A Review on Illegal Downloader

There is no doubt the UK government are trying their best to eliminate any illegal downloading.

The same goes to our country too... Our local government are putting a lot of effort to prevent illegal downloading from our society.

If you download material illegally from the Internet, be prepared to fork out a minimum fine of RM250,000. This is the warning from the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry to Malaysians who continue to illegally download songs, videos and the like.

Although this penalty was legislated more than 10 years ago under the Copyright Act 1987, it has yet to be fully enforced. This was because the Government was still focusing on “physical enforcement”, encompassing continuous efforts to weed out pirated DVDs, VCDs and CDs sold on the streets and their operators.

However, our government has begin to turn their priority to illegal downloaders nowadays. Malaysians are urged to be responsible consumers and realise the damage they caused to the various industries that painstakingly produced music, videos and movies only to find their work being used for free.

On the other hand, products will also be reasonably priced so that our Malaysian consumers would not consider cheaper alternatives, such as pirated or illegally downloaded products.

Things to take note to Prevent E-Auction Fraud when a Consumer Participating in an E-Auction

what is e-auctions?

• Electronic auctions (e-auctions), auctions conducted online, have been in existence for several years on local area networks (see Section 12.4) and were started on the Internet in 1995. Host sites on the Internet serve as brokers, offering services that enable sellers to post their goods for sale and allow buyers to bid on those items.
  

Types of e-auction fraud

• Bid shielding (a buyer’s action). The use of phantom bidders to bid at a very high price when an auction begins is called bid shielding. The phantom bidders pull out at the last minute, and the bidder who bids with a very low price wins. The bogus bidders were the shields, protecting the low bid of the bidder in the stack. By bid shielding, a ring of dishonest bidders can target an item and inflate the bid value to scare off other real bidders.

• Shilling (a seller’s action). In shilling, sellers arrange to have fake bids placed on their items (either by associates or by using multiple user IDs) to artificially jack up high bids. If they see a legitimate high bid that doesn’t meet their expectations as the end of an auction draws near, they might pop in to manipulate the price.

• Fake photos and misleading descriptions. In reaching for bidders’ attention,some sellers distort what they can truly sell. Borrowed images, ambiguous descriptions, and falsified facts are some of the tactics that sellers might employ to convey a false impression of the item.

• Selling reproductions (a seller’s action). A seller sells something that the seller claims is original, but it turns out to be a reproduction.
  

• High shipping costs and handling fees (a seller’s action). Some sellers just want to get a little more cash out of bidders. Postage and handling rates vary from seller to seller. Some charge extra to cover “handling” costs and other overhead intangibles, whereas others charge to cover the cost of packaging supplies, even though such supplies are often available for free.
  

• Failure to ship merchandise (a seller’s action). This is the old collect-and run routine. Money was paid out but the merchandise never arrives.
  

• Loss and damage claims (a buyer’s action). Buyers claim they never received an item or received it in damaged condition and then ask for a refund. They might be trying to get a freebie. The seller sometimes cannot prove whether the item ever arrived or whether it was in perfect condition when shipped.

Prevention e-auction fraud

• User identity verification. eBay uses the services of Equifax to verify user identities for a $5 fee. Verified eBay User, a voluntary program, encourages users to supply eBay with information for online verification. By offering their Social Security number, driver’s license number, and date of birth, users can qualify for the highest level of verification on eBay.
  

• Authentication service. Product authentication is a way of determining whether an item is genuine and described appropriately.Authentication is very difficult to perform because it relies on the expertise of the authenticators. Because of their training and experience, experts can (for a fee) often detect counterfeits based on subtle details. However, two expert authenticators may have different opinions about the authenticity of the same item.
  

• Grading services. Grading is a way of determining the physical condition of an item, such as “poor quality” or “mint condition.” The actual grading system depends on the type of item being graded. Different items have different grading systems—for example, trading cards are graded from A1 to F1, whereas coins are graded from poor to perfect uncirculated.
  

• Feedback Forum. The eBay Feedback Forum allows registered buyers and sellers to build up their online trading reputations. It provides users with the ability to comment on their experiences with other individuals.
  

• Insurance policy. eBay offers insurance underwritten by Lloyd’s of London. Users are covered up to $200, with a $25 deductible. The program is provided at no cost to eBay users.
  

• Escrow services. For items valued at more than $200 or when either a buyer or seller feels the need for additional security, eBay recommends escrow services (for a fee). With an easy-to-access link to a third-party escrow service, both partners in a deal are protected. The buyer mails the payment to the escrow service, which verifies the payment and alerts the seller when everything checks out. At that point, the seller ships the goods to the buyer. After an agreed-upon inspection period, the buyer notifies the service, which then sends a check to the seller. (An example of a provider of online escrow services is tradenable.com.)
  

• Nonpayment punishment. eBay implemented a policy against those who do not honor their winning bids.To help protect sellers, a first-time nonpayment results in a friendly warning.A sterner warning is issued for a second-time offense, a 30-day suspension for a third offense, and indefinite suspension for a fourth offense.
  

• Appraisal services. Appraisers use a variety of methods to appraise items, including expert assessment of authenticity and condition and reviewing what comparable items have sold for in the marketplace in recent months. An appraised value is usually accurate at the time of appraisal but may change over time as an item becomes more or less popular in the marketplace.

