act

Startup pitches post-JOBS Act: Pump up the volume

Here's one likely outcome of the JOBS Act that passed the Senate last week and is on its way to becoming law: The noise from startups vying for investor attention is going to go up.

Maybe way up.

A key provision of the Act makes it okay for a company to publicly talk about the fact that it's raising money -- something that, while often ignored, has been a lingering threat among the booming startup world. When the rule barring general solicitation goes away, any hesitancy to hawk one's business will vanish.

How could that play out? … Read more

Reporters' Roundtable: JOBS Act makes crowdfunding the law

Crowdfunding is one step from becoming the law of the land. The JOBS Act, which has passed the House and the Senate in slightly different versions, is soon to be voted on again in the House for final approval, before it goes to the President, who has indicated he will sign it. This new law will make it possible for entrepreneurs to raise money from anyone they want to. It will also make it easier for new companies to go public, or to delay going public if they wish.

When JOBS becomes law, the landscape for technology startups will change dramatically. If you want to know how, and why it's happening, and what could go wrong when it does, watch this episode of the Roundtable.

Our guests today are:

George Zachary, partner at the VC firm Charles River Ventures Chance Barnett, CEO of the crowdfunding marketplace, Crowdfunder Tim Rowe, CEO of the Cambridge Innovation Center

Ten worst Internet laws of 2012?

The latest list of the 10 worst proposed Internet laws is out, and topping it are efforts by state legislators to derail disruptive business models such as Airbnb.com and Uber.com.

NetChoice, a Washington, D.C., coalition that includes Facebook, eBay, VeriSign, and Yahoo as members, today plans to release its updated "iAWFUL" list of misguided, nutty, or simply counterproductive laws. On NetChoice's worst-of-the-worst list:

Uber.com, an online and mobile-device service for finding a car service, has been curbed by city taxi commissions who cite "hack" laws to preserve their monopolies.

Airbnb.com, … Read more

Prepare for the onslaught of crowdfunding marketplaces

Crowdfunding will probably become a legal and government-approved way to raise startup capital--eventually. Congress needs to figure out how to pass a version of the JOBS Act for that to happen, but while there is bickering over key components of the Act, on the whole both parties agree that opening up startup investing to more people is the right thing

Once this occurs, and small businesses can raise money from anyone, how will they find these new investors? And how will investors find the businesses they want to invest in?

One of the first new information markets to come on … Read more

U.K. ISPs lose appeal, must pay legal fees of file-sharing suspects

Under the United Kingdom's new Digital Economy Act, Internet service providers must pitch in on the legal costs incurred by people suspected of illegally sharing files on their network, an appeals court has ruled.

According to the Guardian, a U.K. court today ruled against an appeal brought by ISPs TalkTalk and BT. The companies, as well as their competitors, now must pay 25 percent of all "qualifying" costs related to establishing and operating an appeals body for alleged file sharers. Ofcom, a U.K.-based communications regulator, will pay the remaining 75 percent of the costs.… Read more

Post SOPA, influential tech investor favors 'blacklisting' pirate sites

Fred Wilson, a well-known venture capitalist from New York, says he's in favor of creating a blacklist for Web sites found to traffic in pirated films, music, and other intellectual property.

The co-founder of Union Square Ventures told a gathering of media executives at the Paley Center for Media yesterday that he believes a good antipiracy measure would be for Google, Twitter, Facebook, and other major sites to issue warnings to people when they try to connect with a known pirate site.

Wilson favors establishing an independent group to create a "black and white list." "The … Read more

Netflix pays $9 million to settle privacy violation lawsuit

Netflix experienced a bumpy year in 2011. Its shares spiked and plummeted, it lost thousands of subscribers then gained them back, it faced growing competition, and a class action lawsuit was filed against it alleging that the video subscription service violated consumer's privacy.

But things seem to be looking up for Netflix--not only did it do better than expected in the fourth quarter and now has more subscribers than ever, it also settled the lawsuit.

On Friday, Netflix filed an agreement to pay $9 million to settle the class action suit, which was originally submitted in January 2011.

The … Read more

Meet Richard Mack, Republican challenger to SOPA's author

Rep. Lamar Smith could pay a steep political price for authoring two bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act and an online surveillance measure, that have become loathed by millions of Internet users.

He's facing an unexpected primary challenge from an ex-lawman who believes Smith has little regard for the U.S. Constitution--and who plans to use those bills as a lever to pry his opponent out of a congressional seat he's occupied since 1987.

Richard Mack, an Arizona sheriff who retired to Fredericksburg, Texas, is a self-described "constitutional conservative" with a long history of supporting causes … Read more

Hollywood's gentler post-SOPA strategy: A charm offensive

Hollywood is responding to the defeat of a pair of controversial copyright bills last month with a new strategy: a charm offensive.

Paramount Pictures sent letters last week to universities saying the company was "humbled" by last month's online protests that involved millions of Internet users--and that it now wants to "exchange ideas about content theft" and the best way to thwart it.

The letters were signed by Alfred Perry, Paramount's vice president for worldwide content and outreach. Paramount is a subsidiary of Viacom and one of the members of the Motion Picture Association of America, … Read more

Anti-SOPA forces have ISP snooping bill in their crosshairs

It took an Internet-wide outcry from millions of voters to prompt Rep. Lamar Smith, author of the Stop Online Piracy Act, to postpone a vote on the controversial Hollywood-backed bill.

Now Smith, a conservative Texas Republican, is being targeted a second time: for championing legislation that would require Internet service providers to keep track of their customers, in case police want to review those logs in the future. His bill is called H.R. 1981.

The latest campaign is designed to build on last month's remarkable protests, which included Wikipedia going dark for a day and Google and Amazon.… Read more