Random Musings

this week i had the most annoying interaction with a company that sent us a DMCA takedown notice. this company had no idea how to handle the situation and is apparently completely unfamiliar with the idea of letting fans of their product be fans.

quick facts - a soompi member posted a message about a particular product they liked and hotlinked an image from the company’s website into their post. we subsequently received a notice to remove the image. however, the notice did not give us a specific url that contained the content on question. rather, the link provided in the takedown notice took us to an area on the site that contained over 4000 posts. when we replied saying we hare happy to comply, but inquired for further information so we could locate the content, we were told that it wasn’t their problem and that we should take down all 4000 posts if we could not find it or suffer the wrath of their lawyers. (i know, how cliché)

here are three simple tips to future DMCA takedown notice senders - just so we can all get along here.

1.  when fans of your product or your customers are writing positive things about your product - LET THEM! encourage your customers to tell their friends about your product.  they are your best marketing asset and they are a heap load more believable than your own marketing team.

2. if you are sending a takedown notice, provide a specific link that takes us to the content in question. do not send us on a wild hunt when you obviously know the appropriate url. the DMCA states that you should provide “information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material.” so just send me a link that takes me directly to the content in question, not just a link that takes me to my website or some general portion on my website.

3. most websites are happy to comply with DMCA takedown notices, so be polite. do not start of the dialouge being rude and condescending. don’t try to bully. its just not necessary.  and related to this tip is my next point - don’t tell us all about what your big bad lawyers are telling you to do to us in an attempt to scare us. there is plenty of readily available information on the DMCA - we all know how this process works, so no need for huffing and puffing in an attempt to intimidate websites.

thanks. just wanted to get that off my chest.

finally! someone writes a good post about social networks in asia (tho i do have to say, I think qq is more an IM client, even tho it is an IM client on crack).

as i have been discussing the future of soompi and the potential for growth in the asian market with a lot of really smart people in the valley, i have been amazed with how little people know about the largest internet market in the world! social network services in asia are for the most part profitable. that, in and of itself, is a phenomenon worth studying.  also, is virality a cultural by-product there? or is a result of product development? these are all questions that could have major impact on how we do business here.

well, go read the post - its got some great insight. in the meantime, i will keep doing my research on the matter:)

my buddy nick douglas just did an article on soompi.com, digg.com and colbertnation.com over on gawker. funny article about how all three online communities are battling it out on the TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People polls for our respective champions. personally, i love everyone in the top 5, but i have to go with the one my site is rooting for:) that would be rain…for those of you that don’t follow korean pop charts;) but it is an interesting point about how mobilized online communities can yield massive results online.

o so good:D

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOTU6P8xHMA&hl=en]

i am in vegas for three days to attend the asian american marketing conference that is hosted by the asian american advertising federation.  today, yul kwon, the korean american who won survivor, was the keynote.  tomorrow, i am most excited about the giant robot  talk which will be given by eric nakamura.  i’ve been a fan of their company for years:)

this is the first asian marketing conference i have ever attended and am getting to know the small and tight-knit group of advertising professionals that handle this niche market. some things i’ve learned:

• the folks in this industry are very dedicated to making sure mainstream products are marketed to asians as well.
• the asian ad market is WAY behind in terms of internet trends - they still think newspapers are the way to go.
• no one knows about soompi!

this last point is the one that amazes me the most.  in some ways, since soompi’s demographic is younger than the staff at most of these agencies, it makes sense that they haven’t been on the site. BUT, if they are doing their research, they would know we are a big player in the asian american online space.  on the bright side, i am talking to alot of people about our site (perhaps something i should have done earlier, but in all honestly, product development and community management already takes up 110% of our time).

regarding point number two - i know i am a bit spoiled being from san francisco where everyone speaks web.  but honestly, if you are at any ad agency in this day and age, you need to know the basic vocabulary of pageviews, traffic rankings, monthly unique visitors, etc.  the reality is that people are consuming their news, entertainment, and lives online and you need to follow your customers.  not a hard concept to grasp.