Marcelo is pioneering the world of paid endorsements—on Twitter! Everything is different now. Here's how it works: people watch Marcelo on TV; they think he's funny and interesting; they follow him on Twitter; then, when he bizarrely busts out and recommends a specific new fiber optic internet service there, in Brazil, they'll all buy it, because hey, it's Marcelo!

In his first tweet mentioning Telefónica's service, Mr. Tas told his followers about a recent promotional event he hosted in São Paulo. "Xtreme event was fun, informative and full of insights," he wrote. "I loved it!"

We congratulate Mr. Tas on his new, creative way of soaking a corporation for its marketing budget. He should have gone into branding. [WSJ]

Brenco also counts former president Bill Clinton, big money Democrat Ron Burkle and AOL founder Steve Case as investors. 133 workers freed from their servitude received a final paycheck and bus tickets home. I guess Brazilian workers just don't understand the entrepreneurial spirit of putting in long hours at a startup to help the company succeed. Savvy Valley employees know that if you want to enjoy basic human freedoms you should work at Starbucks or the post office.

(Photo by AP/Andre Penner)

Google says the data is on U.S. servers and thus not subject to Brazilian law. Brazil says that's bullshit. Expect the situation to come to a head — Google prides itself on its refusal to disclose user information, both on principle and because Google can't afford the fallout of ever breaching privacy for its millions of users.

While prosecutors claim Google has denied 38 information requests, Google claims it is cooperating but cites only 19 requests.

As the deadline nears, the judge is charging Google over $23,000 per nondisclosed profile per day. The International Herald Tribune reports the total fine as $23 million daily. In two weeks, that turns into money worth fighting for.

Brazil judge orders Google to disclose users' data [Reuters]
Brazil judge orders Google to provide information on Orkut users [IHT]

• Sun promises to make Java open source. It will be the loss leader for a lovely set of Sun steak knives. [VNUnet]
• Blue Security dies. USA Today publishes graph showing the Blue Frog mascot being slowly cooked. [Washington Post]
• "I wouldn't take that so literally." — Yahoo CFO Susan Decker, about projected revenue of $4.6 billion to $4.85 billion. Apparently those numbers were metaphorical. [CNN Money]
• Napster almost made money this quarter. Who'd have thought that an RIAA-approved walled garden piggybacking off the brand recognition of a stick-it-to-the-man filesharing network wouldn't be a cash cow? [CNET]
• Oh, looks like the Internet is just for child porn. At least on Orkut. [Bloomberg]

Strangely enough, searching "Tiananmen Square" on Google Brazil only returns hot bikini-clad booty.

Google: Brazil among the most interesting emerging markets [TMCnet]