A new survey looking at how teens perceive the Internet reinforces the need to think seriously about how and whether employers should be allowed access to employees’ social media accounts. Striking the right balance could have a profound impact on the next generation of workers, whose entire lives have played out online.

The survey, performed by Hart Research Associates, found 31% of teens are concerned that their social behaviors online will “haunt” them when it comes time to apply for colleges and jobs.

The study blows holes in the notion that teens are oblivious or uncaring about the long-term affects of their online behaviors. It paints a picture of a generation of Internet savvy teens who grasp the extent to which the Internet has lengthened the half-life of youthful indiscretion.

The measure may also heap more fuel on the fire of legislative efforts to limit employers’ ability to use employees’ social media histories against them.

A Tennessee bill supported by ticketing giant TicketMaster could harm Internet users everywhere, and for some of the world’s largest and most popular online services.

Ostensibly aimed at cracking down on ticket scalpers, the proposed Fairness in Ticketing Act would prohibit websites like ESPN and Google from having Internet addresses containing trademarked terms.

ESPN.com makes it easy for fans of the University of Tennessee “Volunteers” to find the latest scores by visiting ESPN.com/Volunteers.  But since “Volunteers” is trademarked, ESPN would either have to ask permission from UT or alter its website labels.

You have probably been hearing a lot over the pat couple of weeks about “do not track” and that companies are following you.

But what does “do not track” really mean for you?

Well, means that you may lose some really great customer service.

But we extoll great customer service.

Last month I walked into my local deli and they already know exactly what I wanted to order, “a ruben?”  Last week my car mechanic told me I am due for an oil change.  And yesterday, I walked into my local bank and they greet me by name.

Each time this occurred, I told my friends and family about this great customer service.

These practices are all part of an age-old mantra for businesses, “know thy customer.”  It is a mantra that businesses like Nordstrom know well.  If you know your customer you can actually improve their experience and in return the customer will frequent your store and recommend it to friends.

These practices are being translated to the online space.

The latter half of 2012 is one of the heaviest periods of Internet governance activity ever, with three critical events that could change the course of the next decade.  So it’s important to take a step back from the catchall phrase “Internet governance,” and ask what it even means… and why it really matters.

It started earlier this month in Toronto with the 45^th meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), and continues through the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Baku, Azerbaijan in November.   (NetChoice was a prominent actor at the ICANN meetings and will attend the IGF next week, too.)  Then, December brings us the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) in Dubai.   Taken together, these events present a series of critical decision points for the Internet’s future.

Steve DelBianco on CSPAN’s The Communicators to talk about remote-seller sales tax collection.

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Congress may have gone home to campaign, but that hasn’t stopped bad internet bills and regulations from threatening to stifle innovation and limit online choices.

To highlight some of the gravest – and most imminent – legislative and regulatory threats to e-commerce, NetChoice today unveiled a special edition of the Internet Advocates Watchlist for Ugly Laws (iAWFUL).

This latest iAWFUL focuses on measures that pose an imminent threat to the internet in 2012, ones that lawmakers want to jam through legislatures, or rules already in effect and in dire need of repeal and redress.

A new set of federal regulations intended to protect kids online ironically may end up decimating kid-friendly content on the Internet.

NetChoice this week filed comments with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Our submission highlights severe flaws with the new rules, which could dramatically limit the amount of safe, constructive content available to kids online.

The biggest problem with the new rules is that they represent a unauthorized, unsupported expansion of COPPA, a law that has effectively protected kids’ personal information for more than a decade.

Link to Video (DelBianco Testimony Starts at minute 60)

Link to Testimony