Photograph of the Day Has Been Discontinued

The segment Photograph of the Day had been one of my favorites for several reasons.    The main reason is that it gave me the opportunity to promote those photographs which in my opinion showed quality.  Whenever possible I gave credit to the photographer to spread the word of his or her creations.

The Web site that best served the photographers’ purpose was Pixdaus.com. Everyday this site included spectacular photographs, which in my opinion, should be shared with other persons who enjoy photography.  Pictures have a special way to influence your spirituality.  Some photographs often brought mist to my eyes; they are very powerful message carriers.

For this reason, my photographs of the day were selected from Pixdaus.com. I thought I was acting legally; that is, not breaking any copyright legislation.  Pixdaus.com even promoted the use of their photographs.  For example:

“Host and bookmark beautiful nature photography with Pixdaus! The more beautiful the image, the more exposure it’ll get, unless you’d like to make your favorites list private, which is cool too. Share your photos with other people who are passionate about nature and the environment by embedding photos in your blog, linking to them and sharing them with family and friends. Please don’t violate copyright laws. Give credits. Be nice. Let’s be conscious of the world we live in.”

That was until yesterday afternoon when I read something that brought a halt to my intentions about my favorite segment.  This is what I read at Pixdaus.com:

Important! Please do not upload copyrighted images. You run the risk of being banned permanently from Pixdaus and photographers taking legal action against you. If you wish to upload an image whose copyrights do not belong to you, it is vital you contact the photographer first. Should the photographer not grant you permission, you are forbidden to post the image(s) to the site.

In view of the above, I researched the subject of copyright material, just to make sure I made the right decision about posting photographs from Pixdaus.com. or not.    I found the following explanation about a copyright myth, which I feel is correct:

Myth:  “If it doesn’t have a copyright notice, it’s not copyrighted.”

“This was true in the past, but today almost all major nations follow the Berne copyright convention.  For example, in the USA, almost everything created privately and originally after April 1, 1989 is copyrighted and protected whether it has a notice or not.  The default you should assume for other people’s works is that they are copyrighted and may not be copied unless you know otherwise.

There are some old works that lost protection without notice, but frankly you should not risk it unless you know for sure.”

The message was clear—crystal clear.  Stay away from Pixdaus.com photographs before you get in trouble.  It was never my intention of breaking the law posting other people’s creations.  I thought I was promoting their work and not benefiting or creating a profit by doing so.  Lingua Franca is not a profit-oriented blog.  There are no ads in my blog as you all know.

In view of the above, starting today, Photograph of the Day has been discontinued.  I’ll try to take better photographs in the future, and if I find them appropriate, I might identify them as Photograph of the Day. If not, then I’ll keep on practicing photography to develop my picture-taking skills.

Sorry about this folks, but the law is the law.  Good Day.

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Credit Cards Companies on the Hot Seat

For too many years banks have abused the rights of their credit card customers.  For example, last year I received a call from a local bank stating that due to my credit status I was selected for a free Mastercard credit card with a credit limit of $500.00.  Since I didn’t have a credit card at that moment, I accepted the offer and went to the bank to pick up my free credit card.

Shortly after I retired, I solicited an increase on the credit limit to $1,000.00.  That would be enough in case of an emergency, like a car accident.  My request was accepted, but oops!, on the next bank statement there was a charge of $40.00 for the cost of the card for a whole year.  I thought the card was free as a special marketing promotion.  I was wrong.

About fifteen days ago, I received a note in the mail from my bank advising that starting in May, there were be a monthly fee of $3.50 for Credit Card Fraud Insurance up to $10,000.00.  I never requested this insurance.  They courteously replied it was mandatory and that it was in my advantage to protect myself against fraud.  Now my credit card is costing me $82.00 a year, and I thought it was a free gift for being a good customer.  I was wrong again.

I thought of returning the card, but after venting for a while, came to the conclusion that having the card for an emergency was still valid even at a yearly cost of $82.00.  I hope this story ends here and no more charges are in the pipeline.

In Panama, banks can get away with murder.  They pay you 1.5 percent interest for your savings account, but charge you 7.99 percent for a personal loan and up to 18 percent for a credit card loan.  The spread is preposterous.  Who’s looking after the customer’s pockets.  Nobody, that’s who!

In the U.S. things are beginning to change under Barack Obama’s new Administration.  Seizing on the growing unpopularity of credit card companies, President Obama recently  threw his support behind legislation moving swiftly through Congress that would restrict the ability of banks to impose higher fees and interest rates on consumers.

In a White House meeting with credit card industry executives, Mr. Obama sought to jawbone the companies into accepting changes—some voluntarily, some through legislation—that could cut heavily into profits at a financially difficult time.  Credit cards representatives which met with the President included:

• American Express
• Bank of America
• MasterCard
• Discover
• Citibank
• Visa

Today I found out reading the news, that Legislation to rein in credit card practices and eliminate sudden rate hikes and late fees that have entangled millions of American consumers is getting closer to becoming law, bolstered by presidential pressure and the backdrop of economic calamity.  Among measures being taken to protect the credit card consumers are:

• Banning unfair rate increases, fees and penalties.
• Plain English language contracts.  Mr. Obama called on the companies to produce statements that are clearly written and do not have any confusing terms and conditions.   He also proposed that every company issue a “plain-vanilla, easy-to-understand, simplest-terms possible credit card” to make it easier for the average consumer.
• Greater accountability on behalf of the credit card companies.
• Banning minor as clients.

“Most of the banks realize that some of what they’ve done before—the processes being followed—don’t really look very good in the light of day,” said Senator Tom Carper from Delaware, whose state is home base for a large number of credit card firms.

I hope our next president in Panama will look into this matter, and adopt immediate corrective measures  It’s getting out of hand.  Greed has taken over most bank’s predatory practices.  They will have to be forced to put their house is order and clean up their acts.  Wishful thinking?  Good Day.

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