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Consumer groups encouraged by 'Consumer Bill of Rights'

Consumer advocates say the Obama administration's blueprint for protecting consumers' privacy online is a good first step, but they will be watching closely to see how it's implemented.

The White House and the Federal Trade Communications today unveiled the "Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights," which will serve as a policy outline for future legislation and public policy that will work to protect consumers' privacy while online from a computer or mobile phone.

The administration also worked with online advertising associations, such as the Digital Advertising Alliance and others, to revive "Do Not Track" technology … Read more

The battle for online privacy

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Chrome to support Do Not Track privacy feature

Google has agreed to build support for Do Not Track into Chrome so its Web browser can tell Web sites when people don't want advertisers scrutinizing their behavior.

The Do Not Track technology modifies communications between browsers and servers so people can signal that they don't want their browsing behavior to become the basis for ad targeting.

Mozilla developed Do Not Track and built it into its Firefox Web browser. Microsoft followed suit not long after with Internet Explorer, Apple has enabled it as an option for developers in Safari 5.1, and Opera is building it into the forthcoming Opera 12. … Read more

Obama unveils Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights

The Obama administration plans to work with Congress to enact legislation to protect peoples' online privacy based on a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights being unveiled tomorrow.

At the same time, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and AOL are committing to work with Do Not Track technology in most major Web browsers so people can stop companies from tracking them as they bounce around the Internet, the administration said in a statement.

The announcement comes as Google, Apple, and other technology companies are being increasingly criticized for not doing enough to protect consumers' privacy rights online. The problem has become particularly acute … Read more

The 404 997: Where it's the first day of the rest of our lives (podcast)

CNET TV reviewer Ty Pendlebury joins in on a fun rundown to start the week. We'll chat about a proposed bill that would require marketers to put a disclaimer on doctored advertisements, self-destructing e-mails, a Sony heads-up "VR" display, and something called "nomophobia." Yeah, you probably suffer from it already.… Read more

PBS gives iOS users first dibs on Bill Clinton documentary

PBS is testing the waters with a new way to hook users into tuning into one of its upcoming programs.

The television network announced today that it would be offering the first hour of its four-hour documentary on former U.S. President Bill Clinton on its iOS app, a full week before it airs on TV.

The film's description reads:

The documentary recounts a career full of accomplishment and rife with scandal, a marriage that would make history and create controversy, and a presidency that would define the crucial and transformative period between the fall of the Berlin Wall … Read more

Why Metro now rules at Microsoft

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer told you all you really need to know about the importance of the company's Metro user interface at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month.

Ballmer's keynote speech was a virtual Metro-palooza. He showed the sleek, tile-based interface in Windows Phones. And then he displayed it again in the upcoming Windows 8 operating system. It made another appearance in a demo of the released version of Xbox Live. The Metro rectangles even found their way in his Power Point slides.

"Metro will drive the new magic across all of our … Read more

Andy Rachleff: With Facebook, Valley unearths lost art of IPO

Editor's note: This is a guest column by Andy Rachleff, whose bio is below.

Like everyone else here in Silicon Valley, I'm excited to see Facebook going public. No, I don't own a piece of the company, and I don't believe a blockbuster IPO will revive the entire global stock market, as some commentators have hyped.

What I do think--or certainly hope--is that a successful offering by Facebook will help young entrepreneurs understand why Silicon Valley embraced IPOs in the first place. And, importantly, why we need to revive the culture of the IPO.

When I … Read more

Gates sent dying Jobs a letter he kept bedside

Here's just the latest reported evidence that the late Steve Jobs and Bill Gates had a strong relationship at the time of the Apple icon's death.

Microsoft's co-founder told The Telegraph that yes, the two had some stormy days as fierce competitors. But things changed around 2007 when Gates left Microsoft to set up his foundation and the two did an event together (presumably referring to the D Conference in 2007, pictured right). Before Jobs' death in October, Gates said he paid the Apple co-founder a long visit. "We spent literally hours reminiscing and talking about … Read more

Gates reflects on his relationship with Steve Jobs

Contrary to popular belief, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates maintained a close friendship over the years, the Microsoft co-founder tells Yahoo and ABC News.

"He and I always enjoyed talking. He would throw some things out, you know, some stimulating things," Gates said in a wide-ranging interview scheduled to air tonight. "We'd talk about the other companies that have come along. We talked about our families and how lucky we'd both been in terms of the women we married. It was great relaxed conversation."

The two had a complex relationship: they sometimes partnered, always … Read more