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Proposed Change to Liability for Online Comments

January 10, 2012 By 2 Comments

The Joint Committee on the Defamation Bill, a Parliamentary committee reviewing proposed new UK defamation laws recommends that web hosts and ISPs should be allowed to keep allegedly defamatory comments online, as long as the author of the comment is identified and a notice of complaint is published alongside the comment.

Current Law

Currently web hosts and ISPs must immediately remove online comments upon gaining actual knowledge that the comments are defamatory i.e. they are informed that the comments are defamatory or they moderate comments on the website. Failure to remove defamatory comments exposes the web host or ISP to a claim for damages for defamation.

Under the provisions of the E-Commerce Regulations web hosts can currently avoid liability for defamation if they act as a mere conduit or cache or host material. This generally covers service providers who:

  • do not initiate the transmission of defamatory comments;
  • do not select who receives the comments; or 
  • do not select or modify information in the transmission of the comments. 

Proposed Changes

Due to the above, many service providers do not moderate comments or content on websites to avoid having “actual knowledge” of defamatory comments. In order to remove this disincentive to moderate websites, the Parliamentary committee has proposed that there should be different rules for dealing with defamation which depend upon whether or not a comment is made anonymously.

Anonymous Comments

Upon receipt of a complaint a web host or ISP should immediately take down anonymous comments unless;

  • the ISP believes that it is in the public interest for the material to remain on the website i.e. whistle blowing; or 
  • the author promptly responds positively to a request to identify themselves, then a notice of complaint should be posted. 

Anonymous authors of comments can be sued for defamation if they can be identified, and web hosts or ISPs that refuse to take down anonymous material can also be sued.

Identified Author Comments


Upon receipt of a complaint a web host or ISP should;

  • publish a complaint notice beside the comment; and
  • then have a judge decide whether or not the comment should be removed.

Liability

If web hosts and ISPs comply with the above they should not be liable for online comments. However, if they fail to comply with the above anonymous authors of comments should be sued for defamation if they can be identified, and hosts or ISPs that refuse to take down anonymous material could also be sued as publisher of the material.

Filed Under: Internet Law, Online PR, online public relations, social media

How to Make PR Work For You

September 12, 2008 By 2 Comments

Whatever business you’re in, press releases and PR campaigns can be a crucial factor in your success. Sure, your core business – customers, employees and profits – are the most important areas as far as maintaining a healthy business; yet if you overlook the PR angle, you may find that your company stagnates and you miss out on the potential for extra growth and profits. Making sure you have the right PR campaign, however, is even more important than not having one at all.

One of the things I always discuss with my clients is their demographic. With online business making the global marketplace ever smaller, it’s important that the right audience for your product is being approached. So, for example, if you run a skateboarding accessory store you’re probably wasting money if you try and get your latest news into Retirement Home Monthly.

The same goes for meat wholesalers – why would you try to attract the attention of media or news outlets specializing in the vegetarian industry? So, know your demographic and work with your PR agency at how to best get this market’s attention.


Using all the available tools can also make a big difference in how successful your press release and subsequent PR campaign is. Although you can still just rely on newspapers and TV/radio to get your news across, now there are so many other – and more effective – avenues for promotion.

Social media networks like Digg and Newsvine are excellent examples – get a PR campaign right on one of these and watch the interest in your news soar. Viral marketing on Facebook or MySpace is another excellent method of reaching a far wider audience than traditional PR methods might result in. Just look at how the Presidential candidates are using this medium as an example of how important it is.

One of the newer forms of promoting your business or even personal news is by video PR. Making a short film and uploading it to the likes of Youtube can offer you the potential of a truly worldwide audience. If you’re looking to attract a more local audience, then websites like PromoVideos and Jippidy let you target specific cities and areas, as well as letting you upload your business video advert for free.

Imagine if you own a seafood restaurant in New York and you use a specifically targeted PR video and press release campaign targeting seafood lovers in your area. They can look at your video and immediately see what you offer. This kind of “immediate PR” is invaluable and the way forward for both business promotion and PR.

If you really want to make the most of any PR campaign, I would advise you start making contacts within the PR industry before you actually need them. This way you can benefit from their advice prior to actually putting your campaign together. There’s nothing worse than thinking you have a great idea, only to find out that it won’t work due to a small demographical or audience-related point – the cost to rethink the campaign could be pretty expensive.

Having a PR agency on call to brainstorm ideas beforehand can mean the difference between a smooth campaign and one that needs constant adjustment. Having an early relationship with a PR agency will also allow them to get to know your business prior to any campaign, and again this will make for a seamless transition from idea to hard marketing and promotion.

I’d like to thank Manoj for allowing me to share my thoughts with you this week, and hopefully I’ve offered you some helpful insight into using PR alongside your ongoing online marketing strategies.

* For more PR news and opinion from Danny Brown please visit the Press Release PR blog.

Filed Under: Online PR, online publicity, Search Engine Optimized Press Release, Video Optimization

Increasing Your Traffic with a Press Release

September 11, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Before I start today’s post, I just want to take the time to offer my thoughts and remembrance to the innocent victims of the events 7 years ago today. We may all have differing political and personal views, but I think we can agree that today is a day for remembrance and reflection. God bless you all.

