Microsoft has been trying to make Google seem like a threat to privacy, when in fact it's both of them," says Jeff Chester, the executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD). "We may now have two companies that will rival the National Security Agency in their ability to compile detailed profiles of users wherever they go online."

The House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee has already scheduled a hearing for this Friday on "The State of Competition on the Internet." If the deal goes through, the Senate's antitrust subcommittee would be likely to hold hearings as well

If Microsoft succeeded in acquiring Yahoo!, Chester argues, the software giant would be buying the e-mail, instant messaging and search information of hundreds of millions of Web users. Added to Microsoft's own Web properties, a "MicroHoo" merger would host 80.1% of the Web's traffic to e-mail services and 27.8% of users' Web searches according to the most recent data from the Web measurement firm, Hitwise.

That much information, says the Center for Democracy and Technology's (CDT) director Leslie Harris, raises the potential for detailed profiles that could fall into the hands of third parties. "When companies with all of these services merge, it dramatically increases the amount of data that can be brought together or shared," she says.

In an ACLU lawsuit seeking to overturn a child pornography law in January of last year, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! were subpoenaed to release search queries. Microsoft and Yahoo! both released some data to the government, while Google fought the court order based on trade secrecy claims and won. In 2004, Yahoo! also revealed the search data of dissident Chinese journalist Shi Tao to the Chinese government, a decision that resulted in Shi's being sentenced to 10 years in prison.

What 'MicroHoo' Would Know About You [Forbes]

When Russell handed over his new credit card information to buy $10 worth of minutes with Yahoo Voice in October, Yahoo hit him with the outstanding charges for Yahoo Personals.

Here is what happened: Yahoo, as one big friendly internet company, does not firewall its services from one another. The bill comes from Yahoo, not Yahoo Personals. As soon as they received updated billing information, they charged the full remaining balance to the new credit card.

Yahoo didn't care that Russell hadn't used their services for over half a year or that he removed his profile. They refused to vacate the charges:

Unfortunately, since the 3-Day Cancellation period has passed, we can no longer issue a full refund.

However, since your service with us is still active and has not been cancelled, I'm pleased to inform you that you are eligible to downgrade your subscription from Semi-annual to Monthly.

Downgrading will enable you to receive a refund for the unused months. If you cancel your subscription at this point, we will be unable to provide any prorated refund. We suggest you downgrade first, so we can refund a portion of your money.

Russell's story serves as reminder to meticulously document your handling of any account tied to your credit card. Don't let a service lapse: send an email clearly declaring your intention to bolt. Though Russell's bank is willing to help him recover the lost funds, yours may not be as forgiving.

Beware Yahoo Personals' deceptive billing policy [ZDNet]
Thing is, Yahoo!, you harvested and used my Visa number without my permission [ZDNet]

Yahoo! Music was painless to cancel, but Napster took a half hour:

Napster
What a pain. There's no way to cancel online, so I called the cancellation number (800.839.4210) and waited on hold for about 20 minutes listening to messages like "Did you know that your Napster subscription lets you access over 5 million tracks? Please hold, and a customer service representative will be with you shortly."

A woman came on the line and asked me a bunch of questions (Was this my first call? Could I confirm my email? Is there a phone number on which she could call me back in case something goes wrong with the call? Can I hold again?). Granted, this is two days after Christmas, but still, I wasn't too happy at how long this was taking.

When she took me off hold again, I told her I wanted to cancel because 2007 was the year 3 of the major labels started selling music without DRM. Back on hold.

She came back — presumably after consulting a manager or the internet to find out what DRM is — and then responded, "I don't understand, because all of our music contains DRM." Back on hold. This time, I told her I wanted to cancel because the files were DRMed, and she finally canceled my subscription.

Total time for cancellation: 30 minutes and 32 seconds

What You Can Do If Your Yahoo Account is Hacked [Castle Cops]
(Photo: www.DaveWard.net)

The companies were accused of receiving money from online gambling businesses to advertise illegal betting from 1997 through 2007.

As part of the settlement, the companies will pay cash to the U.S. government and provide millions of dollars worth of public service advertisements informing young adults and teenagers that Internet gambling is illegal.

Microsoft, Google and Yahoo settle gambling claims [Reuters]
(Photo:Getty)

If your credit card company called you up and said, "we've been looking over your records and we see that you've been having an extramarital affair. We'd like to offer you a free coupon for VD testing..." you'd freak out, and for good reason.

If the local authorities start using what's on the corner surveillance cameras to sell you a new kind of commuter token, you'd be a little annoyed at that as well.

Seth says:

This leads us to Ask.com's new Eraser service, which promises to not remember stuff about your searching. The problem they face: most people want Google and Yahoo and Amazon to remember their searches, because it leads to better results and (so far) rarely leads to surprises.

People don't truly care about privacy [Seth Godin's Blog] (Thanks, James!)

We're curious how this actually works, since Adobe and Yahoo! say that no special software is needed.

The text-based ads are displayed in a panel adjacent to the content with no moving or flashing elements. Each time the PDF is viewed, ads are matched by Yahoo to the content.

"Adobe and Yahoo test running ads inside PDF documents" [Reuters]
(Image: Gutenberg Project)

In order to make sure I was on the right track, I compared their contents examples from ex-employees, also on Aftermath and Ripoffreport, and to the Midtown Promotions ad that started this whole investigation...

Creative Mind Insights, Inc specializes in promotional advertising and event marketing for clients in the non-profit industries(D.A.R.E AMERICA AND TOYS FOR TOTS). We are seeking motivated and career minded individuals to develop into an Executive Manager; through all areas of advertising, marketing, sales, and executive client management. A large part of our success is due to our hands-on program, which focuses on developing management and customer service skills in a professional environment. We are looking to cross-train all qualified candidates from the ground up.

