone of Microsoft Office – in the United States.

Toronto-based i4i Inc won an injunction against Microsoft regarding the company’s XML patents. In the words of i4i, the injunction “prohibits Microsoft from selling or importing to the United States any Microsoft Word products that have the capability of opening .XML, .DOCX or DOCM files (XML files) containing custom XML”. Microsoft has been given 60 days to comply, reports Seattle PI. (Mashable.)

Competitors shouldn’t get their hopes up. Microsoft will settle and/or appeal.

WordPerfect Blog