Sue Me!?! I’ve Been Framed!

SBC Communications, one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world is suing a very small education supply business in Oregon for the use of Frames on their website. SBC claims to hold the patent on Frames, according to Harlie Frost, SBC president of intellectual property. Noting that the website, www.museumtour.com “…contains tabs pointing to different Web pages within the site, and those tabs are in a frame that does not disappear as a person navigates the site.” Ms. Frost said those "features (as well as other valuable features) appear to infringe several issued claims". She goes on to suggest Museum Tour subscribe to a patent-use licensing program offered by SBC.

SBC Communications is a mega corporation made up of, Southwestern Bell, Ameritech, Pacific Bell, SBC Telecom, Nevada Bell, SNET and Sterling Commerce, to name a few. SBC Communications has a graphic on its website claiming to be named one of Fortune Magazines’ “Most Admired Companies in America” for the year 2002. Museum Tour is a small business based in Milwaukie Oregon. It sells educational supplies from its website. Ms. Frost figures SBC is out somewhere around $50Million from the illegal use of their patented FRAMES technology. We figure Ms. Frost (and others like her) are a few nodes short of a full network.

This isn’t the first time a mega-corporation has tried to capitalize on techniques that have become standard tools for website design. In 1999, Amazon tried to sue for the use in design of “one-click ordering systems”, the structure of affiliate programs, and the structure of non-profit donation programs. These actions led Amazon nowhere, with the exception of the boycott lists of several leading consumer advocates. SBC is huge. Within such a large organization, perhaps someone can find more relevant intellectual property for Ms. Frost to chase after such as the use of the “’A’ pitch in dial-tone technology” or “the use of curly-cords as attachments from handheld audio processing units to tabletop or wall mounted communications relay devices”.

Teoma Gets New Toys
Teoma 2.0 has recently been launched with a very impressive, revamped version of their Advanced Search window. The search system includes some pretty amazing options:

Yahoo! Posts Profit!
In the last quarter of 2002, Yahoo posted a net-profit of $42Million, or 8 cents a share. Yahoo’s sales over the last quarter came in around $285.8Million. Compared to 2001’s last quarter loss of $8.7Million, or 2 cents per share, this year’s figures mark a significant upswing for Yahoo’s business model. The company’s sales figures from Q4-2001 were around $188.9Million.

Yahoo is changing and may be defining the face of the Internet in years to come. By 2004, they expect to achieve stronger revenues than at the peak of the tech-boom. Many of the business moves made by Yahoo over the past 12months are obviously paying off. Yahoo’s distributed advertising deals with Overture account for over $177.5Million in revenue, an increase of 31% from last year’s figures. Overall, Yahoo’s revenues are up by 33% from last year.

With the purchase of search-database Inktomi, an increase in traditional advertising, deals with other search-firms such as Overture, and the growth of ecommerce through Yahoo’s “shops” service, Yahoo’s foundation is again looking pretty firm.

www.investments-canada.ca employs six steps to investment and financial planning. The process starts with the prospective client completing a confidential and free "investor profile" form on their website. This clarifies the client's current financial situation and helps identify the client's personal financial goals and problems. Investments-canada.ca contacts the client to personally explain the results of the profile. At this point, clients can use a referred Certified Financial Planner as their investment and insurance broker for implementation and ongoing service or, choose to implement a suitable plan on a "fee only" basis. A fee only financial planner can act like a financial "quarterback" orchestrating the client's existing team of brokers and specialists to implement the plan. 

Check out the Investments Canada web site

One of the most challenging aspects of search engine marketing is choosing that 'perfect' phrase or keyword that will provide traffic while being attainable within a reasonable time period. When you are starting out on the net and choosing a phrase/keyword to promote your site under, keep in mind that the most popular keyword in your industry is not likely to be the smartest pick. In most industries there are countless competitors who have been on the Internet longer than you have and will have had time to build a base which protects them from their fellow competitors. The best tactic is to build your own base by obtaining placements under less competitive phrases and stubbornly begin to encroach on your competitors. There are undoubtedly faster ways to get to the top, however, 9 times out of 10 you will not be nearly as stable in your placements as your entrenched competition.

In short, choose a reasonable target and focus on it!
Do not focus on additional phrases until you have achieved the first target, otherwise you risk falling into the myriad of sites that are not found in the Top20.

Many of you may have heard of Kevin Mitnick over the years or seen a 'Free Kevin' sign on a bumper sticker in the USA. Kevin was the first truly demonized hacker. He was even nicknamed "the most wanted computer criminal in U.S. history." He led the FBI on a 3 year manhunt and was 'accused of causing tens of millions of dollars in damage to computer networks.' Now, after 5 years, the celebrated Hacker icon has been released from his parole. Now he can finally use a computer! Many popular technology TV shows hosted Kevin, but one in particular had him surfing the net for the first time in 5 years. Oh, how the Net has changed for Kevin! Back in his days the net was nearly entirely textual and pop-up ads were non-existent, never mind aggressive SPAM. This link will take you to a cartoon which humorously describes Kevin's fresh steps on the Internet.

We must warn you, however, it is filled with geek humor!