Saturday 28 January 2012

What You Should Know About ACTA and Your Rights

Earth (2).jpgThe most controversial measures of concern to Internet users in the final version of the international Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) for most Internet users are 1) that signing governments pledge to allow copyright holders a way to request, under court warrant, personal information about a suspected infringer from that person's ISP; 2) that means will be provided for a rights holder to legally pursue someone suspected of circumventing rights management technologies; 3) that goods crossing countries' borders may be made subject to search and seizure if they're suspected to contain infringing material, with exceptions provided for things like personal luggage.

President Obama signed this treaty on October 1, 2011, effectively ratifying it on behalf of the United States.

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What ACTA is not

This treaty is not a law, nor is it a bill or an act, like SOPA or PIPA. Although the treaty has already been signed in the U.S., ACTA is not a law that can be followed or broken by a person. A country may break the treaty, but you can't be arrested for an ACTA violation.

By far, the most controversial measures that were considered for the treaty were either already stricken or were voted down for inclusion in a draft. One such measure would have had governments narrow their provisioning of "safe harbor" for Internet Service Providers only after they implemented certain monitoring tools and/or filters for preventing the distribution of unauthorized material. Another would have compelled governments to institute "three strikes" laws, similar to one briefly enacted by France in 2009 but later struck down by its constitutional council, which would ban an individual's use of the Internet after three instances of infringement or piracy.

An alternative phrasing for the measure that narrowed the definition of safe harbor would have compelled governments to mandate that ISPs must monitor traffic. Again, this measure and the other two listed above are no longer part of the treaty.

Most importantly, they were stricken after the European Union's vigorous objection to the treaty negotiations between countries being held in secret. Actually, trade negotiations have historically almost always been held in secret. However, the EU's objection led to the veil of secrecy being lifted from the process in February 2011. At that time, Europe could publicly object to the inclusion of those measures, which eventually were withdrawn from consideration.


Read the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.



Is ACTA the law or not?

Yes, the President signed the treaty, but that's different from signing a bill into law. Despite how some have strictly interpreted the Constitution (specifically Article VI, paragraph 2), there are U.S. laws today on the books that have not been changed or rendered null by ACTA, even though they appear to contradict the treaty's terms. There are "fair use" exemptions to U.S. copyright law, for instance, that make it legal for anyone to circumvent copy protection ("rights management") schemes for various personal reasons. A teacher, for example, may make a copy of rights-protected media if he uses it in education. If you have a legal movie, and you need to do something to it to make it play in any device you legally own, that's legal too. If you're a security engineer, and you're testing a copy protection scheme to see if and where it breaks, that's legal. These exemptions remain U.S. law, and as judges interpret the law presently, no treaty can override that unless Congress says so.

Which would have made Congress' participation in the ratification process somewhat helpful. The U.S. officially ratified ACTA without consulting Congress - which some believe to have been an awkward step because Congress would most likely have consented, not objected. Days after the ratification, Sen. Ron Wyden (D - Ore.) wrote a public letter to Pres. Obama expressing his frustration over the President's appearing to have circumvented the Constitution. "It may be possible for the U.S. to implement ACTA or any other trade agreement, once validly entered," Sen. Wyden wrote, "without legislation if the agreement requires no change in U.S. law. But regardless of whether the agreement requires changes in U.S. law... the executive branch lacks constitutional authority to enter a binding international agreement covering issues delegated by the Constitution to Congress' authority, absent congressional approval."

Indeed, the language of Article II, Section 2, paragraph 2 reads states that the President "shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur." That would appear to signify that a Senate majority must approve first.

However, the very fact that the Senate was not consulted and did not vote on the treaty may, if the matter ever comes before a judge, be declared the reason why ratifying ACTA did not surmount existing law. A treaty can surmount law, but only after Senate approval. Conceivably, the Senate could take up the ACTA matter on its own time. But if it were then to approve or consent to the President's ratification (as though he had not already done so), then quite possibly, the current copyright exemptions could be put to the test, perhaps by way of a federal suit by rights holders against the U.S.

The situation in Europe is very different. There is a nebulous concept of the body of collected law among the various member nations through the centuries, called the acquis communitaire. If you put everything together ever written or adjudicated or declared that's consistent with the modern day, that's the acquis.

