IIA Net Visionary Awards

August 27, 2007 · Posted in Uncategorized · Comment 

The nominations for this year’s Net Visionary Awards are ahead of last year’s figures already. If you have not done so already you have until September 14th to nominate colleagues, clients, peers or people you admire from the industry for one of the 14 categories. The Net Visionary Awards are unique in that they are nominated, voted on and awarded to individuals in the industry in a transparent and fair manner. It is also FREE to nominate someone for these awards. So, get nominating.

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RTE Radio 1 Interview and Cybersquatting Issue

August 23, 2007 · Posted in Uncategorized · 6 Comments 

As CEO of the Irish Internet Association I was interviewed yesterday on the Tom McGurk Show on RTE Radio 1. This arose out of an article in the Sunday Times relating to FirstPlex and the issue of cybersquatting. The interview panel included Joe White of Gandi.net and Gabor Varga of FirstPlex. The issue related to FirstPlex buying multiple .ie domains and infringing copyright of well known brands. For the record let me state that I do not agree with the tactics of this company and regard the hoarding of .ie trademarked names as bad practice.

Some listeners to the interview thought I was siding with Firstplex as I repeatedly said they had done nothing wrong “when registering generic .ie domains”. I stand over that comment. That is the current situation in Ireland. I believe it is too easy to register a Business Name and then use this to register a .ie domain name. What I most definitely do NOT agree with, and is IIA policy, is the purchasing of trademark infringing domains with a view to selling this on or exploiting the owners who have a valid claim. I repeatedly asked Firsplex to explain what their business model is and to clarify their position but this did not happen.

I also pointed out that Firstplex are members of the IIA. When they joined recently they fulfilled all of the membership criteria and informed us they were involved in “online marketing services”. Their website is a holding page that informs visitors it will be live on 31st October. The IIA will be watching closely to ensure that Firstplex are not intending to resell .ie domains which is against IEDR registration policy. The IIA takes members on in good faith but reviews the membership once the company goes “live” to ensure the business does not contravene any laws or regulations.

I believe the solution to this issue is to ensure that all links in the chain are optimised to deter a secondary market in .ie domains and to preclude speculators from infringing intellectual property of copyright. The CRO database is not realtime and when you check the availability of the name it is do guarantee that this is not held elsewhere or infringes copyright. The CRO could flag potential issues when someone tries to register a name and put the application on hold until the relevant parties are informed. The IEDR are doing nothing wrong as their policies are crystal clear and are intended to be transparent and equitable. I would welcome comments, feedback and realistic suggestions as to how this situation can be resolved.

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AccessIT – is this the accessibility resource you’ve been looking for?

August 2, 2007 · Posted in Guest Blogger, accessibility · Comment 

In NDA AccessIT, the National Disability Authority have just produced far and away the best resource that is available in Ireland to do with IT accessibility. In fact, I’d go as far as to say it’s one of the best resources available anywhere in the world.

IT accessibility guidelines

The AccessIT website was originally the home of just the IT Accessibility Guidelines for websites, application software, telecoms and public access terminals. But the guidelines have now been expanded to cover smartcard systems as well. They’ve also been supplemented with loads of other resources and the whole thing has been repackaged. The result is an outstanding collection of guidance and information. A really useful resource for people involved in IT development or procurement.

Procurement toolkit

One of the features of the site is the new Accessible IT Procurement Toolkit. This gives detailed guidance for public organisations who are buying IT systems and products to help them make sure that what they end up with is accessible as possible for their users, and stays that way. It provides material that the procurer can use in requests for tenders, as well as guidance on working with tenderers and contractors during the whole procurement lifecycle – from requirements specification and tender assessment, through implementation and evaluation, to ongoing management and maintenance. It also describes the legal and policy background to IT procurement. All this information, though aimed primarily at procurers, is also very useful for companies who are supplying IT products or services to public sector clients. They will find it useful to know about the advice and information contained in this toolkit and how it will affect the tendering and implementation process. Then they will be more ready to meet the public bodies’ requirements.

And more

The AccessIT site also contains detailed guidance for developing accessible websites. This includes examples, code snippets, videos of people using assistive technologies to demonstrate access barriers and guidance on creating web content. Then there’s guidance for website managers on commissioning a website accessibility audit, plus a whole lot more.

The examples are one of the best features of AccessIT. It’s one thing to be told what to do and how to go about it but it can sometimes still be difficult to fully understand this advice and put it into practice. What you often need are actual examples. The web coding examples and the example texts for including in requests for tenders are a great help in this respect.

Overall, a great job by the NDA. I’d highly recommend it.

Mark Magennis (IIA guest blogger)

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