Mediaboss Marketing

SAN DIEGO, May 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Internet Marketing Inc., one of the fastest growing integrated online marketing agencies in the country, recently named Ben Norton the new President and Chief Operating Officer. Ben Norton is a digital marketing executive with extensive experience helping global advertisers achieve their strategic initiatives.

In his leadership role with Internet Marketing Inc., Ben is primarily focused on the organization's operations, business development activities, and strategic partnerships. In addition, Ben works with the client delivery teams to ensure on-going client satisfaction and retention while also leveraging his operational background to continuously optimize internal organization efficiency. Ben stated, "I'm excited to be a part of such a dynamic organization. Our commitment to our clients' success is unrivaled, and it shows by how we surpass their expectations and digital marketing initiatives.

Ben was most recently in a leadership role with Covario, the largest independent search marketing agency. Earlier in his career, Ben was CEO of Silicon Space, where he was integral in the launch of innovative social media platforms for businesses. Ben has also held executive-level positions with the Nielsen Company and CrossView, a global provider of cross-channel marketing and eCommerce solutions.

In addition to his role with Internet Marketing Inc., Ben is on the Board of VAVi; one of the nation's largest sport and social organizations. Ben earned a bachelor's degree from USC and an MBA from UC, Irvine. In his free time, Ben competes in triathlons and enjoys surfing and spending time with his family.

Brent Gleeson, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Internet Marketing Inc. stated, "We couldn't be more thrilled to have Ben join the team. His digital marketing experience and executive leadership capability add a unique and powerful layer to our management team."

About Internet Marketing Inc.

Internet Marketing Inc. is one of the fastest growing full service digital marketing agencies in the country with offices in San Diego, Las Vegas, and Miami. The company specializes in providing data-driven integrated online marketing solutions for medium and large businesses across the globe. The company prides itself on taking an analytics-based scientific approach to designing the optimal marketing mix for each client based on clearly defined metrics and goals. The services offered include multi-attribution analytics, advanced search marketing and display advertising, usability testing and conversion optimization, website design and development, and a unique blend of social media and search engine optimization. To learn more about IMI, visit http://www.internetmarketinginc.com.

Media Contact: Brent Gleeson, brent@internetmarketinginc.com

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Internet Marketing Inc. Names Ben Norton New President & COO

The Internet Defense League aims to mobilize the Web on legislative issues.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- Remember earlier this year when Wikipedia went black in protest of anti-piracy legislation moving through the U.S. Congress?

Yeah, well, that may be nothing compared to this.

A group called the Internet Defense League, borrowing a page from Batman, is trying to create a "bat signal" for mobilizing open-Internet activists against similar legislation.

The group's tagline: "Make sure the Internet never loses. Ever."

Technically, it's more of a "cat signal," since the group's website, which launched a couple weeks ago, features a picture of a cat's face being broadcast into the sky.

"It's a cat signal because we see the cat as the symbol of the Internet," said Tiffiniy Cheng, co-director of the nonprofit Fight for the Future, which helped organize recent piracy legislation protests and is behind the new site. "There's this academic theory ... that talks about if you ban the ability of people to share cat photos, they'll start protesting en masse."

She added: "The idea is we're building the infrastructure to put up this cat signal or this bat signal all over the Internet at a moment's notice, with the click of a button."

The Internet went haywire in January when Congress was considering two pieces of legislation -- nicknamed SOPA and PIPA -- that aimed to help the government crack down on the online distribution of pirated content.

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A 'bat signal' for the open Internet

Thai webmaster Chiranuch Premchaiporn was found guilty this morning of not deleting lse majest comments on the now defunct web board of the Thai news website Prachatai quickly enough she was sentenced to 1 year in prison, which was then reduced to an 8-month SUSPENDED sentence and a THB20,000 (US$630) fine.

In its verdict, the court states that Chiranuch has failed to delete one comment for 20 days, whereas the other nine objected comments were deleted within 10 days, thus violating against Article 14 and 15 of the 2007 Computer Crimes Actwhich punishes false data that damages a third party, causes public panic or undermines the countrys security and anyservice provider intentionally supporting the said offenses, respectively despite the fact that the court also statesthat the expectation to pre-emptively delete illegal comments was unfair.

Below is a full live timeline of the mornings events

Today at 10.00 AM (Bangkok time) the Thai Criminal Court will give its verdict againstChiranuch Jiew Premchaiporn, the webmaster of the news websitePrachatai. Chiranuch is being prosecuted for failing to delete 10 commentsmade by othersthat are deemed insulting to the monarchynot quickly enough. She has been arrestedin 2009andagain in 2011, while the website itself has been hit by numerous takedown orders and blocked repeatedly by authorities.

Chiranuch "Jiew" Premchaiporn, webmaster of the Thai news website Prachatai, awaiting her verdict at the Crminal Court in Bangkok, Thailand on April 30, 2012. Miss Chiarnuch has been charged for not deleting comments deemed insulting to the country's monarchy not quickly enough and could face 20 years in prison. (Picture: Twitter/@thainetizen)

If that paragraph above sounds familiar to you it should be: these are exactly the same words from the live-blog from the original verdict date one month ago. However, just mere 10 minutes before it was about to start, the courtdecidedto postpone the verdict, since it needed more time due to the complexity of the case.