One of the European Union's strongest objections to ACTA, which became public in February 2011, was that it would surmount the acquis - it would effectively invalidate the existing laws of member nations. This was one of the strongest reasons why the treaty was "de-fanged" - that the "three strikes" mandate, among others, was removed. After that happened, an independent study commissioned by the EU Parliament declared that the treaty did not violate the acquis' boundaries - that Europe could effectively implement the treaty because it did not change the law.

To quote: "This study finds that, in the case of the EU, ACTA does not entail such a significant shift in the EU Acquis, but that, while it is not fundamentally in conflict with the TRIPS Agreement [the existing World Trade Organization document on intellectual property rights], it is significantly more stringent and rightholder friendly than the TRIPS Agreement. Many of the substantive issues that raised concerns in the early position papers have been addressed or are entirely absent from the final agreed text. On the other hand ACTA also does not appear, on its own, to have a significant impact on the EU's innovative capacity or its global competitiveness. This is partly due to the relatively modest scale of the outcome, as well as the fact that ACTA will not require any change in the laws or regulations of significant competitor countries such as Brazil, India and China."

That finding is perhaps the most important point of all, especially since Poland - an EU member state - ratified the treaty this week. Street protests by ACTA opponents there centered around fears that ACTA would force governments to enable rights holders to implement measures that censor Internet content. This is perhaps the most extreme interpretation of proposed clauses in the treaty that - once again - are no longer present and were not ratified.

The gist of what remains

Among what remains of ACTA is a measure that would give governments worldwide a kind of legal support mechanism should they decide to allow rights holders to seek personal data from ISPs. It does not mandate that they must provide rights holders such means (the verb "shall" has frequently been replaced with "may"), but it gives governments an excuse to do so.

Since the treaty is not law, it cannot stipulate the measures or methods that countries must put in play to enable rights holders to make these requests. And in a way, that's the problem: Though it mandates that privacy, freedom of expression, and fair process must all be observed when seeking someone's identity, ACTA does not offer any guidance as to how governments would ensure these rights.

As it stands, the treaty does state that governments "shall" (not "will") enable legal means to pursue individuals who circumvent copy protection knowing that doing so will lead to infringement. If the findings of the E.U. Parliament study - that the treaty does not override existing laws - apply to the U.S., then ACTA's implementation does not cancel out the "fair use" exemptions entered into copyright law over the last five years.

At least, so it might appear. However, individuals have lost faith in the largest rights' holders ability to restrain themselves from testing these laws for loopholes. Universal Music's false use of a DMCA takedown order last year is just one indicator that, given the right tools, the music industry will test the limits of their mandates.

Most people are not pirates or counterfeiters. I am neither. The protection of our interests may go a long way in helping us to reduce the instances of piracy and counterfeiting through our own positive example. There are valid arguments that treaties and legislation directed mainly towards rights holders, without similar regard for the individuals who would like to respect those rights, are imbalanced and perhaps unfair.

The sad but probable outcome of this final stage of the ACTA debate is that existing countries' laws will be tested, either by the largest body of rights holders testing the limits of their privileges, or by publicity seekers wearing Guy Fawkes masks - and most likely by both.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/readwriteweb/~3/WTzCyBUlu0E/what_you_should_know_about_acta_and_your_rights.php

Michelle Rodriguez Michelle Trachtenberg Mila Kunis Milla Jovovich

OSIM uPixie gives you soothing massage relief at work

Source: http://www.ubergizmo.com/2012/01/osim-upixie/

Reese Witherspoon Rhona Mitra Rihanna Robin Tunney

Friday 27 January 2012

Helmet Clearance! Save over 50%

If you are looking for a great deal on a motorcycle helmet (http://www.motosport.com/motorcycle/helmets-and-accessories) shop our Clearance helmet...

