Roxburgh Milkins

Summary:

• ICO issues new guidance the day before end of moratorium on enforcing new cookie rules.
• This guidance suggests implied consent (opt-out) may be a good enough solution.

What are cookies?

Website cookies can allow a user to navigate a website efficiently and can add additional functionality to websites. They can also allow websites to track visitors and can be utilised by advertisers to target ad campaigns. This is all made possible by placing a cookie (a small data file) in your hard drive and allowing the website (or a third party) to access it.

How has the law changed?

On 26 May 2011, the UK updated its law relating to electronic communications, (which includes cookies) via the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2011.

These changes to the law were instigated by the EU Commission via its 2009 ePrivacy Directive. The ICO announced in May 2011 that they would give most websites a year’s amnesty in which to adapt to the changes in the law. This amnesty ended on Saturday 26th May 2012.

Opt-in or Opt-out?

The Regulation states that it is unlawful to use cookies to collect a user’s data without first obtaining prior consent.

Initially, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) guidance indicated that consent had to be express (i.e. opt-in). However, 11^th hour guidance released on Friday May 25^th suggests that implied consent (i.e. opt-out) may be appropriate most of the time.

The ICO has stressed that implied consent can only be relied on when users have sufficient understanding about the cookies used so that their actions imply their consent. This means that website owners still need to provide much more detailed information about their use of cookies and need to bring this information to the notice of website users, for example, using prominent links/banners etc.

Another consideration will be that the usual profile of a website’s users will be important when deciding on an appropriate method for achieving compliance. For example, a website designed for young children may require an opt-in approach to obtaining consent to cookies, but it’s likely that a website designed for adults which provides detailed and accessible information about its cookies could rely on an opt-out approach. 

What are other website owners doing?

Increasingly throughout 2012, more and more websites have started to include more detailed information about cookies in more prominent positions on the websites.

Some public sector websites are tending to take a more cautious approach by seeking to obtain prior consent to cookies on an express basis (opt-in).

The vast majority of websites have made no visible changes. It’s possible that some websites have stopped using cookies all together, however this is fairly unlikely. There are several examples of some of the changes to websites that we have seen at the end of this note. 

What should a website owner do?

The ICO has made it clear that it will enfoce this new law so website owners cannot ignore it. We recommend you do the following:

Perform an Audit

The first task is to perform an audit of the cookies you use. The ICO has stated that its approach to enforcement will relate, to an extent, to the intrusiveness of cookies that are used on websites. The more intrusive a cookie is in terms of data it collects and stores, the more onus there will be on the website owner to ensure compliance with the new rules. There is also a distinction made between first and third party cookies. First party cookies will be placed by the website owner and third party cookies will be placed by a third party (such as an advertiser). Third party cookies are generally seen as more intrusive.

If you don’t need the more intrusive cookies, get rid of them.

Consider the Exemption

There is an exemption to the new rules that applies to cookies which are “strictly necessary”. This exemption will be very strictly interpreted. The ICO has indicated it will only apply to cookies which result from a user’s explicit request. For example, adding an item to a shopping basket usually results in the use of a cookie to remember the item has been placed in the basket until the user is ready to pay.  The ICO’s guidance makes it clear that this exemption will not be extended to analytical cookies (such as Google analytics). However, it also states that provided users are informed about the use of analytical cookies, the ICO is unlikely to prioritise any regulatory action against their use without sufficient consent.

If you can operate a website using only “strictly necessary” cookies, you can tick the compliance box.

How to comply

Full compliance with the new rules requires you to:

• provide users with comprehensive information about the cookies you use; and
• gain a user’s consent to such use.

Information

You need to be able to show now that you have at least started to work towards full compliance. The easy one to deal with above is the information requirement. You need to prepare a cookie information section for your website that provides, as a minimum, the following information in relation to each cookie:

• name or type of cookie;
• 1^st or 3^rd party cookie;
• what it is used for;
• how long is it used for;
• what data is stored/accessed; and
• is there any link to the identity of a user.

You are also required to prominently flag this information to users. The ICO recommends having a link to a separate “cookies” section as well as a link to “privacy policy”, or to have a “how we use cookies” section. Some websites have renamed the privacy policy “cookies and privacy policy”.

