• On December 23, 2010, Mozilla announced that the new version of its popular web browser, Firefox, due for release in early 2011, will not include a “do-not-track” mechanism despite the FTC’s recent call for the development of such an option. In making this announcement, Mozilla stated that it had yet to “[find] a way of combining a ‘do not track’ option with a good user experience.” Specifically, the company is finding that web pages will not load properly if a user enables the prototype Firefox “do-not-track” mechanism. Mozilla’s statements stand in contrast to Microsoft’s announcement in early December that the next version of Internet Explorer will include “do-not-track” which it claims will “help keep third-party websites from tracking [a consumer’s] Web behavior.” FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz has previously pointed to Microsoft’s and Mozilla’s implementation of these features as an example of how the proposed mechanism might be implemented. Both Microsoft and Mozilla expect to release new versions of their respective browsers early this year.
  • Comments on the FTC’s Caller ID Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking are due January 28, 2011. A link to the NPRM can be found here.
  • Comments on the privacy report issued December 1, 2010, by FTC staff are due January 31, 2011. A copy of the report can be found here.