The Day the Interwebs Went Dark(ish)
Unless you were hiding under a rock today or happened to be vacationing in an exotic location with no access to US media (P.S. I’m green with envy if you were in that second category) you have by now at least heard of SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and her equally frightening sister PIPA (Protect IP Act of 2011). If you haven’t heard of it, here is a good summation from Mashable on why there is SIGNIFICANT cause for concern. Concern enough that many popular websites such as Google, Wikipedia, WordPress and others went dark (or partially dark) today to demonstrate what the internet experience could be like without much of the valuable information we are able to openly share today. I found this post from AgentKnowHow.com to have some good insight into what could happen specific to real estate if either of these measures were to pass.
It’s true that piracy is bad. So bad in fact that it is already a crime to do so with many options for individuals and corporations to protect copyrighted material and other intellectual property. This issue got me thinking about the hundreds of times I’ve heard the saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, this is especially true if the cure is far worse than the illness. With that in mind, here are a few quick thoughts on what real estate related organizations (or really any organizations) should do to protect their intellectual property:
1) Display a terms of use on your website that clearly outlines what is allowed and what is not. **Note I’m not an attorney and cannot advise you on specific language but there are some good ones who can!
2) Make sure you copyright your content or other bodies of work and that you understand the requirements for doing so. My friend Brian Larson and the other good people at Larson/Sobotka, PLLC have provided some great articles on understanding copyright as it relates to MLS organizations and brokers.
3) Use best practices to protect your content. These best practices can be making sure that any policies you have are monitored and enforced. For example if your content is password protected but you never monitor user usage and behavior or require them to change their password, you are NOT using best practices.
4) Enforce your terms of use and policies using best practices. I’ve seen many people be successful by simply asking the offending site to remove the protected content. That should always be step one, followed by a series of “common sense” steps such as sending a request in writing, up to and including hiring legal help to ensure you are protecting your intellectual property.
Let’s hope the Internet can remain the vital and useful tool that supports so much of our business today. I’m confident by enforcing existing laws and using some best practices we can all get back to enjoying, and when appropriate, sharing the many contributions that are created on the web.
Cheers!!
About Amy Geddes
Amy Geddes, Chief Operating Officer for Clareity Security and Clareity Consulting has over 15 years of management experience, including five years with Clareity Companies and seven years as the CEO of Intermountain Multiple Listing Service in Boise, ID. Geddes was responsible for driving a regionalization initiative during her tenure which doubled the number of MLS subscriber and significantly increased the geographic market area for the members . She has extensive experience in the MLS and association leadership models and has managed numerous technology system conversions including planning, implementation, training and support.
Geddes uses social media as an “outlet” for her excess energy and random musings. Several failed attempts at traditional blogging have resulted in a giant passion for 140 character blogging on Twitter and other social media outlets. Geddes leverages social media to strengthen existing relationships and grow new relationships both personally and professionally. As a daughter and a mother she has also found it to be a bridge that expands three generations and Amy regularly communicates with family via social media.