2. Stafford Business Solutions (HotJobs, Career Builder)

Growing Firm Looking for Hard Working CAREER MINDED Individuals: Stafford Business Solutions
View more jobs like this
Job ID 1
Company Name Stafford Business Solutions
Job Category Sales; Marketing
Location Philadelphia, PA Allentown, PA
Position Type Full-Time, Employee
Salary Unspecified
Experience 1-2 Years Experience
Date Posted March 1, 2007 (Reposted Jun 18)

Stafford Business Solutions
View Stafford Business Solutions profile and job listings
Apply Now: A Better Job Search Experience. Learn Why

entry level marketing, sales/marketing, entry level, full time, sales

Stafford Business Solutions, Inc. is currently offering positions at the entry level for sales and marketing.

We are expanding this year to four new locations. As we provide paid training and promote only from within, all individuals must begin by getting the sales experience needed to grow in the marketing industry. This position involves face to face sales to new customers. Therefore, all individuals must possess excellent communication skills, professionalism and integrity to be trusted with our client's business accounts. Once proving they have the basic communication and sales skills needed to move forward in the marketing industry, individuals will be trained in various other areas of management from meetings to human resources, finances, leadership and more.

All applicants must possess the following:
- Experience in a team or people related field.

- Great communication and analytical skills.
- Ability to excel in unsupervised solo assignments as well as team projects.
- The personality to thrive in a merit-based environment.

We are in search of candidates looking for a challenging career, not just a temporary job making a temporary paycheck. We will not hire someone if we do not see them growing within our company.

Entry-level account executives are responsible for the following:

- Meeting business clients to discuss current and new Business Accounts
- Assisting in the daily operation of a start-up company.
- Developing and implementing original training techniques to achieve

internal goals.
- Developing strong leadership skills to build a high performance, cross-

functional team environment.
- Managing external customers needs.
- Developing excellent verbal, written, and presentation skills.

If you possess these skills, please do not hesitate, we are looking to fill our openings as soon as possible.

Please email your responses to : hr@sbssolutionsinc.com (please cut and paste your resume) NO ATTACHMENTS!!

To expedite the process, you may also contact our human resource manager, Jessica, to schedule a preliminary interview with one of our hiring managers @ (610)-825-0210.

Proud Member of the Better Business Bureau

www.sbssolutionsinc.com

*Stafford Business Solutions, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, sex, or age. Compensation on pay for performance basis.

Keywords: Entry level sales, sales and marketing, entry level sales and marketing, team player, new grad, sales, entry level, sales rep, sales and marketing, sales, entry level sales, entry level, sales and marketing, entry level sales rep, entry level sales and marketing, sales and marketing, team player, sports-oriented, help wanted, new grad, Full-time, New grad, sales, sales, entry level sales, entry level, sales and marketing, entry level sales rep, entry level sales and marketing, sales and marketing, team player, sports-oriented, help wanted, new grad, Full-time, New grad, sales.

[Hotjobs]
[Career Builder]

3. Child Safety Enterprises Inc. (Career Builder)

Contact Information
Contact: vicky
Phone: 631-860-0232
Email: Send Email Now >>
Fax: Not Available
Ref ID: Not Available

* Posted: 5/27/2007
* Location: US-NY-Long Island
* Base Pay: $40,000.00 - $50,000.00 /Year
* Other Pay: bonuses and incentives
* Employee Type: Full-Time Employee
* Industry: Advertising Retail Public Relations
* Manages Others: Yes
* Job Type: Marketing Entry Level Training
* Req'd Education: High School
* Req'd Experience: At least 1 year(s)
* Req'd Travel: Up to 25%
* Relocation Covered: No
* Division: training

ENTRY LEVEL PAID SUMMER INTERNSHIPS AVAILABLE!

***STUDENT HOT LINE 631-860-0232 CALL NOW***

COLLEGE STUDENT?
COLLEGE GRADUATE?
SUMMER INTERNSHIPS AVAILABLE—-—INTERVIEW NOW, WHILE THEY LAST!

EARN WHILE YOU LEARN: SUMMER INTERNSHIPS AVAILABLE: MARKETING, PROMOTIONS, ADVERTISING, PUBLIC RELATIONS, TRAINING

CHILD SAFETY ENTERPRISES, INC.is New York's fastest growing promotional event marketing firm. With offices that recently expanded to Boston, Florida, and Texas, we are working with more national clients than ever. Due to our expanding client base, we are looking for ambitious and driven individuals with high-energy attitudes to join our team.

Our advertising and marketing firm is the leader in direct advertising and event marketing industry. We represent clients at sporting events, fairs, festivals, malls and major retail locations and department stores. Our portfolio includes national charities and non-profit organizations as well as the sporting and racing industries.

We currently have entry-level openings in:

# Promotions

# Event Marketing

# Sales and Public Relations

# Management

www.childsafetyent.com

To apply: Cut and paste your resume and email it to [Click here for email] NO ATTACHMENTS WILL BE OPENED!

For immediate consideration please call Colleen @ 631-860-0232

People from all backgrounds seeking full time opportunities or internships in the following areas are encouraged to inquire about our program: sales, customer service, part time, managers, accounting, marketing, clerical, management, public relations, human resources, driver, security, administrative assistant, purchasing, medical, administrative, receptionist, retail, maintenance, warehouse, sports teams, entry level, education, finance, director, telecommunications, real estate, training, engineering, insurance, data entry, project manager, information technology, part time, printing, technician, legal, automotive, teacher, winter, banking, analyst, nursing, restaurant, controller, network, public relations, environmental, nurse, design, quality, safety, secretary, office, assistant, hotel, accountant, account executive, vice president, medical assistant, transportation, supervisor, general, public relations, advertising, writer, fraternity, social services, finance, java, all, graphic, public relations, mba, holiday, office manager, sales manager, field representative, mortgage, social work, training, cms, attorney, research, payroll, oracle, executive assistant, paralegal, courier post, drivers, pharmaceutical, operations, president, web, help wanted, rn, advertising, law enforcement, auto cad, health care, executive, food, production, chef, sports oriented, cad, project management, tax, auto, editor, hospitality, hvac, training, team player, pharmaceutical sales, tourism, it, collections, spanish, unix, art, buyer, facilities, professional, mechanical, bartender, help desk, hospitality, travel, logistics, call center, truck driver, inventory, financial ,computers, communications, pharmacist, police, teaching, counselor, chemist, plant manager, ncaa, photography, promotional advertising, book keeper, medical sales, electrical engineer, health, trader, bilingual, business analyst, recruiter, junior executive, cfo, accounts payable, account manager, sports, sorority, cashier, financial, music, social worker, publishing, project, support, business development, lpn, welder, clerk, technical, quality assurance, promotional sales, government, distribution, secretarial, sales management, mental health, nanny, child care, registered nurse, cna, Japanese, technical support, administration, property manager, cook, shipping, pharmacy, coordinator, entertainment, management training, new grads.