I read an interesting – for interesting, read ill-informed – article at leading article directory GoArticles.com recently. Entitled “What is Press Release”, it basically trashed the idea of a press release’s ability to increase traffic to your website. Not only that, but it did this by stating some of the worst examples of incorrect and false “facts” I’ve ever read. Here are just a few examples why a press release can increase your website’s traffic:

1. Using a search engine optimized press release can offer a substantial increase of traffic to your website, thanks to embedded keywords linking to strategic pages on your website. This has been happening for at least a couple of years now, with excellent results for companies using them.

2. It doesn’t matter whether you run a one-man business or a larger corporate affair. I’ve written for small clients who have been featured on national TV and radio just as much as my larger clients; I know of colleagues in the PR industry that have provided their own clients the same publicity. It doesn’t matter what size the company is – if the press release is newsworthy it will be picked up, end of story.

3. Check Google for keywords on companies or products – many of the results will come from a search engine optimized press release having been picked up by the media or news outlets relevant to the story. In fact, optimized press releases are frequently second only to blogs for search engine friendliness.

Additionally, a search engine optimized press release is one of the best ways to advance your website in the search engines for many reasons.

  • Embedded links in the release act as natural backlinks to your website, increasing SEO importance.
  • The sites that the press release are picked up on also count as invaluable backlinks – imagine the benefit of having thousands of news sites linking to you or your story.
  • The interactivity in an optimized press release offers some of the best SEO methods available – embedded links, RSS feeds, video and MP3 and more.

Increasing traffic to your website is one of the first steps in gaining your target audience, with the added potential of new customers or sales. While there are many ways to achieve this – SEO, article marketing campaigns, blogging, etc – there’s no denying that a press release deserves a leading place in this equation.

* For more PR news and opinion from Danny Brown please visit the Press Release PR blog.

Filed Under: Online PR, Search Engine Optimized Press Release, Search Engine Strategies, SEM

Why Flock and PR are the Perfect Web 2.0 Bedfellows

September 10, 2008 By 3 Comments

I’m always interested in looking at other PR agencies and campaigns and see how different companies employ different approaches. It’s not to be judgmental – after all, we’re all in this together – but more a curiosity factor to compare mindsets and the messages that both the client and PR agency are trying to convey.

Of particular interest is how agencies and clients are approaching PR campaigns for Web 2.0, which offers Internet users a far more interactive experience than ever before. With all the buzz surrounding the promotional aspects offered by the likes of Facebook, StumbleUpon, Twitter, Digg et al, you’d be forgiven for thinking that, unless you’re part of this wonderful Web 2.0 social media revolution, you’ll be left behind. While there’s some truth in that, it’s not as bad as people (especially some PR people) would have you believe.

Using Web 2.0 functionality for online PR – whether it’s Digg, Newsvine, Techorati or similar – can definitely offer an instant and wide-reaching promotional tool for anyone looking to expand their brand. Yet they can also have their downfalls:

  • Facebook, for example, is becoming swamped with advertisements and applications, putting many people off from looking at yet more promotional content.
  • Digg is infused with numerous versions of the same story – so unless you have the first bite of a particular cherry, and have the influence to take the most readers, you’ll just be lost amid the throng.

These are just some examples of where an ill thought out PR premise can fail, especially if the opinion is “Well, it’s social media and Web 2.0 – how can it fail?” Unfortunately, it can and will fail if the expectation is that it’ll succeed purely from the fact that it’s using social networking.

Yet used properly, Web 2.0 and social media can work spectacularly for you. One example that springs to mind is the web browser Flock, which has just made their latest version available. Made with the Web 2.0 community in mind, Flock is (so far) the first and only social web browser that allows users to take full advantage of today’s easy connectivity. Built around the Firefox technology, Flock allows users to integrate many of their social networks into one easy-to-use place. A sidebar will allow you to see what’s happening with your friends on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Pownce and much more.

Now, imagine this from a PR agency angle – if you can see the status of someone on your PR contact list has changed, it could potentially get you in on a new project before it’s really begun. One of your client’s status bars might read “Off to see COMPANY X on Monday”; you could call your client and ask if they need any help promoting a service or deal that will help win a project. With this type of pro-active approach, you’re offering a personalized service that will build client loyalty to you.

Another great aspect of Flock is from a blogger’s point of view. We all know how important blogs are at driving traffic to company websites, so anything that can enhance your blogging experience has got to be worth looking at, and Flock certainly delivers here. It allows you to write a blog from your browser and publish the post directly. There are too many features to list here to do Flock any real justice – you should definitely check it out for yourself!

What I really like about Flock’s approach is that there are no immediate signs of a PR campaign even being in place. If there isn’t a campaign in place, maybe other companies should look at Flock and take notes. It’s similar to the Apple vs. PC television advertising campaigns – Flock is like Apple in that they don’t directly cuss other browsers. All they say is, “This is what we offer – try it for yourself. You’ll soon love it!” or words to that effect.

And they’re right – I’m now running it and the features are amazing, even for a relatively young browser. Once you try it, you’ll be loathe to go back to IE and you’ll possibly think twice about Firefox (although I still love that particular browser). You’ll be keen to share with your friends, who’ll probably also download and try, and before you know it, Flock has become one of the standard web browsers worldwide, from simple word-of-mouth recommendations and shout outs via email.

What better PR could you want?

* For more PR news and opinion from Danny Brown please visit the Press Release PR blog.

Filed Under: Blog Promotion, Flock web browser, Online PR, Web 2.0