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Should prisoners and sex offenders be allowed to troll the Internet?

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The State of Louisiana’s legislature is trying to curtail repeat crime by making it illegal for inmates and some released sex offenders to hang out on social media sites, go to chat rooms, or use peer-to-peer (P2P) networking.

According to a Shreveport Times article on this Internet law issue, House Bill 55 “bans certain sex offenders, especially those whose crimes involved minors, from accessing social media like Facebook or MySpace, or going into chat rooms or peer-to-peer networks,” and Senate Bill 182 “targets inmates who are behind bars and using the Internet to create social networking sites to make connections with people, further scams…or send or receive pornography.”

Internet lawyers, prosecutors, criminal defense attorneys, and free speech advocates will be debating the merits and legality of these bills should they become law.

As a parent, I don’t want my kid being preyed upon by these types of predators online or offline. But that’s my responsibility as a parent to ensure it doesn’t happen. Just because something is illegal doesn’t mean it’s going to suddenly stop a predator. And there are already plenty of laws on the books to nail these guys to the wall for child molestation and other crimes. One more law isn’t going to make a difference.

And as an Internet lawyer, I have to wonder how many of these predators are still dumb enough to go online given the number of law enforcement personnel trolling the Internet looking for pedophiles to catch.

In short, the Louisiana legislative bills have a good intent but I doubt they’ll make much of a difference in either crime deterrence or punishment. Enforcing existing laws should be enough.

Righthaven May Go Down For The Count

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The tide is turning against copyright troll Righthaven’s infringement shakedown business model. Already slammed in Nevada, here’s the latest from Colorado — the judge “has now put all of Righthaven’s lawsuits in that state on hold, saying that he wants to make sure Righthaven actually has standing to bring the suit.”

If Righthaven has simply been buying the right to sue and no other rights, there’s a good chance based on judicial precedent that the company lacks standing to file any of these cases. Should this simply be an arrangement where Righthaven and the copyright owners split revenues 50/50, then Righthaven is really nothing more than a de facto law firm grabbing a 50% contingency fee…something that state bars will be dealing with in addition the courts.

As if news couldn’t get any worse for the copyright troll, it appears that a class action law suit has been filed by bloggers against Righthaven alleging the company has engaged in unfair practices. There’s blood in the water and one shouldn’t be surprised to see this as the beginning of the end for Righthaven. Frankly, it’s a wonder the copyright owners haven’t been running for the hills on these deals. Whatever profit was to be made is exceeded by the damage being caused to their reputations.

As for Righthaven, the copyright troll will need more than a good Internet attorney to bail it out of this mess.

Internet Credit Card Fraud: How To Avoid It

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internet-credit-card-fraud

If you get caught up in the buying frenzy of the pre-launch segment of a big info product marketing launch, you may buy an Internet info product without realizing that at the same time you’re committing yourself to monthly recurring charges on your credit card or debit card for a monthly membership. Sometimes the continuity or microcontinuity program is the main product being sold. However, it is common for the membership to be a cleverly disguised “bonus” for the main product or a one-time-offer (OTO) to try the membership for 7 to 30 days for free or at low-cost. Regardless of the particular terms, the goal is to capture your credit card information with the authorization to charge you monthly recurring charges beginning after X number of days.

To be clear, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with doing this if the Internet marketer (1) clearly discloses the continuity program’s price and terms,  (2) offers you something of value, and (3) makes it easy for you to cancel your subscription at any time. The good marketers do this. The sleazy marketers go out of their way to pump out trash using hidden or forced continuity and then make it impossible for you to cancel your membership as they continue to bill you.

What should you do?

Research complaints about Internet marketers online before buying from them during a big launch. If there is a past history of fraudulent or deceptive billing practices, don’t buy from them. Ignore the occasional nutcase rant you’ll find from someone who is jealous of a particular marketer’s success. Instead, look for patterns of customer service – good and bad – before determining whether you want to enter into a potentially long-term financial commitment involving thousands of dollars of your money.

You should be able to quickly identify those who operate scams misusing Jeff Walker’s product launch formula.

