India Calling Cards

Posted by Christine Chen, Manager, Global Communications and Public Affairs Online privacy has been on a lot of people’s minds lately, including ours . As Google has grown, it’s only natural that people have questions about how we handle information. We’ve talked a lot in the past about providing our users with transparency and choice in some of our products, like the “off the record” feature in Google Talk or requesting that images be removed from Google Street View.

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Google’s approach to privacy

Posted by Richard Whitt, Washington Telecom and Media Counsel One of Google’s top policy priorities is spurring the availability and uptake of affordable, open broadband Internet service. The Internet may have been invented in the United States, but unfortunately in too many places we continue to lag behind Asia and Europe when it comes to broadband speed, penetration, and adoption. We’ve been working closely with FCC staff over the past several months as they prepare to deliver a National Broadband Plan to Congress in February, and to date they’ve shown a strong commitment to providing the best possible blueprint for action

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Setting some ambitious goals in a National Broadband Plan

Posted by Scott Rubin, Sr. Manager, Public Policy Communications A few weeks ago we unveiled a set of child safety videos and this week we’re kicking off our first-ever Digital Literacy Tour in the US at Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax, Virginia.

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Digital Literacy Tour to launch in Fairfax, VA

Posted by Michael Terrell, Energy Policy Counsel People often get up in settings like the international climate change conference in Copenhagen and make complicated pronouncements that leave heads spinning. Today was different. Google, GE, the Climate Group, and NRDC, supported by other leading businesses and NGOs, had a simple message : governments across the world should ensure people have real-time access to their home energy information

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A simple way to curb climate change

Posted by Dorothy Chou, policy analyst Last week, Dr. Ron Deibert, Director of the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, came to the Googleplex in Mountain View to give a presentation on the Open Internet Initiative ‘s recent studies on the policies and technologies that repressive governments are using to censor Internet content.

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New studies find censorship rising

Posted by Derek Slater, Policy Analyst How are the performance and quality of broadband networks changing over time? How does the service experienced by users on certain networks compare against others? Today, Measurement Lab (M-Lab) took another step to help answer these types of questions

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Open broadband data, brought to you by M-Lab

Posted by Galen Panger, Global Communications and Public Affairs Google D.C. hosted over 50 teachers in our office today for the 2009 Google Teacher Academy . Google for Educators head and Senior Product Marketing Manager Cristin Frodella explains what it was all about:

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Google Teacher Academy comes to D.C.

Posted by Sunil Daluvoy, New Business Development We were at Kramer Middle School in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, D.C., this morning for an exciting announcement . Google has teamed up with One Economy , Qualcomm , and Cricket Wireless to deliver free wireless broadband cards and Internet service to low-income students and families in Washington, a program we’re calling Project Change Access

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Free wireless broadband for low-income families in the District

Trial starts in Delaware today, with eBay claiming craigslist’s directors acted inappropriately in implementing governance measures designed to protect the long term mission and values of craigslist. The public version of craigslist’s pre-trial brief (PDF) is available, and Alexandria Sage has written a pre-trial “curtain raiser” for Reuters

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Delaware Trial Begins

Posted by Bob Boorstin, Director, Public Policy Team Collecting and sharing the most accurate information about place names and borders is a tough task that every map maker faces. The first sources are the nations themselves, but when neighboring countries claim overlapping territories and conflicting place names, even showing the dispute on a map may be prohibited by local law.

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When sources disagree: borders and place names in Google Earth and Maps

Posted by Josh Cohen, Senior Business Product Manager For the next two days, the Federal Trade Commission will explore a subject that’s central to democracy: the future of news. I’ll be representing Google at the event, which the commission is calling “From Town Criers to Bloggers: How Will Journalism Survive the Digital Age?” We’re an optimistic company, so maybe it’s no surprise that we believe journalism will not only survive, but thrive on the Internet.

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FTC looks at the future of news

In case you hadn’t noticed, there are no phone books for cell phones like we have for regular residences and businesses. You can’t just go to the white pages and look up a person’s information with a cellular number. And the reason for this is that the cell phone companies are trying to keep their customer’s data confidential.

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Reverse Cell Phone Search – What You Have to Know to Find Exactly What You’re Looking For

Posted by Dan Reicher, Director of Climate Change & Energy Initiatives The need to address the climate crisis provides us with an unprecedented opportunity to rebuild our energy system with vast economic, security, and environmental benefits. By putting significant limits on carbon emissions –- and adopting strong complementary energy policies — we can create millions of new U.S. jobs, reduce our dangerous dependence on foreign energy, and protect ourselves from a global climate crisis

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A price on carbon — necessary but not sufficient

From an email: “On December 5, Past Tense yoga studio (3253 Mt. Pleasant Street, NW) is hosting The Gift of Fab holiday sale featuring several of our talented staff like photographer Stacey Vaeth and students like pastry chef Josh Short. We are still looking for vendors so crafty locals should contact Kelly at info@pasttensestudio.com for more details.” Ed

