Internet Laws Getting Easier To Enforce
Here’s a link to a post on seomoz.org that offers some proof that we all need to be more aware of what’s going on within the legal issues of this thing we call the ‘net.
More and more, every day, this things getting stickier and uglier. If you prepare now, with the proper documents, you won’t suffer later.
Legal Issues You Cannot Afford To Ignore
It’s almost time for us to shut down this campaign, tally up the questions and figure out the best way to make the info available.
Before I present all the questions to Bob, I’d like to give you one more snippet of info and one last chance to Ask Bob Silber.
1) Did you know that there are four simple things your blog/website must have right now, otherwise you’re asking for trouble ?
2) Did you know Mrs. Fields Cookies was fined $100,000 and Hershey’s Chocolate was fined $80,000 for having improper Privacy Statements ?
3) Did you know the marketing strategy you’re using right now is probably illegal ?
4) Did you know most peoples conceptions about intellectual property is completely wrong ?
5) Do you know what the real uses of Trademarks and Copyrights actaully are ? Probably not, because almost every blog/website we check is catastrophically wrong.
I just noticed a great stance taken on parts of these issues over at The Blog Herald. Matt has taken a stance that I seem to agree completely with, which is unusual for me, since I’m not easily swayed.
Take 5 minutes and Ask.A.Question.
Take 5 minutes to help ensure your freedom in the future.
Don’t let this get so bad that the government comes in and whacks this whole thing like only they can fudge it up.
Here Comes Da Judge !
Via The Blog Herald, I see another instance of a judge who has his eye on the blogosphere. It will only get worse and we’ll only have more trouble if we don’t address it now.
Go now and Ask.A.Question and get an answer before you get a Cease & Desist.
One More Reason To Ask The Question
Did any of you notice the “discussion” going on over at Chartreuse’s blog.
First we have a “discussion” over the improper use of photos and then we have a side “discussion” over copyright and Creative Commons.
Second we have Char giving us his version ( completely wrong I might add ) of his interpretation of the law.
You might like to click thru and read the “discussion“, including all the comments and then come back here and go to the Ask Bob Silber page and ask for an interpretation of the applicable laws from someone who actually knows them, rather than someone who wants to change them to suit his style of blogging.
Once again, The Simple One ( that would be me ) is ahead of the curve. I had seen some of this coming, which is why I started this campaign.
Beware - Side Rant Ahead : Long ago, I tried to tell you guys to blog for corporations/businesses and not for contextual ad dollars. Now the contextual ad business is slowly changing towards not being as lucrative as some would lead you to believe.
Seen any Fed Ex photos of large AdSense checks lately ? Me neither.
But the weekly checks I get from the corporations I blog for keep on coming. And the contracts are for a long time.
I have more businesses and corporations wanting me to build and be the voice of their blog than I can possibly do.
Back to our main issue :
This issue, copyright and content usage is not going away. Take the time now to make sure you’re on the right side of the law.
Despite the protestations of a few who don’t like, or like to adhere to, the law, they ain’t changing ‘em anytime soon.
Note to all : This ain’t just about this one “discussion”. This is a common issue among bloggers everywhere.
Go.Ask.The.Questions. - and we’ll all be better off as we further cement the laws and their interpretations.
Welcome To Simplenomics
A special hello to those of you who arrived here via our Press Release, a link or Trackback due to our Ask Bob Silber campaign.
For more info on what we’re doing to try and help bloggers avoid costly legal blunders, we suggest you visit these links :
Thanks for stopping by, please participate by asking a question and, if you can help spread the word about this campaign, please do.
Bloggers Can Make Costly Legal Blunders
Here’s a copy of a PRWeb.com Press Release that will be live on Tuesday, August 8th, 2006.
Owensboro, KY (PRWEB) August 8, 2006 - The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the federal government’s chief consumer watchdog agency, regulates the commercial side of the Internet, levying fines on rule violators. What many people don’t realize is that those regulations include corporate and business blogs.
One blogger, Mike Sigers of Simplenomics.com, recognizing that blogs can fall under the same FTC rules as commercial Web sites, is posting legal questions, from bloggers, on his blog at http://simplenomics.com/got-a-legal-question-about-blogging/. Bloggers can post a variety of legal questions for Bob Silber, an internationally known expert on Internet law.
” Many bloggers are not aware of the potential legal problems, and that can be costly, ” Sigers said.
A blog that promotes a business or service, in any manner, can be considered a commercial or business Web site. For example, linking to another business site or collecting information, such as visitor e-mail addresses, can put a Webmaster in the commercial Web site category and trigger FTC rules and regulations. If there is any question on whether a particular blog falls within the business category, it would be prudent to seek the advice of an attorney familiar with that area of law.
