NP - The latest news has arrived! Everything is going great in the world, and little Annie Miller just got her new puppy. The family was very excited for her.

"We're just thrilled for Annie, she always wanted a puppy," says Mother Deborah.

said by Alphy :

What course of action do you think needs to occur in order for the industry to complete relent on practices such as this/DRM

Two prominent members of the U.S. Congress are asking Charter Communications to hold off on its plan to monitor its customers' Web browsing and deliver relevant advertisements.

In a letter to Charter chief executive Neil Smit, Reps. Ed Markey and Joe Barton say the monitoring plan may violate federal privacy laws and ask that the company "not move forward" until "we have an opportunity to discuss" it. Markey is the Democratic chairman of a House Internet subcommittee and Barton is the senior Republican on the House Energy and Commerce committee.

Charter did not immediately respond on Friday to our questions about whether it would delay its monitoring-and-advertising plans as a result of the letter. Although Markey and Barton have no legal authority to order a halt, they could make life difficult for Charter by convening hearings and lambasting the company for alleged privacy violations.

In other words, they argue that an opt-in mechanism is necessary instead of an opt-out one.

That section of federal law, 47 USC 551, says: "A cable operator shall not use the cable system to collect personally identifiable information concerning any subscriber without the prior written or electronic consent of the subscriber concerned." Charter has sent notices to customers who may be affected once the trial period begins, but a mere notification (that may never be seen) may not amount to actual consent.

said by Anonymous :

They need to make this opt in so people would decide if this is really something they need. If it is, enough people will opt in.

Of course we all know this is just a load of crap and if this was opt in based there would be no NebuAD and the likes.

If you use Ad Muncher or Ad Blocker, do these ads get blocked too?

When asked why consumers don't see lower prices if their browsing history is generating additional revenue, Schremp had this to say:

(Customers) appreciate the notion that ads that are being served are attuned to their interests or potential interests. We view it the same way as offering faster Internet speeds. This is no different. It's about taking the latest technology and applying it as a way to be useful to our customers.

said by braynes :

Why is this a way to “offset growing costs” for who the stockholders, the asshole that came up with it?