#Communication: SOPA & PIPA Bills Are Dying, But Not Dead
Yesterday, a couple of the most used and best-known websites on the internet willingly shut themselves down: Wikipedia and Reddit. Google, you likely noticed, ‘redacted’ its daily Google Doodle. These efforts were to call attention to and protest against the Congressional debates over the ‘Stop Internet Piracy Act’ (SOPA) in the House and the ‘Protect Internet Protocols Act’ (PIPA) in the Senate. And they seem to have worked, as support for either bill has drained away: ”We can find a solution that will protect lawful content. But this bill is flawed & that’s why I’m withdrawing my support. #SOPA #PIPA,” Republican Sen. Roy Blunt wrote on his official Twitter page. (Quote from CNN Tech report earlier this morning).
But the concern over online piracy of entertainment and software remains, and SOPA’s political supporters promise to refine new legislative efforts.
Popularity: 2% | Category Blogs, Civics, Communications, Community, Copyrighting, Marketing, National/International, News and Current Affairs, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Opinion, Politics, Reviews, Site Administration, Social Media, Technology | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner
#Tech: SOPA Inspiring Blackouts & Lobbyists – Should Nonprofits Care?
Could SOPA chill free speech?
On the surface, not much seems to be of relevance in the ‘Stop Online Piracy Act’ (SOPA, H.R. 3261) because nonprofits aren’t really in the business of selling digitized content, much less pirated content. Nevertheless, nonprofit organizations and consumer protection groups are decrying the bill and calling for an internet ‘blackout’ on 18 January as Congress discusses the bill. AnonymousIRC, Reddit, and even the many Cheezburger sites are all participating in the blackout while encouraging others to do the same.
The blackout is meant, in part, to call attention to the powers SOPA offers internet service providers (ISPs) and media corporations to shut down sites they believe are dealing with copyrighted material. The blackout is also meant to act as a counterweight to the quarter of a billion dollars these companies have pooled to lobby Congresspeople for their votes in favor of SOPA.
The stakes are high for media businesses and service providers, but nonprofits apparently outside the bailiwick of the act are also starting to get involved. Why?
Popularity: 3% | Category Advocacy, Blogs, Campaigns, Cause Marketing, Civics, Communications, Community, Copyrighting, Events, Marketing, National/International, News and Current Affairs, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Opinion, Politics, Public Media, Site Administration, Social Media, Technology | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner
#Tech: Don’t Confuse Innovation For Implementation This Year
Sure, often new technology IS better...
Who doesn’t like to toss out some predictions about the upcoming game/meeting/primary/year? The thing is: predictions about nonprofits and technology tend to push the envelope of the latter while ignoring the needs and practices of the former. Sure, the iPhone 5 might include Near Field Communication (NFC) technology allowing its owners to round up purchases to the nearest dollar as micro-donations to their favorite charities. Perhaps indeed cloud-computing services will bring nonprofits’ databases to their staff’s tablets in the field.
But some of the most important work for a nonprofit takes place off the grid and away from the latest thinnest laptop. Which is worth remembering, even as your nonprofit absolutely should be keeping an eye out for the tech innovations that can indeed help your colleagues and community.
Popularity: 2% | Category Blogs, Community, Development, Fundraising, iPad Apps, iPad/Tablet, iPhone Apps, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Nonprofit, Opinion, Public Relations, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Tools | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner
#Tech: What Will 2012 Look Like For Social Media?
Welcome to a New Year! As we gear back up we wanted to introduce what other trend watchers are saying about the universe of social media for 2012 – some of which might surprise you.
Two likely developments over the upcoming year according to Lance Ulanoff at Mashable are the implementations of Augmented Reality (also ‘Mobile Augmented Reality’) and the development of the ‘Micro-Payment Economy.’ The former means we will look via our mobile devices (or perhaps glasses) to see not only the objects out there but also any digital information about them. Look at your favorite bistro, for example, and reviews will come up before your eyes as well.
The latter has been developing through much of 2011 as news journals have begun establishing pay walls for content and games are giving themselves away, though the more interesting features must be paid for along the way. Of course, nonprofits have been developing a micro-donation economy for some time already, so hopefully that trend will only expand.
But Lance also believes Facebook is about maxed out in the Anglo-speaking world, and reactions against the ubiquitous cell phone are growing. States, and even the federal government, for example, are starting to implement no-phone policies for moving vehicles. But if augmented reality becomes part of the windshield, then both sets of issues get solved.
Christina Thomas at Technocrati argues, along with many others, that tablets will grow more powerful and grab still larger shares of the computing market. If that’s the case, we will likely see different form factors over the next couple of years as well – though it’s unlikely screens will notably improve in size or strength just yet.
Of course, part of the fun of the new year is to make such predictions in the hope no one hunts your guesses down twelve months later. But we predict that we’ll do our best to keep up with these and other trends – and keep you well informed of them over the coming year.
Popularity: 1% | Category Blogs, Communications, Community, Crowdfunding, Facebook, Fundraising, Hardware Review, iPad Apps, iPhone Apps, Opinion, Reviews, Social Media, Technology, Tools, Twitter | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner
#Tech: Net Neutrality Supported in Europe – Not Unsupported in US
The European Parliament voted last week to continue to encourage net neutrality as a means to foster innovation and to encourage the dissemination of information. The resolution states, in part, its ambitions “to ensure that internet service providers do not block, discriminate against, impair or degrade the ability of any person to use a service to access, use, send, post, receive or offer any content, application or service of their choice, irrespective of source or target.” Political support for the measure was bolstered by the Plum Report, funded by such content providers as the BBC, Yahoo!, and Skype.
