Speaking as (one of the few) Internet lawyers, and an Internet policy person, the hand-wringing hysterics coming out of this are ridiculous.
Online services and sites can *already* sue people for ToS violations - they always could (it's a breach of contract). And a prosecutor isn't going to waste their time trying to criminalize a ToS violation when no action of a criminal nature has occurred. This was a *very* unusual case.
To read our full analysis, see our article here:
http://www.theinternetpatrol.com/internet-in-uproar-over-verdict-for-lori-drew-in-megan-meier-teen-suicide-case
You have this completely wrong, although this is *such* a confusing clause, that nobody could blame you.
First let me qualify by saying that I am not only a lawyer in the Internet and anti-spam industry, but I helped author the "affiliate spam" section of CAN-SPAM, to which this clause is a natural extension. We are also fresh from a teleseminar which we provided on this very subject.
In large part, this requirement is an effort to hold affiliate programs responsible for how their affiliates promote them. If the affiliate is honest about who they are, and their "From address", and if they put something in the email about themselves, then the user will be able to unsubscribe from the affiliate's list. But if the affiliate is dishonest, and hides their true identity, then the affiliate program for the product featured in the email (which will be the product being sold under the affiliate program) becomes responsible. In other words, if you are advertised in the affiliate's email, and the affiliate cloaks who they are, you become responsible. By shifting responsiblity for mislabled email to the companies being advertised in the email, there is an incentive for affiliate program managers to more tightly police their affiliates.
Anne P. Mitchell, Esq.
CEO/President
Institute for Spam and Internet Public Policy
http://www.isipp.com/
Oops..here is the link to the online petition to stop Icahn, Cuban, and others from forcing Yahoo to sell itself to Microsoft:
http://www.LetYahooBeYahoo.com/
Yep, it's out there, and it's dead easy to do. Flexispy is a particularly insidious program that allows you to do it all, and do your spying on the tapped phone through a pretty web interface! Anyone can download it, and you only need to have the victim's phone a few minutes to install it! Currently available for all Blackberries, Nokia 60, and Windows Mobile phones, and they say that they are adding more all the time.
Here's an article about it - where they are openly soliciting someone to test it out and report their results:
http://www.theinternetpatrol.com/flexispy-cell-pho ne-tapping-software
>Obviously artists need to get paid for what they do.
And therein lies the rub. I hadn't known it before reading this interview (see below), but it turns out that the standard Big Studio contract indentures artists in a way that means that they get no royalties - none at all - until the studio is fully paid back for all cash spent by the studio for promotion, tours, etc.. What this means is that unless enough CDs are purchased to cover all of the studio's costs, the artist never sees a dime of royalties.
This, perhaps more than anything else, is why known artists are starting to strike out more and more on their own - something the Internet is great for.
Hey, how much progress has been made anywhere? I'd thought some...but then I was stunned to hear from a friend of mine... a male of true African descent who happened to be born into an otherwise very white family (don't ask) in the U.S., raised in the white burbs, well-educated with an MBA (well, some would argue that's an oxy-moron), cultured, etc. etc...and he often would be (and still is) subjected to racism based on what could only have been the colour of his skin - that was the *only* thing about him which was different from anyone else from that same background.
An interesting observation was made by one of the ranters over at Indignation.org, where he talks about being in Mississippi for MLK day a few years ago. He says "I looked at this as an opportunity to get a glimpse into one of the most important tragic events in our national history, and planned to go down to Beale Street for the evening celebration. When I asked a few people (white people) about parking and other logistics, they all said, "Oh, you don't want to go down there tonight. Trust me." They didn't elaborate, but I could smell the fear and mistrust. Their eyes said, "If you, a white man from out of town, go down there tonight, you will be a target."
(That full rant is at http://www.indignation.org/mlk-day-observed.)
"Yahoo is taking further steps to enhance user safety by restricting Yahoo Chat to users 18 and older and removing the Teen category," said a Yahoo spokesperson.
Whoa..hey! What part of ""Yahoo is taking further steps to enhance user safety by restricting Yahoo Chat to users 18 and older and removing the Teen category," said (Yahoo spokesperson) Ms. Osako" is unclear??
