Internet ‘Grey Areas’

Internet ‘Grey Areas’

The Internet has opened up whole new avenues of freedom for people: freedom of information, thoughts and the ability to achieve anonymity while still being active in a community. This freedom has been latched onto by a large proportion of the Internet user base and has fuelled a desire for even more liberties. This in turn has given rise to the ‘Internet Grey Areas’, those little things that ‘everyone’ does but which aren’t quite legally correct. A few examples are Abandonware, MP3 downloads, warez and their kind.
Abandonware is the label applied to games that have been ‘abandoned’ by their original developers. The standard rule has become that if the games are more than four years old and no longer freely available for purchase, or if the developer has closed and hence the game is no longer supported, then it can be called Abandonware and distributed freely. Some developers willingly release their older software titles into the public domain making them legally Abandonware but a large number of titles labelled as such are not technically free for public access. The licences are still owned by someone and the distribution of their software titles could be harming their licence validity.
Abandonware justifies itself by preserving gaming history in a ‘living’ way. It allows people to play the games they used to love long after they’re available to purchase. In many cases the only hope for finding older games is to trawl second hand shops and online stores such as Ebay in the slim hopes of coming across a particular title. Sometimes when you finally get hold of the old software it simply won’t run on your PC leaving you with a pretty box but no closer to actually playing the game. Several times I’ve purchased an old game and then downloaded a copy off the Internet so that I can actually play it due to the fact that old disks are either damaged or the wrong type (I don’t have a 5 1/4″ floppy drive on my PC any more…).
MP3 downloads have a less honourable ideology. Simply put, people want free music so they download it. It is said that the activities harm no one and that the downloading process doesn’t adversely affect artists’ profits. Who can say for sure? At the time of writing this article the RIAA’s site is down and I’m not able to find any accurate figures that estimate the amount of revenue lost due to music piracy. I believe that it was estimated at around billion in 1997 and that’s sure to have increased with the advent of broadband. However, these figures are said to be highly inaccurate. A standard argument against them is “I wasn’t planning on buying the CD anyway so they haven’t lost any money out of me downloading it”, an argument that is ridiculous at best. The Movie downloading scene is almost identical. I’m not going to swing one way or another here, but I will say that I can think of several films that didn’t receive the box office takings from a number of associates of mine after they had gotten to experience the film before its release date. The quality of the films almost justifies the stealing, but that’s a whole different issue!
The Internet community gets riled up over companies asserting their rights on the Internet (which is odd… companies asserting their legal rights being seen as evil while individuals illegally attempting to assert what they believe should be their rights are forces for good…) but the simple fact is that it is damaging for a company to allow the theft of their licences to go unnoticed. In the case of Abandonware, if it can be proven that a company knew their products were being illegally distributed but did nothing about it then the copyright over that particular licence can be lost. The revenues lost due to piracy in its many forms are surprisingly enough, damaging to companies.
I think that it’s unfortunate that the freedom provided by the Internet has lead to such abuse but I can see the validity of both sides of the arguments. Companies want and deserve their revenue for the services they provide. Abandonware infringes on a company’s copyright and can lead to them losing their licences if they don’t hunt down offenders. The consumers on the other hand have to pay increasingly steeper and steeper prices for the products, something that is often blamed on the increasing rate of piracy, which is blamed on the continuous increase in prices and the whole thing becomes a vicious cycle. CDs are very expensive if you only want one or two songs off the CD, which is where online music stores can come into play. There you can purchase the licence to a song relatively cheaply without having to pay a lot for an entire CD you that don’t particularly want (and they have the added upside of having more of the money make it back to the artists who created the music as opposed to the corporations that distribute it).
I guess in the end everyone has to make their own decision about where they stand between the concepts of ‘Morally Correct’ and ‘Legally Correct’. Me personally, I like to stand a little closer to ‘Legally Correct’ than most. It’s been my experience that ‘morals’ tend to change and warp a lot sooner than the law does, and not always for the better. If we restrain ourselves on the Internet then maybe authorities won’t see the need to attempt to restrain us. The freedom that is relished so much on the Internet may in fact be increased with just a little self-control.

eTrust Internet Security Suite: Do Not Take Protection for Granted

eTrust Internet Security Suite: Do Not Take Protection for Granted

Internet is the “network of all networks”. It is composed of millions of smaller networks (business, academic, domestic, and government) which carry different information and online-based services, such as online chatting, file transfer, electronic mail services, and interlinked web pages as well as other documents stored in the World Wide Web. With such an enormous interconnection of various networks, transfer and acquisition of information is now fast, efficient, and reliable. Who would ever think that the Internet will be as powerful as it is nowadays?

