November is coming to an end and in a few short days the (Crazy) holiday season begins! For most of us, it’s a magical time filled with jolly Santas, shiny presents, yummy sweets, falling snow, and many more wonderful things, including, of course, holiday email marketing campaigns!
That’s why we decided to celebrate this festive season with an extraordinary gift for everyone – ALL new and existing customers. Honestly, we huddled for days, scratching our heads, and thinking and talking, till we finally came up with the idea!
We decided to give you something special that you can enjoy all next year − and even longer! We didn’t want it to be a few dollars saved, then back to the usual routine. Instead of those “post-holiday blues”, we wanted you to be able to benefit from your GetResponse holiday present every time you used it! Give up?
To stoke your curiosity and imagination a bit more, let me give you some clues as to what this gift can do to make the New Year your best one ever!
Your GetResponse holiday present will help you create more effective and profitable email marketing campaigns by dramatically increasing your click-through-rates. You’ll be able to connect in a much more personal way with your subscribers, and motivate them to act on your offers. Recipients will be waiting impatiently for your messages so they can WATCH you and your products or services in action!
If you still don’t know what we’ve prepared for you, memorize this: it all begins on December 3th! Remember to check our website first thing and get your extra-special GetResponse holiday present!
To be 100% certain you don’t forget, mark December 3th on your calendar as the day you MUST visit our GetResponse website!
Ty & Holly
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
Ten Ways To Indirectly Get To The Top Of Search Engines
There are millions of web sites trying to get listed in
the top 20 spots of the major search engines. That
amounts to a lot of competition! I say if you can't
get listed at the top, indirectly get to the top.
How do you do this? Look up the top 20 web sites
on the major search engines under the keywords and
phrases people would find your web site. The key
would be to then advertise on those web sites.
The most expensive way would be to buy ad space
on those web sites. If you don't want to spend any
money, you could use the ten strategies below.
These strategies may not apply to every web site.
1. Participate on their discussion boards. You could
post questions, answer other peoples questions, and
join in on conversations. Just include your signature
file and link at the end of your messages.
2. Ask the web site owner if they would like a free
ebook to giveaway to their visitors. You could have
them link to your web site or include your ad in the
free ebook.
3. Submit content to their web site. You could write
articles for their web site and include your resource
box and link at the end of the article. If they publish
it, you'll indirectly be at the top of the search engines.
4. Write an excellent article review of their web site,
products or services. Then publish the review on your
web site. E-mail the web site owner and tell him or
her about it. They may link to your web site so their
visitors read it.
5. Ask the owner of the web site if they would want
to trade advertising. If you don't get as much traffic
as they do, you could throw in some extra incentives.
6. Propose a cross promotion deal with the web site.
You both could promote each others products or
services together in one package deal. This means a
mention and link back to your web site.
7. Give the web site a testimonial for their product or
service. Include a little text link for your web site with
the testimonial. You never know; it could end up on
their ad copy.
8. Post your advertisement on their free classified ad
section on their web site. You want to be sure you
have an attractive headline so they will read your ad.
9. Post your text link on their free-for-all links page.
You want to go back and post your link regularly so
it stays towards the top.
10. Sign their guest books. You could leave a short
compliment about their web site on their guest book.
Just include your signature file and link at the end of
your message.
Quote of the Day:
"The truth that makes men free is for the most part the
truth which men prefer not to hear." -- Herbert Agar, in A
Time for Greatness
Ty & Holly
Web Business Review
the top 20 spots of the major search engines. That
amounts to a lot of competition! I say if you can't
get listed at the top, indirectly get to the top.
How do you do this? Look up the top 20 web sites
on the major search engines under the keywords and
phrases people would find your web site. The key
would be to then advertise on those web sites.
The most expensive way would be to buy ad space
on those web sites. If you don't want to spend any
money, you could use the ten strategies below.
These strategies may not apply to every web site.
1. Participate on their discussion boards. You could
post questions, answer other peoples questions, and
join in on conversations. Just include your signature
file and link at the end of your messages.
2. Ask the web site owner if they would like a free
ebook to giveaway to their visitors. You could have
them link to your web site or include your ad in the
free ebook.
