Calling all U.S.A. K-12 students - Google wants you to Doodle!

Google is hosting it's fourth "Doodle 4 Google" contest.

Kids are given the theme, "What I'd like to do someday..."

If your kid wins, the Google doodle will be on the homepage and your kid will receive a $15K scholarship AND your kid's school will win a $25K technology grant.

You have until March 2 to register.  Entries must be postmarked by March 16.

Go to:  http://www.google.com/doodle4google/ for more details.

Sticks and Stones Do Break Bones...And Internet Postings Can Land You in Court.

There is a new example in the news that I want everyone to read about and take heed.  Please sit down with your young adults and children to discuss the do's and don'ts of life and how they must transfer into how they treat people on the internet.

For background purposes, you may want to read a book that talks about this, from the victim's point of view.  I am referring to the Google Bomb Book by Sue Scheff.  You can read about her and the awful ordeal that she survived and eventually learned how to thrive her way through.  Sue was the subject of internet defamation.  I met Sue through Twitter and I consider her an esteemed colleague and friend.  You can read a summary at the Google Bomb Book site.

The latest headline in the news that your teens and young adults can relate to is the Courtney Love defamation trial.  A social media expert is expected to testify AGAINST Ms. Love.  A defamation suit alleges that Ms. Love tweeted awful things about a designer known as "Boudoir Queen".  The defamation suit alleges that the Twitter posts damaged the fashion designer's reputation.

The lawsuit heads to trial January 18th.  I wonder if Ms. Love will tweet about it from the court room?

The court will hear the defamation suit and then will have to decide if Ms. Love's Twitter posts are an expression of her thoughts and opinions vs. presented as facts.

Social Media Expert, Jessie Stricchiola, has been asked to be a witness at the trial and to testify what the twitterati and followers of Ms. Love may have interpreted from the posts.


Sources:

"Twitter Expert Will Testify Against Courtney Love In Defamation Trial", Debra Cassens Weiss, Internet Law, January 5, 2011.

"Are you ready to be google bombed? Why you must read Sue Scheff’s story", Dr. Michele Borba, September 7, 2009.

Google Bomb - The Untold Story of the $11.3M Verdict That Changed the Way We Use the Internet, by John W. Dozier Jr. and Sue Scheff.

When A Bully Games the System - Store Owner Bullies Customers to Win More Business

An eyeglass store owner in New York is accused of bullying customers as part of a bizarre marking campaign.

The NY Times quotes from a blog post supposedly written by the store owner:
“Hello, My name is Stanley with DecorMyEyes.com,” the post began. “I just wanted to let you guys know that the more replies you people post, the more business and the more hits and sales I get. My goal is NEGATIVE advertisement.”

Perhaps this strategy was working?  Evidently when searching for eyeglass brands, names, places to order online, his store was indeed popping up in the coveted spot:  on page #1.

A few more quotes from the NY Times article just to drive the point home:


The NY Times asks "Profitable?"

“Very,” says Vitaly Borker, the founder and owner of DecorMyEyes, during the first of several surprisingly unguarded conversations.

“I’ve exploited this opportunity because it works. No matter where they post their negative comments, it helps my return on investment. So I decided, why not use that negativity to my advantage?”


This is disappointing but not surprising that a merchant would try to game the system.  I wrote a piece on my "word for the week" a while back about "Google Juicing" where celebrities or merchants pump up stories to juice the search results on Google, even if it is negative publicity.

On December 7, the Huffington Post reported that Assistant U.S. Attomey E. Danya Perry brought the owner of the store into custody.  He is being held without bail.  They also reported that U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael H. Dolinger says there was sufficient information to believe that Mr. Vitaly Borker was considered a danger to the community.

At this point, complaints have also been filed with the FTC.  Mr. Borker has been charged with cyberstalking, interstate threats, mail fraud, and wire fraud.  He could face up to 50 years in prison if found guilty of all the charges.

Google has announced that they are making changes to their algorithms to hopefully avoid this bullying form of Google juicing to get more business.



Sources:
"Vitaly Borker ARRESTED:  Alleged 'Bully' Online Retailer Apprehended in New York", Larry Neumeister, Huffington Post, December 7, 2010.

"A Bully Finds a Pulpit on the Web", David Segal, New York Times, November 26, 2010.

Europe launched an antitrust investigation into Google

If history is an indicator, Google should be concerned.  When Europe set its sights on Microsoft and Intel, both cases were protracted and complex, costing both sides money and time.  The European Commission has now opened an investigation against Google.

Google controls more than 80% of the online search market in Europe and roughly 66% of the market in the USA.

At the heart of the inquiry are complaints that Google unfairly favors some businesses over others, especially competing search services.


Sources:
"Europe Opens Antitrust Inquiry Into Google", James Kanter and Eric Pfanner, New York Times, November 30, 2010.

Google Admits Trespassing and Pays a Settlement

Google Streetview collected photos in Pittsburgh.  Normally this involves the Google car driving past your house snapping photos.  One Pittsburgh couple says, they literally crossed the line.  Aaron and Chrstine Boring sued because their house is not on a public street but on a private road.  Their lawsuit said the Google car could only have taken the photos is they traveled to their house via a private road that was marked with a "No Trespassing" sign.

Google's defense was that the Boring home could ask for it to be removed AND the county real estate tax site had a similar photo.

Globally, Google Street View has fans and detractors.  English countryside villagers formed a human chain to block the Google car.  Germany demanded that citizens have the right to fuzz out their house or ask in advance to not have their house image included at all.

The settlement to the Borings?  $1.

Sources:
"Google admits trespassing in Pa., pays couple $1", Joe Mandak, AP, December 1, 2010.

Google "Mortified" - Admits the Privacy Lapse

Google admitted that it collected personal information, by accident, when it dispatched Street View cars to your neighborhood and ones like it all around the globe.

What did they collect?  According to their admission, in some cases, entire email messages, passwords, and the websites you visited.

Google indicated it would delete the data as soon as possible.

Google has recently appointed a privacy director.

In the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office, will be looking into the matter.

Google employee, Alan Eustace, quote was posted in the Telegraph:

"It's clear from those inspections that while most of the data is fragmentary, in some instances entire emails and URLs [web addresses] were captured, as well as passwords," said Alan Eustace, Google's vice-president of engineering and research.  "We want to delete this data as soon as possible, and I would like to apologise again for the fact that we collected it in the first place."

The original intent of Google Streetview cars capturing WiFi information was supposed to be to create a map of hotspots to help people on the go know where they could get WiFi access.


Sources:

"Google:  We're 'Mortified' about Privacy Lapse", Fox Business, 10/22/2010.

"Google Spied on British emails and computer passwords", David Barrett, Telegraph.co.uk, 10/23/2010.