Dear IAB Member,
By now, it should be obvious to you all that there is a “War Against the Web.”
That was the title of an Op-Ed piece I wrote more than two years ago in The Huffington Post, describing the stealth campaign by anti-capitalism activists to undermine the very infrastructure of the Internet, using a breathtakingly expansive redefinition of the word “privacy.” You can read it here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/randy-rothenberg/war-against-the-web_b_97811.html. And you can read my follow-up, “The Feds’ Web Takeover,” here: https://www.iab.com/iablog/2008/08/the-feds-web-takeover.html.
That campaign against our industry and your company has now been joined by ill-informed members of Congress, regulators, and print journalists. As I wrote in yesterday’s USA Today, “They have rebranded as ‘surveillance technology’ various devices – cookies, beacons and IP addresses – that fuel the Internet. Without them, Web programming and advertising can’t make its way to your laptop, phone or PC. At risk are $300 billion in U.S. economic activity and 3.1 million jobs generated by the advertising-supported Internet.” (http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2010-08-09-editorial09_ST1_N.htm)
This email is not meant as an I-told-you-so. Rather, it’s meant to remind you that the IAB has been taking steps to protect our industry – and the entire ad-supported media business and much of the U.S. retail industry – from those who would shut it down. For three years, we have been working with our sister trade associations – including the Association of National Advertisers, the American Association of Advertising Agencies, the Direct Marketing Association, and the Council of Better Business Bureaus – on a comprehensive self-regulatory program to protect consumer privacy rights and expectations in ad-supported interactive media. That self-regulatory initiative has been praised and encouraged by the Federal Trade Commission, and launches next month.
As part of our self regulatory effort, IAB launched an advertising campaign and Web site, “Privacy Matters,” to explain to consumers how they can use existing tools and mechanisms to assure their privacy in online environments. So far, we have raised $400,000 and 600 million donated impressions in support of our self-regulatory and communications efforts. We have testified several times to Congress about the harm to consumers that can result from ill-considered “privacy” legislation.
But we remain short of our goal – $1 million and 1 billion impressions. We need your help if industry – and the hundreds of millions of consumers who value free choice and diversity in media – are to win the War Against the Web. We are asking all IAB members to help us in the following two ways:
- Donate company funds to the IAB Consumer Protection & Education Campaign – a fund to support strategic communication about privacy protection and the interactive advertising industry
- Donate ad impressions to the IAB’s “Privacy Matters” campaign, so we can get the word out across the U.S. about how consumers can protect their privacy online
Thanks in advance for helping our industry, our economy, and media diversity grow.
R2
Randall Rothenberg
President & Chief Executive Officer
IAB
116 E. 27th St.
New York, NY 10016
(212) 380-4717 (o)
(917) 685-3854 (m)
iab.com
Clogging at www.randallrothenberg.com
Follow me on Twitter @r2rothenberg
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