A lot has happened since then, most notably the death of lse majest-victim Amphon Uncle SMS Tangnoppakul in prison and the lse majest complaint lodged against Prachatai columnist PravitRojanaphruk. In light of these events, Chiranuchs case could be an even more unprecedented moment that could really determine Thailands (dis-)regard for freedom of speech.

Ill live-blog and comment the verdict here and also try to gather as many as reactions as possible. Also, be sure to follow me on Twitter@Saksithfor up-to-the minute updates.

+++NOTE: All times are local Bangkok time (GMT +7)+++

12.13 h: That wraps up our live-blog. Todays verdict is a clear sign by the Thai state that freedom of expression doesnt really exist here. Besides directly cracking down on content that is deemed insulting, defaming to the monarchy or just simply not according to a dominant national narrative, the verdict also underlines the requirement to its citizen to self-censor to satisfy a pre-emptive obedience.

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Thai webmaster Chiranuch found guilty, but avoids jail term

BANGKOK A court sentenced a Thai webmaster Wednesday to an eight-month suspended sentence for not moving quickly enough to delete online comments deemed insulting to the country's royalty in a case widely seen as a test of freedom of expression in Thailand.

While the ruling showed leniency, it also sent the message that Internet content in the Southeast Asian nation must be self-censored. Chiranuch Premchaiporn had faced up to 20 years in prison for failing to quickly remove 10 comments others had posted on her Prachatai news website.

She told reporters she found the verdict reasonable but still had thought she would be acquitted.

The case drew international concern over censorship of the Internet in general and the liability of a website operator for comments posted by a third party.

"Today's guilty verdict for Chiranuch Premchaiporn, for something somebody else wrote on her website, is a serious threat to the future of the Internet in Thailand," Taj Meadows, Asia Pacific spokesman for Internet services giant Google, said by email.

"Telephone companies are not penalized for things people say on the phone and responsible website owners should not be punished for comments users post on their sites," he wrote. "The precedent set today is bad for Thai businesses, users and the innovative potential of Thailand's Internet economy."

Chiranuch was prosecuted under Thailand's computer-crime laws, which were enacted in 2007 under an interim, unelected government that came to power after a coup a year earlier. The laws address hacking and other online offenses, but also bar the circulation of material deemed detrimental to national security, which includes defaming the monarchy.

Her case was inextricably linked to Thailand's fractious politics of recent years, as the country's traditional ruling class allying big business, the military and royalists has been desperately fighting to retain reverence for the monarchy and their influence over politics.

Most people still respect 84-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej, but the evident involvement of palace circles in supporting the 2006 military coup against elected Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra opened the royal institution to unprecedented criticism, much of which was circulated on the Internet.

Bangkok Criminal Court Judge Kampol Rungrat said his guilty verdict was based on one particular post that was left on the Prachatai site for 20 days.

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Thai webmaster gets 8-month suspended sentence in case seen as test of free speech

By Suttinee Yuvejwattana and Daniel Ten Kate - 2012-05-30T05:06:45Z

Thai editor of the popular Prachatai news website, Chiranuch Premchaiporn smiles after the verdict at the Criminal Court in Bangkok on May 30,2012. A Thai court on May 30 convicted an online editor for hosting posts critical of the revered monarchy on her website, but suspended her jail sentence amid demands to reform the lese majeste law. Photograph: Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP/GettyImages

Thai editor of the popular Prachatai news website, Chiranuch Premchaiporn smiles after the verdict at the Criminal Court in Bangkok on May 30,2012. A Thai court on May 30 convicted an online editor for hosting posts critical of the revered monarchy on her website, but suspended her jail sentence amid demands to reform the lese majeste law. Photograph: Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP/GettyImages

A Thai court sentenced a webmaster to an eight-month suspended jail term today for failing to quickly remove royal insults from a Bangkok-based news website that has received U.S. government funding.

Chiranuch Premchaiporn, who manages the web-board for Prachatai, violated the Computer Crimes Act because she failed to erase the content deemed insulting to the monarchy, according to Bangkoks Criminal Court. Police charged her in 2009 under a crackdown initiated by former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and she faced as many as 20 years in prison, Human Rights Watch said in an April 24 statement.

The sentence is the latest in a growing number of convictions for royal insults that has prompted academics to call for revisions to the lese-majeste law, a move all of the countrys major political parties have denounced. The U.S., European Union and United Nations called on Thailand to respect freedom of speech following convictions last year.

The law, which falls under Article 112 of the criminal code, mandates jail sentences as long as 15 years for defaming, insulting or threatening the king, queen, heir apparent or regent. Yesterday the Campaign Committee for the Amendment of Article 112 submitted almost 30,000 signatures supporting a proposal to change the law, including reducing the maximum penalty to three years for insulting the king and two years for other family members, the Bangkok Post reported.

Prachatai is a non-profit daily web newspaper established in June 2004 that often includes articles about the monarchy. It has received $50,000 the past three years from the U.S.-taxpayer funded National Endowment for Democracy, according to its website.

To contact the reporters on this story: Suttinee Yuvejwattana in Bangkok at suttinee1@bloomberg.net; Daniel Ten Kate in Bangkok at dtenkate@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Hirschberg at phirschberg@bloomberg.net

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Thai Webmaster Gets Suspended Jail Term Over Royal Insults