***STUDENT HOT LINE 631-860-0232 CALL NOW***

[Career Builder]

4. Matrix Distribution, Inc. (Career Builder, Monster)

Must be an offshoot of Matrix Marketing on Michigan; while looking up Matrix Marketing, I came across this ad, which is almost, word for word, a copy of DS-Max ads by other companies.

Contact Information
Contact: Human Resources
Phone: 614-844-5976
Email: Send Email Now >>
Fax: 614-540-7445
instantly fax your resume >>
Ref ID: spt,mkt-178

* Posted: 6/15/2007
* Location: US-OH-Columbus
* Base Pay: N/A
* Employee Type: Full-Time Employee
* Industry: Advertising Public Relations Sales - Marketing
* Manages Others: Yes
* Job Type: Management Marketing
* Req'd Education: Not Specified
* Req'd Experience: None
* Req'd Travel: Up to 25%
* Relocation Covered: No

Marketing. Advertising. Public Relations. WORK WITH SPORTS MERCH
Company: Matrix Distribution, Inc.

Description: Marketing. Advertising. Public Relations.

Based in the Worthington area, Matrix Distribution is a promotional advertising/ marketing company that specializes in marketing for the consumer products industry. Setting up and expediting promotions for our clients is our main focus. This year, our success with our blue chip client base has lead us to increase our marketing and management team. We value innovation, leadership, growth potential and a positive attitude; we offer career opportunities and fun work environment.

MATRIX DISTRIBUTION is a marketing firm that strongly believes when people are excited about what they do, they are more productive. For that reason, we strive to create a fun atmosphere that is still conductive to learning. We represent top-notch clients and focus on bringing in new quality accounts for them. Over the last 2 years we have accumulated over 500 national clients. We are now evaluating candidates for an account management position to help oversee our client's expansion. Growth and compensation based on personal performance.

www.matrixdistinc.com

Account Managers are responsible for demographic research, client meetings, campaign meetings and ensuring the overall satisfaction of the client in regards to their campaign. No experience is necessary. The successful candidate is extremely articulated, competitive by nature, motivated to succeed and excels in a fast-paced, high-energy environment. All openings start out at the entry-level and are ideal for the recent college graduates, experienced marketing professionals and persons seeking a career change.

If you feel you fit the criteria email your r sum to ([Click here for email])
No Attachments - Copy and Paste resume

Qualified candidates will be contacted regarding an interview. For immediate consideration contact Human Resources at 614-844-5976.

Requirements
People from all backgrounds seeking part time or full time opportunities in the following areas are encouraged to inquire about our program: sales, customer service, part time, manager, accounting, marketing, clerical, management, sports marketing, advertising, computer, human resources, sports advertising, marketing manager, driver, security, product advertising, administrative assistant, marketing assistant, marketing sports promotions, manager, purchasing, sports merchandise, sports merchandising, marketing assistant, administrative, receptionist, retail, maintenance, warehouse, entry level, sports and recreation, education, product marketing, promotions, finance, director, public relations, telecommunications, real estate, advertising specialist, public relations specialist, sports, insurance, sports marketing, project manager, advertising assistant, information technology, promotional marketing, printing, technician, automotive, teacher, public relations, sports merchandise, sports merchandising, banking, analysis, nursing, controller, advertising manager, network, public relations, environmental, nurse, design, safety, Secretary, office, assistant, hotel, accountant, medical assistant, transportation, supervisor, General, advertising, social services, office manager, communications, sales, manager, mortgage, social work, training, executive assistant, hospitality, pharmaceutical sales, collections,

[CareerBuilder]
[Monster]

If you spot a multi-level-marketing scam ad online, report it to the job posting site and request a takedown. Check out this post on identifying these types of ads.It's really pathetic that these sites don't do more to police their postings. As if finding a job wasn't hard enough. It's a great disservice to job-seekers to have to wade through scam crap. And of course, DS-MAX affiliates are but the tip of the iceberg. There's many other scams floating through these sides readily apparent to anyone with basic reading comprehension abilities. — BRIAN FAIRBANKS

PREVIOUSLY: How To Spot A DS-MAX Style MLM Scam Job Ad
Our DS-MAX Thread
Our Undercover Investigation Into A DS-MAX Affiliated Company

Note: No definitive ties have been established between Midtown Promotions and DS-MAX/Innovage.

All you have to do is select a partner site and Yahoo will migrate the photos for you. No need to download and upload.

The changeover was leaked on May 3rd, and officially announced on May 4th, but all previous articles could only specify "the fall" as the cutoff period.

Full scan of the announcement, inside...

Click to enlarge.

After September 20th, all remaining albums on Yahoo Photos will be burned in a virtual bonfire in Second Life. Ok, we made that part up, but there's a good chance they'll be gone forever, so get transferring! — BEN POPKEN

RELATED: Breaking: Yahoo To Shut Down Yahoo Photos In Favor Of Flickr [TechCrunch]

We're not sure whether this means ads will simply appear in the email interface or be inserted at the bottom of emails but reader Crayonshinobi is not happy.

