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Yesterday we reported that GateHouse Media filed suit against The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) for copyright infringement. GateHouse claims that NYTCo's Boston Globe violated copyright laws when it lifted headlines and story ledes from GateHouse's publications—even though The Boston Globe cited and linked back to the GateHouse pubs. The full complaint is after the jump. Gatehouse Complaint
Gatehouse 2
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The British music industry had always eschewed American cousins' penchant for suing illegal downloaders. Now America's RIAA music org has come around to a European way of thinking. It's giving up suing the downloaders and will instead enlist ISPs to send warning letters to transgressors.
That's straight out of the playbook developed in France and the UK this year. While France has favored a three-strikes-and-you're-out approach, disconnecting law-breakers after repeated warnings, in the UK a memorandum of understanding signed between ISPs, labels and the government follows the same warning tack but stops short of network disconnection. Full details on paidContentUK
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The news is filled with stories of how much the Securities and Exchange commission has missed but, hey, maybe some of the atrocious examples of financial skulduggery could have been caught sooner if the commission had moved faster towards interactive filing. But that tortured march at least has an end in sight now with this week's vote to mandate electronic filing with interactive data for all public companies and mutual funds. In the short term, the result is a boon to the XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) industry even though the mark-up acronym doesn't even appear in the SEC release. It should give anyone who works with financial data much more powerful tools and, as more data is filed this way, a better grasp of the information than EDGAR currently provides.
How it works: Each "fact" in a financial statement gets a tag that makes the information more searchable and more readable via software. SEC: "Investors will be able to instantly find specific facts disclosed by companies and mutual funds, and compare that information with details about other companies and mutual funds to help them make investment decisions." The SEC provides open-source software for viewers.
When it takes effect: Voluntary XBRL filing is already in effect with 100-plus companies and some two dozen mutual funds taking part so far. The top 500 public companies have until the first earnings report for a quarter ending on or after June 15. That means Q209 for most of the largest companies. Other U.S. companies filing according to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) will be phased in over the next two years with December 2011 as the endpoint. Companies do not have to wait for the mandatory start. Mutual funds will be required to use data tags in 2011 and will have to post the data online if they have websites.
Video of the SEC's open meeting
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Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO), perhaps hoping to get the focus off its finances and CEO search, will reduce the amount of time it holds on to user data to three months from just over a year. After that period, Yahoo will "anonymize" user log data within 90 days with limited exceptions for fraud, security and legal obligations. The Sunnyvale, CA-based company is also expanding its privacy policy beyond search log data to include info on pageviews, page clicks, ad views and ad clicks.
Back in August, with an eye to mollifying Congress and state legislators who were taking a harder look at online privacy and behavioral advertising, Yahoo said it was broadening "opt-out" controls covering targeted ads across its portal. Yahoo offered up the new tools as part of its response to a Congressional inquiry about ad targeting sent to 33 companies, including AOL (NYSE: TWX), Google (NSDQ: GOOG), Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) as well as internet service providers like Cablevision (NYSE: CVC), Cox Communications and Charter Communications (NSDQ: CHTR), from the House Energy and Commerce Committee. In September 2007, Google said it would discard user data after nine months. With a new administration and Congress taking office next month, Yahoo's move will increase the existing pressure on the other companies to match it on privacy controls. Release
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Congress has failed to pass legislation regarding so-called "Net Neutrality," and now the issue is again top of mind as Internet providers seeking preferential treatment; network operators considering a tiered approach, and once-staunch defenders beginning to soften their stance on the matter. This time, it appears Google (NSDQ: GOOG), which has been traditional a huge advocate of network equality and openness, is working behind the scenes with major cable and phone companies to get its Internet traffic prioritized, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
In essence, network neutrality means that cable and phone companies must treat all content crossing its lines equally, much like how phone companies today do not prioritize one phone call over another. Many supporters claim that this the secret to the internet's success—if it was divided, only rich companies could participate, and new entrants would never have a chance. For consumers, network operators, like Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) or Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), would be able to control content distribution, or even promote their services over another. But now, the counter-argument is starting to pick up steam. Network providers maintain that as internet traffic grows by more than 50 percent annually—by some accounts—content companies should share in the costs.
