Behind Your Business

Comcast has suspended its 250 GB monthly data usage threshold for its Xfinity broadband customers and plans to begin trials of new multi-tiered Xfinity data service featuring a minimum data allotment of 300 GB per month in selected U.S. markets.

The nation's largest broadband service provider said the change is being driven primarily by a dramatic rise in demand for data-intensive content such as high-definition video streaming.

Comcast said it was immediately ceasing enforcement measures associated with the Xfinity service provider's current 250 GB data usage cap. In other words, excessive data users no longer face having their accounts suspended if they repeatedly exceed their monthly data caps -- at least with respect to the duration of Comcast's coming multi-tier trials.

"We've never had any intention to limit the lawful use of the Internet or restrict our customers' ability to view online video," said Comcast Executive Vice President Cathy Avgiris in a blog post Thursday.

"The purpose of the usage threshold was simply to ensure that all of our customers were treated fairly and had a consistent and superior experience while using our high-speed data service," Avgiris said.

Piloting Two Approaches

Comcast said it was still determining trial locations and expected to share more details soon.

"We'll be piloting at least two approaches in different markets, and we'll provide additional details on these trials as they launch," Avgiris said.

The new trials are expected to offer usage allowances that incrementally increase the user's allotment for each tier of high-speed data service. The new base plans in trial markets will start at 300 GB of data usage per month -- with higher tiers in 50 GB blocks costing an additional $10 per block.

Offing more flexible data usage management approaches will "ensure that all of our customers enjoy the best possible Internet...

Samsung, the world's No. 1 mobile-phone maker, appears to have another hit device on its hands even before it goes on store shelves overseas at the end of the month.

The Galaxy S III, the latest flagship phone from the South Korean electronics giant, has already racked up 9 million pre-orders, according to a report published in a South Korean business newspaper.

The Korea Economic Daily, citing an unnamed Samsung official as its source, said the orders came from a hundred carriers and the company was producing about 5 million Galaxies per month. The phone will launch in Europe on May 29th but isn't expected in the U.S. until June. The price and wireless-carrier partners in the U.S. have not been announced.

Timing Is Good

Neil Shah, senior analyst for wireless mobile strategy at Strategy Analytics, told us the Android 4.0.4 device's reported pre-order figure is credible because of timing and past numbers.

"Considering the iPhone 4S effect is slightly fading since it launched last year and a lot of people are anticipating the iPhone 5, the Galaxy S III numbers could be very healthy," Shah said.

"Demand is going to be pretty high, considering the average selling rate for Samsung flagship devices the last two or three quarters have been between 5 million and 6 million per quarter," he said. "The Galaxy S II reached 20 million in February 2011 [after a year], which is an average of 5 million per quarter."

The company's unique Galaxy Note, a cross between a tablet and smartphone, reached 5 million units shipped in March after only four months on the market, he noted.

"If these two units can sell 6 to 7 million units per quarter and Samsung has a great distribution reach across more than 100 countries and hundreds of operators, 6 to 10 million [for the S...

Facebook is now a publicly traded company -- and it's also under legal fire. Beyond Yahoo's patent litigation against the social media giant, Facebook is the subject of a class action suit over privacy concerns.

Facebook users on Friday filed an amended consolidated class action complaint in federal court in San Jose, Calif. The privacy suit involves alleged Facebook Internet tracking violations and seeks a minimum of $15 billion in damages.

"This is not just a damages action, but a groundbreaking digital-privacy rights case that could have wide and significant legal and business implications," said David Straite, a Stewarts Law partner. Stewarts Law, a London firm that set up U.S. offices in April, is representing the class action.

Tapping the Wiretap Act

The lawsuit argues federal statutory and California state causes of action related to the revelation in September 2011 that Facebook was improperly tracking the Internet use of its members even after they logged out of their accounts. The class action consolidates 21 related cases filed in more than a dozen states in 2011 and early 2012.

The plaintiffs' argument is based on the federal Wiretap Act, which provides statutory damages per user of $100 per day per violation, up to a maximum per user of $10,000. Even if Facebook's alleged actions constitute a single violation of the Wiretap Act per class member, that implies more than $15 billion in damages across the class. The complaint also asserts claims under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Stored Communications Act, various California statutes and California common law.

The amended suit comes on the day Facebook went public. Facebook hit its financial targets, raising $16 billion in its IPO. The stock climbed $4 a share to about $42 a share, a 10 percent boost, in the first few minutes of trading on Wall Street Friday morning....

The "Do Not Track" movement has one more corporate supporter. On Thursday, leading social media site Twitter announced that it will honor requests from users who do not want their online behavior monitored and reported.

With this action, Twitter becomes an official supporter of the voluntary privacy initiative for U.S. companies, which has been backed by the Federal Trade Commission, the Mozilla Foundation and online privacy organizations. A set of best practices for U.S. sites goes into effect next year. In Europe, the mandatory European Union Privacy Directive goes into effect on May 26 for all European-based companies and for multinationals.

'Tailored Suggestions'

Twitter has begun implementing experiments in "tailored suggestions," which recommends whom users might want to follow, based on a user's personalized information. The site points out on its company blog that, as a supporter of Do Not Track, "we will not collect the information that enables this feature" if someone has DNT enabled in browser settings.

Twitter has gone so far as to tweet that "we applaud the FTC's leadership on DNT." The move by Twitter was praised Thursday in a statement by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who said the action "is something that responsible, competitive companies can do." Mozilla has recently noted that nearly 9 percent of its desktop users and 19 percent of its mobile users are using the DNT feature in its browser.

A Do Not Track option is now available in Mozilla's Firefox, Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Apple's Safari Web browsers, and soon in Google's Chrome. But in the U.S., Web sites have the option to comply or not.

To assist Web sites in managing and disabling tracking-related third-party tags, Cupertino, Calif.-based Ensighten recently released a free Web tool. Called PrivacyDNT, it allows Web site owners to identify all third-party tags, create lists of which ones...

Facebook shares are officially trading. The social media giant set its initial share price at $38 and offered 421 million shares. That means Facebook could make IPO history with an $18.5 billion offering on a $104 billion valuation.

Facebook boasts about 900 million monthly active users. Facebook officially became the top-ranked Web site in the U.S. in March 2010, according to Experian Hitwise. Twenty percent of all Web page views stateside are on Facebook.

The stage is set. The shares are trading. But what happens when the dust settles? If Facebook's IPO meets expectations, social media startups could become the investment du jour. But if Facebook doesn't hit on all IPO cylinders -- or if it can't sustain its success in coming quarters, the story could look much different for social networking upstarts.

A Profound Impact?

We asked Scott Sellers, co-founder and CEO of Azul Systems, which develops runtime platforms for executing Java-based apps, his take on the Facebook IPO. He told us the day you see your company stock symbol moving across the ticker is one you never forget.

"Facebook going public will have a profound impact on Silicon Valley and sprout an entire new crop of startups as a result of this newfound capital," Sellers said. "I believe this IPO will create a domino effect of new money flooding into the mobile realm as well as international markets as Facebook's technology becomes more widely accepted and utilized."

Can Facebook Remain Authentic?

We also looked to Rob Vandenberg, president and CEO of Lingotek, which provides Web-based automated language translation tools, what he thinks about the Facebook IPO phenomenon. He told us Zuckerberg has literally created a 'universal human network' via Facebook.

"How can you not like what Zuckerberg has done to revolutionize the way we communicate? Essentially, he invented a platform that brings us...