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  Geebo 10:07 am on February 6, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: craig newmark ( 7 ), craigslist ( 129 ), Factmata, harassment ( 8 ), hate speech ( 14 ), sexual harassment ( 3 )   

  Does craigslist’s founder really want to stop hate speech? 

  

  (Disclaimer: This post will be discussing frank topics that may be disturbing to some readers)

  It was announced recently that a number of tech luminaries would be investing in a start-up called Factmata. Factmata’s purpose is to use artificial intelligence (A.I.) in order to “help social media companies, publishers and advertising networks weed out fake news, propaganda, clickbait, online bullying and hate speech.” Factmata’s founders were so confident in their product that they e-mailed billionaire investor Mark Cuban out of the blue and he liked it so much he was an initial investor in the start-up.

  One of the supposed tech heavyweights investing in the latest round of Factmata’s funding is craigslist founder Craig Newmark. We find this more than ironic as Newmark’s record on stopping hate speech and online harassment is laughable at best. If it’s hate speech you’re looking for, you can look no further than the rants & raves section from craigslist’s own beloved San Francisco Bay Area. On the off-chance that racist diatribe is flagged we’ve provided a screen shot below.

  

  Click to enlarge

  As far as online harassment goes, craigslist has long been wielded as a weapon by petty individuals looking to get revenge on unsuspecting victims including ads soliciting the rape of former romantic partners. Sadly, that’s not the only case of rape by proxy attempted on craigslist.

  That’s not even taking into account the number of child predators that roam throughout craigslist with ads so blatant you might wonder how they were allowed on craigslist to begin with. Here’s just a sample.

  Virgin? Would you like to lose it (M4W)” and “Hello HS and Virgin Girls.”

  “mothers who were looking for a guy to teach their daughter about the joys of sex.”

  “a little girl to play with for the night”

  Craigslist still relies on their so-called ‘community policing’ to flag such ads, but when your ads are being posted and read by sexual predators, then no one is going to flag any ad. This is the textbook definition of letting the inmates run the asylum. So you’ll have to excuse us if we’re just a little more than skeptical about Craig Newmark’s commitment to fighting hate speech and harassment.

  Factmata could in fact end up being a great tool to curb the rising tide of hate speech and online harassment, but when one of your major investors cares little about fighting those problems on his own website it severely hurts Factmata’s credibility.

  Mueller Report states craigslist used by Russians during election | Greg's Corner is discussing. Toggle Comments

   

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  Geebo 10:03 am on February 5, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: DeleteHQ, HQ Trivia, Peter Thiel ( 13 )   

  Has Peter Thiel become the kiss of death for start-ups? 

  

  In case you haven’t heard of the app HQ Trivia, it’s one of those apps that has captured the imagination of smart phone users that hasn’t been seen since the days of Angry Birds. The trivia app works like a game show, broadcasting live and promises cash prizes to those users who can complete a series of trivia questions. However, something has happened that may put a huge dent in HQ’s popularity.

  Like most start-ups, especially ones that hand out money as prizes, HQ has recently received a round of funding from a group of angel investors. HQ’s latest round of funding has come from the Founders Fund group. Founders Fund is a venture fund founded by the infamous Peter Thiel. As you may know, Thiel privately funded lawsuits against tech gossip blog Gawker including the Hulk Hogan lawsuit which eventually bankrupted Gawker. Some have called this plot by Thiel nothing more than an act of petty revenge after Gawker outed Thiel as being gay even though it wasn’t the most closely guarded secret in Silicon Valley. Others have referred to it as Thiel buying his way to censorship.

  This new round of funding for HQ has led to a number of people to delete the app and has started the #DeleteHQ (NSFW language) movement on social media. Will this revolt actually affect HQ’s popularity or will the lure of free money continue to keep HQ Trivia at the top of the most popular apps?

   
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  Geebo 9:55 am on February 2, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: retail ( 49 ), Whole Foods ( 7 )   

  Is Whole Foods reducing employees to tears? 

  

  There used to be a time where even jobs in retail meant you could work for a store or chain for years and actually experience growth and financial stability in your career. Nowadays it seems like most retailers encourage high turnover and less working hours in order to maximize profits for the company itself.

  Take Whole Foods for example. Previously ,it’s been made public that its OTS ordering system has left shelves empty at most of their stores while supposedly saving the company money from wasted food, however, it seems much more onerous than that.

  According to Business Insider, the OTS program is so stringent that there are scorecards and inspections among While Foods employees that are causing many of them to either quit or cause them to have emotional breakdowns for fear of failing one of these exams. This is coming from a company that prides itself on being an asset to the communities where it does business, but how can it be an asset when its breaking down its employees mentally, financially and emotionally to the point where they have to look for jobs elsewhere?

