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What is the GDPR and what is our path to GDPR compliance?

What is the GDPR and what is our path to GDPR compliance?

We manage so many of our daily activities online that the web has inevitably turned into a giant pool of personal data, which is exposed to a variety of risks, as was the recent case with Facebook.

Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which goes live on May 25th, is aimed at addressing all security risks by enforcing a strict data protection regulation across the EU and beyond.

Learn more about the main principles of the GDPR, how it is meant to protect data privacy and how it will affect our relationship with you and your customers.

What is the GDPR all about?

The GDPR regulation is the most impactful piece of data privacy legislation in the new century.

Coming on the heels of the recent Facebook scandal, which revealed that the data of millions of Facebook users had been misused for the sake of third-party campaigns, the GDPR regulation is designed to regain order in how personal data is handled and stored online.

Despite being an EU regulation, the GDPR practically affects any company that processes the personal information of EU citizens.

That said, it applies to whether or not that company is based in the EU.

For instance, if a US-based company provides goods or services to EU citizens, it automatically falls within the scope of the regulation.

Personal data and individual rights

Approved on April 14, 2016, the new set of rules treats personal data protection as “a fundamental right” of all EU citizens and consumers.

Regarding online services, personal data could include anything from an individual’s name to a physical location or an IP address.

The law also covers browser cookies that can track the web activity of EU individuals.

In an effort to give consumers a bit of power in the so-called “big data” world, the new regulation also gives EU individuals more rights to their information.

All EU individuals will have the explicit right to know whether, where and for what purpose their personal data is being processed.

The GDPR empowers EU individuals to have their personal data erased or not processed further.

They can also object to having their data processed for direct marketing purposes and choose to transfer it away to another provider.

Data protection responsibilities under the GDPR

The GDPR sets out the rights of EU individuals and the respective obligations of data processing companies and organizations in a total of 99 articles.

The main business takeaway is that each company will have to justify the collection of personal data and to follow very strict rules in the process.

The regulation makes a clear differentiation between companies that direct the collection of data (data controllers) and those that actually process it (data processors).

Both controllers and processors will be delegated data protection responsibilities that will make them equally pursuant to GDPR compliance audits.

The GDPR requires companies to revise and update their privacy policies and to make them clearer and more transparent to EU users.

They will need to clearly specify what personal information is collected, for what purposes it is used and what legal basis each purpose is backed up by.

Apart from justifying their data processing activities, however, companies will also need to take specific technical and organizational measures to ensure the highest level of in-house data protection.

Planned GDPR compliance measures on our platform

As a service provider operating on the European market, we are GDPR-bound by default.

Here is a list of the measures that will come into effect on the 24th of May in order to ensure GDPR compliance across our platform.

1. Privacy policy updates

The privacy policy has to mirror each given company’s approach to become GDPR-compliant.

We’ve published a revised version of the Privacy Policy for clients and a brand new Privacy Policy for resellers, which clearly specify our legal grounds for personal data processing, as well as all associated individual rights and data protection responsibilities.

2. Reseller agreement updates

We’ve also updated the Reseller Agreement that governs our relationship with you. You can review it here.

If you are using our Reseller API or are a member of the cPanel Reseller Program, you can take a look at the brand new Data Processing Agreement. It’s our new legal framework, which details how we will process your clients’ data.

3. WHOIS updates

The current public WHOIS system, which is aimed at providing free access to a domain owner’s personal information, is incompatible with the GDPR’s principles.

For that reason, registries and registrars have taken steps to hide the WHOIS details pertaining to the domains they are managing by default.

As an ICANN-accredited registrar and ‘data controller’ for .COM and .NET, we’ve taken measures to hide the WHOIS contact data for all .COM and .NET domains on our platform, in a GDPR-compliant manner.

Registrants who want their personal data to be displayed online, will be able to opt-in to having it exposed in the public WHOIS database via an explicit consent option.

