Into Tech

Every time you think someone has sued Google for every possible sin imaginable, someone pops up with yet another lawsuit. The latest is that Google is being sued by a lawyer (who, of course, is trying to turn it into a class action suit) complaining that the ads he bought on Google were shown on parked domains and error pages which resulted in bad clicks. There are a few separate issues here that all seem to get mixed up in the lawsuit. If the the ads were really shown in places where they weren’t relevant, then it shouldn’t be a huge problem, as you would expect that there wouldn’t be many clicks (Google’s ad system only costs money if someone clicks). And, indeed, there were only a few clicks — and none of those clicks turned into real leads for the lawyer. So the real question might be whether or not those clicks were fraudulent clicks — but that doesn’t seem to be what the lawsuit claims. Instead, the guy is just upset that his ads were shown on such pages and claims that Google is guilty of “fraud, business code violations, and unjust enrichment” for showing the ads on such pages. This seems like a tough one to prove. Google shows ads in plenty of places. If the clicks were fraudulent, that’s one thing. But just because the clicks on certain pages didn’t turn into leads (and we’re talking about a rather small sample size that the guy is basing this on) it doesn’t mean that Google is guilty of “fraud.”

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Back in February, we pointed out that Google was playing with fire in suggesting that a Microsoft-Yahoo merger would violate antitrust laws. It seemed fairly obvious that those statements would come back to haunt Google — a company many others have been accusing of antitrust violations. And, indeed, even with Microsoft still trying to buy Yahoo, Microsoft is now making nearly identical antitrust claims against Google concerning its ad deal with Yahoo. It’s all legal posturing, of course, in an attempt to get the government to annoy a competitor. As Declan McCullagh points out at the link above, if either company really believes that the other was violating antitrust laws, it’s perfectly free to file a private antitrust lawsuit. But, instead, both companies are playing a game in trying to get the government to be a pest for the other — and now they get to use each other’s scary monopoly language when tossing around accusations as well. So once again, might we suggest that both Microsoft and Google might be better off keeping their mouths zipped on anything involving antitrust violations from the other one?

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With the news out that Google and Viacom have come to an agreement to “anonymize” the data a judge ordered Google to hand over, it’s worth remembering a simple, but important statement: there’s no such thing as a truly anonymized dataset. While it may protect some users, it’s still likely to reveal some users and what they surfed. Given all of this, it’s still quite unclear why Viacom needs this data in the first place. The legal question is whether Google infringed on copyright. Why should Google’s log files be necessary to determine that?

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With all the fuss over a court telling Google it needs to give Viacom its log files, Google and Viacom have been discussing ways to hand over the data and retain anonymity (not an easy task). However, apparently one key point is that Viacom is most interested in finding out what Google employees were uploading and viewing on YouTube. That’s an interesting, if sneaky, strategy, as in theory Viacom could use that to try to prove that Google employees “knew” that certain content was infringing, which potentially could remove some DMCA safe harbors. However, that would be a huge stretch in terms of the meaning of the law. If anything, this move shows how much Viacom’s case appears to be based on grasping at straws. If the best it can do is try to show that some Google employees viewed or uploaded infringing material, that’s a pretty weak case — rather than focusing on the fundamental issue of how much responsibility Google has over the content users upload.

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Remember all those lawsuits against Google by people who didn’t like how Google listed them (i.e., they felt that Google had them too far down the rankings)? Well, it appears that some similar lawsuits are being filed against eBay. One jewelry sales company, Windsor Auctions, felt that it should have been making more money via eBay and sued the company after realizing that a competitor was using tools eBay provided it to get better listings. Windsor mostly relied on a depression-era law that tried to stop big companies from engaging in predatory sales practices (using its marketing muscle to force suppliers to give it better deals). As Eric Goldman points out in the link above, the law makes almost no sense today (and it’s questionable if it ever did). It certainly doesn’t seem to apply to this case — and the court has agreed, tossing out those charges, though leaving some others dealing with a implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. It’s difficult to see how eBay can be at fault here for offering up tools that will help sellers, but as we’ve seen with all those Google cases, companies always look for someone to blame when someone beats them in the market — and the company with the big pockets is always an easy target.

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There was plenty of attention given to the judge’s order that Google hand over log files to Viacom’s lawyers in the Viacom/YouTube lawsuit, with much of it focused on what an awful ruling this was. Now it appears that some are trying to use this bad ruling to actually focus negative attention on Google instead. A lawyer who is also suing YouTube over copyright issues mistakenly claims that Google has tricked the press into making Viacom the enemy here. That’s not quite true, though. Most of the anger was focused on the judge’s decision, not on Viacom. However, he does make another, related point that is getting picked up by others as well: “How else do you explain why they have been collecting and using IP addresses to monetize their site (for a while now), yet only now, with great self righteousness, claim to be concerned about producing IP addresses?”

Of course, that’s not quite an accurate portrayal of the situation either. It’s one thing to store your own log files — it’s quite another to be asked to hand them over to a random third party. Louis Solomon’s statement above is like saying “how can a doctor store your medical info and then, with great self righteousness, claim to be concerned about protecting your medical info.” It’s rather easy: the doctor has a right to the medical info, while a third party does not.