   
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  Geebo 10:01 am on February 1, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Human trafficking ( 100 ), Super Bowl ( 7 )   

  Don’t forget about human trafficking after the Super Bowl 

  

  With the Super Bowl approaching this weekend, you’ll probably see a number of news reports about the increased presence of human trafficking surrounding the event. Now the numbers of how many traffickers and victims being brought to the area around the Super Bowl are largely debated, that doesn’t change the fact that human trafficking does happen around large events like this. Some anti-human trafficking groups are even heading to Minneapolis this weekend to offer assistance to the victims of trafficking.

  While this is a great opportunity to not only bring awareness to the human trafficking problem in our country, it also does a disservice to the victims of human trafficking. Once the confetti has fallen and the winning team takes their trophy and goes home, human trafficking doesn’t magically cease to exist. What does cease to exist is the attention the media gives to human trafficking. Once the Super Bowl is over, the media spotlight on trafficking is all but gone.

  In football terms human trafficking not only happens during the Super Bowl, but it happens during the pre-season, the regular season, and the off-season. It’s also not confined to cities that have pro football teams as it happens every day all over the country. So when you see one of these reports on your local news, please don’t forget about the women and children being trafficked against their wills once the big game is over.

   
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  Geebo 10:33 am on January 31, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: California ( 21 ), net neutrality ( 32 )   

  Another state enacts Net Neutrality legislation 

  

  In the wake of the state of Montana enacting its own legislation in order to protect net neutrality within its borders, another state has taken similar steps. With all due respect to Montana, this other state’s legislation will probably get internet service providers and the FCC to sit up and take notice.

  Recently, in direct defiance of the FCC’s edict that states couldn’t enforce their own net neutrality legislation. the Golden State of California has passed two bills guaranteeing that all internet traffic will be treated equally in their state.

  California can not just be ignored by ISPs if they’re wanting to do business in the state and this new proposed legislation could start a domino effect where ISPs may have to voluntarily commit to net neutrality just to keep from running afoul of state laws. However, the solution is never that simple and we could see these state laws challenged in federal court for years to come. Hopefully the ISPs will realize that it might be more profitable for them to treat all internet traffic equally then spending money fighting these laws made by various states.

   
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  Geebo 9:53 am on January 30, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Backpage ( 69 ), hotels ( 5 ), Human trafficking ( 100 ), Omaha   

  Hotels are at the front line of human trafficking 

  

  When we think of hotels and human trafficking we think mostly of the seedy roadside motel that no one would normally visit under any circumstance. While those places do exist, human trafficking also takes place at the same hotels we use for business and vacations. Think about that for a moment. There may be a victim of human trafficking at the same hotel that you may be staying at with your family.

  The problem has become so prevalent that many police departments and anti-human trafficking groups have taken it upon themselves to educate hotel workers about the problem. For example, the city of Omaha, Nebraska, and The Creighton Human Trafficking Initiative have educated workers at over 100 hotels in Omaha on how to recognize if someone is being trafficked. Often victims are either forced to work out of these hotels are or held captive there being unable to leave due to threats of physical violence.

  The problem is so prevalent nowadays thanks to sites like Backpage that this is only one of many initiatives being held across the country. Human trafficking is one of the most profitable crimes in the world since a person can be sold over and over again unlike something like drugs which require a constant manufacturing process. If more people were aware that human trafficking is happening everywhere and not just in the places we think it’s happening, a lot more could be done to put a stop to it.

   
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  Geebo 10:01 am on January 29, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Backpage ( 69 ), Cyber Patrol, Human trafficking ( 100 ), San Diego ( 5 )   

  Citizens group takes on human trafficking at the source 

  

  San Diego, California, has unfortunately long been known as a hot spot for human trafficking for several reasons. Due to its proximity to both Los Angeles and Mexico, and the fact that it has a large military population contributes to the amount of trafficking that takes place there. That’s not to disparage either location or our military, but unfortunately that’s the reality of the situation. However, a group of volunteers has taken the fight against human trafficking to its roots, the men who would buy trafficked women and girls from Backpage.

  The Bunch of Guys Cyber Patrol, or Cyber Patrol for short, have taken it upon themselves to warn those who would respond to Backpage ads are contributing to the human trafficking problem. The Cyber Patrol takes out ads that appear to be one of Backpage’s usual trafficking ads. All they’ll have on the ad is a picture of a woman and a phone number. Once the ad is posted it doesn’t take them long to start receiving phone calls from men looking for a woman, the Cyber Patrol responds with a script that details not only the plight of women and girls who are trafficked but also what could happen to the men who patronize these ads.

  The message goes on to say that many of the women advertising their services are underage, or were coerced into the business as minors, and that their pimps often keep all of the money for themselves.

  They are warned that a conviction for solicitation of a minor could turn them into registered sex offenders.

  While the Cyber Patrol are not law enforcement, they will on occasion turn some more concerning cases over to the Human Trafficking Task Force.