Any potential tiered deal will be faced with a landslide of criticism, but the WSJ suggests that even some of the most hardcore neutrality fans are fading. For instance, Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) and Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO), which formed a coalition two years ago to protect network neutrality, have quietly left, and are now dealing directly with operators. Microsoft provides software to AT&T's Internet TV service, U-verse, and Yahoo has a DSL partnership with AT&T (NYSE: T). In addition, the WSJ reports that prominent scholars, some of whom have advised President-elect Barack Obama on technology issues, are also softening their views.
The matter will likely become a political one quickly, and will test incoming president Barack Obama on the subject. The WSJ said the issue could regain momentum quickly. It recalled that in approving AT&T's 2006 acquisition of Bell South, the FCC made AT&T agree to shelve plans for a "fast lane," or tiered service, for 30 months; that expires in the middle of next year. Plus, a Democratic lawmaker has already promised new network-neutrality legislation early in 2009, and a new chairman of the FCC could take a stricter position on enforcement. It appears the only thing holding Google back from signing a deal is the government's threat. One major cable operator, who is in talks with Google, told the WSJ: "If we did this, Washington would be on fire."
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Facebook isn't a public company and it isn't going to have to act like one any time soon. According to BusinessWeek, the SEC agreed that it won't enforce a rule that would require public disclosure of financial results when the number of equity holders hits 500 and the assets total more than $10 million because the only class likely to be affected covers employee equity granted through restricted stock units (RSUs). The RSUs won't be issued unless the company changes hands or launches an IPO. The SEC's promise of no action—the equivalent of an exemption—was issued last month following a letter from Facebook law firm Fenwick & West in anticipation that Facebook could hit the 500 mark for employees with equity. The exemption wouldn't cover the company's common stock or preferred stock for Series A, B, & D, which involve investors or a mix of employees and investors.
If this sounds familiar, Google's decision to go public in 2004 was attributed to this SEC requirement. As Keith Higgins, an attorney not connected with Facebook, told BW: "This really obviates the pressure that Google (NSDQ: GOOG) might have felt." It also provides Facebook the flexibility to keep using equity as a lure for new employees.
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Social Media Deals Report: This 199-page report, filled with charts and data, examines the categories, number and size of VC and M&A deal in social media from 2007 through 2008. Visit the ContentNext Reports page
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The Federal Trade Commission is likely to issue its recommendations on behavioral targeting rules within the next few weeks, and while the Online Publishers Association expects the FTC to keep its policy of industry self-regulation intact, it is not taking any chances. It has created a new government affairs office in Washington, D.C., and hired Michael Drobac its first VP. Drobac has served as IAC's director of governmental affairs for the past three years. He has worked for Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR), Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX) and Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN). For the past few months, Drobac he was a volunteer on the Obama campaign's technology committee. Release
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Social Media Deals Report: This 199-page report, filled with charts and data, examines the categories, number and size of VC and M&A deal in social media from 2007 through 2008. Visit the ContentNext Reports page
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 Sorry I didn't start a pool on how long it would take the usually voluble Mark Cuban to move past that first relatively low-key—for him—response to the SEC's charges of insider trading yesterday. Well, technically, he isn't doing the talking. Instead, Tuesday's salvo posted on Cuban's Blog Maverick is from a second lawyer at Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP "on behalf of Mark Cuban." This one denies the SEC's claim that Cuban broke an agreement of confidentiality when he sold his stake in Mamma.com in 2004 just before the company made an announcement that would dilute the value.
