Filed under: Products and services, Google (GOOG)

A couple in Pennsylvania who values their privacy is suing Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) because its Street View product is making images of their house available for free to anyone with an world wide web connection. The couple argues that by Google Street View archiving views of their home, it’s being devalued.

The Boring couple (yes, that’s their last name) is seeking at least $25,000 in damages from the world’s largest world wide web search company in what could be a massive precedent. How many other “private” areas has Google Street View been able to present for free on the internet that many don’t even know about? Google is all about giving anyone information access at any time on any device — but at the cost of privacy loss for those that value it? Where is the line drawn? Right now, there doesn’t seem to be one.

This case is unique because the images of the Boring’s home seem to have been taken from the couple’s driveway, which is clearly labeled “Private Road” — it’s what the couple was seeking in 2006 when it brought the property. The publicizing of their case, however, is anything but private. Google made it clear in the response to the suit that they have made it quite simple to request image removal from its Street View product. The question remains — what rulebook does the company use when photographing areas for display anyway?

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SpuriousLogic writes “Astronomers have discovered a planetary system orbiting a distant star which looks much like our own. They found two planets that were close matches for Jupiter and Saturn orbiting a star about half the size of our Sun. Martin Dominik, from St Andrews University in the UK, said the finding suggested systems like our own could be much more common than we thought.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Filed under: Economic data, Housing, Federal Reserve

The Washington Post reports that the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is getting what it feels is a raw deal on a mortgage for its Washington headquarters. Boo hoo! The MBA is buying a building there for $100 million, but is paying a higher interest rate on its mortgage as its income declines and the leasing market is slow leaving it with no tenants for the building.

This couldn’t have happened to a nicer association. After all, the MBA encouraged people to take out subprime mortgages — many of which went bad. Despite the Fed’s rate cuts from 5.25% to 2.25% mortgage interest rates are up thanks to bankers’ fear of lending. And the resulting economic slowdown is making it harder for the MBA to find tenants for its building.

Let’s survey the damage to the MBA. First, its membership has declined 17% in the last year and it predicts a 10% to 15% decline in revenue as a result. Bankers are making the MBA put up about 10% more of a down payment than it had planned and the lack of tenants has moved its lender to increase the financing costs slightly. Perhaps there’s justice in the universe. If not, at least MBA’s predicament is giving it a taste of its own medicine.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter.

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Filed under: Deals, Private equity, JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Washington Mutual (WM), Housing

Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) might be rescued from the situation that its low capital base threatens the company’s future. According to The Wall Street Journal, “private-equity firm TPG and other investors are close to a deal to invest $5 billion.”

Washington Mutual might have to take the money, but it is awful news for the value of the company’s shares. There had been rumors that JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) might buy the company, but those will now end.

Since the bank’s current market cap is only $9 billion, the investment represents massive potential dilution. The company’s shares now trade at just over $10. On a straight dollar-for-dollar basis, the new capital would take the share price below $7, a 52-week low. Even if some of the money comes in as convertible preferred, the company’s shareholders are facing a capital table which will push shares down.

The news is another example of investors losing three quarters of their money in a financial company due to the subprime crisis and then losing more when a private equity company or sovereign fund offers new capital. It is better than Chapter 11 though.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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Reservoir Hill writes “Researchers have discovered that human skin might contain millions of tiny “antennas” in the form of microscopic sweat ducts that may reveal a person’s physical and emotional say. This discovery might eventually result in lie detectors that operate at a distance. In experiments, the team beamed electromagnetic waves with a frequency range of about 100 gigahertz at the hands of test subjects and measured the frequency of the electromagnetic waves reflecting off the subjects’ skin. Initially, the experiments were carried out in contact with the subjects’ hands, but even at a distance of 22 cm, researchers found a strong correlation between subjects’ blood pressure and pulse rate, and the frequency response of their skin.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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