The Internet is global and legal mistakes can be, too. In an Associated Press article, Wired.Com reported that a blogger in Italy last month was fined $16,900 by the Italian government for his blog comments.
The number of Internet Web logs, or “blogs” as the sites are called, continues to grow. There are 63 million blogs that have been created on the eight major blog hosting sites, according to BlogHerald.com. Technorati.com is currently tracking more than 50.5 million blogs.
To say the blogging universe is diverse may be an understatement. Today, all types of blogs exist - from soldiers in Iraq providing an unvarnished look at the war, to politicians, to cat lovers, to the corporate business world.
Business owners and commercial bloggers can visit the FTC Web site and review the various rules and regulations that all business Web sites, including blogs, must adhere to.
20 More Questions About Blogging Legally
Here’s some more of the questions we can try to answer for you. We still need more, so go the the Ask Bob Silber page or leave your question here as a comment.
1) Am I liable for any copyright infringements made by my web designer or ghostwriter ?
2) Are there any laws governing testimonials on my blog or any infoproducts I produce ?
3) Can I register a domain name that’s basically another persons trademark ?
4) Can I use a company’s Trademark in my ebook title or as the name of my blog ?
5) I write a blog just to make money from AdSense - can I use a Trademarked name in my domain name ?
6) Can I use a Tradmarked name in my Meta Tags ?
7) Can I use Trademarked names as keywords ?
Can I use Trademarked names in my headlines ?
9) Are there any laws governing the raising & collecting of funds on behalf of disaster victims ?
10) Can you tell me about using copyrighted photos on my blog ?
11) We use a Tell-A-Friend link on our blog - is this subject to CAN-SPAM Act Compliance ?
12) I run contests on my blog - are there any laws governing this ?
13) I’m set-up as an LLC - I’m safe… or am I ?
14) I’ve given away free, downloadable eproducts on my blog - am I liable for how they’re distributed after they’re downloaded ?
15) Where can I get all the forms I need before hiring a gostwriter ?
16) I pre-sold an ebook and took orders - it’s been 45 days and I’m not excited enough, due to low sales, to finish it. Can I just refund their money and be safe ?
17) Can I legally use ” an old book ” for content on my blog ?
18) Can I just change the wording around of an old book that’s not in the public domain ?
19) I’ve heard about a ” Poor Man’s Copyright ” - is that legal ?
20) I do a product driven blog and I compare one product versus another - am I in any danger ?
That’s 20 more good questions, but we could use more. Please leave us a question in the comments or visit the Ask Bob page.
Congress turns Up The Heat On Webmasters/Bloggers
Just in case you didn’t see it, I caught a thread at Promocharger, which ultimately led me to C/Net News.
The basic premise is this -
You cannot lure people to your site/blog with seemingly innocent wording ( read as headlines ) and then show them adult content.
One more reason you need to go to the Ask Bob Silber page and ask a freakin’ question.
One more reason you need all the legal education you can get about blogs - which happen to be the same thing as a website and the term Webmaster and blogger are now interchangeable.
One more reason to be careful and get some Disclaimers, some Terms of Service statements, some Child Online Protection Act info and lots of other questions answered.
Bob and I are trying to help, but we can’t help you unless you help us by asking questions.
If you like to read the C/Net article, click away.
Questions About Blogging Legally
So far we’ve gotten a few questions, but not nearly enough, so I’m gonna toss out some chum and see if any of you sharks will bite.
1) Can we use third party forum posts as content on our blogs ?
2) Can we use third party screenshots on our blog ?
3) Does our email update service ( FeedBlitz, FeedBurner, Aweber ) have to be CAN-SPAM Act Compliant ?
4) Can we sue Google for changing our Page Rank ?
5) Do we have any liability for any of the affiliate programs we promote ?
6) How can we be sure of ownership of the blog design we pay for ?
7) What do we need to do to make sure we own the content we pay to have written ?
I had a piece of software coded ( as a give-away for the purpose of getting links and subscribers ) on elance.com, what if some of the code it was copied from another piece of software ?
9) I write a health related blog…am I liable for any claims I make ? … claims made by products I endorse ?
10) Can my copy be too hypey for my own good on my blog ?
11) What can happen to me if I make defamatory or derogatory comments about a person ? … about a company ?
12) Do I need disclaimers on my blog ?
13) Do I need a Privacy Policy on my blog ?
14) Do I need a Terms of Service statement ?
15) I post semi-nude to nude photos on my blog, can I be charged under the Child Online Protection Act ?