In the US, on the other hand, the Senate recently blocked a Republican-sponsored bill that would block the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)from blocking service providers who block, or at least slow down, internet traffic. Why is the Senate’s position so much more convoluted than the one presented by the EU?
Popularity: 2% | Category Civics, Communications, Community, National/International, News and Current Affairs, Nonprofit, Opinion, Politics, Site Administration, Technology, Tools, Web and Print | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner
#Enviro: Does a Green Xmas List Really Help The Environment?
We enjoy looking for, and perhaps even presenting ourselves, challenging ideas for our readers. And one idea we came across challenges our desires to find just the right holiday gift for a loved one while maintaining our green/environmentalist cred. Piers Fawkes, founder and CEO of the New-York based firm PSFK, argues in a recent blog post that ‘buying green’ this holiday season really misses the boat when it comes to helping the environment or changing the habits of businesses.
Are we indeed doing more harm than good when we buy from those ‘Green Gift Guides’ that show up in many of our (e)mail inboxes?
Popularity: 2% | Category Advertising, Blogs, Cause Marketing, Civics, Climate Change, Community, Environment, Greening, National/International, News and Current Affairs, Opinion, Politics | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner
#SocialNetworks: Is Facebook Too D@%n Complicated? Depends On What You Want To Share.
We got the notion for this story from Chris Taylor at Mashable.com, who argues that the geeks at Facebook are so excited about adding and tweaking their platform that they are leaving befuddled an ever growing section of their membership. The latest changes have driven him to distraction:
Take the Ticker, for example, that real-time stream of information which now crowds the right-side of your Facebook page with a lot of distracting noise. Or look at the Like button: That was a very popular all-purpose tool that spread rapidly across the Web. Everyone knows what it means to Like something. But Facebook couldn’t leave well enough alone.
The changes in FB’s layout and Timeline storytelling are not yet implemented for most of us, but they will mean a phenomenal amount of sharing of your online ‘life’. Are you going to accept the flow of your information to the larger world, or are you going to take the time to lockdown or at least curtail some of your sharing?
Popularity: 3% | Category Advice, Blogs, Communications, Community, Facebook, Facebook, Geo-Location, How-to, Marketing, Media Review, Opinion, Permission Marketing, Site Administration, Social Media | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner
#SocialNetworks: Facebook Updates User Experience With Focus on Timelines
Last week Facebook presented its latest iteration and updates with fanfare unusual even for Facebook. The changes were announced just as Google+ wanted to open its services to everyone who wanted to subscribe, so clearly the two wanted to land some PR punches against each other. Now that Google+ has been out long enough for a broad array of users to find what they (don’t) like about the platform, the criticisms have grown sharper. For example, Google+ finds its clientele strikingly young, male, and white. Moreover, the platform still is stressing the ‘real you’ user (no pseudonyms and no organizations), so nonprofits and socially-engaged groups on Facebook have made no efforts to get on board the Google+ train.
We wanted to offer our audience a few opportunities to walk through the new features, and we want also to follow public reactions to the changes. So far, the updates are being treated with greater excitement and anxiety than often accompany FB updates.
Popularity: 3% | Category Blogs, Communications, Community, Facebook, Facebook, Marketing, Media Review, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Opinion, Permission Marketing, Social Media, Software Review, Storytelling, Technology, Web and Print, Web Design | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner
#Philanthropy: President’s Jobs Bill & Tax Proposal Not Warmly Welcomed By Charities
As arguments over what to do with and about the US economy and the federal deficit continue to shed more heat than light, President Obama sought to take the fight back to the Republicans with the ‘American Jobs Act’ announced last week. The act contains a mix of tax realignments likely to gain some Republican votes and stimulus spending pretty much guaranteed to lose those same votes.
Perhaps the most talked-about realignment pertains to the ‘Buffett Rule‘, a popularly-coined term reflecting Warren Buffett’s dismay at paying less income tax than does his secretary. It would rearrange the tax code to shrink loopholes for wealthy individuals and corporations, while rearranging the tax base for those with low-paying jobs.
One loophole the president wants to reduce concerns the deductions of taxes made by the wealthy to charitable organizations – a reduction many charities and nonprofits do not want to see.
Popularity: 3% | Category Banking & Finance, Communications, Community, Development, Donor Acquisition, Fundraising, Grants, Grants and Funding, Low-Income, Major Gifts, National/International, News and Current Affairs, Newspaper Article, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Opinion, Politics | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner
#Economy: The Loss Of A Functional Middle Class
The oft-discussed possibility of a double-dip recession still looms darkly on the near horizon. Sure, the Stock Market is more often up than down, but those numbers represent only about 40% of the economy. Unfortunately, some 1% of the people in the economy control and profit from the 40% takings from that particular casino.
For the rest of the economy, and the people who built it, the shocks of ‘The Great Recession’ are still coming. And the working middle class are feeling it the worst.
Popularity: 4% | Category Banking & Finance, Civics, Communications, Community, Low-Income, National/International, News and Current Affairs, Newspaper Article, Opinion, Politics, Web and Print | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner
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