Of the announcement that landed in his inbox this morning, he says, "I'm finding it ridiculous that all of our pay services now have to come bundled with advertising...and it was really slimily written too...until now, as a DSL subscriber, I received the non-ad supported webmail service, so by placing ads in my webmail, you've just removed services from me in effect...Thankfully, I use firefox with adblock...so if there are ads...I won't be seeing them anyway."

We have a great new advertising plan. Paint your ads rocks and throw them into people's windows. Guerrilla marketing at its finest! — BEN POPKEN

AOL's beta site looks like Yahoo [BoingBoing]

Now, lets have a quick look at that word - suspended. If a student get suspended from school that usually means they are back within a few days or a week or so. Yahoo!'s definition of suspended means removed permanently. This included all emails I had saved over the last eight years, my pre-paid Yahoo! Small Business Account, my FLICKR account, IM account - the lot. To top it off, and here is the sweet bit, even though I OWN the domain name transformertattoo.com I cannot move it to another hosting service because the contact email address, yup, you guessed it, was my deleted Yahoo! email address. "

Dear Consumerist,

I have been a big fan of your site for a while now, and, unfortunately, I have a story of my own to relate to you. It's kind of tricky, so please, bear with me.

I have been a Yahoo! Email user for over eight years. For three of these years I have subscribed to their Mail Plus service at $19.99USD per year. I found that their email interface worked well and I became a heavy user of their other services such as Yahoo! Search, Yahoo! Calendar, Yahoo! Answers, and FLICKR to name just a few.

Over the last three or so months, my friend and I decided to start up a website (http://transformertattoo.com), which is a gallery of user-submitted pictures of peoples tattoos. Being a regular Yahoo! user, I went for a Yahoo! Small Business Hosting Plan. I payed Yahoo! around $10USD to register the domain name and paid an up front monthly fee of $12USD.

The website was up and running within days and it was becoming quite a popular place. My mate and I were earning a few bucks every few days off it. No worries. It was a fanciful little hobby.

Over the last 3 months, I had become an active member on Yahoo! Answers, reaching Level 3 and sitting on around the 2000 point mark. This is all fair and well.

Earlier this week, I logged into my Yahoo! email to check messages, lo-and-behold, it rejected my user name and/or password. "Not to worry", I thought and punched in the appropriate data again. I blinked twice. It rejected my user name and/or password again.

"Strewth!", I muttered under my breath and jumped on over to Yahoo! Answers to see if I could log in there.
No such luck.
By now, I started to panic slightly. My palms started to sweat and my mind began racing. I couldn't believe it. "Surely, they haven't done the same with our website", I reasoned. I slowly typed in the URL of the domain name that I owned, making sure the spelling was correct. I closed my eyes. I said a little prayer and hit 'Enter'.

Error 404

By now I was in shock.

Two things came to my mind. Perhaps their server was down. No, Yahoo! doesn't let that happen. Then the second, more gut retching thought trailed through my mind. They have suspended my account.

Now, lets have a quick look at that word - suspended. If a student get suspended from school that usually means they are back within a few days or a week or so. Yahoo!'s definition of suspended means removed permanently. This included all emails I had saved over the last eight years, my pre-paid Yahoo! Small Business Account, my FLICKR account, IM account - the lot. To top it off, and here is the sweet bit, even though I OWN the domain name transformertattoo.com I cannot move it to another hosting service because the contact email address, yup, you guessed it, was my deleted Yahoo! email address.

I lobbed on over to a newly discovered site called " Yahoo! Answers Violation Notice Board". I had never heard of it. No wonder. This is where people can dispute accounts being closed. Let me tell you - there is a lot of people there who have also lodged complaints and grievances about their account being removed.
Example 1 - http://messages.answers.yahoo.com/answers/threadview?m=te&bn=SEA-ViolationsNotice&tid=135&mid=135&tof=2&so=E&frt=2#135
Example 2 -
http://messages.answers.yahoo.com/answers/threadview?m=te&bn=SEA-ViolationsNotice&tid=2280&mid=2280&tof=17&so=E&frt=2#2280
Example 3 -
http://messages.answers.yahoo.com/answers/threadview?m=te&bn=SEA-ViolationsNotice&tid=401&mid=401&tof=4&so=E&frt=2#401

I posted a question there asking the same as many, many other people, "Why was my account deleted?". I received a reply around 10 hours later confirming that my account had been "suspended" for breaking Yahoo!'s Terms of Service. They alleged that I was posting questions relating to harming of animals and people, which is absurd. As I mentioned I had put around three months of effort into gaining best answer and building my profile up to a Level 3 with 2,200 points. Why would I do anything like that? I am against harming people or animals.

Unlike, Yahoo! for example - on their video website at http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=155749 it seems to promote harm to animals. (Not that I endorse it).

I appealed to their sense of logic and reason stating that, as a paying customer (around USD$150 per year (FLICKR, Mail Plus, Yahoo! Small Business) - which is around $180 Australian dollars), that I had never posted content that promotes harm to humans or animals,

I am furious that Yahoo! assumes I posted content that broke their ambiguous and gray Terms of Service. Does Yahoo! deliberately set out to ruin their business or is it an out-of-touch gun-ho manager power-tripping? Even though I have paid in advance for another month of hosting, they refuse to either refund my money or create dialog with me resolve the issue satisfactorily. Most of the on-line accounts I have such as banking, YouTube and others have as a contact email address my now deleted Yahoo! account. They have the subtlety of a sledgehammer in the teeth.

And they were nominated for a Webby Award. Sheesh!

Consumerist, please have a look at my story, check the links in the story and enjoy your day!

A disgruntled ex-Yahoo! user

Andrew

— BEN POPKEN

Use tools and guides to learn about balancing your budget, handling taxes, IRAs, just about everything in your life, or could be in your life, that's got a dollar sign on it. Check these out, for instance:

Traditional vs. Roth 401(k)s
How will payroll adjustments affect my take-home pay?
Home Refinancing Basics

— BEN POPKEN

Yahoo Personal Finance [Official Site via Lifehacker]

Uh, isn't that what we pay YOU for?

