U.S. NetworX

UPDATE: As of Jan. 20, Congress is backing away from the bills and postponing action.

You’ve heard about SOPA and PIPA, the two pieces of legislation aiming to stop online piracy of copyrighted material, and the accompanying protests. But let’s distill it even more, as this is a controversial enough topic we all need to consider.

To make things simple, let’s attack it with the 5 W’s we learned in school, and we’ll certainly leave you to dig even deeper if you like.

Who?

As NPR reported, the battle is basically Hollywood vs. Silicon Valley. You have the media conglomerates (movies, music, media lobbyists, etc.) on one side wanting to stop the online piracy of their content. The other side, you have the vocal opposition of many Internet users and those who rely on it for their own jobs, including Google, Ebay, Facebook, Twitter, Firefox and LinkedIn.

What?

While SOPA (Stop Online Privacy Act – PDF) gets the majority of coverage, there’s also PIPA (PROTECT Intellectual Property Act – PDF). SOPA originated in the House of Representatives, while PIPA is the Senate version. Both seek to add powers to respond to copyright infringements across the Net. The New York Times reports that some methods could include preventing search engines from sending users to sites with questionable content, as well as interacting with payment tools/sites like PayPal to stop the transfer of money for possible pirated media.

When?

Reports show that the Senate could begin voting on PIPA on Jan. 24. However, protests were hitting a feverish pitch starting Jan. 18, with many big-name websites (Google, Wikipedia, etc.) going dark in protest, as well as explaining the issues and requesting their visitors to take action.

Where?

While the two bills have originated in the U.S. Congress, their reach could extend even farther. The Internet being so decentralized will lead to so many problems as to searching for possible infringements, you might see foreign websites, hosts, ISPs and the like stuck in such a legal morass. Let’s say a user in Ireland posts an infringed movie file from a California movie company to a website hosted in Israel – it’s likely both groups will be pulled into the fight with the studio. How do you get all the groups, with their separate legal issues, to comply with one another?

Why?

At the heart of the matter is a fight against online piracy of copyright infringed works. I don’t think people want to have free or vastly cheap access to songs, movies, TV shows, etc., but the too broad, too powerful laws are irking many. There is talk of these laws having an adverse effect on free speech rights and the integrity/security of the technology that “powers” the Internet.

I want to know more!

http://metatalk.metafilter.com/21380/SOPAPIPA-blackout (Disclaimer: I’m a paying member of this website, but this post goes into a very detailed account of a SOPA-like request to shut down a site due to alleged copyright infringement.)

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/c/copyrights/index.html?smid=tw-nytimes (Once again, the Times has a great overview on a large topic, with multiple links and details.)

http://www.vice.com/read/pipa-supporters-copyright-violations (Some of the SOPA and PIPA legislators are in fact using copyrighted works without request/permission.)

http://theoatmeal.com/ (The animation takes a humorous look as to how SOPA might shut his website down. It might be crude, but the points are valid. Note: the animation might not be safe for work.)

And now for something completely different…

Enough serious and topical discussions; it’s time for a laugh. Our topic this time? The top 10 signs and warnings your hosting company won’t be around next year.

1. The CEO’s email ends in @gmail.com, @aol.com, or an ISP’s domain, like @comcast.net or @bellsouth.net
2. Their website has an animated stick figure wielding a shovel with the words “Under Construction!” blinking under it.
3. You get a popup that suggests you download the company’s official screensaver.
4. Their contact page doesn’t work and the phone number has been disconnected.
5. You see a note that the website was “Optimized for Internet Explorer version X, at Y by Z resolution.”
6. They swear up and down you’ll have unlimited disk space and/or bandwidth.
7. They recommend adding a publicly viewable counter to your site design so you can track visitors.
8. Once you load their website, music auto-plays. And it’s probably unlicensed.
9. The English language isn’t their primary tongue. Or secondary, for that matter.
10. They have a MySpace page.

I met with a company yesterday who told me a horror story of the time that their server crashed with all of their accounting and historical information on it.  They were doing tape backups every week, but guess what?  When the tapes were accessed, nothing was on them!  They were able to get some files back to the tune of $11,000 dollars, but most of the information was corrupted and completely unusable.

In a world of earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, fires and more, I urge everybody -  BACKUP YOUR INFORMATION, preferably in a secure data center.  Most of us have experienced that horrible dismay of realizing not only has your computer crashed, but you haven’t backed up in months.  Imagine if that happened to your entire organization’s information!

Do yourself a favor now, TODAY – double-check your backup processes.  If they are insufficient, contact your hosting company immediately to get this resolved.  Your entire company’s information could be wiped out in a matter of minutes.

In light of recent economic occurrences (we’re in a recession — or not, depending on who you listen to), it’s understandable to keep a tighter rein on the company funds.  However, don’t sacrifice cost-efficient ways to promote your business, i.e.  your website.  Now, I know I am in the web business, but the facts speak for themselves:

1.  An e-commerce site is waaaaayyyyy more affordable than a brick and mortar store.

2.  Why spend a fortune for an ad in a magazine or newspaper or a television commercial that only a few people will see a limited amount of times, when you can have a website that is available globally 24-7?

3.  Yellow Page ads?  You’re still doing those?  What happens if your ad gets printed wrong (happened to us!)  They’re not going to print a retraction, you know.  You’re stuck with it a whole year.  If you’re going to advertise in the Yellow Pages, at least do it online!

4.  How many of you store owners are working at midnight?  Okay, maybe some of you.  But with an e-commerce store, you can sell while you sleep.  If you’re like me, you work in your sleep anyway, might as well get something out of it.

5.  How many of you that have websites have a way to edit the content?  If you don’t, then call your web developer today.  Talk about an inexpensive way to promote your company – just a little bit of your time.

These are just a few facts.  I’ll add more as I think of them.  And, if you have some cost-saving tips of your own, shoot us an email or give us a call!  I’ll post them on our blog!