Law & Politics

What is Section 230 and why does it matter for webmasters?

January 1, 2021 John 0

Politicians are renewing the debate over Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, but what does it do and how does the regulation effect web publishers? Section 230 governs liability for user generated content, and any attempts to remove or edit it are likely to force massive changes to the internet.

USPS slowdown is hurting online business

Post office slowdown already hurts online business

August 13, 2020 John 0

Postal workers and customers are starting to notice the effects of Trump’s appointment to postmaster general. Letters and packages are suddenly getting lost or taking excessive amounts of time to arrive – and small online businesses are paying the price.

Anything you tweet can and will be used against you in a court of law

April 24, 2012 John 0

A judge upholds Twitters claim to own your tweets, and this ruling is already being used to present social media records in criminal prosecution. Unfortunately, this is far from the only attack against online freedom of speech.

Godaddy faces customer exodus over SOPA support

December 29, 2011 John 1

Godaddy has taken an unpopular position on a controversial piece of proposed legislation, and the result is a massive grass-roots exodus and boycott against their hosting and domain registration services. While the support for SOPA is enough of a reason in itself to avoid doing business with Godaddy, there are plenty of other controversial political positions and shoddy customer service problems that make this boycott a good idea.

Feds “accidentally” shut down 84,000 websites

February 17, 2011 John 0

The federal government shut down tens of thousands of websites this week – and the owners of the effected domains are just starting to realize the damage and trying to recover.

Remember, 1099-Misc is NOT a W2!

April 15, 2010 John 4

Make sure to double check the numbers on your income forms: the difference between a W2 and a 1099-Misc can make a big difference in how much you owe.

Google bails on China – Here is what you’re supposed to report

March 28, 2010 John 0

Google is officially taking its business out of China – and the Chinese government wants us to report about the situation according to this list of guidelines.

Liability of website owners on the rise

February 24, 2010 John 3

Governments around the world are cracking down and holding website owners and employees responsible for all kinds of unpopular and controversial content.

California legislature wants to tax affiliates

February 21, 2010 John 0

California is in big financial trouble, and one of the brilliant ideas of their failing government is to begin imposing taxes on any company that employs affiliates in their state. Physical businesses have already been fleeing California, so will the digital ones follow suit now as well?

The Taxman is Watching Independent Contractors

February 19, 2010 John 3

Tax compliance teams are focusing specifically on independent contractors and other types of contingent labor – and that means that the tax returns from your websites could be under extra scrutiny in the next few years.

Australia vs Anonymous in Internet Censorship War

February 14, 2010 John 0

Politicians in Australia intend to move ahead with their plans to filter and control the types of content available online, but not everyone is just sitting around and letting it happen.

Musicians vs Industry in UK Sharing Debate (and some free music too)

September 16, 2009 John 0

The file sharing debate is heating up in the UK, with musicians lining up on both sides of the controversial plan to restrict internet access for those caught downloading and sharing unauthorized music files. In response, I’m giving away some of the songs my own band recorded “Back in the day.”

The anonymous internet is long gone

August 20, 2009 John 1

Think your blog is anonymous? Think again. The era of internet privacy is long over, and revealing an online identity may be a simple cost-benefit analysis.