Archive for June, 2009
June 28th, 2009 | 
Author:
Security online may not yet match the full number but with the popularity the internet is gaining every month, how long before we see numbers of this magnitude?
What are we to do to secure our identities?
Available to this point is:
- Offline companies that monitor our personal information; once a theft occurs, they are there to help you
- Never do any online activity; who intends to live in a cave in the middle east
- Keep your usernames, passwords, credit card numbers and other information hidden; near our computers written down so we don’t forget
- Create a file on our computers that stores this information; don’t leave your computer near a hacker
- Store information on an offsite backup hard drive or flash drive; home invasions take computers, flash drives are small and can seem to walk away with keys
- Biometric technology; new technology coming on the scene, don’t know much about this?
Some interesting ways that a lot of people store personal information? It is as though the personal information isn’t too important when passwords for important accounts are placed under a keyboard, tacked to the wall, written sticky pad paper tacked on a Kleenex box.
And these are down at the office where we may never know who is in the vicinity of our computers. If an office is large enough and we have had too much coffee, we are only away for a short time?
Think about your “safe” location. Think about your personal habits each 
day and how much you take for granted. As the economy continues to crawl, opportunistic people may find out how trusting they really are.
Personal identification should become more important to you today than ever before, even more so in the future. With internet security comes confidence because you know that identity authentication after the fact is a long and arduous task.
If you aren’t aware, the director of the FBI was almost a victim of phishing recently, so if it could happen to him??? Listen, we all believe it happens to others; never to us. Same goes for the guy who was car jacked earlier today.
One of the most misunderstood issues online has to do with copyright. Both with e-mail and Web site content copyright issues. For some reason, as with many things online, there is this incorrect perception that anything goes or that the entire online world is “public domain.” Many are finding out the hard way that when it comes to protecting creative collateral; copyright is law. And, copyright laws can and are being enforced online.
No, I am not an attorney. Nor do I play one on T.V. But I can help you avoid potential problems based on guiding clients for over a decade about the issues involved in using other’s work. Hopefully, this effort will help you from finding out the hard way that copyright is alive and well online.
- “I can right click, save anything online and use it how I wish.” This is a perfect example of just because you can doesn’t mean you do! Those graphics or files were created by someone out there. They legally attained the copyright upon that file’s creation. Without their specific permission to use that file or graphic, you have no right to just take it and use it as you please. There is no exception to this rule. Always ask a site owner before you illegally swipe anything off their site to display on yours.
- “As long as I note the author’s name, I can use their site’s content on my site.” Although you are being nice and giving credit where credit is due, you still need to ask the author’s permission to post their work on your site. The author may not want their information posted anywhere off their own site or they many not approve of your site as a venue for their information – that is their choice to make not yours. Just because you choose to give credit doesn’t give you permission. Always ask a site owner if you can use their content before you put it on your site.
- “I can link to graphics on other sites so that they display on my site.” O.K., maybe you didn’t actually download the graphic and put it on your server, but if you are displaying someone’s work on your site without their permission the bottom line is still the same. And, you are using their server’s resources to display their files on your site.
- “I can display pages from other Web sites within frames on my site.” Many site owners prohibit their site pages from being framed within another site because it gives the impression that the other site created the information. Many times folks innocently do this so they don’t have to send site visitors off their site for information they want to provide. Others do so to precisely give the impression it is content they created. A better option is to link to the information you like and create a new window to open when doing so to ensure your site is still available to your site visitors.
- “If I only quote a portion of other site’s content and link to them I do not need their permission.” Again, it would behoove you to have permission to do so. Using only portions allows you to possibly give the wrong impression about the author’s overall content and this can be misleading at best. If you want to quote any written work in whole or part you need to ask permission to do so.
- “If I pay someone to create graphics for my Web site, I own the copyright to those graphics.” Not necessarily. Unless your agreement with the graphic artist explicitly states that upon your payment all of their rights are then transferred to you in whole, you most likely only have exclusive license to use those graphics. In addition, to purchase the full copyright will cost you a much more than simple exclusivity! The fact is that the moment anything is created whether it be written or drawn, the creator owns the copyright – that’s the law. Copyright can only be transferred in a written legally binding agreement signed by the creator of the work stating they are transferring their rights to you. Saying you own it because you paid for it doesn’t make it legal fact.
- “E-mail is not copyright protected once it is sent.” E-mail is a written work that once created is copyright protected by the author. This means you cannot post publicly an e-mail sent to you privately. You cannot post private e-mails to your site, to message boards or to your blog without the author’s specific permission to do so. Just because an e-mail was sent to you as a private communication does not mean you then own it and can do with it what you like. In addition, e-mail that is posted to a group of people, on a mailing list or Newsgroup does not make the e-mail available for reposting, copying, or any other use – not without the express and written consent of the author.
What’s the bottom line with online copyright?
Courtesy! Don’t assume that you can use, repost or take anything you find online simply because you can. Be a courteous Netizen and always ask first!
If there is any industry who is less out of touch with its customers than the music industry then I defy it be suggested. As if going after die-hard fourteen year-old Coldplay fans wasn’t enough, record companies are now extending their copyright war by taking legal action against websites that offer unsolicited music scores (BBC news). When 
are the CEO’s of these belligerent organisations going to wake up and realise that you don’t make money suing your customers?