The post includes a partial transcript of an interview with former Mamma.com CEO Guy Faure, who is not identified by name in the SEC lawsuit. Faure acknowledged telling Cuban he had confidential information for him but can't remember a response from Cuban. The argument: Cuban never agreed to it so it wasn't confidential. The potential legal problem with that defense: that may not mean there was no reasonable expectation of confidentiality. More interesting, perhaps—the post concludes by pulling in the SEC's investigation of Mamma.com: "Why did the SEC end their multi-year investigation of Mamma.com Inc. for alleged securities laws violations days before interviewing present and former Mamma.com Inc. executives about this matter? Was the timing a coincidence? We think not."
And we think this isn't the end of similar posts "on behalf" of Cuban. Best if you subscribe to Blog Maverick if you want to follow them all.
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Mark Cuban's personal response to insider trading chargers filed today by the SEC is limited to one line on BlogMaverick: "I wish I could say more, but I will have to leave it to this, and let the judicial process do its job." His official statement in the press release that follows the note: "I am disappointed that the Commission chose to bring this case based upon its Enforcement staff's win-at-any-cost ambitions. The staff's process was result-oriented, facts be damned. The government's claims are false and they will be proven to be so."
In the statement, Cuban's lawyer Ralph C. Ferrara said there is "no merit" to the allegations that Cuban violated federal laws in his sale of Mamma.com stock and that it is "a product of gross abuse of prosecutorial discretio." Cuban "intends to contest the allegations and to demonstrate that the Commission's claims are infected by the misconduct of the staff of its Enforcement Division." Ferrara said the matter has been pending for nearly two years.
Updated: Late this afternoon, I spoke with Scott Friestad, deputy director for the SEC's enforcement division. When I asked why it had taken four-plus years for this to get to court, Friestad said the agency "learned about the issues last year in 2007 and [had] been pursuing the investigation aggressively since then." Why didn't the allegations come out when the SEC was investigating Mamma.com over stock trading in 2004? Friestad: "To my knowledge, there was nobody investigating Mr. Cuban's trading during any prior SEC investigations."
During the investigation, Friestad said they learned about his public comments but he said Cuban's comments make it look as though the sale occurred after the announcement that caused the shares to drop in price. Friestad: "Nowhere did he say that he sold his shares prior to the public announcement of the news issued by the company or that he had been given advanced information or that he had agreed to keep that information confidential." Those contentions form the heart of the government's case in the civil complaint. Friestad said there were no SEC investigations involving other Cuban transactions and that he wasn't aware of any previous SEC investigations.
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Social Media Deals Report: This 199-page report, filled with charts and data, examines the categories, number and size of VC and M&A deal in social media from 2007 through 2008. Visit the ContentNext Reports page
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 The SEC has charged internet entrepreneur and NBA Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban with insider trading over shares of Mamma.com. The high-profile complaint—the press release is highlighted on SEC.gov at the moment—alleges that in June 2004, Cuban sold 600,000 shares of the search engine company's stock within hours of receiving confidential information that the company was about make a stock offering that would dilute existing holdings. The stock went down after the PIPE (private placement in public equity) was announced publicly; the government alleges that Cuban "avoided losses" of more than $750,000 by selling early. The suit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (full pdf).
No matter how it ends, at the very least, the charges will make Cuban's effort to buy the Chicago Cubs even more difficult. The government wants to enjoin Cuban from future trading and get the usual financial penalties—"disgorgement" of gains plus interest and a civil fine. I've asked Cuban for his response. In the meantime, here's what he wrote on BlogMaverick in March 2005 about selling the shares (punctuation his): "I had purchased stock in Mamma.com in hope that it could be an up and coming search engine. I thought I had done some level of due diligence. Talked to the company management. Talked to some employees who worked in sales. Read the SEC Filings. I knew that they had a checkered past and had been linked to stock promoter Irving Kott, and that their law firm still handled some of Kotts business, but the CEO, Chairman, lawyers all said that things were reformed and the company was focused on its business. Then the company did a PIPE financing. Im not going to discuss the good or bad of PIPE financing other than to say that to me its a huge red flag and I dont want to own stock in companies that use this method of financing . Why? Because I dont like the idea of selling in a private placement, stock for less than the market price, and then to make matters worse, pushing the price lower with the issuance of warrants.So I sold the stock."
