Tag Archive | "corporateering"

Big Bird’s Birthday: Part Of Google’s Charm Campaign?

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

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For Big Bird's birthday, the Sesame Street icon's feet replaced the L in Google's search logo. Is Google pressing Big Bird into the service of its charm offensive?        Critics say its corporate motto of “Don’t be evil” is a smoke screen for invasive procedures that are stripping away privacy (like scanning your gmail account for keywords to create targeted advertising). “I love Google. But I also fear Google,” says Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog. “It’s made finding information remarkably easy, but I’m not under any illusion that that’s a free lunch. And most Internet users have had their eyes opened recently to the fact that they are being tracked and they don’t have a way of stopping that.”

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Google To Unveil New Privacy Controls

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

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Google Inc. will announce a feature tomorrow that will give users more control over their online privacy, according to a consumer advocate who discussed the matter with the company. John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog hasn't reviewed Google Dashboard yet, because he refused to sign a nondisclosure agreement. But attorneys for the Mountain View search giant informed him the new feature would be unveiled on Thursday, he told The Chronicle.

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Microsoft vs. Google: When It Comes To The Cloud, It’s War

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

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"All warfare is based on deception," goes the famous line attributed to Sun Tzu in the Art of War. It may very well be the operating principle that both Google and Microsoft have taken to heart in their battle for dominance of the office desktop and cloud. Case in point: The recent battle between the two companies to sell office productivity and email services to the city of Los Angeles. Last month, before the city made a decision, Google downplayed an attack on the security of its cloud-based offerings by Consumer Watchdog -- but quickly published a "fact check" document to distribute to city officials to support its claims about reliability and security. According to one report, Google suggested that Consumer Watchdog was "being paid to target Google specifically," without publicly naming the party allegedly paying the group.

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Google Beats Microsoft in the E-Mail Battle of Los Angeles

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

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Google won the battle with Microsoft for the right to move Los Angeles' 30,000 municipal employees to its e-mail system, knocking out Novell's GroupWise platform for the $7.25 million contract. However, the contract comes with a caveat. Google must compensate the city if its e-mail service is breached and data is stolen. The Los Angeles Council voted to add the penalty provision 9-3. Consumer advocates applauded this motion. "Los Angeles residents cannot be sure the city's confidential or sensitive data will be secure," said John M. Simpson, consumer advocate with Consumer Watchdog, "but at least they know there will be a penalty if security is compromised. It's essential that this project be closely watched to ensure that Google keeps its promises."

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LA Council Insists On Added Security Breach Penalty As It Oks Move To Google’s ‘Cloud’

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

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Project Demands Close Monitoring To Guarantee Citizen’s Privacy Consumer Watchdog Says Los Angeles, CA -- The Los Angeles City Council voted today to move the city’s 30,000 email users to a system provided by Google, but only after a provision that the city be compensated if there is security breach in the data held on Google’s servers.

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Google Selected To Handle City’s E-mail Operation

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

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CONTRACT: Deal Could Save $5 Million, But Some Still Have Security Concerns Google trumped Microsoft and Novell on Tuesday, winning a $7.25 million contract to create an e-mail system for workers in Los Angeles. John Simpson with the group Consumer Watchdog warned against adopting the Google system until more work is completed on security. "It may be the thing of the future, but I'm not sure it is there yet," Simpson said. "The security checks don't exist yet. It is the gleam in Google's eyes." Part of the City Council's approval was based on promises from Google that it will reimburse the city for any damages.  

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L.A. City Council To Vote On Google E-mail Contract

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

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Questions about cost, security and reliability remain, but the council is expected to decide Tuesday. After concerns were raised about how Google would secure sensitive data from law enforcement agencies, the company announced plans to finish work on a "government cloud," a separate set of servers with enhanced security, sometime next year. But completion of the government cloud is not a guarantee, said John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog, a nonpartisan consumer advocacy group that has been critical of the Google contract. "If you build it and vet it and test it, great, but don't commit to going onto it until it actually exists," he said.

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Con: Why Los Angeles Should Worry About Google’s E-mail System

Monday, October 26, 2009

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Google wants the city of Los Angeles to switch its 30,000 e-mail users to an Internet-based system it operates, but rather than address real questions about the security of such "cloud computing" systems the Internet giant changes its story depending on its audience.

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Critics Of Google Online-Books Deal Seek Delay

Thursday, October 22, 2009

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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Critics of Google's deal with an authors' group to put millions of books online have asked for a delay in a hearing set to consider the settlement in a court filing on Thursday. A long list of critics of the deal, including Yahoo, Amazon, Microsoft, the National Writers Union, Consumer Watchdog and singer Arlo Guthrie, argued on Thursday that the original class action settlement was long and complex and any changes would only add to its complexity

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Will City of L.A. jump into Google’s cloud?

Thursday, October 22, 2009

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I spent all afternoon Monday waiting at the LA City Council Budget Committee to give the Council members my two minutes on why Google's proposal to put the City's computing into its cloud could be dangerous. In a nutshell: Security,...

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