Consent

As mentioned above, the latest ICO guidance suggests that implied consent may well be acceptable in more circumstances than the previous guidance had suggested. The key issue is that to be valid, implied consent needs to be “specific and informed”.

This means you cannot rely on doing nothing and argue a user visiting your website gives implied consent to cookie use simply by visiting. The ICO states that you have to ensure that “clear and relevant information is readily available to users explaining what it likely to happen while the user is accessing the site and what choices the user has in terms of controlling what happens.”

The ICO also states that you should view implied consent as coming out of a shared understanding between websites and users. The more users see prominent notices giving clear and relevant information about cookies, the more they will develop an understanding of cookie use and the more likely it will be that a website owner can on implied consent.

Examples of websites seeking to rely on implied consent:

The following picture shows a banner running across the top of a website. It has a link that allows users to obtain information about cookies, a link on how to control cookies and a button to stop the banner being shown again. This is an example of an implied consent approach.

Example 1

The website owner is relying on implied consent from the user’s actions of either the user’s continued use of the website, or clicking “Don’t show this again”.

Example 2 below follows the same appraoch as example 1, but the notice is further down the page and the wording of the notice is more explicit in saying that continued use implies consent.

Example 2

This is a further example of a website using the implied consent approach.

Example 3

The following picture is another variation, however on clicking the “Cookie Consent” button in the bottom right corner, the user is provided with a dashboard from which cookie use is fully customizable.

Example 4

Conclusion

The ICO has made it clear it will enforce the new rules. However, it has also suggested that it will take a reactive approach (i.e. reacting to complaints). It has also suggested that its approach to enforcement will be proportionate to the efforts the website owner has made, taking into account the relative invasiveness of the cookies you have used.

The ICO will generally look to gain your compliance first. It may subsequently look to use enforcement notices. It can always then move onto fines (up to £0.5m). Although again, the ICO has stated it sees fines as an unlikely conclusion to non-compliance with these new rules.

From the above, website owners should take the following messages:

• Work out what cookies you need and don’t need;
• Do the information bit well and do it now;
• Look at consent options – implied may well do the job;
• Keep an eye on how things develop.

Nobody likes creepy looking clowns that pop out of boxes. The same goes for website pop-ups! Following changes to the laws relating to website cookies (which our previous blog explains in greater detail), websites might have no option but to bombard users with a pop-up on their first visit to the website in order to ask for consent to use cookies.

The Basics

On 26 May 2011, the UK updated its law relating to electronic communications, (which includes cookies) via the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2011. It’s now unlawful to use cookies to collect a user’s data without first obtaining: prior (1) informed and (2) express consent. The tried and tested opt-out approach that’s previously been relied upon is now defunct. These changes to the law were instigated by the EU via their 2009 ePrivacy Directive. The ICO announced in May 2011 that they would give most websites a year’s amnesty in which to adapt to the changes in the law. This amnesty is due to end in May 2012.

What’s happened during the amnesty?

To quote the “revered” magician Paul Daniels, “not a lot”. On one hand this is surprising given that the ICO can fine websites up to £500,000 for non-compliance. On the other hand, the new law is a huge change for websites that have been used to relying on the opt-out approach. Many websites are reluctant to make the change as the process of requiring users to opt-in is very impractical. It’s been reported that 95% of the UK’s biggest organisations’ websites still don’t comply with the new laws. As the body responsible for enforcing the new laws, the ICO was one of the first organisations to change their website to meet the new requirements. They decided to do this by using the dreaded pop-up, including a tick-box for users to confirm their consent to the cookies that they propose to use (with the cookies not being installed until the box has been ticked):

By its own admission, this approach hasn’t worked for the ICO. Only 10% of new visitors to the ICO’s website have ticked the box. This reinforces the fact that we all hate popups, especially ones which require us to agree to something with a positive response. BT has come up with an alternative which is half opt-in half opt-out and likely to result in a better uptake:

By giving a negative option rather than a positive option, it’s thought that far more people will agree to the use of cookies. In reality, by clicking “No thanks” users are opting-in to the use of cookies. The ICO’s approach and wording is clearly what needs to be done if following the letter of the law, but it will almost certainly continue to be ignored and affect user experience for the website. BT’s attempt is a bit more practical, and we think it may just scrape across the line of what the ICO will accept.