The government alleges it wasn't that simple, that Cuban sold the stock before he was supposed to despite acknowledging to the CEO that he knew he couldn't sell his holdings before the public announcement of the PIPE financing: "Cuban knew or was reckless in not knowing that he had received material, non- public information from Mamma.com and that he breached a duty of trust or confidence that he owed to Mamma.com when he sold on the basis of that information." Mamma.com changed its name to Copernic in 2007 after acquiring that company.
Cuban also wrote about it when his purchase of a 6.3 percent stake in Mamma.com went public in early 2004: "I invested in mamma.com for the same reason I invested in Netidentity.com back when it was known as mailbank.com. I love businesses with low overhead, that don't need to be technology leaders to succeed, that generate cash that they can put in the bank, and at some point, hopefully payout to shareholders. I think mamma.com has that potential."
Mark Logic Digital Publishing Summit, Thursday November 6, Westin Times Square. Insight and perspective from Outsell, Gilbane, Simon & Schuster, BusinessWeek.com, more. Evening cocktail reception. Cost is complimentary. Register now!
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-- NYT And Monster partner on free job posting promo: With help wanted ads continuing to decline, newspapers might as well give the space away. Well, that's what NYT and partner Monster.com are doing—as long as recruiters get their job listings in by midnight on Thursday. For those who buy an online job ad through the NYT/Monster job site, the ad will appear in the next Sunday NYT print edition for free. Mashable is practically apoplectic about the promo, calling it "one more nail in the coffin" and questions NYT's reasoning: "nothing of this kind has worked before for any organization, so why try again?"
-- Jerry Yang—the last optimist in the room: The Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) CEO tried to sell an audience at an industry conference in London that the current recession represents "a great time for opportunity" for online ad companies. Yang's silver lining is premised on the notion that as display ad revs drop, performance-based ad spend will rise as marketers race towards the promise of greater ROI and direct response formats.
More after the jump.
-- NebuAd suit could have wider impact: A class action lawsuit filed this week against troubled ad targeter NebuAd and and six ISPs—Bresnan Communications, Cable One, CenturyTel, Embarq, Knology and WOW—could influence legislation on the use of behavioral targeting. The companies are accused of violating privacy rights, including federal wiretap prohibitions. If the plaintiffs succeed, it could spur strict requirements on offering consumers an opt-in feature before being targeted.
-- Skipped ads still catch notice: For all the hand-wringing over DVR-enabled ad skipping, a Journal of Marketing white paper says that even fast-forwarded spots still catch viewers' attention. Even when shortened to a second-and-a-half—and silent—most ad-skippers can still recall the brand's name and logo. The secret is put the crucial visuals at the center, as ad-skippers' eyes are less likely to wander to other parts of the screen.
-- Meredith scales back multimedia program: Meredith (NYSE: MDP) Publishing Group's 360 degree multimedia program has been faltering due to the economic downturn and is being scaled back. The unit, which links experiential marketing, broadband TV and print, instead will concentrate on three or four marketing elements as opposed to the seven or eight it used when ad sales were higher. It will also focus on less costly formats, like direct mail.
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While the transition team piecing together the Obama administration gets most of the attention, other DC players are changing their own playbooks. Multichannel News reports that Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is moving oversight for intellectual property matters from a subcommittee to his own direct control. The move comes as the the chairmanship of the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property is about to change. Instead, the subcommittee will take on antitrust issues.
