May 2022 Newsletter
In This Issue:
Beware of Copyright Infringement Claim Scam!
Some of our clients have recently received form submissions from people claiming to work for various well-known companies, accusing the recipient of copyright infringement. These are not legitimate claims. This is the revival of a popular scam from a few years ago.
These forms or emails sound something similar to this:
“Hello,
Your website or a website that your organization hosts is infringing on a copyrighted images owned by our company (x company).
Check out this report with the URLs to our images you used at [company URL] and our previous publications to get the evidence of our copyrights.
Download it right now and check this out for yourself:
[url]
I do believe that you deliberately violated our legal rights under 17 USC Section 101 et seq. and could possibly be liable for statutory damages as high as $140,000 as set-forth in Section 504 (c) (2) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (”DMCA”) therein.
This message is official notice. I seek the elimination of the infringing materials mentioned above. Please take note as a company, the DMCA requires you to eliminate and terminate access to the infringing materials upon receipt of this notification letter. If you don’t cease the utilization of the above mentioned copyrighted materials a lawsuit will be started against you.
I do have a strong self-belief that utilization of the copyrighted materials referenced above as presumably violating is not permitted by the copyright owner, its agent, as well as legislation.
I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in this notification is correct and hereby affirm that I am permitted to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly violated.
Best regards,
John Smith
Legal Officer
X Company”
While it may look official, this message is sent to lure people into clicking on the URL provided and downloading malware to their computer. The link may even be a Google Drive file. No matter what the URL is, do not click on it. When in doubt of any email or message sent from an official-sounding company representative, contact the company through their website and verify that the email came from them. They will happy to confirm any legitimate claims or notifications.
If any of our clients run into any other form submissions that seem suspicious, they can also contact Top Of The List to investigate before taking any action.
DOJ Issues New Website Accessibility Guidelines
The Department of Justice has issued new guidelines to serve people with accessibility issues. These guidelines are in addition to their previous list. Non-accessible websites violate rules that protect ‘equal access to information’ for people with disabilities. These rules are taken seriously by the government. Equal access is also important to your business, since not following accessibility guidelines excludes an entire group of people from learning about your company.
The DOJ’s new guidelines include the following:
- Color contrast in text
- Text cues when using color in text
- Alt text descriptions for images
- Video captions
- Labeling online forms for screen readers
- Text zoom capability
- Heading structure
- Keyboard and mouse navigation
For more information about these guidelines and a detailed explanation of each item, visit the Small Business Association of Michigan’s website.
Tip of the Month
Make social sharing on your blog easy. Social sharing for blog posts seems like a no-brainer, but it isn’t a standard feature on all blogs. You put a lot of time and effort into writing posts, so it makes sense to get the most mileage out of them that you can. Making sure that there is an easy way to share them with other people helps your readers spread the word.
There’s a reason that there are so many ways to interact with social posts. These options encourage user engagement which helps users remember more about your company. One person endorsing your business or website to another is worth the same as showing them a hundred paid ads, so you want to give them a direct route to share your content.
Depending on your blog’s platform, you may be able to add a plugin that allows you to add share buttons or provides the option to embed them easily. In other cases, you may have to add some code to your site. Despite the extra effort, having the ability for readers to share at the click of a button is worth the time.
For more tips on how to improve social sharing on your blog, see Social Media Examiner.
Just for Laughs
A Highway Patrol Officer pulled over a little old lady for going 10mph on the highway. As he walked up to the lady’s car, he noticed there were 3 other elderly folks looking very frightened and rigid.
He leaned down to the old lady’s window and noticed she was as calm as could be.
“Do you know why I pulled you over, Ma’am?”
“No, I do not,” she replied sweetly.
“You were going 10mpg on the highway. That’s a serious hazard for other drivers.”
The officer couldn’t help but glance at the three terrified passengers.
The little old lady pointed at the sign nearby. “Isn’t the speed limit 10?”
The officer looked at the sign and laughed. “Ma’am, that’s the sign telling you which highway you’re on. Interstate 10.”
The lady burst out in a fit of giggles. “Oh, I’m sorry!”
The officer decided it was an honest mistake and was going to let her go. But curiosity got the better of him. “Can I ask why your passengers are so scared?”
The little old lady laughed again. “Probably because I just got off Interstate 175.”
Our best for your success!