Aside from fast and efficient transfer of information and other useful data, the Internet is now the biggest job, business, and product marketplace around the world. Whether you are looking for a new job, searching for a new business opportunity to start with, or want to sell or purchase different lines of products, the Internet is the best place to start with. Through various innovations integrated in the information superhighway, Internet became one of the fastest solutions in terms of livelihood and other means of generating revenues for individuals of different interests.

However, there are things that we neglect sometimes, which are superimposed by the benefits offered by the Internet. One of which is the online threats, composed of so-called “cyber criminals”, creating chaos to the Internet public by means of developing virus programs and other elements that may harm an Internet user’s computer system. At first glance, you will think that it is just a simple yet attractive banner ad that pops-up in your computer screen, yet you will realize later on that you are already dealing with a virus program, destroying the internal memory and other components of your computer system.

The increase of online threats is very alarming. Most research shows that there are 3 out of 10 Internet users who are plagued by online threats of varying degrees. Because of lack of necessary security, they have a hard time dealing with these problems, thus losing their computer system within a few days. So sad, but it is the reality that we need to accept.

To avoid getting into such situation, it is strongly recommended that you install a security software into your computer system, especially if it is connected to the Internet. There are hundreds of software developers who created programs that will help you thwart these online threats out of your way. One of which is the CA’s eTrust Internet Security Suite.

Created by the Computer Associates, eTrust Internet Security Suite provides extensive protection against different kinds of online threats—viruses, identity thieves, spyware, malware, and hackers that can jeopardize your privacy in surfing the Internet, data storage, and the performance of your computer system. In fact, the security suite is a combination of easy to use, business-strength technology with automatic updates and pre-configured settings that will work out for the security of your computer system.

eTrust Internet Security Suite has the following main features:

• It eliminates the presence of any type of viruses, worms, and Trojan horse programs.
• It targets the spyware before it can bring adverse effects to your computer system.
• It blocks unwanted spam.
• It stops intruders from penetrating your computer system, thus eliminating the risk of your personal information and other useful data be accessed by unauthorized individuals.
• It keeps websites out, especially pornographic sites, which is believed to carry viruses and other online threats.

Do not take protection for granted. Avoid getting caught in the line of fire because of these online threats. Get the eTrust Internet Security Suite and protect your computer system as well as yourself.

Reducing Down On Problems By Internet Conferencing

Cutting Down On Hassles By Web Conferencing

In the world of today, the World Wide Web has revolutionized the way business is conducted. Today businesses both big and small have taken advantage of the Internet as a way to reach out to people and markets on a global level. In fact, one way in which the Internet is gaining in popularity is through the use of web conferencing and conference calls. Using the Internet for the purpose of communicating business matters has put a wealth of global possibilities at the fingertips of any corporation. Not taking advantage of today’s technology to communicate globally might turn into a costly affair.

Web conferencing is a means of installing equipment on standard desktops or laptop computers to communicate via an Internet provider, chat or conference program, camera system, and microphone. The equipment is easy to install and easier to use. When you compare the costs of using a web conference system to the costs of travel and accommodation your business incurs when transporting a client in from out of the town, the difference in savings becomes obvious. Today web conferencing has become very easy to use and extremely convenient.

Use your web or video conferencing features to have meetings with your clients on a one-on-one basis without having to go for a meeting with them. You immediately stop stressing about traffic troubles, schedule conflicts, and interruptions when you meet with your business associates through web conferencing. Web conferencing is a very versatile communication mode, as it offers many means of document transmission, real time conversation, and many features where you can even communicate with several clients and business associates at the same time. The convenience of web conferencing is its greatest virtue.

Eliminating a great deal of wasteful spending will be likely and great news for your revenues when you incorporate web conferencing into your business. In-person meetings come at a financial expense when you are flying in associates, serving refreshments and snacks, and using additional staff to ensure that the meeting is carried out smoothly. With web conferencing, you can eliminate a number of costs while adding only a fraction of that expense through your system setup.

Persuade your bosses to make use of web conferencing into your business and you will succeed in reaching business’ eventual goal — increased productivity and an enhanced profit margin. With less time spent going to and from meetings, the organization will have far more productive time to complete the work done that needs to get done. And the business is bound to gain from the cost-effective measures.