Reader Lee writes:

Lee gets stymied by a customer service bot, but if he wants his issue resolved, we advise he turbos and asks for a supervisor. — BEN POPKEN

Transcript, inside...

user lee watters has entered room

analyst Matt L has entered room

Matt L(Thu Nov 30 18:44:39 PST 2006)>

Hello! Thank you for choosing Time Warner Cable Road Runner technical chat, My name is Matt. Before we begin, I would like to bring up your account. May I have the following three pieces of information from you please?

1. The account holder's area code and telephone number. (xxx-xxx-xxxx)
2. The account holder's Full Name. (First and Last)
3. If you are not the account holder, please provide your name

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 15:45:18 PST 2006)>

(redacted)...Hi... ever since the transition from Comcast, I've had trouble emailing to friends and clients with yahoo.com email addresses. The emails bounce back to me. I've also problems with emails not getting through to me from yahoo.com. What's up with that?

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 15:45:58 PST 2006)>

I never had any problems before the changeover

Matt L(Thu Nov 30 18:46:38 PST 2006)>

What email address are you sending from?

Matt L(Thu Nov 30 18:46:46 PST 2006)>

That causes the bounce backs.

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 15:47:07 PST 2006)>

(redacted)

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 15:47:36 PST 2006)>

I have three other addrwesses that do not have the issue — it's on with TW

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 15:47:42 PST 2006)>

only

Matt L(Thu Nov 30 18:48:35 PST 2006)>

Are you still able to send to any addresses outside of Yahoo?

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 15:49:07 PST 2006)>

yes. it's only yahoo

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 15:49:18 PST 2006)>

hotmail is fine, aol is fine, netscape.net is fine

Matt L(Thu Nov 30 18:49:38 PST 2006)>

Are you sending these emails using the Road Runner webmail?

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 15:50:16 PST 2006)>

no — outlook. I don't use webmail

Matt L(Thu Nov 30 18:51:10 PST 2006)>

What is the error message that you get?

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 15:51:34 PST 2006)>

do you use dynamic IP addresses or static? I'm wondering is a chunk of your IP addresses have been blocked...

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 15:51:44 PST 2006)>

the error message is... (let me find one for you)

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 15:51:59 PST 2006)>

This Message was undeliverable due to the following reason:

Your message was not delivered because the destination computer was not reachable within the allowed queue period. The amount of time a message is queued before it is returned depends on local configura- tion parameters.

Most likely there is a network problem that prevented delivery, but it is also possible that the computer is turned off, or does not have a mail system running right now.

Your message was not delivered within 4 days and 0 hours.

Host yahoo.com is not responding.

The following recipients did not receive this message:

(redacted)

Please reply to Postmaster@ if you feel this message to be in error.

Matt L(Thu Nov 30 18:51:59 PST 2006)>

Thank you. And we use Dynamic IP addresses.

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 15:52:28 PST 2006)>

That's the message — and it happens with all my Yahho accounts on an intermittent basis

Matt L(Thu Nov 30 18:52:55 PST 2006)>

Do you have the IP address of any of the people you are trying to send to?

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 15:53:24 PST 2006)>

hmmm... let me look in the headers

Matt L(Thu Nov 30 18:53:23 PST 2006)>

Great, thank you.

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 15:54:43 PST 2006)>

this is the inbound header on the error — let me find one that got through:

(redacted)

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 15:55:58 PST 2006)>

nope...

Matt L(Thu Nov 30 18:56:26 PST 2006)>

Would you mind waiting one moment while I research this issue for you?

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 15:56:50 PST 2006)>

go ahead...

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 15:57:31 PST 2006)>

here's the path for one that got through:

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 15:59:15 PST 2006)>

(redacted)

Matt L(Thu Nov 30 18:59:10 PST 2006)>

Thank you for holding.

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 15:59:57 PST 2006)>

never midn — that one got through from gmail

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 16:00:33 PST 2006)>

never mind, I mean

Matt L(Thu Nov 30 19:00:22 PST 2006)>

The issue that might be happening is that Yahoo is blocking the inbound emails for certain IP ranges within Road Runner.

Matt L(Thu Nov 30 19:00:26 PST 2006)>

Was this information helpful? Are there any other technical issues with which we may assist you?

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 16:01:06 PST 2006)>

I assumed that was it — what is TW doing about it?

Matt L(Thu Nov 30 19:01:43 PST 2006)>

Unfortunately we are powerless to what other email providers choose to do. The course of action you would need to take would be to contact Yahoo, and provide them with your IP address to see if they actually are blocking it.

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 16:02:22 PST 2006)>

You've got to be kidding — they're your IP addresses!

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 16:02:39 PST 2006)>

I'm not the only customer this is happening to, I'm sure

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 16:02:56 PST 2006)>

It didn't happen with Comcast

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 16:03:47 PST 2006)>

Hello?

Matt L(Thu Nov 30 19:04:43 PST 2006)>

Would you mind waiting one moment while I research this issue for you?

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 16:05:19 PST 2006)>

sure, why not...

Matt L(Thu Nov 30 19:08:53 PST 2006)>

Thank you for holding. I was just checking the yahoo website for any information about mail blocks, but was unsuccessful.

Matt L(Thu Nov 30 19:09:47 PST 2006)>

At this time though, you are able to send emails to everyone else but yahoo, and occasionally emailing to yahoo works, so there is nothing I can do at this point unfortunately.

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 16:10:10 PST 2006)>

Sounds like someone at Road Runner needs to get on the phone with someone at Yahho to sort this out. Can you please pass that along to someone who can get it done?

Matt L(Thu Nov 30 19:11:22 PST 2006)>

I will advise my supervisors and see what they can do. Please feel free to email us at customercare@ndc.rr.com and inform them of this problem as well.

