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Saturday, April 14, 2012
A Few Thoughts Re: The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA)...
The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) is scheduled to be debated in the House of Representatives the week of April 23rd, 2012.
The context of this bill still encompasses broad definitions that fail to create the safeguards that the representatives insist are present, and in turn, leave the door open for unintended consequences.
Generally speaking, CISPA pertains to information sharing. It creates very broad legal exemptions which allow the government to share Cyber Threat Intelligence with private companies and in turn, allow companies to share Cyber Threat Intelligence with the government. The main purpose is the enhancement of cyber security.
The problems arise from the definition of the terms Cyber Threat Intelligence. The bill defines Cyber Security Systems and Cyber Threat Information as anything to do with protecting a network from:
(a) Efforts to degrade, disrupt, or destroy such a system or network; or
(b) Theft or misappropriation of private governmental information, intellectual property, or personally identifiable information.
(This definition was provided by H.R. 3523: Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2011).
This definition could easily be interpreted to include copyright policing systems at any point along a network, and since one of the recipients of this shared information would be the Department of Homeland Security, this information could be used to lock down the Internet.
The insistence from the House of Representatives references foreign based attacks on domestic companies (stealing information) rather than media piracy. Unfortunately, no definitions in the bill create any such restriction, allowing for a wide diversification of interpretations.
Moreover, the government can collect this data (including identifying information of users); they are free to use this information for the defined Cyber Security definitions or National Security purposes; and they are allows to search the information for the same aforementioned reasons.
Content for this article was derived from www.GovTrack.us, a website to monitor our representatives in Congress and/or to research pending legislation that might impact our lives and/or businesses.
What exactly are SOPA and PIPA?
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the companion senatorial version, the Protect IP Act (PIPA) are proposed bills intended to enhance the protection against intellectual property theft and copyright infringement.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) protects copyrighted material, and is the current enforceable law. This law focuses on the removal of specific, unauthorized content from the internet. SOPA and PIPA target the platform – in other words, the site hosting the unauthorized content.
If passed, SOPA and PIPA empower the Justice Department target foreign websites willfully committing or facilitating intellectual property theft. They would be able to force U.S.-based companies, like Internet service providers, credit card companies and online advertisers, to cut off ties with those sites. Foreign website operators currently outside the bounds of U.S. law; SOPA and PIPA would help quell illegitimate Internet activity.
Under the rules SOPA or PIPA would impose, start up sites would be unable to handle the costs that come with defending their sites against possible violations. Such sites would not be able to pay the large teams of lawyers that established sites like Google or Facebook can afford.
The legislation in question targets foreign companies whose primary purpose is to sell stolen or counterfeit goods -- but opponents say domestic companies could still be held liable for linking to their content.
The most controversial aspect of the SOPA and PIPA bills was language that would have let the Justice Department force Internet Service Providers to block the domains of suspected foreign "rogue" sites.
As an alternative, the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade (OPEN) Act would make the International Trade Commission (ITC), rather than the Justice Department, responsible for policing U.S. connections to foreign rogue sites.
A Few Thoughts Re: Google Quality Content (Part 9) – Does Excessive Advertisement Distract from the Webpage Content?
In this post, I will raise some talking points with respect to advertisement distractions in a Webpage.
Another question The Google Quality Filter uses in the analysis of assessing the Webpage quality is:
Does an article have an excessive amount of advertisements that distract from or interfere with the main content?
The Google Search Engine will analyze the credibility of a Webpage by analyzing the number of advertisements in a Webpage.
Placing advertisements is very common for many of our Webpages. When advertisements are placed to a normal degree, the Google algorithm varies only slightly; however, Webpages that excessively use too many advertisements make it very difficult for a reader to find the actual page content.
Google support states:
“If you decide to update your page layout, the page layout algorithm will automatically reflect the changes as we re-crawl and process enough pages from your site to assess the changes. How long that takes will depend on several factors, including the number of pages on your site and how efficiently Googlebot can crawl the content.”
Clearly, too many advertisements will result in a decrease of traffic, and unfortunately, Google will decrease your entire site and not just particular pages. When we make modifications to decrease the amount of advertisement in the Webpage, Google makes a note of it when it next visits our Webpages; however, it can take several weeks until the new changes are implemented and integrated into their overall ranking system.
- A nuisance;
- Perceived as spam and cluttered;
- Decreases the advertisement value and hurt advertisement sales;
- Result in lower click-through rates;
Our visitors probably will dislike the use of advertisements over content, and the probability of returning to our Webpage will be quite low.
On the other hand, it would be a waste to under-utilize your website real estate. You do not want to be too apprehensive about having more than one ad on your website either. Once we determine the optimum balance of content and advertisement, our advertisers and readers will be more content - especially if the advertisements are services and/or products that interest them.
