Thug Life Army

So You Want to Have a Hip Hop Web Site – Do It Right by Robert

The arrogance of some hip hop web sites seems to one thing that is holding back and hurting hip hop. No hip hop is not dead but there is a lack of ethics among some of the so called hip hop and rap web sites. Maybe it is like that because some site owners live on their sites and see the hip hop and rap artists break the law and get away with it and figure that they can do the same.

Sure we all have our favorite sites and we visit them regularly to get our hip hop updates and news on our favorite artists, but just as it is with hip hop and rap mixtapes – everyone with a computer thinks they can have a web site.

Sure web sites are a dime a dozen, it seems, but the good ones stand out and actually do something for the culture of hip hop or they truly represent the ideals and thought process of the artist they ‘rep’ for.

Just as everyone with a pro tools program or a Casio keyboard can not make a good mixtape or be a hip hop MC, not everyone with a PC can make a good hip hop or rap site or represent a hip hop or rap artist.

There are laws that govern the internet and the use of it. Many of these ‘so called’ hip hop sites either do not know that or fail to realize they (or their parents) can be sued over illegal activity on the net.

Don’t get it twisted there are many good hip hop and rap news sites on the net. DaveyD.com, AllHipHop.com, Netweed.com, MTV,com, Ballerstatus.net, Blackelectorate.com, 2PacLegacy.com and many others do a great job of keeping their visitors updated with great hip hop and rap related news – and in a few cases even keep us updated on important news from the real world.

But there are the sites who want to be recognized so bad that they will try anything to get noticed – be it legal or not.

It has come to our attention that there is a site (which we will not name because they do not need the attention nor do they deserve recognition) who is doing what is called ‘cybersquatting’ on our domain name.

This is illegal and all parties involved are being notified of such, as well as the ISPs and the host provider; as they to are responsible for such infringement.

If you want to have a web site my advice is do it right, do everything right. That means no illegal downloadable music or taking news from quality sites and not sourcing it to them.

Stealing of intellectual property is another thing that legit sites have to be on the look out for. Hip Hop and Rap articles, interviews and album reviews are some of the most used and stolen content taken from good sites and used without sourcing or credit given to the real author.

These are things that the good web sites have to put up with and watch out for. Sure many times when contacted the guilty site will source the article, and in fairness some sites either do not know of sourcing or they have new posters who forget to source the article, but still you have to watch for this.

But the most serious of all this is the ‘cybersquatting’. ICANN is responsible for the global coordination of the Internet's system of unique identifiers and can be very helpful in ‘cybersquatting’ cases.

Also advertisers like Google AdSense will not accept sites that are ‘cybersquatting’ and this practice is looked down on by many advertisers and certainly by host providers, because they do not need the headache of litigation.

So if you’re thinking of opening a web site, do your home work. If you have a web site and you are thinking of acting out of malice and thinking of ‘cybersquatting’ be sure you, or your parents, are comfortable with the judgment or the liability for penalty damages of $100,000, and the recovery of attorney fees and costs that such actions can bring.

The lesson here is if you want to have a web site – do it right. Do it on your own. Build your own name. Build your own reputation and if you are good at what you do and how you do it you will succeed. If you do things underhand or illegal – you do not gain respect and in the long run, once word gets around; no one will want to have anything to do with you or your site and you will still be liable for damages.

If you are interested in doing things right or you are having someone trying ‘cybersquatting’ your site, these sites can be helpful.

ICANN - http://www.icann.org

Traverse Legal, PLC - http://tcattorney.typepad.com/domainnamedispute