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Past Tense Hosting Holiday Sale Dec. 5th Still has a few Spaces Available

Posted by Richard Whitt, Washington Telecom and Media Counsel In our response today to the FCC’s inquiry about Google Voice, we announced that our engineers have developed a tailored solution for restricting calls to specific numbers engaged in what some have called high-cost “traffic pumping” schemes, like adult chat and “free” conference call lines. We went to work on this fix because earlier this year, we noticed an extremely high number of calls were being made to an extremely small number of destinations. In fact, the top 10 telephone prefixes — the area code plus the first three digits of a seven digit number, e.g., 555-555-XXXX — generated more than 160 times the expected traffic volumes, and accounted for a whopping 26 percent of our monthly connection costs

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Our response to the FCC on Google Voice

Posted by Dan Berlin, Public Sector Engineering Manager (Cross-posted from the Google Public Sector Blog .) Last year we worked with partners to launch tools that made it easier to find basic voting information like when to register, where to vote, and how to contact your local election office. We’re back at it this year, helping Virginians vote in the upcoming 2009 general election with the Virginia Voting Info Map and gadget , which uses a data feed built by the Virginia State Board of Elections.

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Helping Virginians vote

Posted by Annette Kroeber-Riel, European Policy Counsel (Cross-posted from the Official YouTube Blog .) In 1989, the fall of the Berlin Wall became a striking symbol for free expression far beyond the borders of Germany. Just 20 years later, Iranian citizens used online tools like YouTube and Twitter to share firsthand accounts of the brutal government crackdown waged against protesters disputing the country’s election results. Many Iranians risked their lives to document the violence, despite the government’s attempts to expel journalists and stifle any voices of dissent.

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Celebrating free expression 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall

US District Court Judge John F. Grady has summarily dismissed Sheriff Dart’s suit against craigslist, concluding: Sheriff Dart may continue to use craigslist’s website to identify and pursue individuals who post allegedly unlawful content. But he cannot sue craigslist for their conduct Here is the full text of the judge’s ruling Matt Zimmerman at the EFF has excellent analysis and commentary: Meritless cases brought by law enforcement officers, amounting to little more than publicity stunts with little to no chance of success, do little to address the officers’ underlying concerns.

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Dart Dismissed

Posted by Mistique Cano, Manager, Public Policy Communications Earlier this week, Vint Cerf , one of the original architects of the Internet and our Chief Internet Evangelist, joined other pioneers in a letter to the FCC expressing support for the Commission’s consideration of safeguards that would preserve the open Internet. Vint spoke with Cecilia Kang at the Washington Post about the letter and why an open Internet is needed to ensure innovation and growth on the Web: “The issue is nondiscrimination against applications and against consumer choice. That should be clear by the letter from my colleagues, and by others, that the fundamental concern is that the provider of broadband service not be able to take advantage of that to act in an anticompetitive fashion against others that are trying to provide competitive applications using the same broadband facilities.” Check out the rest of his conversation with Cecilia on her new blog, Post Tech

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Vint Cerf on the importance of keeping the Internet open

ReNu Solar Energy System Awarded $40K and 2010 CES Booth; eEDge Media Device Wins Second Place Phoenix, AZ, October 19, 2009 – The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)® today announced that Regen, the light-powered personal and home electronics company, took the top prize for its ReNu personal solar power generation and storage system at the second annual i-stage competition, a technology event featuring the most innovative consumer technology products that will soon come to market. Eleven finalists unveiled their products before a live audience today at CEA’s 2009 Industry Forum, in Phoenix, Arizona

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REGEN WINS TOP PRIZE AND "FAN FAVORITE" AT CEA’S I-STAGE TECHNOLOGY COMPETITION

Posted by Richard Whitt, Washington Telecom and Media Counsel This morning, in an open letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski , 24 CEOs and founders representing the world’s leading Internet and technology companies — including Facebook, Sony, Amazon, eBay, Twitter, and Google — threw their support behind the effort to protect an open Internet. In the letter, the execs express their strong support for the Chairman’s plan to begin a process to consider adopting rules that would preserve and promote consumers’ open and robust access to the Internet, explaining: An open Internet fuels a competitive and efficient marketplace, where consumers make the ultimate choices about which products succeed and which fail.

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Tech CEOs and founders: Keep the Internet open!

When I look at the schedule schedule for the upcoming 140 Characters Conference: Exploring the State of NOW, taking place in Los Angeles on October 27/28, the first word that comes to my mind is diversity. Over the course of two days there will be 63 sessions presented on the Kodak Theater stage, covering a diverse set of topics including: Education, The Democratization of Information, Public Diplomacy, Public Health, Public Safety, China, Brands, Comedy, Investing, News, Public Policy & Law, Poker, Small Business, Music, Sports, Hollywood Politics and a lot more

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#140conf Update: Attend the #140Conf Tech Concert in LA – Oct 27/28

I have opened up the General Admission seats above the first floor in the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles and I am offering access to these seats for US$ 200 for both days of the 140 Characters Conference . (General Admission seats will not have access to the floor seats) Delegates attending #140conf LA will be able to experience 63 different sessions with 120+ people presenting on the Kodak stage over the two days. See the #140conf LA event schedule for details.

