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Microcap & Penny Stocks : Tokyo Joe's Cafe / Societe Anonyme/No Pennies -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: STEAMROLLER who wrote (52893)	2/6/1999 9:43:00 AM
From: Mr. Big	Respond to of 119973

Government to begin tracking Web sales (interesting comments) Adding to the legitamcy of the Web... WASHINGTON (AP) - The Commerce Department said Friday it will begin tracking sales on the Internet, which it called "a major indicator of the nation's economic health." But even as the government touted figures showing that consumers spent $9 billion last year on the Internet, it warned that growth of electronic commerce will wane unless shoppers trust that personal information will be kept private. "I wouldn't want people selling information about which books I buy, or what records I buy," said Robert Pitofsky, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. "The Internet is probably going to grow, anyway. It's just not going to grow as fast until these concerns are addressed." (YEAH RIGHT) "Consumers have to feel as comfortable doing business in cyberspace as they do on Main Street," Commerce Secretary William Daley added.(SURPRISINGLY I work in a Credit Union that has Internet Banking and adoption is fast) Daley said his agency will begin tracking separately sales over the Internet, which currently are included within government figures for catalog sales. But he said complete figures for last year and this year won't be available until the summer of 2000 - a virtual eternity in what the industry sometimes calls "Internet time." At a joint news conference Friday, Daley and Pitofsky lauded the online industry for improving the protection of consumer privacy on the Internet. But they said the Clinton administration wants continued efforts, and added that new federal privacy legislation could be passed to mandate such privacy protections. "It has taken some strong prodding," Daley said. "This year, I want to see more progress, especially among smaller companies. ... To be frank with you, the laws should not be the last line of defense." "We continue to look to industry to take the lead in self-regulation," Pitofsky said. The FTC has criticized the online industry for its failure to protect privacy rights, and the agency successfully pressed last year for a new law that prohibits Web sites from collecting personal information from children without parental permission.