16) I sell software on my blog and someone’s misusing a copy they bought from me. Is my software license that I had them check a legal, binding contract ?
As you might imagine, I’ve edited some of the questions for clarity and brevity.
This is not quite half of what I’ve received so far, so you can see we need more.
Please either leave your question here in the comments section, or go to the Ask Bob Silber page and ask your question there.
If you go to the Ask Bob Silber page, you’ll have the chance to sign-up for an email update of the products readiness and/or subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog.
Please do me the favor of :
- Leaving a question at one place or the other
- Linking to this post or linking to the original post
- Emailing an announcement to your list
We need all the questions we can get, so we can educate you as much as possible.
Got A Legal Question About Blogging ?
I’m betting you don’t really know what you’d do. Me neither. But I do know who I’d call.
Bob Silber - Bob is internationally known as one of the world’s most respected authorities on Internet marketing law. He is an Attorney, Consultant, Speaker, Author and former Adjunct Professor teaching Business, E-commerce, Intellectual property and Internet law at a major university. His clients include best selling authors, high-paid speakers, the Internet’s most successful marketers and up-and-coming business owners.
Bob is Legal Counsel to some of the most widely known Internet Marketing Superstars. His client list reads like a who’s who of Internet marketing and include individuals generating millions of dollars annually on the ‘Net.
How does a lowly little sales consultant, blog network owner like me know such a well respected guy like Bob ? Pure freakin’ luck !
I met Bob at an internet marketing seminar in Pensacola, Florida that was hosted by Willie Crawford in May of ‘02. Bob was one of the speakers. Then in December of ‘03, Bob hosted a seminar in the Florida Keys where I was intoduced to several people who I still partner up with to this day.
Recently, with our foray into blogging, I’ve started to see the tell-tale signs of the need for legal education for a new breed of internet marketer/blogger. And if you don’t believe you, as a blogger, are an internet marketer, you are wrong, which is well within your rights.
I’ve seen bloggers debate back-and-forth, thru comments and in dedicated posts, the legal ramifications of certain circumstances. Most of what I read was dead wrong, but I didn’t open my mouth, since I’m not a lawyer and could not be mistaken for someone who plays one on TV.
I’ve emailed and called Bob to ask him about the legalities of those situations, but didn’t print any of what I’d learned.
Well that’s all going to change … right now !
I’ve asked Bob to give us some help, as bloggers, in learning more of what we need to know … before we get too deep for his expertise to allow him to help us.
Bob graciously agreed to give me some time for a Q&A and in exchange, I’m gonna have my staff help Bob with his blogging needs, when that time comes.
So what I’m gonna do is put up a page in the next few days and allow you, as readers and fellow bloggers to ” Ask Bob Silber ” any questions about the blogging and remaining on the safe side of the tracks.
Then we’ll take those questions and Bob and I will decide how to deliver the info to you. It could be a printed transcript, an mp3 file, a teleseminar or some other form of media. But we will deliver the goods to you. We promise.
I want to say thanks, in advance, to Bob for agreeing to help and old friend help his new friends.
Bob’s a busy guy, as he’s in demand as a speaker, he does have a select list of clients that pay him well to watch over their legal needs and he got over a dozen of his own infoproducts to answer for.
He publishes the Bob Silber Letter, which has over 100,000 subscribers and he has his legal practice to keep up with, D. Robert Silber, P.A., where he continues to advise and protect authors, publishers, experts, speakers and Internet marketers and their creative works, intellectual property and businesses.
During his 29 year legal career, Bob has mastered the little known laws, which protect information product creators from running afoul of government laws and incurring civil & criminal penalties.
Some of his own works include :
· What You Must Know About Copyrights To Protect Your Intellectual Property
· How To Protect Your Creative Works With Trademarks
· How To Use The Legal Loopholes Of Disclaimers & Warranties For Your Creative Works
· How To Avoid Civil & Criminal Penalties For Illegal Pricing Of Your Creative Works
· How To Do Business On The Internet While Keeping The Government Off Your Back
· 4 Things You Must Have On Your Web Site To Avoid Legal Problems & Law Suits
Stay tuned over the next few days, as I continue to look for ways that Bob can help us, as bloggers, stay on the good side of the Federal Trade Commission.
The best way to make sure you don’t miss any part of this legal education is to subscribe to the Simplenomics RSS feed or the email alerts thru FeedBlitz.
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EDIT - If you can’t wait for the rest of the build-up, hoopla and prelim posts and want to go ahead and ask Bob Silber your question about blogging and staying legal, go on ahead of the crowd and visit the Ask Bob Silber page.
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