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General Admission Seats Now Available for #140conf in LA (Oct 27/28)

Posted by Aseem Sood, Product Manager This post is the latest in an ongoing series about how we harness the data we collect to improve our products and services for our users. In previous posts, we’ve told you about how data is used for webspam detection , improving search quality in foreign languages , and the advancement of search . We’ve also discussed using data to make our products safe and to prevent fraud

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Using Toolbar data to improve your browsing experience

Our trial before the Delaware Chancery Court has just been postponed at eBay’s request, but it’s worth noting that the Chancellor has now granted summary judgement dismissing 2 of eBay’s claims . As to the remaining claims , the evidence at trial will show craigslist and its directors adopted reasonable governance measures to protect craigslist and its mission from, among other things, eBay’s exploitation of its position as stockholder to harm craigslist and obtain unfair commercial advantage. Here is the public version of craigslist’s trial brief .

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Trial Postponed

Posted by Eric Davis, Head of Anti-Malvertising (Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog .) Internet security and online safety are topics that leave many people scratching their heads. While many companies and organizations work to make the Internet a safer place, it can be difficult to know what to do as an Internet user beyond creating numerous passwords for your various online accounts and steering clear of that email from a “long lost relative” who wants you to immediately wire thousands of dollars to him. Here’s the good news: even though security can become quite technical and complicated, there are simple steps you can take that can make a big difference in helping to keep your information safe

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Celebrating National Cyber Security Awareness Month 2009

Posted by Richard Whitt, Washington Telecom and Media Counsel This afternoon AT&T filed a letter with the Federal Communications Commission, alleging that Google Voice is preventing its users from making outbound calls to certain phone numbers with inflated access charges, and asking the Commission to intervene. Here’s the quick background: Local telephone carriers charge long-distance companies for originating and terminating calls to and from their networks

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Response to AT&T’s letter to FCC on Google Voice

Posted by Vint Cerf, Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist During a speech at the Brookings Institution this morning, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski outlined a proposal for explicit rules that would protect consumer access to an open Internet . The proposed rules would preserve “network neutrality,” preventing broadband-based Internet providers from discriminating against certain services, applications, or viewpoints on the Web, and requiring providers to be transparent about their network management practices

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FCC announces plan to protect access to an open Internet

Posted by Richard Whitt, Washington Telecom and Media Counsel Back in July, the FCC sent letters to Apple, AT&T, and Google asking about the rejection of the Google Voice for iPhone app. When we submitted our letter on August 21, we asked the FCC to redact certain portions that involved sensitive commercial conversations between two companies — namely, a description of e-mails, telephone conversations, and in-person meetings between executives at Google and Apple. Shortly afterward, several individuals and organizations submitted Freedom of Information Act requests with the FCC seeking access to this information

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Our complete letter to the FCC regarding Google Voice for iPhone

Noteable as this news cycle winds down ( “ Craigslist Pwns McMaster ,” “ Pandering Has Its Price ,” “ Craigslist 1, McMaster 0 ,” “ McMaster’s Final Humiliation” ) has been the absolute disinterest shown by politicians and journalists in hardcore sex-for-money ads featured in journalistic media, no matter how numerous or graphic they may be. Here are a few out of tens of thousands of “escort ads” featured on backpage.com adult classifieds owned by Village Voice Media , publisher of a chain of weekly newspapers. (WARNING – EXPLICIT SEXUAL CONTENT): I am a nasty freaky girl who loves sucking cock (Chicago) An Irish blowjob and a cum showering rainbow (New York) Cum lay your hotdog on my bun for memorial day (Dallas) Doing men 18 to 65 with trucker parking (Toledo) Three holes anything goes $90 – GREEK included (New Jersey) Can u fuck my tight pussy hard ask for alexis – age 18 (Atlanta) Thick meaty transexual treat (Philadelphia) I luv 2 suk n fuk – age 18 (Phoenix) Deep throating full service freak (Orlando) I gotta big a$$ fat pu$$y big boobs need I say more (St Louis) Enjoy multiple orgasms with “Flavor” (Myrtle Beach, SC) Let me put you to bed backdoor available $80 (Columbia, SC) Ebony slut will blow u away wet n ready 4 u gfe (Greenville, SC) UPDATE – Now deleted ads included photos of sex acts, and price quotes for: “GFE, BBBJ, CIM, greek, swallow, DATY, 69, facials, golden showers, anal” UPDATE – Screenshot of ad cited above (CAUTION, EXPLICIT SEXUALITY) These examples were “featured” ads for which Village Voice charged extra, such that this content presumably fell well within their guidelines.

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Turning a Blind Eye