This article was originally posted at InternetServiceProviders.org

If you’re reading this, chances are that you’ve at least heard of SOPA. Detractors have compared the bill to censorship policies in countries such as China, Iran and Syria; the grassroots effort to stop it have been massive. Administrators from some of the largest sites in the world have publicly opposed the measure for many reasons, one of which is that inadvertent violations could sound the death knell for a website. Here are ten of the reasons why violating SOPA could be so easy that a site would be unaware until it was too late.  Fortunately, the SOPA bill is delayed/shelved in Congress right now but it’s still important to remember the impact it could have some day.

1. Vague Language – Though House supporters have claimed that SOPA is designed to protect the intellectual property of Americans from foreign profiteers that illegally distribute content in exchange for advertising and membership revenue, the vague wording of the bill makes it difficult to understand exactly what constitutes a violation and certainly doesn’t offer immunity to inadvertently-offending American sites.
2. User-Submitted Content – If a site allows any sort of user-submitted content to be posted as part of their business model, they could very easily find themselves in violation of the Stop Online Piracy Act. Under the current language of the proposed law, the owner of the site that hosts the content, the user that posts a link to the content and the website that allows the user to submit that link could all potentially be charged with violating the bill.
3. The “Friend-of-a-Friend” Effect – Do you remember when you were a kid, and the friend of a friend did something that got you all in trouble? Maybe you weren’t directly involved, and maybe you didn’t even like that person very much, but your mom still said that you were “guilty by association.” Under SOPA, the same principal applies: even if a link to legitimate and legal content housed on another site is shared, the site that posts the link could be punished if the hosting site is found to house illegal content as well.
4. The Comments Section – One of the quickest ways to lose faith in humanity and the education system is to take a look at the comments section of a YouTube video or comedy article; comments are almost universally inflammatory and poorly spelled, but that’s still legal. Should SOPA pass and one trolling user posts copyrighted material in the comments section, the site would be in violation and could face blacklisting, blocking of revenue and DNS blocking.
5. Banner Ads – Aside from being an irritating part of web-surfing, banner ads are arguably the lifeblood of the internet. Those blinking, shouting, IQ-test-offering bits of space pay for the hosting and maintenance of your favorite sites. Depending on how those ads are distributed, the site admins usually have little to no control over their content. Foreign companies can (and do) use protected images in these sites, which could lead to SOPA complaints for the site that hosts the ad.
6. Fair Use – Copying material that is copyrighted for “transformative” purposes, such as creating a parody, is called “fair use,” and has a precedent of use as a legal defense against infringement claims. SOPA would effectively end the practice of fair use, as investigation of claims isn’t required in the current wording of the bill. Hosting currently-allowed fair use images or content could lead to violation charges.
7. Housing a Discussion Forum – Many websites dedicated to a niche interest or subject also house a forum for users to discussed this shared interest. SOPA would make it almost impossible for sites to allow forums, due to the violating content that many users have in their signatures and avatars. Even if those users never shared a single illegal download link, the site could still be in violation from those avatars and signature panels.
8. VPN Violations – Because the SOPA wording allows culpability to be extended to anyone aiding someone who posts copyrighted material, a web-based company that uses a virtual private network could find themselves facing allegations in the event that another network user shares illegal content.
9. Search Engine Results – Part of SOPA’s line of defense against piracy is to require the blocking of offending sites from search engine results. Should a site that hosts such content slip through the cracks of a search engine site, that search engine could be held liable for violations.
10. Open Source Software – For every expensive piece of software available, there’s a perfectly legal, user-built open source version. Created by users for users, the open source format is one of the great accomplishments made possible by worldwide networking. Companies like Mozilla, whose Firefox browser allows open source plug-ins, have already come under fire for permitting the creation and use of plug-ins that would allow access to sites wrongfully blocked in the event that SOPA passes.

Though there is no question that piracy is a problem that affects the entertainment industry to the tune of millions, SOPA is not the solution. While supporters pay lip-service to the idea of protecting American interests, the bill could potentially crush the internet as a viable source of start-ups and entrepreneurial spirit. The inherent riskiness of any web-based venture in a post-SOPA America would discourage investors from putting money into these ventures.

