July 30, 2008

Yahoo spent $630,000 to lobby in second quarter

Am I the only one who sees a major conflict between the two other bills (highlighted below) Yahoo has lobbied for?

7-30-2008 National:

WASHINGTON - Yahoo Inc. spent $630,000 in the second quarter to lobby on online privacy, patent reform and other issues, according to a recent disclosure report.

The Internet company lobbied on measures to protect data, prevent identity theft, and on legislation to improve federal efforts to halt piracy and counterfeiting of American-owned intellectual property.

In addition, Yahoo (nasdaq: YHOO - news - people ) lobbied on proposals to crack down on spyware and phishing scams. Spyware are computer programs that can surreptitiously access hard drives to track online behavior and steal sensitive personal data, while phishing scams use fake e-mails and fraudulent Web sites to trick consumers into releasing credit card numbers and other personal information.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company also lobbied on federal auctions of wireless spectrum and on online advertising, including an agreement that will allow Google Inc. (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) to sell some ads displayed alongside search results on Yahoo's Web site.

Other bills the company lobbied on would:

_ Require registered sex offenders to furnish their e-mail and instant messaging addresses, and require the U.S. attorney general to have a system that allows social networking Web sites to compare their user lists with the National Sex Offender Registry.

_ Make it illegal for U.S. companies hosting Internet content, such as Web pages or e-mail, to give users' personal information to governments that restrict Internet access.

..News Source.. by Forbes

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

They don't see it as a conflict because like millions of others, they have become used to the idea that RSOs are not protected by the Constitution, or statutory law, or common sense.