congressman

Google-ITA Deal Frightens Even More Legislators

John Paczkowski in News on February 11, 2011 at 3:12 am PT

A few more hurdles for Google to overcome as it works to wrap up its now seven-months-pending acquisition of flight information software company ITA. This week saw two letters of concern sent to the DOJ, one from Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster, the other from Rep. Howard Coble and Rep. Thomas Petri.

Gawker's Nick Denton: See, You Ingrates? This Is What We're Trying to Do (Video)

Peter Kafka in Media on February 10, 2011 at 8:44 pm PT

The Blog King doesn’t want to be the Blog King: He wants his sites to be as compelling as TV. Here’s his promo reel.

Blue Mountain Arts' Polis of Web 1.0 and His First Year as a Congressman in Web 2.0

Kara Swisher in News on March 22, 2010 at 5:18 am PT

While in Washington, D.C., last week, one of BoomTown’s last stops was at the office of Colorado Democratic Congressman Jared Polis on Capitol Hill. Although I usually try to avoid politicians at all costs, it was terrific to check in with Polis, who was one of the more interesting players in the Web 1.0 scene. Here’s the video.

Does It Matter Why Google Did It? The Real Point Is China's Appalling Internet Behavior.

Kara Swisher in News on January 13, 2010 at 5:11 am PT

There are lots of possible reasons Google finally went on the offensive against China yesterday. While much of the speculation so far has been about Google’s motives, real or imagined, it seems to me that the focus should sit squarely on how appalling the Chinese government behaves regarding the Web. And more to the point, how it tries to pass off egregious censorship, vicious retribution of its critics using digital skullduggery and persistent violations of basic freedoms as justified by government policy and laws. That canard is accepted by no one with any kind of conscience and falls flat in today’s increasingly transparent digital-centric world.

Who’s Watching Google Watch You? Web Publishers Face Congress Today.

Peter Kafka in Media on June 18, 2009 at 6:48 am PT

The man who wants to regulate Web advertising, or more precisely, Web advertising that knows who you are and what you do, puts Google, Yahoo and Facebook on the Congressional hotseat.

Online Ad Snoop NebuAd Gives Up the Ghost. Who’s Next?

Peter Kafka in Media on May 18, 2009 at 2:47 pm PT

Talk to online ad folks for any amount of time and you’ll walk away thinking that behavioral targeting–whereby marketers track and chase Web surfers based on which sites they visit and what they do there–is both old hat and the wave of the future. But I’m still convinced that there’s a very big gap between the way the ad industry views this stuff and the way politicians and average Americans do. For a reminder, head on over to NebuAd’s Web site, which no longer works. That’s because the targeting firm, which once employed 60 people, closed up shop on Friday.