Matt L(Thu Nov 30 19:11:27 PST 2006)>

Was this information helpful? Are there any other technical issues with which we may assist you?

lee watters(Thu Nov 30 16:11:56 PST 2006)>

No, it wasn't helpful — but thanks anyway.

Matt L(Thu Nov 30 19:11:45 PST 2006)>

If there are no other issues that we may assist you with, please click on the End Session button to end this chat session. A transcript of this chat will be e-mailed to the address provided. Once again thank you for choosing Road Runner!

In an ongoing effort to continue improving our quality of service, we are conducting a customer survey. If you would like to participate, please copy and paste the following link into your browser: http://csat.rr.com/chatsurvey.html

Inane end-user-license agreements and waivers such as these are put in the stockades on a new blog, The Small Print Project. The blog is run by Cory Doctorow student Andy Sternberg, the a Master's Candidate at USC's Online Journalism program.

As might be expected, The Small Print Project is more about crippleware and not so much about signing your life over in waiver form when you go horseback riding.

Cory tells us Andy is, "...collecting readers' horror stories about end-user license agreements and terms of service, creating a deep public record of an abusive practice that's metastasizing."

The site welcomes your submissions.

The Small Print Project

Last year, Yahoo was forced to provide access to the e-mail of a U.S. Marine killed in Iraq to his father, who got a court order in the matter. Google will provide access to a deceased Gmail user's account if the person seeking it provides a copy of the death certificate and a copy of a document giving the person power of attorney over the e-mail account, said a Google spokeswoman.

America Online follows the same policy, according to spokesman Andrew Weinstein.

"In terms of tips for estate planning, it's much easier if a family member already has the password."

Got that kiddies? Give your passwords to someone you trust, just in case you die. Or, conversely, be sure not to save any email you wouldn't want your mom to read after you're dead.

Trouble is: They don't know who the hell they are suing. Target has asked for the help of AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo, INC in searching for "John Doe," an unknown blogger believed to live in Georgia.

"John" shared Target's loss-prevention policies (sent to him by an unknown Target employee) on several websites including Targetunion.org and uses the screenname "Target Sucks." What did "Target Sucks" have to say about Target's lawsuit?

"I didn't sign any confidentiality agreement with them and really don't give a rat's ass if they like it or not."

The real test will come not from the results of the lawsuit, but from the response of Microsoft, AOL, and Yahoo, INC. When a big box store comes calling about a user who allegedly violated their confidentiality policy &mdash which company will refuse to violate theirs?

Then again, if Target waits around long enough, AOL might just accidentally post "John's" search queries. Anyone searching for "pecans" and "I fucking hate target" ... ?

Dude! You got a flamethrower!

(Thanks to Benjamin and Michelle!)

The first is a press release whose title says it all, "AOL TO REFORM CUSTOMER SERVICE PROCEDURES: Settlement Requires Company to Remove Obstacles Consumers Face When Seeking to Switch or Cancel Service." The second is the official "assurance of discontinuance" laying out AOL's malfeasance in stark detail. Both make for fun reads, and an underline to the definition of hypocrisy.

It's obvious that AOL didn't take their promises to heart and found the $1.25 Million spanking bearable, if not pleasurable. Publicly shamed in their inability and/or unwillingness to comply with the Spitzer accord, AOL plans to accelerate the sublimation of substantial aspects of its service—email, IM and unique content—into various free, online shards which can then be accessed by users of other ISPs. Apparently, hoping to become as good as Yahoo.

In so doing, a chapter closes in American business history, and the 90's will finally be over.

Those sites are big business, believe it or not. "In two minutes, I can set up a thousand domain names," claims one entrepreneur. "I know quite a few guys making over a million dollars a year from advertising on their domains... It's like a 24-hour money-printing machine."

But ad networks like Google's and Yahoo's are now coming under fire for allowing domain squatters and advertisement hucksters to turn a pretty profit off of their advertisement networks. Many trademark attorneys are finding it hard to reconcile Google's "Do No Evil" policy with their business with companies that are preying on consumer confusion.

One revelation that amazed us in the linked article: "This form of online advertising relies on "type-in traffic": users who type the information they're looking for into the Web browser's address bar instead of using a search engine. Industry analysts estimate 15 percent of Web traffic originates this way." Only 15%? Maybe we're old school, but the idea of getting to Best Buy's homepage through MSN Search is like referencing the phone book every time you want to call your Mom. Just memorize it or put it on speed dial, already!

Typed too fast? Google profits from your typo [Seattle Times]

We saw over at Boing Boing that Anonymizer, a company that provides solutions to Internet users who want to ensure their privacy, have released a new anti-censorship software aimed specifically at Chinese citizens. And not only are they giving it away free, but they are continuously rotating the domain name so the Chinese government can't block the site:

Anonymizer's new anti-censorship software enables Chinese citizens to safely access the entire Internet filter-free, while free from oppression and fear of persecution or retribution. The program expands upon Anonymizer's history of human rights efforts which provide a censor-free Internet experience for those in oppressed nations.

What they are depending on is that when the site is blocked by Chinese sources and they move to another one, Chinese internet users will tell their friends about it via the handy "Tell a friend" box on the front page.

We're really glad to see something like this, even as companies like Yahoo help the Chinese government prosecute bloggers. And instead of making a weak and spineless compromise to half-censor their search results, we really think Google should have released something like this themselves. Way to go, Anonymizer!

Anonymizer Anti-Censorship Software

Companies will soon have to buy the electronic equivalent of a postage stamp if they want to be certain that their e-mail will be delivered to many of their customers.

America Online and Yahoo, two of the world's largest providers of e-mail accounts, are about to start using a system that gives preferential treatment to messages from companies that pay from 1/4 of a cent to a penny each to have them delivered. The senders must promise to contact only people who have agreed to receive their messages, or risk being blocked entirely.

The Internet companies say that this will help them identify legitimate mail and cut down on junk e-mail, identity-theft scams and other scourges that plague users of their services. They also stand to earn millions of dollars a year from the system if it is widely adopted.