A lot of other websites seem to be taking the approach that simply including more information about cookies will do the trick. For example, there are quite a few websites that now have their own “cookie” section as well as a privacy policy link or have “privacy policy and cookies” sections. These sections tend to describe in some detail what cookies are used and what they are used for. Whilst this is a step in the right direction, it is still relying on implied consent and it may be harder to convince the ICO that users have given informed and express consent in such circumstances. Such websites are either hoping that the ICO will take a relaxed approach to enforcement if the website has gone some (but not all) of the way to complying with the new rules, or they are waiting to see what happens and have consent mechanisms waiting in the wings.

Three steps to cookie compliance

1. Audit your cookies. Have a spring clean, get rid of the cookies that you don’t need.
2. Provide detailed information about the remaining cookies. Name them and tell people what they do. You could add this information to your Privacy Policy or Terms of Use, or have a separate “cookies and how we use them” section.
3. Work out the best method to get informed consent from users. This is potentially the tricky bit and largely depends on what your website does and how your website works. For example, if users are required to login to use the website, it should be fine to ask them to tick a box to confirm their consent to cookies before they are able to next log in. Have a look at the ICO guidance for further examples.

If you’re worried about your cookies, let us put your mind at rest! Get in touch.

Information and ideas can be the cornerstone to the success of a business. Discussing ideas is sometimes risky, in certain circumstances, loose lips sink ships. However, remaining tight lipped can hamper development and growth. Confidentiality Agreements can sometimes be used to alleviate the risks involved with disclosing important business information.

In this blog we’ll be looking at Confidentiality Agreements (also known as Non-Disclosure Agreements or NDA’s), including what they are, what they should say and when it is appropriate to use them.

What is an NDA?

An NDA is an agreement confirming a promise by one party to another (a one-way NDA), or a mutual promise (a mutual NDA) to keep a secret. Unfortunately, you’ll need quite a bit of time and money to enforce that promise if it’s broken, and once they’re out, you can’t turn back time to make them secret again. So NDA’s are not the “be-all and end-all”. What they’re great at is focusing the mind. When used in the right situation, NDA’s can bring another person’s attention to the fact that what you want to reveal is important to you and that you want them to respect that.

When should I use an NDA?

Know who you’re dealing with, who they’re representing and think about what you’re protecting. This is important as some people will see an NDA as a barrier, others will view it as standard practice. For example, if you’re going to see a Venture Capitalist, you might not get a great response if the first thing you do is thrust an NDA in front of them. Most VC’s review new ventures on a daily basis; they don’t like to waste any of their time reviewing NDA’s, let alone keep track of their obligations under one. Many commentators on this subject use the analogy “you probably won’t get very many dates if the first thing out of your mouth is “Will you sign a prenuptial?””. At the end of the day, most VC’s and investors, are not interested in your idea, only how you plan on executing it. As an alternative to an NDA, think about anonymising key details in your documents, Executive Summary or Business Plan. Redact the key parts and use footnotes to explain why you have done this. In some instances, automatic intellectual property rights like copyright will already stop other people copying your work, for example, software code. As a result, an NDA might not be needed in every situation. Business to Business and Employer/Employee relationships are a different kettle of fish, the use of NDA’s are common place. Other parties might even be surprised if you don’t ask for an NDA to be signed before a meeting.  

What should I look for/put in an NDA? The Legal Bit…

Top of the list is to check whether it should be mutual or one-way. Unless there’s a good reason for a one-way NDA, generally a mutual NDA is best. If you’re hoping to form a trusting relationship with another business, a mutual NDA will put both parties on a level playing field. In an Employer/Employee relationship, one-way confidentiality obligations are usually acceptable.

Always check that the right parties are contracting. For companies, make sure company numbers are used in addition to names and addresses as company numbers never change.  If the other party is part of a group or partnership, make sure the NDA prevents their group companies or partners from using the confidential information.

It’s usually best to accurately define the confidential information covered by the agreement. Ideally there should be an easy method to identify what’s confidential and what’s not, for example, it’s marked as confidential.

The NDA should say what happens if the agreement is breached. This would usually be that the party in breach indemnifies the innocent party for any loss, costs, damages etc. they suffer as a result of the breach. NDA’s usually also include rights ensuring that any confidential information is returned to the disclosing party upon request or even deleted or destroyed.

It’s usually appropriate for NDA’s to have a clause that deals with intellectual property which confirms that no IP rights are transferred via the NDA.  

