When it comes to the Internet, the simplest advice of all is if you want to keep your Intellectual Property your own and don’t want it to be copied, stolen or abused – just don’t publish it digitally. Whether your works are words, photographs, websites or anything else that can be described as ‘creative’ this is the only sure way to protect yourself!
But, realistically, it’s almost impossible these days to run any business without making a certain amount of examples and information about your business easily available online. In this day and age you can pretty much say the same about your private life with the prevalence of Social Networking sites like Facebook and Twitter!
Now, here’s a short story for you by way of example; I put together a little t-shirt design for a bit of fun on a site I use – I am not going to mention the site here, for the simple reason that despite feeling let down by them, it remains one of my favourite sites and I’ve no wish to get myself banned!
This t-shirt – drop your politics and personal opinions here – was a joke about (in my opinion) the Princess Diana inquest fiasco. Having seen many a ludicrous debate at the time from conspiracy theorists I decided to have a joke with a couple of friends.
In bullet points, here is the chain of events;
- The t-shirt design was uploaded to the site on 6th April 2008
- It received a number of positive comments from like minded individuals who took it in the vein it was intended over the next couple of days
- About 6 or 7 days later someone sent me the URL to an article from an Australian Newspaper about an Australian t-shirt company who had seemingly copied the idea
- Strictly speaking this is not a breach of copyright as nobody owns ‘words’ or the image of Diana, but for a company claiming to be ‘original’ it’s pretty poor form
- A number of other comments arrived in the ensuing couple of days which led me to believe that other users of the site saw what this company had done as a copy, and a very nice lady in Australia approached them on my behalf to ask. They responded that they had been sitting on the design for five years? (does that really sound very likely?)
- Rather perturbed that what I had done as essentially a joke was getting mass media coverage on TV and in the press In Australia and being used for financial gain, I decided to write to the newspapers and TV companies who had run items – no replies
- To get the company to crawl out of the woodwork (they had already been given my email address and had ignored mail from me) I posted another t-shirt design on the site accusing them by name of stealing ideas, the description said that I would happily remove it if they provided the documentary proof they claimed to have
- Sure enough they did crawl out from under their stone, got that t-shirt removed – which I had expected, and responded with a comment that they had documentary proof their ‘design’ preceded mine (calling me a ‘whinging Pom’ – which for someone who sells themselves as ‘creative’ it’s not a very imaginative insult is it!)
- I responded telling them I would remove my original design when I’d seen that proof, by this time I’m actually getting bored of the whole thing – but I’m not really the type of person to let things drop
- Of course I have not had a response, never saw any proof and still firmly believe they stole my idea
- Then the website removed my original, saying that I had breached copyright in using the image I had – which is not the case – it was taken from the public domain and manipulated before use
- The website again passed my details on to the company to allow them to contact me – of course they never did.
The morals of the story: Expect to have anything you put online stolen, always place a Copyright notice on your website and always be prepared to put up a fight on pure principle!
(The original article including images for comparison remains online with names and links intact and has done so since April 2008)
Why does he go on about the internet…
It’s not the internet who’s at fault for people’s stupidity, though I can see how, like video games, it can prevent learning…
I’m not sure how it “strengthens” dictatorships though. If the internet is regulated then yes, it does strengthen dictatorships… but the fact that the internet is there isn’t to blame…
What is he suggesting people do about it? Get rid of the internet?
You need to get your state's "Sales & Use Tax License" for collecting sales tax on products that you ship to California (the state where you are based). In order to get that, you'll probably need a federal EIN. That's a very simple process done through the IRS. Just search for EIN on irs.gov.
Use these tips to investigate opportunities:
1. Before investing in any opportunity, check for complaints filed against a company with the Better Business Bureau at http://www.bbb.org. This is a good first step to research the manner in which a company does business with its customers and clients.
2. You can browse for scam warnings and other information regarding specific opportunities and businesses at http://www.scambusters.org, http://www.ripoffreport.com, http://www.mlmwatchdog.com, and http://www.worldwidescam.com. Avoid wasting your time and money by doing this research right up front.
3. Work-at-home scams are often presented to appear as if you are being offered a job. People are more trusting of job offerings as opposed to opportunities. An opportunity is not the same thing as a job. Beware of those who intentioanally confuse the two.
4. You should be able to get complete disclosure about an opportunity before sending money. All your questions should be answered in full. Many scams are designed to persuade you to sign up immediately before the questions you should be asking are not apparent to you. Take your time.
5. Investigate the opportunity by talking to people who have experience working with the company. Find out if their experience is favorable. Be suspicious of any company that does not provide you with references or an open forum to interact with participants. Never take on faith any claims made by the company.
When you do find legitimate opportunities, pay attention to the income participants report. Many legitimate opportunities will not produce a living income for the average person. The real money goes to the company offering the opportunity and to a very few affiliates who recruit the participant members. Your research should uncover real-world income expectations.
6. Beware of those who promise lots of money and easy work. Money flows in a consistent manner to those who provide a valuable service or product. It takes work to establish the flow of money from a service or product. Easy money can come, but only after an investment of time and work.
7. Remember the old adage: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Hope this helps. Be cautious, be patient, and prosper!
Does anyone know wich region of Russia he is talking about – that 2020 strategy project.
Obviously, consulting business has great worth to earn, especially when, you backed with market experience.
He is one boring asshole.. God damn it, I want my 2 minutes back
Misreporting income to the IRS, employees abusing employee privileges or stealing from the cafe, false advertising to customers. The list could go on and on.
Online activism tends to be somewhat like prayer – ‘doing something’ without actually, like, doing something.
biz plan pro…by palo alto…a program i use
What orchestra is he conducting?