3. Submit content to their web site. You could write
articles for their web site and include your resource
box and link at the end of the article. If they publish
it, you'll indirectly be at the top of the search engines.
4. Write an excellent article review of their web site,
products or services. Then publish the review on your
web site. E-mail the web site owner and tell him or
her about it. They may link to your web site so their
visitors read it.
5. Ask the owner of the web site if they would want
to trade advertising. If you don't get as much traffic
as they do, you could throw in some extra incentives.
6. Propose a cross promotion deal with the web site.
You both could promote each others products or
services together in one package deal. This means a
mention and link back to your web site.
7. Give the web site a testimonial for their product or
service. Include a little text link for your web site with
the testimonial. You never know; it could end up on
their ad copy.
8. Post your advertisement on their free classified ad
section on their web site. You want to be sure you
have an attractive headline so they will read your ad.
9. Post your text link on their free-for-all links page.
You want to go back and post your link regularly so
it stays towards the top.
10. Sign their guest books. You could leave a short
compliment about their web site on their guest book.
Just include your signature file and link at the end of
your message.
Quote of the Day:
"The truth that makes men free is for the most part the
truth which men prefer not to hear." -- Herbert Agar, in A
Time for Greatness
Ty & Holly
Web Business Review
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Six Ways to Generate Traffic
Undeniably, traffic is the backbone of every website. Thus, every webmaster must know how to generate traffic in order to keep their web pages alive and earn money through their sites. Here are the 6 great ways to make money with traffic generation:
Search Engine Optimization. Search engines can tremendously help you drive traffic to your website. Thus, you must know how to optimize your site by using relevant keywords on your content and on your domain name. To get optimum results, you must also submit your website to various search engines like Yahoo! MSN, and Google.
Article Marketing. Dubbed as one of the most efficient and cost-effective traffic generating tools. You can utilize this by writing extremely useful articles and distribute them to popular article submission sites to get quality inbound links to your webpage.
Link building. Search engines will rank your website based on the number of quality links that points to it. To make this work for you, exchange links with other related, established websites by sending requests to their webmasters. The more links you get, the higher your page rank will be.
Social networking sites. MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, and other social networking sites can drive traffic to your webpage. All you have to do is make your profile page compelling and interesting so you can attract your potential clients to join your network.
Forums or discussion groups. Joining forums frequented by your target market can help you increase not only your traffic but also your sales and profits. Post replies and comments that will establish your expertise on your field. Through this, your potential clients will trust you and eventually, buy from you.
Blogging. Create your own web log and talk about your website. This is one of the most effective means to drive traffic to your site as blogs are constantly indexed by major search engines that results to more visitors.
Ty & Holly
Web Business Review
Search Engine Optimization. Search engines can tremendously help you drive traffic to your website. Thus, you must know how to optimize your site by using relevant keywords on your content and on your domain name. To get optimum results, you must also submit your website to various search engines like Yahoo! MSN, and Google.
Article Marketing. Dubbed as one of the most efficient and cost-effective traffic generating tools. You can utilize this by writing extremely useful articles and distribute them to popular article submission sites to get quality inbound links to your webpage.
Link building. Search engines will rank your website based on the number of quality links that points to it. To make this work for you, exchange links with other related, established websites by sending requests to their webmasters. The more links you get, the higher your page rank will be.
Social networking sites. MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, and other social networking sites can drive traffic to your webpage. All you have to do is make your profile page compelling and interesting so you can attract your potential clients to join your network.
Forums or discussion groups. Joining forums frequented by your target market can help you increase not only your traffic but also your sales and profits. Post replies and comments that will establish your expertise on your field. Through this, your potential clients will trust you and eventually, buy from you.
Blogging. Create your own web log and talk about your website. This is one of the most effective means to drive traffic to your site as blogs are constantly indexed by major search engines that results to more visitors.
Ty & Holly
Web Business Review
Sunday, September 13, 2009
10 Shocking Ways To Super-Charge Your Sales
Today's feature article is:
10 Shocking Ways To Super-Charge Your Sales
1. Test different web site color themes to see which
combination will sell your product better. You can
also test the size and style of your web site text.
2. Promise your readers an end result or outcome
in your ad. You must give them a solid guarantee
that your product will solve their problem.
