Vital lessons for online entrepreneurs
Jul 3 2008 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal
IT SEEMS incredible that the world wide web is little more than 10 years old, and yet, in that time, it has revolutionised the worlds of business, communication and even academia.
From being a novelty, it has become mainstream, an everyday and even essential part of our lives in business, study and leisure.
But the internet is evolving and it is evolving almost at a pace too great for the layman to keep up with. It’s not so much a case that web 1.0 is dead, but at least that web 2.0 is very much here, and that it is the development which will now see most attention and exploitation.
JISC Regional Support Centre Northern has been working with regional law firm Muckle LLP in organising half day briefing sessions for individuals in further and higher education on the legal issues arising from the use of web 2.0. The key focus of Muckle LLP’s advice is to educate users and help organisations and individuals minimise and manage the potential risks arising from the use of web 2.0 technologies.
Gareth Davies of JISC Regional Support Centre Northern said: “Everyone has heard of websites such as Facebook, MySpace, Second Life and Bebo, or of that internet phenomenon known as blogging. Web 2.0 is the software that enables social networking whereby users can interact - often across the globe - share information and engage in dialogue and collaboration.
And we are talking about big numbers here. Myspace, for example, which was launched in August 2003, was valued at US$327m two years later when it was bought by News Corporation. The company employs 300 staff and the 100 millionth account was created in 2006, so perhaps it is not surprising that in 2006 Google paid US$900m to provide a Google search facility and advertising on MySpace.’’
The onward march of web 2.0 and social networking is clearly unstoppable, which makes it even more important that we are alive to some of its potential dangers.
Alex Craig from Muckle LLP believes that many people, despite being cautious in their use of more traditional methods of communication, view the internet as something different, to which the usual legislative and common sense rules do not apply.
She said: “On one level for example, people are often not aware of the impact of posting personal information to sites such as Facebook, information which could lead to identity theft or to use by paedophiles. They are often ignorant as to the uses that may be made of that personal information by the site provider. Facebook, for example, is currently being investigated by the Canadian data protection authority in relation to its alleged sales of personal data derived from user accounts to advertisers.’’
Users should also remember that it is not advisable to advertise behaviour on their part that their employers, potential employers, or even the police, would find unacceptable, which has been highlighted in the press recently with those advertising their weapons being targeted by police investigations.
Users and providers must also be aware of the laws on intellectual property: that taking and copying material could infringe someone else’s copyright, that permission is often needed, with maybe money needing to change hands before images, videos, music and other content are copied or posted online and shared.
Web 2.0 can provide a real wealth of non traditional tools and methods to aid teaching, but organisations must be particularly careful that they understand the pitfalls. They must be vigilant, for example, against the possibilities of on-line bullying and harassment or defamation and must be fully aware of their possible liabilities to users and third parties.
Finally, to make matters even more complicated, any organisation should know that any monitoring to avoid the pitfalls outlined here, must also be within the law and comply, for instance, with relevant data protection regulation.
Web 2.0, like web 1.0 before it, will continue to enrich and enhance people’s lives, so it would not only be impossible but positively damaging to try to stop people using it. But when they do use it, people have to be aware of the issues and possible dangers involved.
