As part of a recent reorganization that refocused its Media and Intelligence groups into Information Services and Marketing Solutions, ALM tapped Jimi Li as Chief Technology Officer. A media industry outsider, Li brings a wealth of experience with both B2B and B2C brands, having most recently served as Partner and Co-Founder of Valence Marketing Infrastructure and having held previous leadership positions at companies such as L’Oréal, Coach and GE Capital.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a petition seeking the Supreme Court to consider an ongoing legal case about access to data stored overseas.  But the courts are powerless to craft a balanced policy for law enforcement access to data stored abroad.  Only Congress can do it.

The Microsoft Ireland case goes before a Second Circuit Court of Appeals on September 9.  The case raised this fundamental question: when U.S. law enforcement wants a U.S. email provider to provide them with information about a foreign national, whose law applies?  U.S. law or the law of the data subject’s country?  Microsoft’s brief, the United States brief, and legal commentary all focus on the location of the data as the key element in reaching a decision.  But this leads to insoluble difficulties, not matter who wins the case. A better alternative would focus on the citizenship or the location of the user as the key element.  This appropriately takes into account the privacy interest of the user in that country as well as the sovereignty interests of the country itself.

On Monday, several of the largest and most popular IT service providers called for Global Government Surveillance Reform.  In a joint letter, AoL, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter and Yahoo called on the world’s governments to address the practices and laws regulating government surveillance of individuals and access to their information.