A Few Thoughts Re: Google Quality Content (Part 8) – How Do We Compose Authoritative Articles?
In this post, I will raise some talking points as to the authoritative nature of an article when referenced by an author. Another question The Google Quality Filter uses in the analysis of assessing the page/article quality is:
Would you recognize this site as an authoritative source when mentioned by name?
The Google Search Engine will analyze the credibility of an Article/Webpage using the authority of the article – in other words, is the content contain therein reliable and trustworthy?
I have been working on this specific article for about (3) days and it has been very difficult to compose; henceforth, I will do my very best to methodically explain how our articles can become reliable and subsequently, a point of reference for other individuals to use as a source of reference material.
As a starting point, I will use a definition referenced by the Department of Defense as a foundation:
“An authoritative source is a source of data or information that is recognized by members of a Community of Interest (COI) to be valid or trusted because it is considered to be highly reliable or accurate or is from an official publication or reference.”
The source of data or information is our article content, and the members of a Community of Interest are simply our readers and visitors. We should ask ourselves how correct, available, accessible, and updated our content is, and also, will other individuals be able to use our information for their respective research and derive subsequent information?
Through my research for this article, I found a few guidelines and questions that will help us all in familiarizing ourselves with various types of Web resources and the reliability of the information.
1. Does the author have authority in the field in which he/she is writing about? Attributes such as author qualification, credentials, and connections should be taken into account.
2. What institutions and/or organizations is the author associated with? A link to an association does not necessarily mean that the organization approved the content.
3. Does the author have other publications? Perhaps these will be in the form of professional or educational publications; however, if the author does not have other publications, this only indicates that the author’s authority has not been subjected to review.
4. Is the author biased? A common bias indicator is a reader obtaining an impression that the author is trying to sell and item, product, or service. Personal opinions are not negative; however, and as I have previously written about, keeping an impartial objective approach allows for readers to interpret the article from various perspectives.
5. Is the Web information current? If outdated links are referenced, ask yourself what this indicates about the credibility of the information.
6. Are the referenced sources properly recognized? If the information is not backed up with sources, what is the author's relationship to the subject to be able to give an "expert" opinion?
7. Can the subject we are researching be fully covered with WWW sources or should print sources provide balance?
8. On what kind of Web site does the information appear? The site can give us clues about the credibility of the source.
It is safe to assume that if we have limited background in a topic and have a limited amount of time to do our research, we may not be able to get the most representative material on the subject. We all need to be cautious in making unsubstantiated conclusions based on a narrow range of sources.
This may be the most arduous article I have written to date. All too often, I see information copied; sources not recognized appropriately; individuals using articles as a source of selling rather than educating; and credibility misplaced. To all of all the individuals who read this article, I remain humbled that each of you takes an interest and my hope is that we all can learn more from each other.
These are but just a few suggestions and as always, I am welcome to all feedback and discussion as appropriate.
A Few Thoughts Re: Google Quality Content (Part 7) – Do Our Articles Describe Both Sides of a Story?
Continuing our commentaries with respect to Google Quality Filters and what questions Google asks to assess the quality of a page or an article; I have been addressing a few questions at a time, providing some insight and explanation as appropriate.
In this post, I will raise some talking points as they relate to Article Impartiality. Another questionThe Google Quality Filter uses in the analysis of assessing the page/article quality is:
Does the article describe both sides of a story?
Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar quoted:
“A historian ought to be exact, sincere and impartial; free from passion, unbiased by interest, fear, resentment or affection; and faithful to the truth, which is the mother of history the preserver of great actions, the enemy of oblivion, the witness of the past, the director of the future.”
Whether it is history, describing a story, or composing an article for publication, being impartial will ensure a level playing field, if you will. Simply explained, we take an unbiased stance and/or position – not favoring one side over the other and discussing an opinion accurately and fair.
The Google Search Engine will analyze the credibility of an Article/Webpage based on impartiality – in other words, determining the meaning behind the Article/Webpage.
Might I suggest a few thoughts to consider when composing an impartial article?
- Provide a fair balance of issues and views;
- Include a wide range of opinions and commentary;
- Honesty explore conflicting views;
- Treat each thought equally and not under-represent one thought against another;
- Avoid bias and/or an unbalanced viewpoint.
Our articles need to clearly separate our opinions from the facts. We need to carefully interpret our research; ensure all facts contained therein are respected; and not dilute the meaning of the article by making our opinions too one sided.
Keep in mind, our readers have every right to respond to our articles - they are entitled to agree, disagree, and express their comments, and the diversified range of their perspectives should be given due consideration.
Rather than receiving a disagreement personally, we should view these viewpoints as an angle of understanding and promote constructive debate.
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