What consumers want is a way to reliably clear their inboxes so they can quickly see email from friends and family. Consumers don't want email advertisements — period. (Well, almost period. So potentially a comma. There are some companies that periodically issue interesting deal digests. But let's face facts - 99% of people who "sign up" for "non-spam" company advertisements simply didn't untick the pixel-wide "Sign me up!" box at the bottom of the screen.) What Yahoo and AOL are offering is a way for companies to bypass the only way for email users to actually filter out the barrage of junk that they don't want, even if (through confustication) they accidentally signed up for it. You know you're on to a bad thing when both your clients and your consumers think something is an absolutely atrocious idea.

Let's hope AOL and Yahoo listen to the complaints from both sides. Especially since the new Yahoo Mail beta is just all shades of awesome.

I detest the support staff of Yahoo Domains. I detest them with the passion of a thousand white-hot suns. Not only has the experience entirely soured me on Yahoo! Domains, it has soured me on pretty much any for-pay Yahoo service.

It all began on November 10 when a friendly little e-mail was sent around to Yahoo Domains members entitled "Updating your WHOIS information." I went and checked mine, and, by God, my personal domain was registered to myself at the address of one of my former employers. How embarrassing. So I go and follow the instructions to click on "View/Edit Your Registration Information." However ... there *IS* no link to "View/Edit Your Registration Information," just to "View Your Registration Information." I shoot off an e-mail to Yahoo! Domains Support.

I get an e-mail back on November 14 later from "Dexter" asking me for my Yahoo ID, domain name, ZIP code, alternate e-mail address, date of birth, and the last eight digits of my credit card and my credit card type (re: the latter — seriously — through unencrypted e-mail?). On the 15th, "Dennis" writes me to tell me that despite asking me for everything but the size of my endowment, they were unable to "verify that information," and ask for my ZIP code and alternate e-mail address. (Despite the fact that I *wrote* to them from the alternate e-mail address and had already provided them with my ZIP code.)

Later that afternoon, "Dennis" shoots me the exact same e- mail. I tell him to check his inbox again. The next day, I get an e-mail from a man who would prove to be the bane of my existence, "Miles." He tells me that because my website's nameservers aren't pointed to Yahoo (a move that LivingDot, my website hoster, prescribed in order to have my website name point to where they were hosting me), "[i]t seems that Yahoo! is no more hosting provider for your domain and is not further capable to modify any information related to your domain." I point out to him that the Yahoo! Domains > Advanced area allows you to change your nameservers, that Yahoo never hosted my website (just my domain name), and that Melbourne IT is the registrar that THEY work with, and what the heck are they talking about?

"Miles" dashes off another e-mail the next day, this time chiding me if you can believe that, saying that, "As you have already been notified that according to the public Whois records your nameservers are not to Yahoo!. You only signed for the hosting service with Yahoo! but your domain name was directly governed by the registrar Melbourne IT. You can also confirm this thing after entering into your account, if you will go to the registration information page, there might have been written that 'To edit your contact information, please contact your domain registrar'. Again I request you to contact your registrar to edit the domain registration information."

Note again that Melbourne IT is Yahoo! Domains' registrar. Miles appears not to know this. I'm getting a bit sick not only of Miles' lack of knowledge but of trying to decode what he's trying to say, so I write back asking him to "[p]lease escalate this matter to your supervisor."

On November 19th, I shoot Yahoo! Domains an e-mail saying, "I have now heard from no one in the past 52 hours. Please have Miles' supervisor respond."

Nothing. "Miles" evidently took my request for escalation as a cue to dump my support ticket in the trash.

on November 25th, I shoot Yahoo! DOmains another e-mail, resorting to the Internet cliche of all capital letters, writing: "I HAVE NOW HEARD FROM NO ONE IN THE LAST WEEK. PLEASE HAVE MILES' SUPERVISOR RESPOND. THE TICKET IS #[code]. I AM A PAYING CUSTOMER AND SHOULD NOT BE IGNORED! THIS BEHAVIOR IS DESPICABLE!"

This time, "Phoebe" writes back on the 28th, "Your email did not contain enough information for us to determine your question or problem." (Despite the reference to the ticket.) Once again, she asks me for ... you guessed it. "Your Yahoo! ID, your domain name, a clear and detailed description of the problem, the exact steps you took before the problem occurred, the text of any error message you received."

I turn 10 shades of red. I think about how much plane fare to Yahoo! headquarters might cost. I count to ten. I go watch a movie. And then I come back, and write a long, polite summary, explaining how I'm dissatisfied with Miles' service, the responses to date, and so on.

Guess who responds to my e-mail?

Okay, really, think about it. For the most comic effect, what idiot would have to be the one to respond to that?

Yup. Miles. Miles responds.

And suggests I call a toll-free number for their technical support center.

I call them. I'm put on hold for ages. I finally get through, and I get someone who has no idea how to help me. They try to find an answer for me ... and I'm told by them to contact Melbourne IT. (Melbourne, by the way, in AUSTRALIA.) Despite the fact that I never initiated any sort of business relationship with them.

At this point, I'm starting a new job, and I really don't want to be making transatlantic calls, and I'm close to just saying, screw it. So I put it aside for a while.

On December 28, after Christmas, I decide to try to pick things up again, when I realize that I don't need to be making transatlantic calls; I can just shoot Melbourne IT an e-mail.

Within seconds, I'm told by an autoresponder: "A Melbourne IT Reseller manages the domains specified in your message. Please contact this reseller using the details below for any assistance you require. If the person you contact refers you back to us, ask them if they would please contact us on your behalf."

I write them back, telling me that Yahoo! Domains is insisting I talk to them. They respond that they "have escalated [my] request to [my] reseller."

The next day, "Daniel" writes me. And, we generate yet another moment of golden comic homicidal-feelings- producing rage when "Daniel" gives me the exact same set of instructions that we saw way back when on November 10.