3. Never assume people believe the information in
your ad copy. You need to back-up all your claims
with indisputable evidence.
4. Give your customers free shipping. If you can't
afford that, you can give free shipping to customers
that buy over a certain dollar amount to raise profits.
5. Test your web site regularly for ordering glitches,
bad links, broken graphics, etc. Those types of
errors will make your business look unprofessional.
6. Use free advertising as much as possible. Test a
wide variety of free advertising options like banner
and link exchanges, classifieds, newsgroups, etc.
7. Build credibility for your business by publishing
an e-zine and writing articles. Your customers and
prospects will see you as an expert and trust you.
8. Answer all your e-mail messages as quickly as
possible. Nothing will loose a sale quicker than not
responding to a prospect in time.
9. Build a professional looking web site even if you
have a small budget. You could use free graphics,
designs, list servers, and other tools offered online.
10. Enter to win awards for your web site. When
you display the award graphics on your web site
it will increase your credibility and professionalism.
Ty
Web Business Review
10 Shocking Ways To Super-Charge Your Sales
1. Test different web site color themes to see which
combination will sell your product better. You can
also test the size and style of your web site text.
2. Promise your readers an end result or outcome
in your ad. You must give them a solid guarantee
that your product will solve their problem.
3. Never assume people believe the information in
your ad copy. You need to back-up all your claims
with indisputable evidence.
4. Give your customers free shipping. If you can't
afford that, you can give free shipping to customers
that buy over a certain dollar amount to raise profits.
5. Test your web site regularly for ordering glitches,
bad links, broken graphics, etc. Those types of
errors will make your business look unprofessional.
6. Use free advertising as much as possible. Test a
wide variety of free advertising options like banner
and link exchanges, classifieds, newsgroups, etc.
7. Build credibility for your business by publishing
an e-zine and writing articles. Your customers and
prospects will see you as an expert and trust you.
8. Answer all your e-mail messages as quickly as
possible. Nothing will loose a sale quicker than not
responding to a prospect in time.
9. Build a professional looking web site even if you
have a small budget. You could use free graphics,
designs, list servers, and other tools offered online.
10. Enter to win awards for your web site. When
you display the award graphics on your web site
it will increase your credibility and professionalism.
Ty
Web Business Review
Friday, August 28, 2009
Your Home Business: Turning Pennies into Dollars
We thought we'd share an article written by Stone Evans to
get you thinking about how making and saving small amounts of
money can translate into a larger payoff down the road. Most
small businesses do not explode into huge profits immediately.
It takes time and perserverence to build a business and indeed,
pennies eventually turn into dollars.
Copyright © Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
Henry Ford taught us that to simplify the manufacture of
automobiles, that the best way to do so was to install the
assembly line. That one change revolutionized the auto
manufacturing industry permitting the industry to build cars at
a cost whereas the average person could afford to buy one.
The lesson we should take from this is that having the ability
to improve the process of getting the job quicker and cheaper,
without compromising the quality of the job being done, will
help catapult the person who simplified the process to the top
of his/her field.
Pennies saved in your home business can turn into dollars at the
end of the day, and dollars can quickly multiply into hundreds
or thousands of dollars over time.
Doubt me if you will, but let me ask you a question. Do you
think a saving of two fifths of a penny could make any real
difference in the profit margin of a home business? Of course
the right answer is "it depends on how many transactions are
done in a year, utilizing the savings of the two fifths of one
penny."
You only have to think back a couple of decades to really
appreciate this question. Do you remember the nut that lived and
died in a Las Vegas hotel room? You know the one who was a
billionaire, and was so worried about germs that he died of
starvation? If you guessed Howard Hughes (1905-76), pat yourself
on the back.
Now Howard did not make all of his money on his two fifths of
one penny. He did however make a ton of money from his two
fifths of one penny. It seems Howard owned a can manufacturing
company. And one day, Howard`s team figured out how they could
make one minor change in the design of their food can to reduce
the amount of tin necessary to make a single can.
As the story goes --- if my memory serves me correctly --- the
reduction in tin usage equaled a saving of two fifths of one
penny per can. Howard --- being the really smart businessman
that he was --- decided that he would not be so greedy as to
keep all of the savings for himself. What Mr. Hughes did do was
to keep half of the savings for himself, and give the other half
to his customers. The incredible thing about Mr. Hughes decision
is that by saving his customers an extra one fifths of one cent
per can, he managed to take more market share away from his
competition --- netting his company an additional and
substantial portion of the total market share in the canning
industry.
