Recently, the DMCA, which stands for Digital Millennium Copyright Act, has been kicked up in several blogs and online news sites as it relates to Microsoft® and cryptome.org.  One thing we’ve found missing from a number of comments and articles is a description of what the DMCA is and how it works.  It’s a pretty simple process so we’ve outlined it below.

The DMCA is a law that was created in 1998 to protect against copyright infringement.  The U.S. Copyright Office provides a more thorough explanation of the law.

As a hosting company, we follow the process set out by the DMCA.  Here is a link to the complete DMCA: http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/hr2281.pdf

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the “DMCA”) Process:

1. Upon receipt of a Notice of Copyright Infringement (the “Notice”) that complies with the DMCA, a Web host provider (the “Host”) will investigate to determine whether it provides Web hosting services.
2. If the Host is the provider, it must promptly notify its customer of the Notice.
3. The customer may opt to: a) remove the alleged infringing content; b) resolve the matter directly with the complaining party; and/or c) file a counter-claim challenging the claim of infringement.
4. If the customer removes the content; the Host notifies the complaining party and closes its files.
5. If the customer and the complaining party resolve the matter, no action is taken and the Host closes its files.
6. If the customer challenges the Notice by submitting a Counter Notification that complies with the DMCA, the Host is required to disable access to the allegedly infringing site for a period of “not less than 10 business days, nor [sic] more than 14 business days” (the “Challenge Time Period”). The complaining party must initiate litigation within Challenge Time Period.  Failure to initiate litigation will result in reactivation of the site at the end of the Challenge Time Period.
7. The Host sends the Counter Notification to the complaining party. The complaining party must then either withdraw its complaint or file an “action seeking a court order to restrain the [customer] from the infringing activity” (the “Action”).  If the Host does not receive notice of the Action within the Challenge Time Period, the Host may then reactivate the site.  Additionally, during the Challenge Time Period, the customer may remove the allegedly infringing material.  If the customer removes the allegedly infringing material prior to the Host’s receipt of the Action, the Host may cease disabling access to the Web site.  If the complaining party provides to the Host notice of the Action, the Host notifies its customer of the Action and locks the services until the Host receives a court order regarding the disposition of the Web site.

For more information about how to avoid violating the DMCA check out the article “Before You Cut and Paste: Know Your Web Content Rights & Responsibilities!”

We’re looking for small business owners who use social media as part of  their communication and marketing efforts.  We’d like to showcase your efforts on our various blog properties including GrowSmartBusiness, WomenGrowBusiness, and SolutionsArePower.  We’re interested in all sorts of small businesses – restaurants, florists, dry cleaners, lawn care,  you name it – and would like to share with our readers your success in using social media to help get the word out about your business.

Send a brief 60 second or less YouTube video link to smedia@networksolutions.com telling us the following:
• Who you are
• Name of your business
• Types of social media channels you use
• How social media has affected your business
•  And don’t forget to give us your business URL, twitter handle and other contact info!

We look forward to hearing from you!

On a frequent basis we hear feedback that we are over-communicating to our customers, especially when it comes to renewing notices for expiring domains.  All we can say is “guilty.”  On the flip side  some  customers tell us they haven’t received any notices. We start sending domain renewal notices 75 days from the expiration date, then again on day 45, day 20 and day 10.  If we get a bounce back from the email address that’s on file on day 20, then we send a written notice to the registrant’s physical address on file.  That’s why it’s so important for customers to provide their registrars with current contact information – email as well as a physical address.  And as you may have guessed, we also send out a yearly notice encouraging registrants to update their contact information.

The primary reason we send a number of notifications is because many of our customers have important services tied to their domains.  And as some customers have unfortunately experienced, when their domain expires, then the website it’s pointed to ceases to resolve and the email, and any other services that associated with the domain, stops working.  Talk about a royal pain in the business.

So yes, we do send a number of notifications, but we’d rather have a customer’s site continue to resolve and their email continue to work so they can continue to conduct business seamlessly.  For additional tips on how to protect your domain check out http://blog.networksolutions.com/2009/simple-things-to-do-to-protect-your-domain-name-registration/