(In the meantime, I decide to check out Yahoo's claim that the change in nameservers means they can't update my registration information. I contact my website hosting to see if that claims is true. LivingDot tells me no: "If the domain was registered through Yahoo, you can only update/change your information through them, unfortunatly we dont have any access to any of your domain details. Please let us know if there is anything else we can help you with!")

When I tell "Daniel" that I can't do what he tells me and why, repeating yet again the entire saga, I get a reply from "Georgia" (really, do they just work off the alphabet here?!?!) telling me that "Changing (re-delegating) your domain's nameservers away from Yahoo! will render all services for your account inoperative. You may continue to manage your WHOIS contact information through Yahoo! and we will continue to renew your annual domain registration. So, if for any problem of your domain, you need to contact your domain's current hosting provider."

Please note a golden phrase in there: "You may continue to manage your WHOIS contact information through Yahoo! and we will continue to renew your annual domain registration." What I've been asking for all along, in other words. Yahoo! Domains has NEVER hosted my website, just registered my domain.

So I write back on December 29th: "Okay, Georgia, if I can continue to manage my WHOIS contact information through Yahoo!, how do I do this? There is no way for me to edit my registration information through Yahoo."

Once again, "Dexter" responds, asking me the traditional set of identification questions for what is now the fifth or sixth time. I provide them again. Dennis writes back ... this time asking for the "additional information" of "Please provide us the information you want to edit in your WHOIS."

No, we're not going down there. "I would like to edit the information myself through the 'View/Edit Your Registration' option. Please clarify why I cannot do this 'normally.'"

On January 1, they write me and say, "We're looking into any difficulties you reported and we apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced. Please be assured that we're continuing to take steps to make Yahoo! Domains the best domain name service."

Five days later, today, January 5, there's still been no response.

And there, anticlimactically, is where we currently find ourselves.

I've been told by Yahoo Domains that it's the nameservers. I've been told by LivingDot that it's not the nameservers. I've been told by Yahoo Domains that it's the registrar's fault. Melbourne IT confirms that Yahoo Domains itself is the registrar, just as the WHOIS information and Yahoo's own help pages say. I've been shuttled around from Dexter to Phoebe to Dennis to Miles, to off-site and back, made to wait for days and weeks between responses, been asked to repeat identification details five or six times, and still, after TWO FRICKING MONTHS OF THIS, have no answer. No answer at all.

If you ever find yourself tempted to do business with Yahoo Domains ... don't. For the love of God and your sanity, stay away.

And, God willing, some Yahoo higher-up will stumble across my record of this mess and decide that for the sake of their business, a little house-cleaning is in order ... beginning with Daniel, Dexter, Dennis, Phoebe, and Miles ... and, no doubt, continuing with their yet-to-be-discovered colleagues, Abigail, Buster, Chris, Diane, Englebert, Franklin, Gary, Harry, Irene, Joseph, Krista, Larry, Moe, Nancy, Ophelia, Paul, Quinn, Rocket, Sissy, Tom, Uter, Vince, Wanda, Xander, Yolanda, and Zeppo.

Eventually the bubble burst, and it's only recently that advertising on the Internet has really rebounded enough to be profitable to more than a select few... largely through programs like Google's AdSense. But Wired warns that click fraud (which is estimated by some to be as much as 50% of all click-through advertisement traffic) may land another death blow to Internet advertising:

Pay-per-click is the fastest-growing segment of all advertising, reports the Interactive Advertising Bureau. Last year, Yahoo! alone ran more than 250 million individual listings, according to Michael Egan, the company's search-marketing director of content strategy. Yahoo! doesn't break out PPC earnings separately in its financial statements, but Goldman Sachs analyst Anthony Noto believes that keyword advertising accounted for about half of the company's estimated $3.7 billion in revenue for 2005. PPC is even more lucrative for Google. According to Noto, Google will end 2005 with $6.1 billion in revenue. About 99 percent of that revenue comes from keyword ads (over 56 percent from AdWords, according to the company's most recent quarterly financial statement, and 43 percent from AdSense), making Google a bigger recipient of ad dollars than any television network or newspaper chain. All of which is to say that little blue text links, a type of advertising that barely existed five years ago, are poised to become the single most important form of marketing in the US - unless click fraud ruins it.

If that occurs, the consequences will be felt throughout the Net. By splitting revenue with the sites that host the ads, search engines have become, in effect, the Internet's venture capitalists, funding the content that attracts people to the computer screen. Unlike the VCs who backed the boom-era Internet, search engines now provide revenue to thousands of wildly diverse sites at little up-front cost to them - PPC advertising is one of the few income sources available to bloggers, for instance. If rampant click fraud overwhelms the system, it will muffle the Internet's fabulous cacophony of voices.

Received a letter from SBC regarding my DSL service - informing me that my 1-year contract is about to expire. And, for my convenience, they will automatically renew my service (currently paying ~$26 per mo.) for "just $34.95 per month, with absolutely NO TERM commitment!*" The letter went on to encourage me to take "absolutely NO ACTION" It boasted that this "low monthly rate" is "$5 less than the rack rate for SBC Yahoo! DSL Starter (a service not listed on their website, not that I know what a "rack rate" is...), and $15 less than the rack rate for SBC Yahoo! DSL Express (I was starting to feel the sensation of being "racked"). This lovely letter is signed, sincerely, by one Jason Crawford of the SBC Yahoo! Marketing team.

More after the jump.

The final slap in the face (or rack to the balls) was the fact that the letter contained absolutely zero contact information concerning this offer. I took some time to walk off the numbness, and did some investigating on the SBC website only to find that NONE of their information was true other than the horrid rate hike I would experience if I indeed took "NO ACTION". The SBC marketeers either can't read, do math, or both. When I indeed took action and called the accounts department, I was informed that I could get a lower rate, with more speed for 6 months. After that, all acounts will be switched to moth-to-month rates. SBC's month-to-month rates are about 2X as compared to current contract rates. See the rate plans on the attached link.