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Iraq Comes to YouTube

Google has announced that the Iraqi government has launched a dedicated YouTube channel. It can be found at youtube.com/iraqigov. The Iraqi government joins the Pope, the Royal Family, Queen Rania, and the presidents of the United States, France, South Korea, and Estonia in having YouTube channels to communicate with the public. Here's a YouTube message from Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki:

Big Retailers Took $792 Million for Sharing Credit Card Numbers

A U.S. Senate report has revealed that retailers (a number of which you may already know and trust), have accepted as much as $792 million to share customers' credit-card information with direct marketing companies. Could your card number have been one that was shared? Would you have known?

FTC Guidelines Raise Big Blogging Questions

Update 2:  Now Cleland says, "If people think that the FTC is going to issue them a citation for $11,000 because they failed to disclose that they got a free box of Pampers, that's not true. That's not going to happen today, not ever." (via)

Internet's Possible Future in the US Gets Ready to Be Decided

Update: The meeting ended and the rule making process will move forward after a unanimous vote. The rules say a provider of broadband Internet access service:

Google, Facebook and Twitter Address Net Neutrality

The Open Internet Coalition , which is a group of consumers, grassroots organizations, and businesses "promoting consumer choice and economic growth through an open Internet," has sent an open letter to FCC chairman Julius Genachowski, supporting open Internet rules. The coalition itself includes a large list of well-known web companies and sites. Companies with founders and CEOs signing the letter include:

Unemployment and AdSense May Cause Headaches

Unemployed bloggers are apparently at risk of losing their unemployment checks (or at least having them drastically reduced) if they include ads on their blogs. That is exactly what happened to a woman named Karin, from New York, according to a recent Forbes piece.

Bloggers Can (Not?) Be Fined Up to 11K Per Post for Non-Disclosure

Update 2: The FTC is now saying that the $11,000 fine is not accurate, at least for the first violation. Fast company got some responses from Richard Cleland, assistant director, division of advertising practices at the FTC, who says:

Sick "Should Obama Be Killed?" Poll Created by Minor

Update: The poll was found to have been created by a minor, and determined to be a prank. Apparently there will be no charges filed. Original Article: Someone created a poll on Facebook asking "Should Obama be killed?" using a third-party application. The poll was taken down, but not before 751 people voted on it. The options were:

Obama and Gaddafi Address UN - Videos Hit Web

President Barack Obama addressed the United Nations today in a speech in New York City. The event has of course inspired a lot of buzz and conversation on the web and Twitter. Videos of the speech have been uploaded to YouTube:

Sun Losing $100 Million a Month as Oracle Waits

Sun Microsystems is losing about $100 million a month according to Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, the company that's set to acquire Sun. Oracle is waiting to get clearance from European regulators before the deal can go through and Oracle can step in and try to put an end to this loss.