Let us return our thoughts to your home business. Have you ever
gotten the feeling of excitement --- when you read something or
thought of something --- that you could not wait to implement
this new idea? This could be one of those moments...
In every home business, there are certain processes that we do
over and again. Sometimes it may be possible to trim the time or
expense of a process which in turn will add pennies or dollars
to your bottom line. If it is a process that you do hundreds or
thousands of times per month, then your savings will multiply
into hundreds or thousands of dollars in monthly savings.
Imagine what running a home business was like BEFORE the
computer...
Before the personal computer, we had to hand type all letters
and invoices. Now, we can setup a letter or invoice that we send
out quite often, and we can save it in our word processor so
that when we need to use it again, we can print it quickly and
efficiently. There is no longer a need to type the document
again from scratch.
The computer has simplified our business communications and has
provided us the opportunity to reduce our costs of doing
business.
Think about all of the other processes that the computer has
enabled us to do for far less expense than what we could in the
past.
In this case, the computer is a tool that permits us to save
time and money.
So, my challenge to you is to begin examining the processes in
your own home business and look for ways in which you can save
yourself time and money. It is far better for you to contemplate
on this matter than it is for me to do so for you. Simply put,
you know your business better than anyone on the planet does.
Therefore, you are in a better position than anyone to find
those extra dollars that will decrease your costs and increase
your profits.
The extra pennies and dollars you could extract from your
business could spell the difference between success and failure
for your home business enterprise.
Ty & Holly
Web Business Review
get you thinking about how making and saving small amounts of
money can translate into a larger payoff down the road. Most
small businesses do not explode into huge profits immediately.
It takes time and perserverence to build a business and indeed,
pennies eventually turn into dollars.
Copyright © Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
Henry Ford taught us that to simplify the manufacture of
automobiles, that the best way to do so was to install the
assembly line. That one change revolutionized the auto
manufacturing industry permitting the industry to build cars at
a cost whereas the average person could afford to buy one.
The lesson we should take from this is that having the ability
to improve the process of getting the job quicker and cheaper,
without compromising the quality of the job being done, will
help catapult the person who simplified the process to the top
of his/her field.
Pennies saved in your home business can turn into dollars at the
end of the day, and dollars can quickly multiply into hundreds
or thousands of dollars over time.
Doubt me if you will, but let me ask you a question. Do you
think a saving of two fifths of a penny could make any real
difference in the profit margin of a home business? Of course
the right answer is "it depends on how many transactions are
done in a year, utilizing the savings of the two fifths of one
penny."
You only have to think back a couple of decades to really
appreciate this question. Do you remember the nut that lived and
died in a Las Vegas hotel room? You know the one who was a
billionaire, and was so worried about germs that he died of
starvation? If you guessed Howard Hughes (1905-76), pat yourself
on the back.
Now Howard did not make all of his money on his two fifths of
one penny. He did however make a ton of money from his two
fifths of one penny. It seems Howard owned a can manufacturing
company. And one day, Howard`s team figured out how they could
make one minor change in the design of their food can to reduce
the amount of tin necessary to make a single can.
As the story goes --- if my memory serves me correctly --- the
reduction in tin usage equaled a saving of two fifths of one
penny per can. Howard --- being the really smart businessman
that he was --- decided that he would not be so greedy as to
keep all of the savings for himself. What Mr. Hughes did do was
to keep half of the savings for himself, and give the other half
to his customers. The incredible thing about Mr. Hughes decision
is that by saving his customers an extra one fifths of one cent
per can, he managed to take more market share away from his
competition --- netting his company an additional and
substantial portion of the total market share in the canning
industry.
Let us return our thoughts to your home business. Have you ever
gotten the feeling of excitement --- when you read something or
thought of something --- that you could not wait to implement
this new idea? This could be one of those moments...
In every home business, there are certain processes that we do
over and again. Sometimes it may be possible to trim the time or
expense of a process which in turn will add pennies or dollars
to your bottom line. If it is a process that you do hundreds or
thousands of times per month, then your savings will multiply
into hundreds or thousands of dollars in monthly savings.
