Written By Kate Zimmermann | September 18, 2006 | Share This |

Politicians have been working their way around the internet since Howard Dean discovered blogs in 2004, but it seems only recently that Internet companies have really started meddling about in politics.
Today Google announced the creation of their very first political action committee. I guess they got sick of all court orders, copyright laws, and threats to net neutrality, and decided to use their billions in the name of public policy. Its like they’re a real Fortune 500 company!

But while Google figures out how to lobby for the Internet, News Corp is figuring out how to avoid paying for it. The media giant is aiming to save at least $2 billion in taxes by transferring assets with Liberty Media Corp, thanks to a legal loophole…and corporate lobbyists!

In Sweden, a group of hackers have figured out how to wreak political havoc. In a modern-day Watergate, the Liberal Party has been accused of stealing campaign strategy information from the Social Democrats, after narrowly winning last week’s election. You’d think the U.S. would take the hint, but our own Diebold voting machines are as easy to open as your hotel minibar. No, really – this guy did it last Thursday. Apparently the same electronic keys that open file cabinets, jukeboxes and minibars, can be used to open a voting machine. Since the announcement of its vulnerability, however, Diebold stock prices have stayed fairly constant. Very strange, considering they may be responsible for innacuracies of over 10% of the vote.

Speaking of the stock market, Adobe is on the rise, thanks to the release of Acrobat 8. The newest version of the popular software features better cross-application integration, security enhancements and new collaborative tools.

And… speaking of collaborative tools. On Wednesday, MTV will be releasing Virtual Laguna Beach, an interactive metaverse of the popular tv show Laguna Beach: The Real O.C. Fans of the show can create their own avatar character and live like rich kids in a virtual paradise. To keep it from becoming a Sims version of Mean Girls, however, MTV has taken pains to keep the site “within the boundaries of good taste.” (seriously?) According to MTV senior VP Matt Bostwick, “The worst thing they can do is kiss.” So without sex, drugs or alcohol, the only thing left for teens to do scandalously is go shopping. The site will be linked to some serious e-commerce, supported by brands such as Cingular, Pepsi, Secret and Paramount. If the site takes off, this could be first real departure of virtual gaming beyond the tech community, and evidently, the politicians.

Topics: Media Convergence |