Free Resources

We’re always looking at ways of making things easier. Our website provides access to a number of free resources, including an NDA, together with some more detailed guidance notes which you can download and use as a starting point for preparing your own NDA. However, it goes without saying, please get in touch if you think you might need some help!   

Three months is a very long time in the life of a digital business, especially if you are at the cutting edge of the very latest marketing technology.

Bristol-based Kudan does just that, operating in the rarified air of ‘mobile augmented reality’ where all is not quite what it seems – until viewed through the screen of a smartphone or tablet.

Managing director Tomo Ohno, a serial digital entrepreneur who arrived in Britain from Japan ten years ago as a management consultant, launched Kudan as recently as April 2011.

Although easier to demonstrate than explain, Kudan technology enables the camera on a mobile platform to recognise a printed advertisement or other image and then ‘brings it to life’ by overlaying static images on-screen.

Its dramatic effects have led to Kudan winning contracts with marketing agencies across the UK and Europe working for major brands. View a conventional car advert through an iPad and extra information suddenly pops up on the screen. Even the headlights switch on.

Tomo employs a team of seven, mainly in Bristol, where skilled 3D graphical engineers abound.

“When we develop a mobile app like this for a client, the app is theirs, including a very specific version of the recognition software,” he says. “But the ‘engine’ behind it is ours.”

It’s a very innovative, very competitive marketplace,” adds Tomo.

The IP issues with app development are complex. A client will always want to own certain rights in the app but the developer needs to make sure it does not give away core IP that it will want to use with other clients. Roxburgh Milkins has been helping Kudan negotiate an app development agreement with a major branding agency.

Tomo also places a high value on being able to work directly with a partner like Ian Grimley and the synergy with clients in complementary areas of bu

http://www.kudan.eu/

When government departments are beating a path to your door as a digital intelligence agency, it’s clear that your product or service is really hitting the mark.

Trufflenet is doing just that, carving out a niche as a global player in sophisticated research and analytics, helping major brands and public sector organisations to understand how their products or campaigns are being echoed online.

Executive chairman Nigel Clarke unveiled Trufflenet in 2009 after a year had been devoted to writing software to incorporate the key features, specifically 100,000 concept libraries in nine different languages.

These concept libraries – the result of 30 years’ academic study into how words and phrases are used in conversation – guide continual online scans of search terms and social media, adding value by providing clients only with material that is relevant.

“Growth, at the moment, is huge,” says Nigel, who has teams in London and Hanoi. “What we do is to provide an analysis of what is being said in the media about a brand or a product, campaign issues, or a subject to be commented on.

“We don’t just search on key words. We produce a much deeper set of data, far less irrelevant. The human element of the business deals with sentiment, which computers don’t do that well.”

He adds: “Market research people, especially, have realised that there a major benefits to working online as well as in traditional media. The first step was online focus groups, then online surveys, but this is different – passive listening in to conversations online is a totally new concept that is being increasingly embraced by major blue chip businesses to provide insight to support decision making.”

In recent weeks Trufflenet have advised the likes of Colgate Palmolive on a competitive launch, an English Premier League football club on reputational issues, had a report published on the UK Government Home Office website on how police officers use social media, and delivered its first work in Mandarin and Arabic for a global pharmaceutical company.

Trufflenet is backed by Westleigh Investments. Roxburgh Milkins has helped Westleigh over a number of years as it has purchased and invested in a diverse range of businesses.

www.trufflenet.com

www.westleighuk.com

When government departments are beating a path to your door as a digital intelligence agency, it’s clear that your product or service is really hitting the mark.

Trufflenet is doing just that, carving out a niche as a global player in sophisticated research and analytics, helping major brands and public sector organisations to understand how their products or campaigns are being echoed online.

Executive chairman Nigel Clarke unveiled Trufflenet in 2009 after a year had been devoted to writing software to incorporate the key features, specifically 100,000 concept libraries in nine different languages.

These concept libraries – the result of 30 years’ academic study into how words and phrases are used in conversation – guide continual online scans of search terms and social media, adding value by providing clients only with material that is relevant.

“Growth, at the moment, is huge,” says Nigel, who has teams in London and Hanoi. “What we do is to provide an analysis of what is being said in the media about a brand or a product, campaign issues, or a subject to be commented on.

