inCommunicado - eric eggertson

You could see this one coming a mile off.
CNet News’ Dawn Kawamoto is reporting a security company warning of a flaw in Apple iTunes security. (In an update, she notes it affects only iTunes 6 for Windows.)
Says privacy rights advocate Cory Doctorow:
I’m not surprised. An objective of good security is to protect users
from attackers […]

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A recent decision by the Supreme Court of Canada confirms that Lego has no patent protection here as it fights to keep market share. Having had its patent expire, Lego was trying to argue that the shape of the blocks’ connecting knobs are distinct and should be treated as a kind of trademark.
But Lego has […]

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Tech blogger Mark Russinovich declares victory over Sony BMG, now that the mega-entertainment company has agreed to undo the damage done by its intrusive copyright protection software.
As noted by Information Week, a bad situation was made much worse by Sony’s refusal to acknowledge the problems it was causing customers, and put in place an effective […]

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Sony BGM is backing down.
The consumer and tech industry backlash against the company’s use of spyware technology to embed its digital rights management code on customers’ computers caused the company to stop using that particular technique (read more about its other techniques).
Jim Horton feels sympathy for the public relations team at Sony: "This is […]

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The business model being pursued by the big music companies is so out of touch with what consumers want, it scares me. What if they prevail, and any music rights owned by a big company becomes so tied up in digital rights that the customers can no longer listen to the music they have bought?
Cory […]

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In a recent crusade, PR blogger John Wagner hammers away at authenticity as an essential ingredient in PR, branding and other attempts to manage the reputation of your organization. Here are four of his posts on the topic:
What Makes Communications Authentic? 
A PR Quote that Calls Out for Authenticity - Wal-Mart’s New Health Plan 
And Speaking […]

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There has been a lot of posturing before and during the lockout of CBC employees this summer and fall.
But the loudest statement was the action taken by management moments after the Canadian Media Guild’s strike mandate became legal. Without a by-your-leave, management changed the locks, locked out the workers, cancelled health benefits and maternity leaves, […]

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A clothes retailer opposing a trademark application for a brand with a similar name may find itself on the losing end of a trademark fight.
F.I.T., a clothing brand by the Fashion Institute of Technology community college, opposed a trademark application for NyFit, a line of nylon fitness clothing (hence the name).
By arguing that a brand […]

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Jeneane Sessum looks at why CEOs are blogging in a lengthy post to the annual online learning/sharing now taking place at Global PR Blog Week 2.0.
In a comprehensive review, Sessum suggests the benefits of CEO blogging come mostly from interesting CEOs sharing interesting conversations that open doors for the CEO and for the organizations.
Sessum […]

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No one elected technology journalist/futurist Tod Maffin president of the embattled CBC, but he’s willing to share his ideas for how he would make some changes if he were put in charge.
Maffin’s Sept. 13 podcast My thoughts on the future CBC vision is one of the best items posted on www.cbcunplugged.com, the popular blog he […]

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Here’s a site asking for a lawsuit. The artists/authors of Libelous Claims about Large Corporations offer up bogus claims about big brand names, very few of them complimentary.
Of course, legal action against such a site would link your brand and the "libelous claim" about it in the public’s mind. A no-win situation.
Plus, the claims are […]

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