Source: http://www.esportbike.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144666&goto=newpost

Missy Peregrym Molly Sims Monet Mazur Monica Bellucci

IndyCar stars start near the top

Story from www.indycar.com

When's the Best Time to Blog & Share?

confused-full-150.jpgAnyone who spends their day on the Internet inevitably wonders this question. Should I start publishing later in the day, to hit the after-work traffic? Should I publish earlier in the morning, to catch commuters while they're on the way to work? Or is everything completely random, driven by the off-chance that a post will end up on StumbleUpon and enjoy a slightly longer tail? Social sharing widget Sharaholic looked at its 2011 data, breaking it down to the top 100 days and times for sharing. See the results in Eastern Standard Time.

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Sharaholic looked at two metrics: social shares and traffic. For some, getting the highest number of shares is the goal; for others, increased traffic is where it's at. Please remember that this data all comes from Sharaholic, so it's specific to those users, though it's possible to infer more from the results.

Best-Day-to-Blog-by-Social-Shares-640x480-1.jpg

Thursday beats every other day. Why? People are probably bored at work, trolling about on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ (and Orkut?), sharing to their hearts' desire. Sharaholic's data shows that 31%, or more than a third of the top 100 social share days, were Thursdays. The best day for pageviews, however, is not Thursday. In fact, it's Monday. According to Sharaholic's data, Monday captures 43% of the top 100 pageview days in 2011.

Best-Day-to-Blog-by-Pageviews-640x480.jpg

As most blogs know, the best time of day for social shares is between 8am and 12pm ET. Sharaholic's data confirms this, showing that the most shares occur at 9am ET, moments before East coasters step into their offices to start the workday. Traffic declines throughout the day, spiking back up again around 9pm, and then slowly tapering off. Evidently, the best time of day to blog for pageviews is also 9am ET.

Image via UrbanHomesPDX.com.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/readwriteweb/~3/tWEfrHQAfn0/whens_the_best_time_to_blog_share.php

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Amazon prices Verizon Galaxy Nexus at $99, tests your self control

Amazon prices Verizon Galaxy Nexus at $99, tests your self control
Looking for an excuse to buy a LTE-enabled superphone? Look no further. Online retail giant Amazon has priced Verizon's iteration of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus at a paltry $99 for customers opening a new line of service. For those keeping score at home, that's a full $200 less than the on-contract price ($299) currently being peddled by Big Red. Why are you still reading this? Hit the source link, hammer in your Amazon credentials and get yourself one of these lean, mean, Ice Cream Sandwich running machines.

Amazon prices Verizon Galaxy Nexus at $99, tests your self control originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/26/verizon-galaxy-nexus-99-at-amazon/

Mena Suvari Mia Kirshner Mía Maestro Michael Michele

Strategy Roundtable: Spotlight On Jacksonville, Florida

jvillefl.jpgToday's roundtable was co-hosted with the Jacksonville Startup Weekend. For the uninitiated, Startup Weekends are 54-hour events where entrepreneurs come together to pitch ideas, form teams, and learn best practices.

This past weekend, the Jacksonville entrepreneurship community hosted their own version of this exciting program. 150 people came together, and 17 businesses were formed. An additional 50 were on the wait-list, an evidence of the energy and enthusiasm that is bubbling in Florida right now. MJ Charmani, founder of iStart Jax, a business accelerator, and one of the key organizers of the event, introduced today's session with additional reports on last weekend's event.

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Armex Zero Suit

First, Eric Keeler with Armex Industries, Inc. pitched the Armex Zero Suit, a new kind of durable, special-purpose suit with significantly higher heat and cold resistance targeted towards racecar drivers, firefighters, and military personnel. Eric has done some technology scouting, and believes he can deliver on the specs of the product.

The problem, however, is that he is assuming that an investor would fund the product development. Investors rarely fund concepts. Even seed investors generally fund businesses that are already rolling. So, Eric will need to create a method with which to get to paying customers before any investor would invest. In addition, there is significant work to do on market sizing and go-to-market strategy. Direct selling simply is not the right solution for bringing this product to market. The price-point is too low for that to be sustainable.

pay2pitch.com

Next Perry Kaye presented pay2pitch.com, a network where entrepreneurs will come and pitch investors and mentors and pay, say, $1,000 for a twenty-minute interaction. The money, however, will be donated to the investor or mentor's favorite charity.