Imagine what running a home business was like BEFORE the
computer...
Before the personal computer, we had to hand type all letters
and invoices. Now, we can setup a letter or invoice that we send
out quite often, and we can save it in our word processor so
that when we need to use it again, we can print it quickly and
efficiently. There is no longer a need to type the document
again from scratch.
The computer has simplified our business communications and has
provided us the opportunity to reduce our costs of doing
business.
Think about all of the other processes that the computer has
enabled us to do for far less expense than what we could in the
past.
In this case, the computer is a tool that permits us to save
time and money.
So, my challenge to you is to begin examining the processes in
your own home business and look for ways in which you can save
yourself time and money. It is far better for you to contemplate
on this matter than it is for me to do so for you. Simply put,
you know your business better than anyone on the planet does.
Therefore, you are in a better position than anyone to find
those extra dollars that will decrease your costs and increase
your profits.
The extra pennies and dollars you could extract from your
business could spell the difference between success and failure
for your home business enterprise.
Ty & Holly
Web Business Review
Monday, July 20, 2009
How to Stay Focused on Your Home Business Goals
When you are the owner of a home business, you will find hundreds of distractions that vie for your time, energy and focus. Common distractions include: children, family, friends, neighbors, pets, phone calls, mail, household chores, video games, television, neighborhood children, visitors, and so many more.
As an owner of a home based business, you must always remember your purpose in bringing your profession home. What was your reason for wanting to own a home business? Was your goal to work from home so that you can share in the lives of your children? Was your goal to be out from under the rule of a tyrannical boss? Was your goal to have the freedom to work when it is convenient for you? Was your goal to make tons of money working for yourself?
Here`s a few good tips that will help you stay focused on your home business:
TIP #1: Whatever your reason for going out on your own, you must keep your reason in the forefront of your mind. If you forget your reason for starting your own home business, you will not be working for yourself for long. It is far too easy to let circumstance drive your activities --- and when circumstance is in the driver`s seat, you are more likely to crash and burn.
TIP #2: Remember --- your own business is a lot like a real job. Some people go to work to play, some go to socialize, and others --- most often those who are paid in a commission or tip environment --- go to work to work and to make money. When you work for yourself, your salary is directly proportional to your productivity. Therefore, wouldn`t it make sense to stay focused on getting as much done in as short of a period as possible? Go to work to work and to make money. Leave playtime and recreation for when your workday has ended.
TIP #3: When you are dealing with family in the course of your workday, it is important to schedule your activities as much as possible. With small children, you must take time when you must, but you should also work hard to make sure you dedicate a specific number of hours to your workday.With older children, it is much easier to tell them that you will be working between the hours of x and y. Your children and your friends must understand that certain hours of your day are devoted to the activities of your business.
TIP #4: Don`t permit your friends and extended family to run over you. Many people get the blind idea that if one works from home then they are not actually working. Well-meaning people may try to fill your doorway to bring advice about getting a real job. Others may simply believe that if you are at home, then you are fair game for chitchat and socialization. You must stand firm. You must make certain your friends and family understands that when you are working, then you ARE working! If they wish to socialize with you, then they need to do it during the hours that are not dedicated to your home business.You are the only one who can stand up for you. Your friends and family will seldom be able to appreciate your dedication to your home business, unless you make the effort to make sure that they have the same respect for your business that you do.
TIP #5: You should allot a certain portion of your day to email and to regular mail. For example, allot one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon to handling your written communications. Unless you dedicate certain times to the handling of these communications, you will soon find yourself on the downward slope of decreased productivity.
TIP #6: When you find yourself spending too much time doing non-productive activities, then you should seriously consider finding a third-party service provider who will assist you in those non-profitable business activities.As an example, you might be in the mail-order business. You might believe that your time is best spent writing ad copy and setting up your advertising, but you find yourself spending far too much time taking care of your books to take care of your advertising in the manner that you should. In this event, it might make more sense to hire a bookkeeper to handle your financial records for you.
