1/28/12
COPPA Applies to Blogs: the Xanga Story
More and more, it appears that blogging will gain the respect that it deserves not from appreciation of its content, its growth as a solid, accepted social media outlet, nor its ability to share breaking news, but because bloggers have become parties to litigation in various forms.
Alongside copyright infringement and shield law cases popping up all over the country, consider this: the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) was passed by Congress to protect kids from online skulduggery.
In sum, COPPA regulates how personal information is gathered and used when it's kids who are inputting the stuff. It requires things like parental consent for purchasing info, for example.
Last spring, Disney got hit big time with a fine by the Federal Trade Commission to the tune of $3,000,000.00 for collecting info from kids at its Playdom, Inc. site without parents' okay.
However, here's the point I'm making. Bloggers must adhere to the COPPA regulations just like Disney Corporation and other Big Kahunas.
Xanga.com, for example, is a blogging service that was sued for COPPA violations awhile back. Xanga offered MySpace-like services to kids and got hit with a $1 million fine (the biggest COPPA fine at that time, according to MSNBC).
Seems Xanga was allowing kids under 13 years of age set up blogs in its "blogging community" and the Federal Trade Commission found this did not comport with COPPA requirements.
True, Xanga isn't a blog itself -- it's a blogging service. However, it's still within that blogging realm and its story is a part of the path to blogging's respectability.
1/24/12
Illinois Shield Law: Chicago Case Rules No Protection for Blogger
Another blog fight over application of state shield law. Expect this Illinois case of first impression to go up on appeal, after all the losing party has already announced that the fight’s not over.
Nevertheless, a Chicago court has set a precedent on how Illinois will apply its shield law in the case of a blog out of California, TechnoBuffalo, which has been sued by an Illinois printing company, Johns-Byrne Co., in a lawsuit asking the court to force the blogger to reveal its source for an image of a Motorola cellphone (the Droid Bionic).
John-Byrne argued that it needs the name of the blog’s source in order to seek legal remedies against what it believes to be an evildoing employee who violated John-Byrne’s legal rights by sharing the images.
TechnoBuffalo responded by arguing the state shield law, and claiming that it was acting in the same role as a traditional media source reporting on the cellphone industry.
What is the big deal? TechnoBuffalo published the pix on its blog before the cellphone was actually available for sale.
Some would call that a “scoop.”
Nevertheless, the Cook County Circuit Court Judge ruled that the blog is not the same as Main Stream Media and shield laws of Illinois (and presumably California? though how the Chicago judge could rule on Cali law escapes me) and ordered the name of the blog’s confidential source to be released.
Let’s see if the appellate court agrees.
Nevertheless, a Chicago court has set a precedent on how Illinois will apply its shield law in the case of a blog out of California, TechnoBuffalo, which has been sued by an Illinois printing company, Johns-Byrne Co., in a lawsuit asking the court to force the blogger to reveal its source for an image of a Motorola cellphone (the Droid Bionic).
John-Byrne argued that it needs the name of the blog’s source in order to seek legal remedies against what it believes to be an evildoing employee who violated John-Byrne’s legal rights by sharing the images.
TechnoBuffalo responded by arguing the state shield law, and claiming that it was acting in the same role as a traditional media source reporting on the cellphone industry.
What is the big deal? TechnoBuffalo published the pix on its blog before the cellphone was actually available for sale.
Some would call that a “scoop.”
Nevertheless, the Cook County Circuit Court Judge ruled that the blog is not the same as Main Stream Media and shield laws of Illinois (and presumably California? though how the Chicago judge could rule on Cali law escapes me) and ordered the name of the blog’s confidential source to be released.
Let’s see if the appellate court agrees.
1/16/12
Tips for Regular, Fast Blog Posts – Personalizing the Informational Blog
Blogs are not one size fits all, and while there are blogs that are very personal in nature, there are others (like this one) that are more informative in nature. Many law blogs wear the informational hat, for example.
Which doesn’t mean that they can’t bring a personal touch to their informational blog, although most of these bloggers don’t want to start writing posts about their football team’s latest victory or where they are taking the kids on vacation this summer.
Here are some tips on how to infuse an informational blog with some of your individual personality (which readers do like to see):
1. Books.
Post regularly on books you have read and recommend to others. Easy to do, the fastest way to do this is just insert the image of the book with a link to Amazon or BN or Powells or whatever and title the post “I Recommend This Book” or “Recommended: [insert title']”.
2. Photos.
Post photos regularly, with a short caption beneath them. Choose pix that you have taken, or grab something from the public domain. Images are great for informational blogs, both visually and from an SEO perspective (Google likes this). Try tying the image to your blog’s theme or to related news.
A public domain photo of Abe Lincoln on President’s Day, for example. Another: your photo of the old historic building downtown right before it was torn down. With that one, your title could simply be: Acme Building, 1932-2012. Something like that.
3. Quotes
Post quotes that you like on a routine basis. There are sites that organize quotes, in case you cannot remember the exact wording. These can be words of wisdom or they be related to your blog’s theme or set of topics.
The text of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech could be placed on your blog for MLK Day, for example.
How often?
Not more than once a week, I would suggest. However, having one of these quick posts on a weekly basis brings a two post a week blog to the three post a week blog, and that can be a big difference to readers and to the search engines.
Which doesn’t mean that they can’t bring a personal touch to their informational blog, although most of these bloggers don’t want to start writing posts about their football team’s latest victory or where they are taking the kids on vacation this summer.
Here are some tips on how to infuse an informational blog with some of your individual personality (which readers do like to see):
1. Books.
Post regularly on books you have read and recommend to others. Easy to do, the fastest way to do this is just insert the image of the book with a link to Amazon or BN or Powells or whatever and title the post “I Recommend This Book” or “Recommended: [insert title']”.
2. Photos.
Post photos regularly, with a short caption beneath them. Choose pix that you have taken, or grab something from the public domain. Images are great for informational blogs, both visually and from an SEO perspective (Google likes this). Try tying the image to your blog’s theme or to related news.
A public domain photo of Abe Lincoln on President’s Day, for example. Another: your photo of the old historic building downtown right before it was torn down. With that one, your title could simply be: Acme Building, 1932-2012. Something like that.
3. Quotes
Post quotes that you like on a routine basis. There are sites that organize quotes, in case you cannot remember the exact wording. These can be words of wisdom or they be related to your blog’s theme or set of topics.
The text of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech could be placed on your blog for MLK Day, for example.
How often?
Not more than once a week, I would suggest. However, having one of these quick posts on a weekly basis brings a two post a week blog to the three post a week blog, and that can be a big difference to readers and to the search engines.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)