“We don’t just search on key words. We produce a much deeper set of data, far less irrelevant. The human element of the business deals with sentiment, which computers don’t do that well.”

He adds: “Market research people, especially, have realised that there a major benefits to working online as well as in traditional media. The first step was online focus groups, then online surveys, but this is different – passive listening in to conversations online is a totally new concept that is being increasingly embraced by major blue chip businesses to provide insight to support decision making.”

In recent weeks Trufflenet have advised the likes of Colgate Palmolive on a competitive launch, an English Premier League football club on reputational issues, had a report published on the UK Government Home Office website on how police officers use social media, and delivered its first work in Mandarin and Arabic for a global pharmaceutical company.

Trufflenet is backed by Westleigh Investments. Roxburgh Milkins has helped Westleigh over a number of years as it has purchased and invested in a diverse range of businesses.

www.trufflenet.com

www.westleighuk.com

Data Protection Reform

According to Liza Minnelli, “Money makes the world go round”. Unfortunately there is some truth in this, and as a result, supposedly “free” internet services have had to commoditize personal data in order to gain an income from their services. Sites like Google and Facebook make big bucks by using data to optimize internet advertising. These sites have been quick to see the value in data and the European Commission is now seeking to catch up by changing the goalposts in relation to data protection with a new proposed directive and regulation to replace the 1995 Data Protection Directive.        

What’s all the fuss about?

The current 1995 directive allows each Member State to implement its own rules based on the directive. The result is a raft of different interpretations of the directive and therefore different laws throughout Europe. In addition to this, as this directive came into force when Mark Zuckerberg was only 12 years old, many of the modern day issues with data protection have not been dealt with as effectively as they could be. The European Commission is now seeking to update and harmonize data protection laws and has released information relating to its proposals which should culminate in a new directive and regulation by 2013.   

What does this all mean?

The proposed headline reforms include:

• Companies will only have to deal with the data protection authority in the country in which they are established;
• Any company with more than 250 employees and companies systematically monitoring citizens will be obliged to appoint an independent data protection officer;
• Companies must report serious data protection breaches to the national regulatory body within 24 hours where possible;
• National regulatory authorities (such as the ICO) will have greater powers to enforce data protection rules, including the ability to levy fines of up to €1 million or 2% of annual turnover;
• Consent to any data processing must be explicit and cannot be assumed;
• Individuals should be given better access to their own personal data and be able to  transfer their data from one service provider to another; and
• Individuals should have the “right to be forgotten”, meaning a right to demand that their data is deleted where there is no legitimate reason for retaining it.

The European Commission is hoping that the proposed changes will simplify the existing rules across Europe, result in less costs to businesses and increased trust in internet services by consumers.

Whilst harmonization across Europe is a good thing, some of the proposed changes detailed above will be onerous for a lot of data rich businesses. We will monitor developments and will publish further updates as and when further details become available.

As a newcomer in the construction sector, innovative building systems company Öppen has made quite an impact with public and private sector clients looking to commission new offices, labs and classrooms for health and education facilities and other developments on ever-tighter budgets. 

That is because its unique product can offer cost savings of up to 20 per cent by delivering high quality, robust and durable buildings in half the time of a traditional structure – and, unusually for a building system, presenting an individual appearance.

A recent commission for a West Country hospital saw the Öppen system delivering a completed building in 19 weeks compared with 42 weeks for a non-Öppen  solution.

Öppen separates the construction into three parts: the skeleton, engineered to be quick and simple to build; the external skin, suiting the context and the client’s aesthetic wishes; and the interior fit-out and mechanical/electrical/plumbing services to accommodate the occupiers’ needs.

Although a new company, Öppen carries greater credibility than most because it was the brainchild of John Rich and Nicholas Stubbs, partners in an established firm of architects in Bath, Stubbs Rich. They have brought in Cliff Dare as managing director.

Öppen grabbed our interest as soon as we were introduced to it. Many of the start-ups we deal with are rather different, often internet-focused or high-tech businesses, but Öppen has the potential to succeed in a very traditional market, construction. It is also completely ‘of the moment’ as it offers a radical solution to the problem of funding essential building projects at a time of global frugality.

Öppen, which has a patent pending, is delivered via a licence to the contractor. Roxburgh Milkins worked with Öppen to establish how best it could license its valuable intellectual property and secure a revenue stream from it.  As the licences need to work within the constraints of conventional construction contracts and tendering processes, this required us to think laterally and to collaborate closely with the Öppen team and a specialist construction lawyer.