But what should you do if you’re still on the fence after doing your due diligence?

Example:

You really want to buy “Village Idiot Facebook Riches” that’s about to be launched but it includes a continuity program. You’ve done your due diligence by researching the village idiot “guru” who is offering the program but the reviews are mixed as to whether the particular marketer provides true customer service or bills deceptively.

Possible Solution:

Get a pre-paid Visa or Mastercard gift debit card with just enough funds on it to make the initial purchase and perhaps a month of continuity billing. If you like what you see with the continuity/membership, you can either replenish the card with sufficient funds to cover monthly billing or provide the marketer with information for one of your regular credit or debit cards to cover ongoing payments. If you dislike the continuity, you’ve limited your exposure with the gift card. The dishonest Internet marketer who refuses to cancel your subscription shouldn’t be able to bill the gift card beyond the amount on it. In other words, you’ve taken control of the ability to cancel the continuity rather than begging for it to be done by someone who won’t honor their commitments to you as a customer.

Internet Marketing Fraud: Why It Happens

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internet-marketing-fraudIf you want to know why some Internet info product marketers break the law and think they can get away with it, take a look at the Eight Symptoms of Group Think.

1. Illusion of Invulnerability. The marketers take unnecessary risks because they’ve never been caught by the government or sued. Combined with the ego stroking of having cult-type followers, there’s a sense that nothing can touch them even when they break Internet laws.

2. Collective Rationalization. Anyone who warns against misconduct is discredited by the Internet marketers and their followers. The attacks are personal and designed to distract from what actually occurred.

3. Illusion of Morality. Morality is based on whether a launch is profitable to the product’s creator and the affiliates. Something is “wrong” only when a launch flops.

4. Excessive Stereotyping. Anyone who doesn’t believe that “money = morality” is stereotyped as unsuccessful, jealous, or a loser regardless of the underlying facts.

5. Pressure for Conformity. Those who don’t go along with deceptive and fraudulent Internet marketing tactics are considered traitors. Pressure is applied by blacklisting or threats of blacklisting. Commonly this takes the form of refusing to do business with those who rock the boat or encouraging those with large e-mail lists not to promote as an affiliate.

6. Self-Censorship. Fear of blacklisting causes some Internet gurus to keep quiet when they see others engaging in unethical or illegal online marketing practices.

7. Illusion of Unanimity. Because no one publicly dissents, some large Internet marketers that promote for each other assume that everyone agrees with hidden continuity, deceptive billing, false earnings claims, and other illegal Internet marketing practices.

8. Mindguards. The big Internet kahunas serve as the filter for the lesser gurus for information as to how things should work pre-launch, launch, and post-launch. As if handing down the 10 Commandments in stone, these gurus define what’s acceptable in online marketing regardless of legality.

The dangers of group think are exposing cracks in the foundation of Internet marketing cliques as Congress, the FTC, and various law enforcement agencies are beginning to take a dim view of Internet scams that hurt consumers, particularly those involving health or biz opp. If you’re practicing group think in your online business, re-evaluate the long-term prospects for your ventures. If you can’t do business legally and ethically, chances are you won’t be around in five years. Whether it is the government or a lawsuit, karma has a way of taking down those who score big at the expense of others.

Do You Sell Online In Other Countries?

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If you’re doing business online in other countries, take the time to ensure that your website complies with e-commerce laws in those places. At a minimum, this includes making sure that your website has all of the requisite legal documentation.

britain-business-flagFor example, let’s say that you sell 70% of your products in the United States, 10% in Canada, 5% in the United Kingdom, and 5% in Australia.

You’re going to want to make sure that you’re not violating laws in these countries by the way you sell there. This means retaining a legal professional, such as an attorney or solicitor, who practices Internet law in each country that you sell to ensure that you’re not breaking the law.

If money is tight, you may want to start with the country where the largest amount of your sales comes from and then proceed to the next largest, etc. when doing the compliance checks. Although there are risks in this method, you’re minimizing them by going after the biggest potential problem markets first.