It will be featured in the My Domains section of the Reseller Control Panel and the Domain Manager section of the Web Hosting Control Panel. (as a ‘Whois data disclosure consent’ option in the Edit Whois area).

Until this option becomes available online, you can ask for your registrant details to be disclosed online by opening a ticket.

4. Order form updates

Minor updates have been added to the order form to ensure that customers could consent to specific activities such as having their data stored outside the European Economic Area (EEA).

5. Reseller hosting platform updates

ResellersPanel’s reseller hosting model is not fully compatible with the GDPR’s data privacy standards.

Following a consultation with data protection advisers and learning from our industry’s best practices, we’ve had to initiate a few important, GDPR-compliant updates to our reseller hosting platform.

Those updates include:

  • A revision of the List Clients section of the Reseller Control Panel, after which you will see the following per-client information: Username, Type of Service, Date of Purchase and Expiration Date;
  • A revision of the client’s Control Panel when accessed from the Reseller Control Panel via the “Login as reseller” button, after which you will only see information that does not directly or indirectly identify the given client as far as their personality is concerned. Here is a quick list of the new changes:
    • the following sections are no longer accessible – Change Contact Details, Change Password, Recurring, Invoices, Social Media Accounts, Feedback, Webmail, ID Protection, Wallet;
    • the names of all mailboxes in the account will be hidden, with the option to change the password – disabled.
    • in the File Manager section, the following options are no longer available – View, Edit, Download;
    • in the MySQL and PgSQL Databases sections, the option to change the password is disabled;
    • in the Registered Domains section, the option to edit the WHOIS for a domain is disabled;
    • in the Remote Backups section, the “Available Accounts” list is removed;

In other words, in accordance with the GDPR regulation principles, which come into force on May 25th, you will be able to recognize your customers by the very details of the service they’ve purchased rather than by their personality.

For now, we don’t plan to stop our partners from manually creating accounts for their customers using both the public order form and the Reseller Control Panel.

If you are signing up your customers yourself, make sure that you familiarize them with the Privacy Policy and with the special, explicit-consent opt-in box for entering into a contract that will be featured on the order form starting from May 24th.

In any case, once the data has been processed by us, it will be hidden from you, since we’ll take full responsibility of its processing (as explained earlier).

5. In-house technical and organizational measures

As mentioned earlier, the GDPR will enforce a set of data protection policies on interested companies and organizations to comply with.

They will all require a substantial investment of resources in technical and organizational data protection measures for ensuring the utmost GDPR compliance level.

We’ve done our best to create an efficient action plan that will help us implement all the newly required measures right on time.

Among them is the very method in which we communicate with the data centers that we are partnering with to ensure that they provide the necessary data protection levels.

The Four Types of Bloggers You Need to Work With

The Four Types of Bloggers You Need to Work With

When you run a blog, you’re essentially running a self-made magazine. There are a lot of unspoken rules. Between formatting, how many pictures per post, subject matter, the keywords you should use, and more. If you’re looking for consistent blog readers, you’ll need to keep a high level of content.

One of the best ways to maintain quality content is by guest bloggers. But, who do you pick to blog for you? First, you need to make sure the guest blogger adds value to your blog. They need to be a part of your niche community, or they need to have something of value to share.

One big misconception about blogging is that a guest blogger and a thought leader are the same thing. They’re not. A guest blogger can be anyone with an unusual perspective or a tip they’d like to offer to your readers. Maybe they have a blog that gets a lot of readers, and they want to expand their audience.

A thought leader is a proven guru in their field of study. A thought leader provokes insight or explains processes that are deeper than what you could offer. A thought leader needs to have credential that vaults them above the crowd.

These four bloggers are sure to add value and substance to your blog:

Technical experts

Maybe you run a blog dedicated to Nintendo and old school gaming culture. Why not hook up with someone who knows the in’s and out’s of the hardware? A total pro who can help readers understand why games work a certain way or offer a solution to a machine that’s stopped working. Maybe this blogger can teach your readers tips and tricks to clean their Sega Genesis or keeping their Turbografx 16 in working order when parts are scarce.