Öppen recently won in the innovation category at the Bath Business Awards. We are sure this is the first of many and we’re looking forward to seeing Öppen buildings all over the country in the very near future.

To find out more about Öppen visit http://www.oppen.co.uk/

What are Cookies?

Everybody likes cookies. Most people (and monsters) just like eating them. Websites also like them, but for very different reasons. Website cookies can allow a user to navigate a site efficiently and can add additional functionality to websites. They can also allow websites to track visitors and can be utilised by advertisers to target ad campaigns. This is all made possible by placing a cookie in your hard drive and allowing the website (or a third party) to access it.

What’s all the fuss about cookie laws?

On 26 May 2011, the UK updated its law relating to electronic communications, (which includes cookies) by the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2011. It’s now unlawful to use cookies to collect a user’s data without first obtaining their expressed informed consent. These changes were instigated by the EU via their 2009 ePrivacy Directive.

What does this all mean?

The Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) is responsible for enforcing the new law. It issued some basic guidance in May 2011 on how to interpret the new laws, and some more detailed guidance in December 2011. 

What we know

Before the change, the law allowed a website to assume the user’s consent to cookies. A website could place cookies on a user’s hard drive and collect data on the basis that the user had not opted-out of this practice. The tables have now turned and websites must expressly obtain their users’ informed consent and opt-in to this practice before using any cookies.

Websites need to give detailed information about their cookies and how they will be used. Websites also need to make more effort to ensure users have read and agreed to the information that would typically be contained in a Privacy Policy.

Expressed consent isn’t needed for cookies that are “strictly necessary”. This exemption currently has a very narrow application. It only applies to cookies which result from a user’s explicit request, for example adding an item to a shopping basket.  

Germans lead the way?

The ePrivacy Directive applies throughout the EU, however each country is left to its own devices to implement it into their local laws. Germany is renowned for being one of the stricter enforcers of privacy laws and has had many run-ins with Google in this area. After one of their more recent bouts in the first half of 2011, officials in Germany deemed that Google Analytics (a widely used tracking cookie service) breaches German privacy laws. An agreement has now been reached with Google in relation to this – German websites can use Google Analytics if the website deletes its existing Google Analytics account, opens a new one, updates its privacy policy to inform users about Google Analytics, including how to opt out and also changes settings so that data collected relating to IP addresses is anonymised.  

What should I do?

The ICO’s December 2011 Guidance does not specifically comment on the use of Google Analytics in the UK, however, it does state that, in general, analytical cookies will not fall under the “strictly necessary” exemption. Therefore, websites will need to obtain their user’s express consent before any analytical cookies can be used.

We suggest that UK websites should review the ICO’s guidance and follow the examples of what compliance looks like in order to determine the best method for the website to obtain consent to all cookies the website wishes to use. This might also be a good opportunity to get rid of cookies that are not essential. Websites should also provide detailed information on the cookies used, including Google Analytics, as well as how to opt out of cookies. The ICO has done this in their own Privacy Note.

The ICO is very aware that website operators will need time to become aware of the new laws and make any necessary changes to their website. They have indicated that, in the absence of any complaint, they will not enforce the new laws until May 2012. In the meantime, they expect websites to be making efforts to become compliant. Why not print this blog as evidence of your efforts!  

There has been plenty of talk recently about the valuation of social media companies.  Only time will tell whether the hype is justified or whether we are in the middle of a bubble.    While we wait to find out can we turn our attention back to the rest of the economy: you know businesses that employ lots of people and industries that we depend on?

LinkedIn’s annual revenues globally in 2010 were $243million.  In my relatively small industry, law, there were over 20 firms that earned more than that just in the UK.  Compare the revenues of social media companies with the revenues or profitability to any decent sized company in any major industry and they’re chickenfeed. 

It fact chickenfeed is almost certainly more important to the future of the human race than facebook.  Seriously - the fact that people are eating more meat globally means there are a lot more chickens to feed.  Think of that Mark Zuckerberg next time you chew on a chicken sandwich.

To any investors, policy makers, high growth business coaches out there - visit a few chicken farms and make sure you add poultry to the paltry list of sectors you’ll support and pay attention to.