TELEHOUSE and parent company KDDI recently launched a new Cloud portfolio, Telecloud, leveraging their state-of-the-art data centers and industry expertise. This private cloud solution offers enterprises a dedicated infrastructure platform to reliably host mission-critical applications.  Leveraging TELEHOUSE’s secure colocation and access to low latency, resilient networks, Telecloud can be deployed quickly and is an efficient approach to on-demand IT delivery.

Mr Tokuji Mitsui, Managing Director of KDDI and Telehouse Europe, stated: “Telecloud is a joint venture between two industry leaders. It marks the next stage in the evolution of Europe’s first purpose-built data centre provider and a step forward for the cloud industry. The data centre is at the heart of a cloud solution making the physical infrastructure the integral role in maintaining the reliability and accessibility of a company’s application. That is why the partnership of Telehouse and KDDI brings a new unique perspective to the cloud market.”

With cloud utilization on the rise, this joint venture is perfectly timed to meet the growing demand as companies look for increased IT flexibility and cost-savings.

Behind every cloud is a critical infrastructure – it takes secure colocation, resilient networking options, 24×7 support, and robust virtual security measures.  Telecloud offers a winning cloud combination.

For more information, please read the full announcement here: http://www.realwire.com/releases/KDDI-and-Telehouse-launch-Telecloud

Last blog, we discussed how a top trend for strategic PR in 2012 is video.  As private time gets slimmer and the work keeps piling on, a great way to appear as you are “everywhere at once” is via video.  It’s also a great way to track eyeballs and rate just how viral your message can be.  And while we are at it, it’s a great way to connect your brand with your strategic keywords and increase your relevant and natural Search Engine Optimization (SEO)—so when your keyword is googled, you are on the top of the list.

But who has the time or the budget to deliver video consistently to a targeted marketplace?  Well… now Jaymie Scotto & Associates’ (JS&A) clients do!  As a free service to our clients and media partners, JS&A is proud to introduce JSA TV, a virtual newsroom for telecom professionals.  As another tool to help get the word out, we are producing weekly 3-5 minute video clips, in our virtual newsroom setting, to promote companies’ latest news and offerings.

And it’s not limited to our client companies (just free for them).  So if your company would like 3-5 minutes of camera time to discuss your latest milestone or industry trend, let us know.  We are happy to book your virtual recording time.  All you need is a webcam and a skype account and we will provide the rest.

Once the video is professionally produced, rely on JS&A to get it distributed via all our various communications channels, such as via social media, in our monthly video newsletter TNT, right here on our industry-leading blog TNN, on the newswires (if you wish) and on our website and yours. We track our results and we send interested leads to you.

So next time you are singing “Video Killed the Radio Star” in your head, change the words to “Video Made the Telecom Star” – -it’s much catchier!  And email us at JSATV@jaymiescotto.com to become that next telecom star.

Happy Holidays.

Congratulations, Sidera Networks! For the fifth year in a row, the premier provider of fiber optic-based networks has earned multiple Best-in-Class Metro Wholesale Carrier Excellence Awards from ATLANTIC-ACM.  Sidera received top-scores among CLEC/Cable/Fiber providers, this year for Billing, Sales Representatives and Data Value.

ATLANTIC-ACM’s annual Metro Carrier Report Card series is an industry-wide study that enables wholesale customers to provide feedback on multiple carriers. Since 1995, the ATLANTIC-ACM Report Card series has been the telecom industry’s principal source of carrier performance benchmarking information. The awards were presented at a ceremony held during the COMPTEL Plus Fall 2011 Convention and Expo in Orlando, FL.

The full list of award winners can be viewed here. To learn more about Sidera Networks, visit www.Sidera.net.

One Source Networks (OSN), has been selected by Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Company (PLM), a leading provider of property and casualty insurance to support it’s demanding voice and data requirements.

PLM needed a vendor with the flexibility to tailor a custom solution to meet existing requirements and the scalability to support its future communication network needs. One Source was able to recommend a turnkey, IP-based SIP trunking solution with quality service to support a large volume of calls. OSN was able to cut PLM’s expenses in half and provide better quality voice, with enhanced calling features while doubling the Internet access speed.