  While they may be just chipping away at a much larger problem, taking on the johns of the world is a tactic we need to see more of. It comes down to simple economics really. If you take away the demand, then there’s no need for the supply. By making the johns aware of the problem they’re contributing to, maybe fewer of them will turn to Backpage or other avenues of human trafficking.

   
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  Geebo 10:00 am on January 26, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Amazon ( 112 ), e-books, Kindle, Rakuten, walmart ( 25 )   

  Walmart to take on Amazon’s core business 

  

  It’s been no secret that Amazon and Walmart have been at odds with each other recently with both retail giants trying to infringe on each other’s territory. Amazon has been expanding into the brick and mortar space while Walmart is trying to increase its online presence. Now, Walmart is trying to steal a part of Amazon’s customer base by launching their own line of what started Amazon’s success in the first place, books.

  Walmart has teamed with Japanese company Rakuten to start selling e-books and readers to compete with Amazon’s massive library of e-books available on their wildly successful Kindle e-reader. Does Walmart really expect to take a chunk out of Amazon’s book business? Barnes & Noble tried to take on Amazon with their Nook reader which was superior to the Kindle. While not exactly a failure it didn’t have nearly the success that the Kindle has. Also, with all due respect to Walmart, it’s never been seen as a book lover’s first destination to buy a new book.

  While on the surface it seems like a bold strategy from Walmart to try to further entrench themselves in the retail battle against Amazon, it seems more like an act of playground bravado with Walmart claiming ‘anything you can do I can do’. The problem is that books are Amazon’s bread and butter and are what basically turned the company into the success it is today. For Walmart to succeed in this space they would have to offer better deals for publishers and authors which may lead to higher prices of books and higher prices is just not Walmart’s way.

   
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  Geebo 10:32 am on January 25, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Burger King, GAO, montana ( 2 ), net neutrality ( 32 ), Whoper Neutrality   

  Net Neutrality will not go quietly 

  

  Ever since FCC Chairman Ajit Pai repealed the regulations protecting net neutrality, the fight to have it restored has been an ongoing but uphill battle. While some of the news has been promising, there have been no victories so far. However, in this week’s news there have been so many stories regarding the fight for a free and open internet that there may be a light at the end of the tunnel.

  For example, the state of Montana, a state that went to President Trump in the 2016 election, had their governor sign an executive order that forbids state agencies from doing business with any internet service provider that violates net neutrality practices. With state governments being a big customer for ISPs, this could definitely have huge repercussions for ISPs doing business in the state.

  Also a number of stories have come out this week about how a many communities within the U.S. have built their own broadband networks. With the threat of paid prioritized traffic looming, many more communities are looking into this option as well, in order to better serve their citizens. Sadly, there are 20 states that have legislation in effect that largely hamper such efforts.

  Some members of Congress have also not taken this lying down as they have petitioned the US Government Accountability Office to investigate the possibility of fraud and identity theft during the FCC’s net neutrality rule making process. If you’ll recall in the run up to net neutrality being repealed there were a number of public comments made in support of repealing the protections that were allegedly not made by the people who were said to have posted them.

  Lastly, an unlikely ally in the fight for net neutrality and it’s Burger King of all places. They have released a video called ‘Whopper Neutrality’ that shows how Burger King’s synonymous Burgers can teach people about net neutrality.

  If even a plastic headed burger mascot gets it, why doesn’t the FCC?

  The internet was designed to be free and open to all and by this point should be considered a utility as it’s hard to get by in today’s world without it. It shouldn’t be controlled by a handful of corporate gatekeepers.

  Another state enacts Net Neutrality legislation | Greg's Corner is discussing. Toggle Comments

   
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  Geebo 10:31 am on January 24, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Backpage ( 69 ), Houston ( 9 ), Human trafficking ( 100 ), lawsuit ( 48 ), texas ( 23 )   

  Backpage facing yet another trafficking lawsuit 

  

  In the past year or so, a number of lawsuits have been filed against Backpage, the site that tries to disguise itself as a classifieds site but makes most of its money off of sex trafficking ads. Some of these lawsuits have come from families whose daughters were killed in the sex trafficking trade. Others have come from women who were trafficked while underage on Backpage. The one thing that all these lawsuits have in common is that Backpage took money for these ads while knowing exactly what they were for.

  Most recently, Backpage is being sued by an 18-year-old woman from Houston, Texas. She says that she was 15 when she was advertised on Backpage. Her lawsuit alleges that Backpage knowingly edited ads to hide evidence of child sex trafficking. This is the basis of most of the recent lawsuits against Backpage as a Congressional investigative committee found evidence that Backpage was allegedly actively editing their ads in this manner. Due to the findings of that investigation, Backpage has settled at least one lawsuit filed against them by trafficking victims.

  Since Congress has been dragging their feet on providing any kind of real legislative protection for Backpage’s trafficking victims, maybe hitting them in their pockets for millions of dollars in settlements will finally make Backpage realize that it’s not worth it being in the business of selling people.