• Verification. One way of confirming the identity and evaluating the condition of an item is through verification.With verification, neutral third parties will evaluate and identify an item through a variety of means. For example, some collectors have their item “DNA tagged” for identification purposes. This provides a way of tracking an item if it changes ownership in the future.
  

Mobile Payment Systems in Malaysia: Its Potentials and Consumers' Adoption Strategies

Mobile Money is a PIN-based Mobile Payment Solution designed by Mobile Money International Sdn Bhd to address the limitations and bottlenecks created by cash, cheques and credit cards. It unlocks the power of the mobile phone to make payments, allowing registered users to pay for goods and services at anytime, anywhere using only a mobile phone coupled with a 6-digit security PIN (Personal Identification Number) via SMS (Short Messaging Service). This gives the freedom to shoppers to buy products online and pay the merchant using his/her mobile phone without being physically present at the store.

When it comes to online selling, selecting a payment gateway is one of the major obstacles faced by the merchants in Malaysia. There are too few choices available, worse, none of these limited choices are cost effective.

Mobile Money will encourage more consumers to shop online. This will definitely be a great boon to the e-commerce industry in Malaysia. It will surely encourage more merchants to adopt online selling as an extra sales channel which complement perfectly with their offline sales channel to help them sell more of their goods and services.

Potentials and Customers' adoption strategies

1) Sell to Anyone, Anywhere at Anytime - The merchant can now sell to people across town, across the country and take payment around the clock, which is not possible with current payment systems. Online selling (e-commerce) becomes a practical means for merchants since customers will only need to enter their mobile phone during checkout from merchant e-commerce website.

2) Safe and Secure - With Mobile Money, merchants do not have to be concern of cash /cheque/credit card handling problems or fraud. The Mobile Money Payment System conforms to the stringent requirements set by Bank Negara Malaysia and the participating banks.

3) Multi Methods to Request for Payment - Merchants have multiple mode of operation to request for payments. You can use an IVR, SMS, Mobile Money Website, or even real time Mobile Money Weblink API weblink that can be integrated with your POS (Point of Sales) System or online storefront system.

4) Refund and Reversal Features - Merchants are allowed to do reversal (within same business day) and refund (within 10 days from transaction date).

5) No Minimum Monthly Transaction, No Rental Fee, No Merchant Account Required - Release yourself from the pressure of hitting the minimum monthly transaction amount to waive the rental fee, which typically runs at RM150 or more per month. Furthermore, you don't need to have a merchant account to apply for Mobile Money, your existing bank account will suffice. It will easily save you RM50,000 which you need to deposit in your merchant account with banks.

Since there are more than 16 million mobile phone subscribers in Malaysia, it is inevitable that mobile phone will become a payment tool. Mobile Money enables the mobile phone to function like a credit card and it allows users to pay from wherever they may be.

Corporate Blogging : A New Marketing Communication Tool for Companies

What Is Corporate Blogging?

A corporate blog is type of blog that is published with the support of an organization to reach their goals, such as marketing and selling their products and services.

Business create a blog to strengthen relationships with important target groups and the positioning of the publishing organization as industry experts. This mean that an organization create blogs to show their knowledge about the industry they're in.

In a business perspective, corporate blogs is used as advertising, much like TV ads, print ads, audio ads, and so on.

The advantage of blogs is that posts and comments are easy to reach and follow due to centralized hosting and generally structures conversation threads. All current browsers (including Firefox, Opera,Safari and Internet Explorer 7) support RSS technology, which enables readers to easily read recent posts without actually visiting the blog which is very useful for low-volume blogs.

Benefits of Corporate Blogging

• Build rapport with customers - give customers a channel to interact and get to know about the brand and organization in a format that are familiar and comfortable with.



• Free feedback and suggestions from key constituents - Corporate blogging gives us insights to what people are saying about products, brand, competitors and marketing. These insights come in the forms of comments on blog or commentary and discussions that take place on other blogs.



• Increased website traffic from higher search engine rankings - Search engines favour websites with fresh content and ranks blog higher in search results.



• Position business as a thought leader - demonstrating expertise and experience in industry through commentary, guides and analysis.

Corporate Example

Jonathan's Blog

The blog of Jonathan Schwartz, CEO of Sun Microsystems. Although John is the CEO of a USD$ 15 billion company, his blogs just like a regular guy.

The Official Google Blog

The Google blog gives you a peek into the internet giant;s products, technology and culture and frequently features managers and enginneers blogging about the projects they work on.

English Cut
Thomas Mahon isn't nearly as big as Sun or Google, but his blog has made him a very successful small business. He tailors Prince Charles' suits!

Blue Flavor Blog
Blue Flavor is another successful small business that effectively employs a thought leadership strategy in their blog.

Seth's Blog
Best-selling author Seth Godin's blog is another example of a blog employing a thought leadership strategy and reinforces Seth's reputation as a writer, speaker and consultant.

Kid Chan Studio Blog
A good example of a corporate blog from Malaysian company.

Exabytes Blog
Another Malaysian blog, the Exabtyes Blog does a good job of humanising a 'virtual' company and notifying readers of special offers.