Perry rightly points out that a miniscule percentage of entrepreneurs get funded. We agree on the observation, and many of you have already seen our The Other 99% video. However, Perry's observation that entrepreneurs don't get funded because they can't get meetings is not entirely accurate. Most entrepreneurs don't get funded because they are simply not fundable. For a variety of different reasons that have to do with the fundamentals of their businesses, entrepreneurs, even if they CAN get meetings, don't get funded. So paying $1,000 to get a 20-minute meeting, in my opinion, is a total wastage of money. Of course, if the assumption is that this is for charity, that is different.

The second problem with the assumption here is that mentoring networks typically do not scale. You can see my video on the subject to get more color on why.

Bottomline, we get this question very often: Can 1M/1M help me get funded? So yes, tons of entrepreneurs are looking for funding, whether or not they should. Most of them are not fundable. So getting them to pay $1,000 for a 20-minute meeting that will most likely result in a rejection seems deceptive to me.

Ziffor

Then Tim LeMaster pitched Ziffor, a service for table restaurants that would like to offer promotions for non-peak times. This is a compelling idea, because many restaurants that have experimented with Groupon-like services have often been overwhelmed with unprofitable customers showing up during peak hours. Tim's idea offers a good solution to this problem.
However, there are some serious operational complexities involved to make a solution like this work at scale. Getting access to restaurant booking data won't be easy. Also, selling to restaurants is expensive, as we have seen in the massive operational expenditure and lack of profitability in the Groupon model.

I reviewed Tim's financial assumptions, and advised him to redo them with the assumption that the team would have to bootstrap the business locally, get enough validation, etc., before any investor would even consider investing.

SustanAbin

Next Rushabh Shah pitched SustainAbin, a concept that anchors on the assumption that 83 million people are searching for how to practice a green lifestyle. Rushabh wants to create a portal that harnesses this traffic, and give them meaningful content, based on which he would be able to generate high value leads for local businesses in the sustainability area such as solar, organic farming, etc.

Rushabh needs to do a lot of studying of how lead-arbitrage businesses work. To make a case of the business he proposes, he would have to, somehow, channel the search traffic from Google to his site. This is the domain of PPC and SEO, and the market is very competitive, buying extremely expensive.

On the business model side, also, some of the assumptions of monetizing with advertising are misplaced. I keep repeating this: there is way too much unmonetized ad inventory out there, driving CPMs down. Dramatically. Rushabh's analysis of the business needs to be significantly more thorough and comprehensive to even assess viability.

Bthere

Vincent Laganella then pitched Bthere, an excellent concept of analyzing 911 data feeds to extract leads for glass repair, door and window repair, and other crime-related contexts that immediately trigger needs in consumers. For example, a consumer has just had a burglar break in to the house through a glass window. The 911 call would generate a lead for a local glass repair shop instantly. And small businesses would be more than happy to pay good money for such immediately actionable leads. Very strong idea, and excellent analysis of the business fundamentals.

Overall, today's roundtable was a window into Jacksonville's efforts at drumming up additional entrepreneurship for regional economic development. The Startup Weekend programs around the world are doing this in different cities, and the organization is supported by the Kauffman Foundation. We look forward to supporting more such efforts through the 1M/1M initiative.

The Roundtable

You can listen to the recording of today's roundtable here. As always, I would very much like to hear about your business, so let me invite you to come and pitch at one of our free 1M/1M public roundtables. We will be holding future roundtables on the following dates starting at 8:00 a.m. PST:

Thursday, February 2, Register Here.
Thursday, February 9, Register Here.
Thursday, February 16, Register Here.
Thursday, February 23, Register Here.

If you want a deeper relationship with me, you are very welcome to join the 1M/1M premium program. If you have any questions about the program, please, first study the website, especially What to expect from the 1M/1M premium program and the FAQs. If you have additional questions, please email me, and I would be very happy to respond. Please note that I work exclusively with 1M/1M entrepreneurs.

I also invite you to join the 1M/1M mailing list for the ease and convenience of getting updates. This way we can stay in touch, and it will help you to decide if 1M/1M is a program for you.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/readwriteweb/~3/2UrC11fZvZc/strategy-roundtable-spotlight.php

Roselyn Sanchez Rozonda Thomas Mena Suvari Mia Kirshner