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Jail Time for Bloggers - Milblogs, Blogging & Laws

Written by: William Atkin

Article Overview: An overview of blogs, their legality, and their place in the world of search engine optimization.

Jail Time for Bloggers - Milblogs, Blogging & Laws

Blogs. If you’re here you probably know what they are. You’re reading a blog. But believe it or not, if you understand what constitutes a blog consider yourself tech savvy. In a study published by Makovsky & Company Inc 70% of Fortune 1000 executives do not understand what a blog consists of.

Technorati says a blog is” A blog, or weblog, is a regularly updated journal published on the web. Some blogs are intended for a small audience; others vie for readership with national newspapers. Blogs are influential, personal, or both, and they reflect as many topics and opinions as there are people writing them.”


There have been many issues over the legality of blogs in all spheres of influence. The major problem with blogs is that they can violate intellectual property. Corporations have had problems with employees distributing trade secrets, daily activities and grievance of a boss or the company itself. Additionally bloggers working for major corporations can violate copy write laws. Often employees use media materials that the company will be held responsible for. This was demonstrated in Jews for Jesus vs. Google Inc 05-CV-10684(S.D.N.Y.) where Jews for Jesus asserted Google was infringing on their trademarks by allowing a blogger on blogspot.com to use their trademark in the blog URL.

The United States military has recently restricted the soldiers’ use of blogs (Milblogs) as personal diaries and a communications tool. According to Wired Magazine “U.S. Army has ordered soldiers to stop posting to blogs or sending personal e-mail messages, without first clearing the content with a superior officer” The military has been slowly curtailing the use of blogs by active military personnel. Considered “Intel”, bloggers in the military do not have the free speech we enjoy and can be punished for what they say through court marshall on other forms of military discipline.milblog

Blogs have also played an important role in politics particularly the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections. Recently social media websites like Digg have shown overwhelming support for lesser known candidate such as Ron Paul, Mike Gravel, which may have had little exposure otherwise. Although candidates such as Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama had enormous internet popularity to begin with, web 2.0 and public outcry have shown smaller candidates internet popularity catching up with and exceeding major political players.
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Article Tags: Makovsky Company Inc, Ron Paul Mike Gravel, Technorati



Related Forum Posts
Re: Best Internet Marketing Strategy - Hi David, I agree about the Blogosphere. You have a smaller group that Blog, but do so on the premise that they think they should, but have never really considered the purpose of their Blog. Then I think there are a few SEO or Internet Marketing types that see Blogging as just another link building strategy. But the largest group of Bloggers, tend to be people who enjoy writing and discussing their topics of interest. Blogging is good for link building, but the true Blogger is a breed apart from the rest. They want to dialog, to debate, to have feedback and they are very willing to link to other worthwhile conversations that are relevant to their topic. I agree with you. These group of Bloggers obviously are passionate about their writing and together, they create huge conversation trails interactive and travel from Blog to Blog. But the evidence is clear with this group that loves what they write about. With comments enabled on a Blog and having a Blog tuned to a specific purpose you already have the evidence of original Social Media.
Re: Best Internet Marketing Strategy - I wanted to share more on the topic of Blogging and creating your own original content that you enjoy writing about. Here's a real example. My wife started her own little Web site a few years ago. It's a very simple, home made Web site she built all on her own. She had sort of a hobby of going into Dollar stores, purchasing a few inexpensive items for a buck or two. Then she would create something completely new (usually home decor) out of what she bought (often with the same value of creating something that was worth up to $15 or $20) if you bought it in other stores, but only using material she bought at a dollar store. So on this little Web site, she starts writing about her creations and take pictures of them etc. A few years ago, someone from an AOL Money and Finance Blog (called Wallet Pop) invited her to Blog for AOL. Today, she write for both the US AOL Blog and the Canadian AOL Blog as well as she continues with her hobby and keeping up her own Web site. The other Bloggers at AOL have nick-named her, "The Dollar Store Diva" and she often writes about budget decorating. What amazes me is that with no SEO and just her original content, she attracts huge volumes of traffic. She has done radio shows in Toronto (and nearly went to the US to do breakfast television) and most people would be so amazed to see the traffic spike she gets from Blogging. But once again, she is just writing about the stuff she loves to write about. She is having fun with creativity and she now has a huge following of readers and subscribers.Others are decorating their homes with her ideas and their doing it with next to no budget. If someone is creating a Web site or a Blog, the best thing you can do is try something original on your own, but make it something that you love to write about.
Re: Books for the Entrepreneur - Here's one of my most recent books The 100 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Business Success By Brian Tracy
Re: UPDATES: New Campaign! New Layout! New Ideas! - We've also expanded the list for Contest and All-Time Leaders. It's great to now see David and Yinka on the All Time list and recognize the contributions they've made to the forums!
No B.S. Time Management - A great book I read on Time Management is No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs by Dan Kennedy.


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