Internet service providers

Angry online subscribers who had their Web surfing habits tracked in detail are suing a Silicon Valley startup that created the technology and six Internet service providers that briefly used it.

The 15 customers who filed the lawsuit in federal court here Monday demand more than $5 million in damages and are asking a judge to turn the case into a class action representing tens of thousands of Internet subscribers.

A lawmaker is bringing the issue of net neutrality back into the spotlight. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) plans to introduce a bill in January that would stop Internet service providers from blocking and managing certain Internet content.

The Internet is a little less jammed with spam after a cybercrime group blew the whistle on one of the biggest offenders. HostExploit, an alliance of volunteers who work at Google, McAfee and Arbor Networks, has been tracking and documenting cybercrime activity and its latest effort slashed worldwide spam by 50 percent and junk e-mail by 75 percent.

Google, Yahoo and Microsoft have joined rights groups, including the Center for Democracy and Technology and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, to create the Global Network Initiative to protect and advance privacy, freedom of expression, and human rights.

The initiative will examine issues relating to freedom of expression and privacy around the world and international laws and standards that affect companies doing global business.

Web surfers can feel more secure about their clicks and Web purchases now that three of the nation's four largest Internet service providers have pledged to stop tracking users' behavior unless given permission by the user.

AT&T, Verizon, and Time Warner Cable officials testified Thursday before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee that they would not deliver ads based on consumer Web surfing.

'No Immediate Plans'

You've been browsing the Internet lately for information about carbon emissions to help your daughter with her climate change project at school.

You've also done a little shopping in advance of the holidays, buying that more-than-you-really-wanted-to-pay-for digital camera for your spouse.

Now, instead of that usual Staples banner ad on the online site of your local newspaper, you are getting ads about hybrid cars and high-definition TVs.

When Richard Tallent moved to a new home in Beaumont, Texas, he had one worry on his mind: signing up for Internet service as soon as possible. Time Warner Cable, the local provider, had imposed a 5-gigabyte usage limit for its new customers.

Tallent, a programmer and photographer who frequently uploads large photographs, slipped in under the deadline with two days to spare. If he had not, he would have had to pay $1 for every extra gigabyte he used each month.

Comcast fired back at the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday in its long-running duel with the agency. The cable-TV and Internet service provider filed suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C.

The filing is the result of a FCC hearing last month in which Comcast was sanctioned for throttling back the broadband speed of customers using the BitTorrent peer-to-peer file-sharing application. The FCC ordered Comcast to provide plans for equitably managing its bandwidth and to make its network-management policies public.

Comcast's View

Internet service providers engaged in the tracking of user behavioral patterns are backpedaling in the wake of a new Congressional inquiry into the privacy issues surrounding such practices.

In a letter addressing questions from members of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, David Hantman, Yahoo's vice president of global policy, said his company realizes that some Web surfers would prefer not to receive customized online ads. As a result, the search engine giant will allow consumers to decline ads based on the tracking of their online behavior at Yahoo.com.

Congress wants to know: How do search engines use your personal data? The House Committee on Energy and Commerce sent out letters on Friday to major network companies asking them, among other things, how they use personal tracking data to serve up those highly targeted ads.