It may sound a bit arcane but it will change the way IP legislation and oversight is handled in the House—and that could have a significant impact on a wide range of issues from retransmission to internet piracy and fair use. An unidentified committee aide explained to Multichannel's Ted Hearn that with U.S. Rep. Howard Berman (D-Ca) leaving the subcommittee, "the opportunity presented itself for Mr. Conyers to take over a leadership role on these issues. As everybody knows, chairman Conyers has long had an interest in IP issues." The aide also mentioned a practical issue: the subcommittee was getting too big because so many people wanted to be involved in IP.
As Hearn notes, this one is seen as a win for Hollywood over the consumer electronics industry given that Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va) is perceived as an ally of the latter and might be more sympathetic towards fair use arguments.
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Craigslist is working on long overdue step that will help curb some of the ads posted by prostitutes and other adult workers, caving into demands by attorneys general from 40 states to regulate its message board from illegal activity. The AGs of 40 states and Craigslist announced a joint settlement to this effect this afternoon.
The site will ask posters for a working phone number and pay a fee with a valid credit card, which means the company could have potentially earned a lot more money, even if the volume of posts (and hence the pageviews) go down. But this is Craigslist, which does not operate like a normal business: it will donate all the money generated from charging for these ads to charity. Also, the company says that businesses have sprung up selling software and other services designed to evade Craigslist's terms of use, and to curb that, it will start sending "cease and desist" demands to them. It will also tighten and improve the site's monitoring functionalities.
It has already started some measures: for instance, in its "erotic services" section, it is now requiring a working phone number for advertisers, and enables blacklisting of phone numbers for those who post inappropriate ads. Phone verification resulted in an 80 percent reduction in ad volume, and significantly increased compliance with site guidelines, it said.
More details in the joint AGs and Craigslist statement here.
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A day after the election, names are already being floated as to who will likely be on the president-elect's transition team, including advisors on issues involving technology and communications. Barack Obama is expected to appoint Washington, D.C. lawyer Henry Rivera to head the team focused on the FCC, reports Multichannel News, quoting informed sources. Rivera, who is a Democrat, is a partner at Wiley, Rein, and served at the FCC from 1981 to 1985. Current FCC chairman Kevin Martin also worked at Wiley. Rivera declined to comment.
Separately, Obama has appointed Julius Genachowski, a former executive of Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp, to help him choose members of his new administration, reports the Washington Post. Genachowski, who served at the FCC as chief counsel to former Chairman Reed Hundt, a Democrat, has already been active in Obama's campaign by advising him on technology policies as chairman of the president-elect's Tech & Innovation Plan. Genachowski's appointment to the transition team could signal the prominence of high-tech policy in the new administration.
Staci adds: Genachowski is also being touted as a possible CTO if Obama adds the post. In addition to spending nearly a decade with Diller, he's a co-founder of Rock Creek Ventures, a founding partner of LaunchBox Digital, and a special advisor to General Atlantic. That would be the same CTO slot Google's Eric Schmidt is said to be interested in.
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 So says the Department of Justice, in a statement: DOJ "informed the companies that it would file an antitrust lawsuit to block the implementation of the agreement. The Department said that, if implemented, the agreement between these two companies accounting for 90 percent or more of each relevant market would likely harm competition in the markets for Internet search advertising and Internet search syndication."
A revised Google-Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) deal didn't do the trick either: "The Department concluded that Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and Yahoo! would have become collaborators rather than competitors for a significant portion of their search advertising businesses, materially reducing important competitive rivalry between the two companies. Although the companies proposed various modifications to their original agreement in an effort to address the Department's antitrust concerns, the Department determined that such modifications would not eliminate the competition concerns raised by the agreement."
And on that competition, this chilling effect: " Had the companies implemented their arrangement, Yahoo!'s competition likely would have been blunted immediately with respect to the search pages that Yahoo! chose to fill with ads sold by Google rather than its own ads, and Yahoo! would have had significantly reduced incentives to invest in areas of its search advertising business where outsourcing ads to Google made financial sense for Yahoo!"
The full statement is here.
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