However, that hasn’t stopped some privacy advocates from asking why Google has kept the log files in the first place. This doesn’t strike me as being that big a deal, to be honest. There are plenty of reasons why Google should be able to control its own log files. I can understand questions concerning what it does with the log files should those actions violate user privacy — but merely tracking how people use their websites hardly seems like a privacy violation.

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BT is in talks to buy Silicon Valley internet-phone software developer Ribbit as it looks to create a one-number web-based communications platform to take on the likes of Google and Skype in the burgeoning online telecoms market.

Ribbit, founded two years ago and based near Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, claims to be “Silicon Valley’s first phone company”. It has created software that allows programmers to design applications that tie together mobile phones, fixed-line phones and even social networking sites into a single online communications hub.

Ribbit allows any software developer to use its technology to create applications, in the same way as Google has opened up its soon to launch mobile phone operating system android and Apple has allowed other people to develop software for the iPhone.

There are a number of communications tools such as Evernote - which allows forgetful iPhone users to access their “to do” lists from their phone or computer - which are designed to integrate the mobile phone with internet-based services.

Bringing together the information stored on the web with mobile phones, a trend known as unified communications, has been mooted for many years. But the take-up of broadband and the creation of fast mobile phone networks has made it easier to achieve. Last year Google snapped up another Californian company involved in this area, called GrandCentral, for about $50m.

BT is understood to have offered as much as $55m (£28m) for Ribbit, although a deal has not yet been signed. BT refused to comment yesterday.

Ribbit’s technology has already been used by a number of third party application developers. American business communications group Salesforce.com has a Ribbit-based application that lets the company’s sales people keep track of all their calls and contacts through a single web page.

Ribbit is also testing a consumer platform called amphibian, which looks like a social networking site with a phone attached. It allows users to convert voicemail messages left on their mobile into text which can be read online, so users can search for keywords. Calls can be patched through from a mobile to a computer; not only will the caller’s number be displayed but amphibian can pull up their profile and latest postings from sites such as Flickr, LinkedIn and Twitter. Calls from other web-based telephone services such as GoogleTalk and Skype can also be accessed.

BT is in talks to buy Silicon Valley internet-phone software developer Ribbit as it looks to create a one-number web-based communications platform to take on the likes of Google and Skype in the burgeoning online telecoms market.

Ribbit, founded two years ago and based near Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, claims to be “Silicon Valley’s first phone company”. It has created software that allows programmers to design applications that tie together mobile phones, fixed-line phones and even social networking sites into a single online communications hub.

Reports in the blogosphere said that BT is spending $55m (£28m) on the company. No actual deal is understood to have yet been signed off, and BT refused to comment today.

Bringing together the information stored on the internet with mobile phones and computers, a trend known as unified communications, has been mooted for many years. But the take-up of broadband and the creation of fast mobile phone networks has made it easier to achieve. Last year Google snapped up another Californian company involved in this area, called GrandCentral, for about $50m.

Ribbit’s technology is open to any software developer to use - a model known as open source - so they can build their own applications. London-based Square Circle, for instance, has created a web-based phone application that looks like a chalkboard. American business communications group Salesforce.com, meanwhile, has a Ribbit-based application that lets a company’s sales people keep track of all their calls and contacts through a single web page and costs $25 per user per month.

Ribbit is also testing a consumer platform called Amphibian, which looks like a social networking site with a phone attached. It allows users to transcribe voicemail messages left on their mobile as text on a web page, meaning they can search for keywords in a message. Calls can be patched through from a mobile to a computer; not only will the caller’s number be displayed but Amphibian can pull up their profile and latest postings from sites such as Flickr, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Because the system is open, calls from other web-based telephony services such as GoogleTalk and Skype can also be accessed.

Google, too, is experimenting with open-source mobile communications with its Android mobile phone operating system, due to start appearing in the first generation of handsets towards the end of the year. Application developers are likely to use the platform to create unified messaging services. Apple, meanwhile, is also letting developers create applications for its iPhone device and a Ribbit service has already been created.

Ribbit has raised about $13m from venture capital firms Alsop-Louie Partners, Allegis Capital and KPG Ventures. It was co-founded by serial entrepreneur Ted Griggs who serves as chief executive, former AT&T product development head Crick Waters and two of Griggs’ colleagues from his previous company, telecoms software group Syndeo Corporation: Peter Leong and Ramani Narayan, Ribbit’s head of marketing, meanwhile, used to be head of marketing at another Californian start-up in the web telephony market called Jajah. He previously worked for Apple.

BT yesterday snapped up the online business directory firm Ufindus for £20m as it prepares to take on Yell.com, Google and other dotcom start-ups in the local information market.

The deal will help BT as it creates an online directory with social networking technology, so that users will not only be able to find businesses and services in their area but will also be able to rate and review them, for subsequent users.

BT has already launched a test version of such a service, called BT Exchanges, and is planning a full launch of the site in the autumn. The Ufindus portfolio will bring the company advertisers and technical expertise. BT used to own the Yellow Pages publisher Yell, but sold it seven years ago to reduce debt.