Slashdot Mirror
..if they are simply spawning windows that are opening new URLs. CasaleMedia and YieldManager are notorious for this. But all you need do is run a URL blocking program or extension (we love LeechBlock extension for Firefox) and plug in their domains. Here are two articles on how we do this: http://www.theinternetpatrol.com/companies-that-end-run-pop-up-blocking-to-shove-their-advertising-down-your-throat-and-how-to-stop-them http://www.theinternetpatrol.com/new-free-pop-up-blocker-for-a-new-breed-of-pop-ups
Speaking as (one of the few) Internet lawyers, and an Internet policy person, the hand-wringing hysterics coming out of this are ridiculous. Online services and sites can *already* sue people for ToS violations - they always could (it's a breach of contract). And a prosecutor isn't going to waste their time trying to criminalize a ToS violation when no action of a criminal nature has occurred. This was a *very* unusual case. To read our full analysis, see our article here: http://www.theinternetpatrol.com/internet-in-uproar-over-verdict-for-lori-drew-in-megan-meier-teen-suicide-case
First let me qualify by saying that I am not only a lawyer in the Internet and anti-spam industry, but I helped author the "affiliate spam" section of CAN-SPAM, to which this clause is a natural extension. We are also fresh from a teleseminar which we provided on this very subject.
The following is an excerpt from our CAN-SPAM compliance page, which is at http://www.isipp.com/can-spam.php:
In large part, this requirement is an effort to hold affiliate programs responsible for how their affiliates promote them. If the affiliate is honest about who they are, and their "From address", and if they put something in the email about themselves, then the user will be able to unsubscribe from the affiliate's list. But if the affiliate is dishonest, and hides their true identity, then the affiliate program for the product featured in the email (which will be the product being sold under the affiliate program) becomes responsible. In other words, if you are advertised in the affiliate's email, and the affiliate cloaks who they are, you become responsible. By shifting responsiblity for mislabled email to the companies being advertised in the email, there is an incentive for affiliate program managers to more tightly police their affiliates.
Anne P. Mitchell, Esq.
CEO/President
Institute for Spam and Internet Public Policy
http://www.isipp.com/
Oops..here is the link to the online petition to stop Icahn, Cuban, and others from forcing Yahoo to sell itself to Microsoft: http://www.LetYahooBeYahoo.com/
Yep, it's out there, and it's dead easy to do. Flexispy is a particularly insidious program that allows you to do it all, and do your spying on the tapped phone through a pretty web interface! Anyone can download it, and you only need to have the victim's phone a few minutes to install it! Currently available for all Blackberries, Nokia 60, and Windows Mobile phones, and they say that they are adding more all the time. Here's an article about it - where they are openly soliciting someone to test it out and report their results: http://www.theinternetpatrol.com/flexispy-cell-pho ne-tapping-software
And therein lies the rub. I hadn't known it before reading this interview (see below), but it turns out that the standard Big Studio contract indentures artists in a way that means that they get no royalties - none at all - until the studio is fully paid back for all cash spent by the studio for promotion, tours, etc.. What this means is that unless enough CDs are purchased to cover all of the studio's costs, the artist never sees a dime of royalties.
(You can read that interview here: http://www.theinternetpatrol.com/how-downloading-m p3s-really-does-take-money-out-of-the-artists-pock ets )
This, perhaps more than anything else, is why known artists are starting to strike out more and more on their own - something the Internet is great for.
Hey, how much progress has been made anywhere? I'd thought some...but then I was stunned to hear from a friend of mine... a male of true African descent who happened to be born into an otherwise very white family (don't ask) in the U.S., raised in the white burbs, well-educated with an MBA (well, some would argue that's an oxy-moron), cultured, etc. etc...and he often would be (and still is) subjected to racism based on what could only have been the colour of his skin - that was the *only* thing about him which was different from anyone else from that same background. An interesting observation was made by one of the ranters over at Indignation.org, where he talks about being in Mississippi for MLK day a few years ago. He says "I looked at this as an opportunity to get a glimpse into one of the most important tragic events in our national history, and planned to go down to Beale Street for the evening celebration. When I asked a few people (white people) about parking and other logistics, they all said, "Oh, you don't want to go down there tonight. Trust me." They didn't elaborate, but I could smell the fear and mistrust. Their eyes said, "If you, a white man from out of town, go down there tonight, you will be a target." (That full rant is at http://www.indignation.org/mlk-day-observed.)
"Yahoo is taking further steps to enhance user safety by restricting Yahoo Chat to users 18 and older and removing the Teen category," said a Yahoo spokesperson.
Whoa..hey! What part of ""Yahoo is taking further steps to enhance user safety by restricting Yahoo Chat to users 18 and older and removing the Teen category," said (Yahoo spokesperson) Ms. Osako" is unclear??
And you can take a survey about your AIM Fight Score at What is Your AIM Fight Score? on the Aunty Spam site.