Read the full release here.  For more information about One Source Networks and its global voice and data solutions for Fortune 1000 enterprise businesses, visit www.onesourcenetworks.com or email marketing@onesourcenetworks.com

Contact Telecom LLC, announces the winner of its drawing held at the recent National Telecommunications Cooperative Association (NTCA) Finance & Accounting Conference in Chicago. Always a hot item at events and tradeshows, the iPad 2 was awarded to M. O’Neal Miller, Chief Executive Financial Operations for Horry Telephone Cooperative, Inc. (HTC). As an exclusive sponsor of the event, Contact Telecom showcased its Billing Data Analyzer (BDA), a scalable, Software-as-a-Service based business assurance platform.

Designed to automate, manage, and process billing and invoice data, BDA has proven to be a crucial time- and money-saving tool for carriers and telecommunication service providers.

Contact Telecom’s suite of services includes Reader+, which quickly integrates carrier invoices across an easy to use web interface; Cost Assurance, a tool that allows carriers to proactively uncover incorrect charges and recoup expenses; and Margin Assurance, which helps determine profitability.

“Financial and operations executives such as Mr. O’Neal Miller are approaching Contact Telecom every day, to learn about new solutions for business assurance,” comments James Buttafuoco, Managing Partner for Contact Telecom. “It’s critical for companies to arm themselves with proper tools so that revenue and cost assurance analysis can be conducted quickly and accurately, further ensuring profitability.”

For more information about Contact Telecom and how to automate data processing, please visit www.ContactTelecom.com.

Agility Recovery, Continuity Centers and FiberMedia are joining forces to bring you a Business Continuity Open House on Wednesday, October 12, 2011 from 2:00pm-6:00pm at FiberMedia’s Chappaqua data center. Learn how the combined strengths of each company guarantees continuity of operations following a disaster of any sort.  There will be a presentation theatre, facility tours and a wine and cheese reception. To register for the event please click here.

This is an opportunity for accounting firms, enterprise businesses, municipalities, health care organizations, hosting providers, IT companies, law firms, service providers, financial institutions and more! Come network and meet with leading companies that can together provide your business a comprehensive disaster recovery and business continuity solution.

Business continuity is more than just data protection. It’s about people, technology and infrastructure. For more information and to register for the event, please visit http://www.rsvpbook.com/event.php?481887 or email jsa_fibermedia@jaymiescotto.com.

We hope to see you on October 12^th!

One Source Networks (OSN) and NetSapiens are eager to announce their partnership to deliver scalable, and reliable next-generation VoIP applications to OSN’s enterprise customers. The equally successful relationship allows OSN to create additional value for their customers and offer a package with generation networking, international capabilities and full mobility. NetSapiens’ can now expand its service across the a wide-range of markets, such as the Fortune 1000 enterprise space.

SNAPsolutions, the new VoIP Service Delivery platform launched by NetSapiens’ offers service delivery components critical to the OSN VoIP infrastructure, such as accounting, provisioning, and call switching. The unique architecture and business model allows NetSapiens to meet the individual demands and help design the most efficient network based on the service provider’s and end-user business needs.

To read the full release, please click here. For more information on One Source Networks visit www.onesourcenetworks.com.

To meet the ongoing market demand for its One Marketplace Access Exchange, Global Capacity has appointed Greg Hough to drive strategy of the platform.   Since May, when the company announced the uptake and growth of the platform, One Marketplace Access Exchange continues to exceed market expectations.  Many network operators struggle to price, provision and install last mile circuits due to cost, lack of reach, inability to source, etc.  This platform solves that problem, providing users visibility into the market based on price, location, and ability to deliver, providing a <60 second turn-around time for an accurate price quote.

The One Marketplace Access Exchange is a more streamlined solution to accurately price, buy, provision and track order implementation of global access circuits.  It is also a channel for providers to offer their on-net access capabilities to a demand driven marketplace.

Read the full release here. To learn more about Global Capacity and its innovative solutions to streamlining the procurement of global access networks, visit http://globalcapacity.com/ or call 312-673-2400.