A data breach at a little-known entity that affected companies from J.P. Morgan ChaseJPM -0.02% & Co. to TiVo Inc. TIVO -2.79% is shining a light on the outsourcing of email marketing campaigns, a practice that has grown steadily over the past decade as consumers become less responsive to commercial pitches.

Nothing good can come of the proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA by AT&T. This will lead to essentially a 2-player cell phone market (Verizon and AT&T). Some quotes taken from various news articles: “We know the results of arrangements like this — higher prices, fewer choices, less innovation.” (Public Knowledge president Gigi Sohn). “AT&T will [...]

Pop-under ads are browser windows that open in the background while you view a web site. Boston.com was on of the first sites to start using this technique almost 10 years ago, and it is still as annoying today as it was back then. Why is it annoying? Because when you close the original browser [...]

I just googled something along the lines of the subject, because I am sitting at my computer doing stuff, but would like to know the score and watch the game a little. I dug through about 3 pages of Google search results that contained nothing but spam and content specifically tailored to attract people in [...]

The latest DVD from my Netflix queue came in the mail today, The Bucket List with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. I noticed that the DVD infringes on my privacy in a questionable way. There is a web page on the disk that, when loaded into a browser, will request an image from digitalcopy.warnerbros.com. This [...]

I received this email today. I wonder if this will be part of their new ad campaign to help sign on new customers … Dear Customer, We appreciate your business with Lingo, and hope that you are availing and enjoying all its benefits! We would like to inform you of updated terms and conditions of [...]

The “sub-prime” mortgage crisis is a euphemism that does not exist. Realtors and mortgage companies are only small fish – big money has feasted off an exploding real estate market for so long that, in order to maintain the growth rate, it was necessary to reach further and further into the pockets of people who [...]