Ufindus has more than 20,000 small and medium-sized business customers and nearly 2m online directory listings on its three main internet directories: SmileLocal, MoreUK and Ufindus. It also has a host of niche directories for individual trades, such as builderregister.com and bathroomspecialistfinder.com.

“Ufindus will play an important role in the continued development of BT Directories’ online portfolio,” said David Benjamin, head of BT Directories. “Through Ufindus’ considerable expertise and experience in online classified advertising, we access further local classified product offerings, significant search traffic and new customers.”

Ufindus generates more than 9m searches a month and last year made £14m. The company was sold to BT by the AIM-listed Iomart Group. Shares in Iomart closed yesterday up 4p at 49.5p.

The local information market is booming as more people get fast broadband access at home and the new generation of mobile devices such as the iPhone make it easier for people to get web-based information when on the move. Google and Yell are already heavily involved in the online directories market, linking business information with maps and directions.

But the sheer wealth of information available has brought into fashion websites that offer feedback as well as names and contact details. There are already a number of such sites, such as LocalLife.co.uk. TouchLocal.com is a full-scale social networking site that allows users to review everything from pubs to plumbers.

Moving music

We want to put our existing iPod libraries on to the new PC.
Jane McNicol

JS: Apple’s website provides instructions for moving your music library either via a CD or DVD or using an iPod (support.apple.com/kb/HT1329). However, this requires the use of iTunes 7 on both machines. One alternative is to use iGadget software ($15), which has replaced iPod Agent by the same developer, but there are many others. The main problem is transferring any protected files bought from the iTunes store. According to Apple, you must authorise the new PC by selecting Authorize Computer on the Store menu in iTunes. You can then attach the iPod, go to the File menu, and select Transfer Purchases from iPod (support.apple.com/kb/HT1727). Of course, you can always copy your files onto CD or other storage medium and add them to iTunes on the new PC. However, this will lose the metadata you had in the old library.

TinyURL revisited

What’s the best way to follow up your many TinyURL references?
Tom Garrud

My system - Firefox 3, Zone Alarm Security Suite, Windows XP - will not let me access any TinyURLs.
David Gompertz

JS: TinyURL references work as published if you type them directly into the address bar of your browser or, at worst, stick http:// on the front, eg http://tinyurl.com/owd8n etc. But it’s probably easier to follow the links from the Ask Jack blog, where I use the full address of each link instead of the TinyURL. Some websites and security programs may block TinyURL addresses as they can be used to take people to malware sites. The Zone Alarm Suite now does this via its Spy Site Blocking tab, but this is not part of the free firewall program.

Saving boot time

I can remember having to wait for radio valves to warm up. Why do I have to wait even longer after switching on my Windows XP PC?
Hugh Roberts

JS: When correctly set up by the manufacturer, Windows XP boots in about 30 seconds, resumes from Hibernate in 20 seconds, and resumes from Standby in five seconds. The boot time for a well-used PC is generally more like 60 to 90 seconds, depending on how many applications are being loaded in the background. These will usually include a firewall and antivirus software, but most other preloads are unnecessary. Search for [windows startup manager] and you will find lots of programs that allow you to control which things are loaded. I use AnVir Task Manager Free for this purpose, though Windows Vista has a utility built in. Otherwise, you can go to the Control Panel, click Power Options, and set your PC so that it will hibernate after a specified time. This uses very little power but it will start up quicker.

Data destruction

I’ve bought a replacement for my broken down PC, and would like to dispose of it, but it still has my data on the hard drive.
Barbara Evans

JS: Simply remove the hard drive before disposing of the base unit. If the drive is big enough to be worth the effort, you could mount it in an external drive case and use it as a USB drive with your new machine. If it’s a small drive and you don’t need to rescue any data, you can do enough physical damage to render it inoperable - eg, wrap it in a tea towel and whack it with a hammer. The tea towel is to stop bits flying around, but you should also wear appropriate protective equipment such as goggles.

What’s Kontiki?

I have installed the BBC iPlayer, but every time I activate it, a program called Kontiki pops up.
Denis

JS: When you download TV programmes using iPlayer - as distinct from watching streamed versions online - they are downloaded using Kontiki (kontiki.com). This is a peer-to-peer file sharing program, which is also used by similar services such as Sky by Broadband and Channel 4’s 4oD. Kontiki seems to load and use your bandwidth, even if you are not using iPlayer: use the Windows Task Manager to see if Kservice is running. The BBC has a page that explains how to stop it running on startup and when you are not using iPlayer (tinyurl.com/4h2t26). You can remove it altogether using the kclean.exe program from tinyurl.com/5msknq. However, if you do, any Kontiki-based programs such as iPlayer may not work.

Backchat

Vista user JH Prentice wanted a photo retouching program to replace Microsoft’s Picture It! I suggested the Picnik website and Paint.net. Two readers suggested Picasa (picasa.google.com), which is mainly a photo organiser, while Marcus Fallon proposed XnView (xnview.com), which is mainly a viewer. I’d go for XnView too, if its retouching facilities meet your needs. A great pro solution is Adobe’s Lightroom, if you have £200 to spare.