IAB head Randall Rothenberg stridently warned online publishers and agencies that Washington is on guard. The federal -- and state governments -- are "looking for us to protect privacy rights ... in interactive media." And he urged all in the industry to join the six industry trading associations in creating "an effective and meaningful self-regulatory practice.” GroupM chief Irwin Gotlieb said ensuring privacy is smart business and protecting it is important for clients. "We can't do the jobs we need to do for out clients if we don’t serve the interests of those who protect privacy.” He …

TVB chief Chris Rohrs says reinventing business practices really just "comes down to customer service" and that is more crucial now than ever. It has “become a survival requirement for all us,” he says, echoing previous comment by GroupM’s Irwin Gotlieb. Rohrs says that all the recommendations such as changing the currency for spot buying to CPMs from a cost-per-point metric and looking for stations to halt preemptions if they can sell inventory for higher rates are "worthwhile and important advances, but they cannot succeed without a robust e-business solution." In other words, changes to how deal-making is …

Irwin Gotlieb, the head of GroupM, says that when he urged the industry to change business practices in late 2006 he had no idea about the economy's collapse. But he said -- at least on the issue of reinventing business practices -- there is a "silver lining" the economic hurdles should force the industry to take action post haste. "We really no longer have the luxury of debating some of these issues," he said. "We have to deal with them and get on with it."