CONCLUSION: In the end, the success of your home business is entirely and completely reliant upon you and the decisions that you make. You had your reasons for deciding to start your own home based business. You must always keep your reasons in the forefront of your mind. You must always be able to rely upon your own self and your dedication to the success of your business. Your friends and family might be annoyed that they cannot come visit upon their own whim, but when success comes to you and your business, they will better appreciate you for putting your foot down when necessary. Success is within your reach, if only you can stay focused on your goals. You must decide to reach for your goals, and then, you must have the discipline necessary to reach them.
Web Business Review
As an owner of a home based business, you must always remember your purpose in bringing your profession home. What was your reason for wanting to own a home business? Was your goal to work from home so that you can share in the lives of your children? Was your goal to be out from under the rule of a tyrannical boss? Was your goal to have the freedom to work when it is convenient for you? Was your goal to make tons of money working for yourself?
Here`s a few good tips that will help you stay focused on your home business:
TIP #1: Whatever your reason for going out on your own, you must keep your reason in the forefront of your mind. If you forget your reason for starting your own home business, you will not be working for yourself for long. It is far too easy to let circumstance drive your activities --- and when circumstance is in the driver`s seat, you are more likely to crash and burn.
TIP #2: Remember --- your own business is a lot like a real job. Some people go to work to play, some go to socialize, and others --- most often those who are paid in a commission or tip environment --- go to work to work and to make money. When you work for yourself, your salary is directly proportional to your productivity. Therefore, wouldn`t it make sense to stay focused on getting as much done in as short of a period as possible? Go to work to work and to make money. Leave playtime and recreation for when your workday has ended.
TIP #3: When you are dealing with family in the course of your workday, it is important to schedule your activities as much as possible. With small children, you must take time when you must, but you should also work hard to make sure you dedicate a specific number of hours to your workday.With older children, it is much easier to tell them that you will be working between the hours of x and y. Your children and your friends must understand that certain hours of your day are devoted to the activities of your business.
TIP #4: Don`t permit your friends and extended family to run over you. Many people get the blind idea that if one works from home then they are not actually working. Well-meaning people may try to fill your doorway to bring advice about getting a real job. Others may simply believe that if you are at home, then you are fair game for chitchat and socialization. You must stand firm. You must make certain your friends and family understands that when you are working, then you ARE working! If they wish to socialize with you, then they need to do it during the hours that are not dedicated to your home business.You are the only one who can stand up for you. Your friends and family will seldom be able to appreciate your dedication to your home business, unless you make the effort to make sure that they have the same respect for your business that you do.
TIP #5: You should allot a certain portion of your day to email and to regular mail. For example, allot one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon to handling your written communications. Unless you dedicate certain times to the handling of these communications, you will soon find yourself on the downward slope of decreased productivity.
TIP #6: When you find yourself spending too much time doing non-productive activities, then you should seriously consider finding a third-party service provider who will assist you in those non-profitable business activities.As an example, you might be in the mail-order business. You might believe that your time is best spent writing ad copy and setting up your advertising, but you find yourself spending far too much time taking care of your books to take care of your advertising in the manner that you should. In this event, it might make more sense to hire a bookkeeper to handle your financial records for you.
CONCLUSION: In the end, the success of your home business is entirely and completely reliant upon you and the decisions that you make. You had your reasons for deciding to start your own home based business. You must always keep your reasons in the forefront of your mind. You must always be able to rely upon your own self and your dedication to the success of your business. Your friends and family might be annoyed that they cannot come visit upon their own whim, but when success comes to you and your business, they will better appreciate you for putting your foot down when necessary. Success is within your reach, if only you can stay focused on your goals. You must decide to reach for your goals, and then, you must have the discipline necessary to reach them.
Web Business Review
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Are Tech Companies Helping Iran Censor the Net?
By Alex Goldman:
At first, technology appeared to be playing a positive role in Iran's uprising, giving protesters an online voice through services such as Twitter.
Now, however, the Wall Street Journal has reported that Nokia Siemens provided Iran's government with the Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) technology it needs to monitor communications and crush dissent in an article entitled "Iran's Web Spying Aided By Western Technology -- European Gear Used in Vast Effort to Monitor Communications."
Nokia Siemens Networks has denied supplying DPI technology to Iran, but admits supplying the technology Iran needs to monitor cell phone and telephone conversations.
