Tagged.com claims it is the third-largest social network in the U.S., in terms of total monthly visits. And now, perhaps, we know why: Tagged lured new members to its site by tricking users into providing it with access to their personal email contacts. The company then spammed those contacts with promotional emails disguised as invitations to view personal photos. And when they registered with Tagged to view those photos, the company spammed their contacts as well. An interesting variation on the “membership drive” and one that’s gotten Tagged in hot water with New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, who intends to sue the company.
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It’s no surprise to hear that one in four Americans drives like an idiot, but to learn that a similar percentage truly are idiots, well… I guess that’s not really a surprise either. After all, you’d have to be pretty dim to text while driving, a practice that widespread research and more than a few fatal accidents have proven to be a dangerous distraction.
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When it comes to online gambling, the house never loses. The White House, that is.
Microsoft, Yahoo and Google have agreed to fork over millions of dollars to settle allegations that they sold ads promoting illegal online gambling. Without admitting or denying liability, the three companies agreed to forfeit a collective $31.5 million in advertising [...]
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A $9,250 per-song fine might seem an excessive punishment for illegally sharing music for no personal gain, but it’s really not. According to the U.S. Justice Department, anyway.
The DOJ says the $222,000 in damages awarded to the Recording Industry Association of America in the Virgin Records America et al. v. Thomas copyright-infringement case is constitutional. [...]
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Terry Gross: “Are you trying to say to me that all that matters to you is money?”
Gene Simmons: “I will contend, and you try to disprove it, that the most important thing as we know it on this planet, in this plane, is, in fact, money. Want me to prove it? …The first thing you [...]
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Facebook’s Social Ads aren’t endorsements, they’re a “representation” of user activity. This according to Chris Kelly, Facebook’s chief privacy officer, who claims the company’s new Social Ads don’t run afoul of privacy law because those who appear in them have already chosen to publicly associate themselves with the brand featured in the advertisement.
Said Kelly: “We [...]
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Social actions are powerful because they act as trusted referrals and reinforce the fact that people influence people. It’s no longer just about messages that are broadcasted out by companies, but increasingly about information that is shared between friends. So we set out to use these social actions to build a new kind of ad [...]
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