IP: FTC CURBS PERSONAL DATA SALES and RULING ON TRESPASS TANGLES WEB Edupage, 2 June 2000

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

A federal judge recently ruled that Bidder's Edge's use of
automated crawlers to collect data from eBay's Web site
constitutes trespassing. This decision has the potential to
alter the Internet landscape for some time. The widespread
practice of deep linking, in which Internet users are taken
directly to an item on another Web site, depends on the use of
automated crawlers. Thus, if the judge's ruling is allowed to
stand, companies such as Bidder's Edge could go under. The head
of auction business management service Andale says that the
ruling is not just bad for the industry, but consumers as well.
A fair-use policy for Web content is needed, says Andale CEO
Munjal Shah. A bill in Congress would bar aggregators from
collecting data from other companies' databases. EBay is the
only prominent U.S. Web publisher supporting the bill, which is
being opposed by AOL, Yahoo!, and Amazon.com. (Financial Times
Online, 31 May 2000)


> FTC privacy regulations now prohibit financial institutions from
> selling consumers' personal data their permission. Data covered
> by the rules includes names, addresses, and Social Security
> numbers. The new rules, part of the financial overhaul
> legislation approved by Congress last year, have not been
> welcomed kindly by businesses that depend upon consumer data.
> "If we chip away at the availability of information about
> consumers, we're in danger of reducing some of the benefits
> consumers have gotten used to receiving," warned Direct Marketing
> Association President and CEO H. Robert Wientzen.  Lawyer Ronald
> Plesser of the Individual Reference Services Group says the rules
> are a legal mistake and drastically impact the free flow of
> information.  "We are forced to consider our legal options to
> address the commission's extension of its authority," Plesser
> said. (Washington Post, 2 June 2000)