Amid the furor, Internet experts paint a more nuanced story. They say that there's a limit to what we can know about what's going on in Iran, but that it's clear that a firewall is active, and that traffic statistics suggest but do not prove that the government is interfering with applications.
What we know
Nokia Siemens Networks is the only other company, besides SmartFilter, fingered in the Wall Street Journal's article as providing technology to Iran. A representative of Nokia Siemens Networks told InternetNews.com in an e-mail that the only surveillance technology the company provided Iran is that used to monitor phone calls as required by law.
"In most countries around the world, including all EU member states and the U.S., telecommunications networks are legally required to have the capability for Lawful Intercept and this is also the case in Iran," the representative said.
The company did not supply DPI technology to Iran, wrote Ben Roome, head of media relations for Nokia Siemens Networks in a blog post.
"The restricted functionality monitoring center provided by Nokia Siemens Networks in Iran cannot provide data monitoring, Internet monitoring, deep packet inspection, international call monitoring or speech recognition," Roome wrote. "Therefore, contrary to speculation in the media, the technology supplied by Nokia Siemens Networks cannot be used for the monitoring or censorship of Internet traffic."
What we can guess
Internet traffic experts and DPI firms have been hard at work assessing the traffic into and out of Iran, but such data only provides a certain level of insight into the motives and actions of the government of Iran.
Experts believe that specific applications are being targeted, but cannot prove that the government is using a specific technology such as DPI.
"Why are they allowing traffic to continue? Why not switch it off," James Cowie of Renesys, a company that collects Internet traffic data, asked InternetNews.com. The implication is that anything the government allows in is something it can monitor.
The article appears to contradict itself. First it says "the Iranian government appears to be engaging in a practice often called deep packet inspection … The monitoring capability was provided, at least in part, by a joint venture of Siemens AG, the German conglomerate, and Nokia Corp., the Finnish cellphone company, in the second half of 2008, Ben Roome, a spokesman for the joint venture, confirmed."
Then it admits "It couldn't be determined whether the equipment from Nokia Siemens Networks is used specifically for deep packet inspection."
Did the Wall Street Journal accidentally misinterpret what Roome said? Roome suggests that's the case in his blog post, but network expert David Isenberg suggested that the misquoting might be intentional in his own blog.
"Chris Rhoads, the reporter who co-wrote today's story, also co-wrote a story that painted what I said to support something I didn't mean," Isenberg wrote. "Two other sources for that story, Larry Lessig and Rick Whitt, also felt the same way!"
The Wall Street Journal's recent record on headline-grabbing stories is patchy. Its report that fighter plane data was stolen turned out to be true, but the Journal had not mentioned that the data was stolen in 2005, so it was not a story about events that happened this year.
A Journal story that the U.S. electrical grid was hacked by spies may have been true but was difficult to assess because it is impossible to prove that spies and not hackers or criminals did the work. Again, malicious activity dates back for some time, in this case possibly to 1997.
Also, did the Wall Street Journal follow the lead of another publication? CNET today noted that a similar article accusing Nokia Siemens Networks of supplying a "spy system" to Iran appeared in the Washington Times two months ago.
Send in the orcs!
Observers should not jump to conclusions. It's possible that that heavy usage, not censorship, is the true cause of Iran's net slowdown. "Interestingly, game protocols like XBox and World of Warcraft show little evidence of government manipulation," wrote Arbor Networks' Labovitz. "Perhaps games provide a possible source of covert channels (e.g. 'Bring your elves to the castle on the island of Azeroth and we'll plan the next Ahmadinejad protest rally?')"
Our Take on the Situation
It is hard to imagine that the government of Iran would not use any means necessary to keep the people repressed under the current tyrannical regime. With all of the applications to filter the web for businesses and parents, the belief that an oppressive government would not use these applications to spy on the populace is a bit naive. It makes someone who was around for the 1984 rollout of the Mac shudder at the full circle the industry has taken in regard to the individual computer user.
Ty & Holly
Web Business Review
At first, technology appeared to be playing a positive role in Iran's uprising, giving protesters an online voice through services such as Twitter.
Now, however, the Wall Street Journal has reported that Nokia Siemens provided Iran's government with the Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) technology it needs to monitor communications and crush dissent in an article entitled "Iran's Web Spying Aided By Western Technology -- European Gear Used in Vast Effort to Monitor Communications."
