IP: Boomerang

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

From: "Thomas Newbold" <tomn () terminal cz>
> To: <farber () cis upenn edu>
>
> Hi Dave,
> I can't remember whether "Boomerang" has already been covered on the IP
> list, but the following is an excerpt from the WSJ Interactive.  Scary
> stuff.  Good to see that companies like Discover are carefully thinking
> through the implications of the use of such invasive technologies.
>
> Incidentally, if you haven't already, you might want to check out interMute
> (www.interMute.com), a great filtering program that puts the controls
> (including cookies, ads, referrers, etc) back in your hands.  I am a devoted
> user of interMute, but otherwise have no connection with them.
>
> Cheers,
> Tom Newbold
> tnewbold () thelocalscene com
> http://thelocalscene.com
> http://www.indiebands.com
>
>
> <snip>
> Cookie Trail
>
> Craftier techniques are about to arrive. Many Web sites already tag
> visitors' computers with small files, known as "cookies," that help identify
> users on return visits. If they never come back, though, they vanish. No
> more. Starting next year, DoubleClick will introduce powerful software that
> will let advertisers spot those visitors weeks later on other Web sites.
> Then people can be greeted with more ads for the original merchant.
>
> On a recent morning, Mr. Nethercutt and several DoubleClick colleagues
> introduce this new service to Lot21 Interactive, a San Francisco ad agency
> representing the NationsBank unit of BankAmerica Corp. It is clear that the
> new service, called Boomerang, is enticing. When DoubleClick executives
> briefly fumble about quoting a price for the service, a Lot21 executive
> chides them: "Come on, I brought my checkbook for you."
>
> Boomerang gets a chillier reception on Mr. Nethercutt's next stop. "I'm
> worried about a privacy issue here," says Elizabeth Duff, a marketing
> manager for the Discover brokerage unit of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co.
> Customers might be uneasy about so many of their online habits being shared
> with strangers, she says. Her bosses give her a lot of leeway to try new
> ideas in cyberspace, she says, but they don't ever want to find Discover in
> hot water over its business practices.
>
> <snip>
>
>
> https://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB912379479448597000.htm

_____________________________________________________________________
David Farber         
The Alfred Fitler Moore Professor of Telecommunication Systems
University of Pennsylvania 
Home Page: http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~farber