Recent News on the Net

The First Amendment

 

 

The importance of the first amendment is incredibly important to all of us that operate online and off. Whether or not you search, use Twitter, air grievances about your government, express your religion, upload content to the internet, or communicate with your member of Congress, you need the rights that this amendment guarantees.  This is equally important to an internet marketing agency as it is to the casual web surfer.

 

As part of the celebration of this amendment, up until July 25^th, you can submit a 30 second video to celebrate your support for this amendment. This is a part of the 1 For All campaign which is aimed at highlighting the importance of these rights. The best videos are going to be featured at the Newseum in D.C., on TV, and on YouTube.

 

Viacom vs. YouTube

 

 

 

 

 

A summary judgment was recently handed down in regards to the Viacom vs. YouTube lawsuit. The ruling stated that the DMCA protected YouTube against any allegations of copyright violation. The DMCA (digital millennium copyright act) helps to bolster the agreement that when YouTube (the Premiere League is also included in this ruling) and similar operations are working with copyright holders to manage rights, they are protected from copyright violation charges.

 

 

Google in China

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A difficult situation faced by Google lately has been their challenge to operate Google in China while abiding by Chinese law. The Google.cn problem was that Google was unwilling to censor search results. This problem was addressed by sending users searching at Google.cn to the Hong Kong domain (google.com.hk) instead, but the Chinese government has stated that this is unacceptable, and that the redirect could lead to a non-renewal of the ICP license. This would cause Google.cn to shut down.  As a result,  Internet marketing also faces a challenge for chinese based companies looking to capitalize on SEO services.

 

The first approach used by Google was that, instead of issuing an automatic redirect, they would provide certain services on the Google.cn page itself which didn’t need to be censored. This included things like music and translation. That way, uncensored results can be provided from the Chinese domain, while those needing to do a proper search can be redirected to the Hong Kong domain instead.

 

The redirect is planned to end entirely so that all users will land on the Google.cn page. Google is dedicated to not censoring itself, but is also focused on finding ways to work within the laws of the countries in which it is operating. The goal is that a solution can be found that will leave the government content and provide the public with the service that they expect from Google.