Nokia Siemens Networks has denied supplying DPI technology to Iran, but admits supplying the technology Iran needs to monitor cell phone and telephone conversations.
Amid the furor, Internet experts paint a more nuanced story. They say that there's a limit to what we can know about what's going on in Iran, but that it's clear that a firewall is active, and that traffic statistics suggest but do not prove that the government is interfering with applications.
What we know
Nokia Siemens Networks is the only other company, besides SmartFilter, fingered in the Wall Street Journal's article as providing technology to Iran. A representative of Nokia Siemens Networks told InternetNews.com in an e-mail that the only surveillance technology the company provided Iran is that used to monitor phone calls as required by law.
"In most countries around the world, including all EU member states and the U.S., telecommunications networks are legally required to have the capability for Lawful Intercept and this is also the case in Iran," the representative said.
The company did not supply DPI technology to Iran, wrote Ben Roome, head of media relations for Nokia Siemens Networks in a blog post.
"The restricted functionality monitoring center provided by Nokia Siemens Networks in Iran cannot provide data monitoring, Internet monitoring, deep packet inspection, international call monitoring or speech recognition," Roome wrote. "Therefore, contrary to speculation in the media, the technology supplied by Nokia Siemens Networks cannot be used for the monitoring or censorship of Internet traffic."
What we can guess
Internet traffic experts and DPI firms have been hard at work assessing the traffic into and out of Iran, but such data only provides a certain level of insight into the motives and actions of the government of Iran.
Experts believe that specific applications are being targeted, but cannot prove that the government is using a specific technology such as DPI.
"Why are they allowing traffic to continue? Why not switch it off," James Cowie of Renesys, a company that collects Internet traffic data, asked InternetNews.com. The implication is that anything the government allows in is something it can monitor.
The article appears to contradict itself. First it says "the Iranian government appears to be engaging in a practice often called deep packet inspection … The monitoring capability was provided, at least in part, by a joint venture of Siemens AG, the German conglomerate, and Nokia Corp., the Finnish cellphone company, in the second half of 2008, Ben Roome, a spokesman for the joint venture, confirmed."
Then it admits "It couldn't be determined whether the equipment from Nokia Siemens Networks is used specifically for deep packet inspection."
Did the Wall Street Journal accidentally misinterpret what Roome said? Roome suggests that's the case in his blog post, but network expert David Isenberg suggested that the misquoting might be intentional in his own blog.
"Chris Rhoads, the reporter who co-wrote today's story, also co-wrote a story that painted what I said to support something I didn't mean," Isenberg wrote. "Two other sources for that story, Larry Lessig and Rick Whitt, also felt the same way!"
The Wall Street Journal's recent record on headline-grabbing stories is patchy. Its report that fighter plane data was stolen turned out to be true, but the Journal had not mentioned that the data was stolen in 2005, so it was not a story about events that happened this year.
A Journal story that the U.S. electrical grid was hacked by spies may have been true but was difficult to assess because it is impossible to prove that spies and not hackers or criminals did the work. Again, malicious activity dates back for some time, in this case possibly to 1997.
Also, did the Wall Street Journal follow the lead of another publication? CNET today noted that a similar article accusing Nokia Siemens Networks of supplying a "spy system" to Iran appeared in the Washington Times two months ago.
Send in the orcs!
Observers should not jump to conclusions. It's possible that that heavy usage, not censorship, is the true cause of Iran's net slowdown. "Interestingly, game protocols like XBox and World of Warcraft show little evidence of government manipulation," wrote Arbor Networks' Labovitz. "Perhaps games provide a possible source of covert channels (e.g. 'Bring your elves to the castle on the island of Azeroth and we'll plan the next Ahmadinejad protest rally?')"
Our Take on the Situation
It is hard to imagine that the government of Iran would not use any means necessary to keep the people repressed under the current tyrannical regime. With all of the applications to filter the web for businesses and parents, the belief that an oppressive government would not use these applications to spy on the populace is a bit naive. It makes someone who was around for the 1984 rollout of the Mac shudder at the full circle the industry has taken in regard to the individual computer user.
Ty & Holly
Web Business Review
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