Legal news
FTC approves ScanScout Flash cookie settlement
US— The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has finalised a settlement with online advertising firm ScanScout over its use of Flash ‘cookies’ to track online consumer behaviour.
Irish data commissioner reports on Facebook privacy audit
IRELAND— Facebook has agreed a series of new measures to improve transparency and control around user data with the Irish Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC).
Police raid throws Turkish TV ratings into chaos
TURKEY— The Turkish TV ratings industry is in a state of confusion after police raided the offices of ratings provider AGB Nielsen and two TV production companies amid claims that panel members’ details were leaked to third parties who sought to bribe them.
MR pushes for exclusion from Singapore Do Not Call list
SINGAPORE— The Market Research Society of Singapore has pressed the country’s Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA) to exclude market research from Singapore’s proposed Do Not Call list.
Arbitron sues former customer Magic Broadcasting
US— Arbitron is suing a former client, Magic Broadcasting, for allegedly using its radio ratings reports without a licence.
ForeSee settles Lodsys patent dispute
US— ForeSee Results has settled its patent dispute with Lodsys, a company that had brought legal action against ForeSee and its clients over their use of ForeSee’s website survey software.
Media Square sues Porta Communications for £760,000 in damages
UK— Media Square, the owner of research agency Illuminas, is suing Porta Communications and its CEO David Wright for damages of £760,000.
LinkedIn privacy suit dismissed for 'lack of harm'
US— A LinkedIn user who sued the business networking site for allegedly sharing his personal information with third parties – including web tracking firms – has had his complaint dismissed.
Nielsen and ComScore settle patent dispute
US— ComScore and Nielsen have settled their disputes over online measurement patents, with ComScore acquiring four of Nielsen’s families of patents and Nielsen acquiring $19m-worth of ComScore stock.
Italian TV ratings body fined €1.8m by anti-trust authority
ITALY— Auditel, the joint industry committee for TV measurement in Italy, has been fined €1.8m by the country’s anti-trust authority for practices that favoured broadcasters Mediaset and RAI.
Web user drops complaint over Google tracking error
US— A web user who sued Google over a software glitch that allowed the company’s Toolbar browser add-on to keep tracking browsing habits after it had been disabled has dropped his case.
Facebook settles privacy complaint with FTC
US— Facebook has reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which claimed that the social networking site had failed to keep its privacy promises to consumers.
Porta refutes Media Square's conspiracy claims
UK— Porta Communications said this morning that it “absolutely refutes” claims of an attempted unlawful conspiracy made against the company and its CEO David Wright by marketing communications group Media Square.
Visible Measures secures second US patent
US— Online video measurement firm Visible Measures has been awarded a second US patent for an application that covers a method the firm developed to determine the viewing time of an online video.
Online video ad network settles with FTC over Flash cookies
US— Online video ad network ScanScout has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that it deceptively used Flash cookies to track consumers online.