Since the arrival of MP3 files, record company chiefs have been on nothing short of a witch hunt to identify the key perpetrators of their traditionally gargantuan and monopolistic hold over music buyers, fining key offenders of the Copyright Law up to sums of $150,000. Unlike their plans to prosecute websites ‘illegally’ publishing music scores however, the disolusioned Chief Executives and their equally moronic corporate camaraderie of amateur A&R producers haven’t been able to touch offending sites like KaZaa, Grokster and Morpheus for as far as legalese is concerned, these sites are just ‘pipelines’ and the prosecutable offenders are, unfortunately, individuals.
Most industry chiefs would have acknowledged, logically enough, that the sheer number of offenders was too overwhelming on both time and cashflow to address through the courtroom and responded to the problem by trying to provide some alternative platform for distribution to the one their ‘customers’ were currently using, offering features which made them want to pay for it. But the Magnates of Music have never much cared for treating their customers with courtesy, and they weren’t about to start this time round.
What has transpired is a five-plus year spending spree of what can only be described as cringeable management practice, with the net result of most legal campaigns – even richer prosecuting attorneys. In the process, record companies have done little else but whine to anti-trust regulators about how margins are being squeezed and get away with outrageously gargantuan mergers the likes of which would be inconceivable in any other industry.
“Doctor, there is an attorney on the phone to speak with you about…” Not too many things get your blood pressure up as quickly as that statement! Regardless of the reason for the call, the normal initial reaction is the fear.
The greatest protection against such fear is knowledge and planning.
The first thing you should know is that, according to a recent analysis by the Harvard School of Public Health, approximately 40% of the medical malpractice suits that are filed in the United States are groundless. Analysis of many cases indicated that there was no evidence of a medical error being committed or any injury suffered by the patient.
The second, and perhaps most important, factor to know is that many such calls are a fishing expedition by the lawyer. Presenting a friendly demeanor, the lawyer hopes to gain information that will be beneficial to the client. This is why you really don’t want to talk to the attorney without preparation and possibly counsel.
Having knowledge of those two facts, you now need to plan what to do when that attorney does call.
Normally your staff fields your calls and they should be instructed to take messages, as opposed to ringing the call through to you. If possible they should ascertain the reason for the call and, if applicable, the patient under question.
Once you receive the message, you should first review the patient’s chart to determine if there is any possibility of medical malpractice – or patient dissatisfaction. If you think there is any chance of a claim being made, contact your insurance agent or company immediately and follow their instructions.
If it is necessary to reply to the attorney, one of your staff should return the call and explain that any communication from an attorney must be in writing. This enables you to begin documentation and seek advice or counsel. This is particularly helpful if the call is about a colleague. The attorney may be seeking a free assessment of the case, looking for free expert testimony or even attempting to involve you in the lawsuit.
You are not required to provide any facts, documents or charts, except by the due process of law. If documents are subpoenaed or you must appear for a deposition, your attorney can shield you from immaterial or incriminating questions. Your attorney can also evaluate requests for charts or documents that may be unnecessary.
There is one critical mandate. Do not, under any circumstance, decide to rewrite, revise or clean up any chart entry or patient records. Regardless of how well meaning you might be, any alterations can come back to haunt you in a trial. Plus, many malpractice carriers will refuse to defend or pay claims for a physician who altered medical records.
Referring back to the opening analysis that 40% of claims are groundless, very few malpractice cases ever go to trial. Even a request for patient records does not guarantee that you are being sued. Most cases are dropped by the plaintiff or dismissed by a judge for lack of evidence. That is why you do not want to react from fear or anger and perhaps create further problems for yourself and your case.
Google’s Patent Application contains a lot to read and
reading it may take some time, but if you own any type of
website, this is all information you need to know. It also
brings some interesting points up. While I go over some of
the important points, know that no one knows which of these
factors is given more weight than the others.
Domain Name Registration – Google is now going to track when
a domain is registered among other things. An older domain
will get a higher ranking. No more throw away domain names.
No more jump to the top of Google results in thirty days.
They will also be tracking the length of renewal on the
theory that a person that renews for ten years will be more
likely to build a worthwhile site than someone who only
holds their domain for a year.
Google will also be keeping a blacklist of known spammers
and will be using this list when checking dns records of
websites. So spammers who make sure to get their new
throwaway domains with different nameservers in order to
throw Google off may have to try something new.
Google Spyware? – They are using “user behavior” to rank
sites. In my book, if spyware removers try to remove Alexa
every time I run it, then this function of the Google
toolbar can only be called spyware. Yes, you may check the
box on the terms of service for the toolbar, but it still
tracks your internet browsing.
But, I think the theory will make search engine results much
better.
Google will be tracking the number of times a document is
selected from the search engine results. This is a great
idea. It means you now have to write the titles of your
pages to grab the searcher’s attention. And since the search
terms are highlighted in the results, maybe placing them at
the beginning of sentences in your page may make then stand
out due to capitalization. But I also see a way that this
can be spammed by a network of “search and click” spammers.
They will also be tracking the amount of time a person
spends on the page that they find. I don’t know about you,
but I have been around long enough to notice a spam page and
I am gone in two seconds. This may help drop them out of
legitimate results.