Everyone loves How To’s or a niche-related pro-tip. Expert advice is an easy win and always gets a lot of readers. If you play your KEYwords correctly, a blog that offers evergreen content will always rank because the value never diminishes.

Essayists

In years past, newspapers and magazines swore off the long form, kicking it down to two or three pieces per issue. Now that everything is digital, writers have complete freedom to go as long as they like. If in your adventures of gaming, you stumble upon a blogger who can offer a deep cut into gaming history, readers love learning about their niche. If you can mix up the usual content with a few longer pieces, the effect can satisfy many readers tastes because of the options.

As long as the essay adds value and the writing is solid, adding long form could be an excellent way to separate your brand from the pack.

Celebrities

There’s famous and then famous to particular groups of people. Sure, would getting a piece written by Brad Pitt get you some readers? You bet it would. But, let’s be realistic, if you run a blog dedicated to a niche community, it’s best to find the people who stand out, and everyone knows them.

By tapping that celebrity culture, it brings an instant gratification that your blog is cool. No one with a following will just blog anywhere, or so it’s perceived. If you can land a popular gamer or someone who’s well known in the industry, people will view your blog in a much different light. Despite actually not having any significant bearing on your content’s quality, this move works best for gaining awareness with a whole different set of people who didn’t know your blog existed.

Thought leaders

We touched on them earlier, but thought leaders are a crucial score for the success of any blog that deals with a particular community. A thought leader, like a celebrity, lends a different level of credibility to anyone’s blog. Because they’re considered an expert in their field than just famous, the degree of respect is different.

Negotiating terms with a thought leader can be lengthy, but most of the time, having their name attached to your blog is a worthy pursuit. If you want to have a more professional, critically-minded tonality to your blog, working with thought leaders is an awesome way to access knowledge and get content people are excited about.

If you put in the work and mix these personality types in with your content, there’s a great chance you’ll see unique visitors to your blog each week. Just remember to keep the quality high and the reader’s value in mind.

If you’ve got any blogging pro tips, we’d love to hear them. Shoot us a Tweet or leave a comment.

Machielle Thomas, 
What You Need to Know About SSL Certificates

What You Need to Know About SSL Certificates

When was the last time you purchased something online? If you can’t remember, how about someone you know? Odds are the answer is one of the following: today, yesterday, or the day before yesterday. Now let’s hold onto those answers, we’ll need them later.

Online marketplaces, purchases, and transactions are a part of our everyday routine. In addition to that, we live in an age which allows anyone with a little time on their hands to set up shop and participate in online business. When you sign up for a hosting account, it’s usually for a personal hobby, such as blogging, or blogging, or blogging. Or it’s because you have a great product/service and you want to share it. Now whether you’re brand new to hosting or a veteran of the web, you know there are many terms to learn. We’ll help you hone in on one of the most important ones to your business, an SSL Certificate. But first, let’s review some factors that influence online transactions.

Why should I get one?

There are several factors that go into making an online purchase, such as price, quantity, and quality. Those values are usually associated with the product itself, right? Getting someone to trust in a product is one thing, but how can you get visitors to trust in your website? The answer is your SSL certificate. Having one allows you to process credit card and other personal info safely and securely. It allows you to become PCI compliant, which is also a must for online business.

What is an SSL Certificate?

To summarize, an SSL certificate on the front end is the badge that let’s all of your visitors or potential customers know that the information they submit via your site is safe. Security is important, privacy is important, trust is important! That’s the beauty of an SSL certificate. It lets your site’s visitors know those things are important to you too. Without one, you will not succeed in getting your products and services to the people that want them. The symbol that appears when your site has an SSL takes care of half of the battle for you.

How does it work?

We know that on the front end, an SSL certificate is represented by a badge; a symbol that your site is the place to be. But how does it work exactly? The main function of an SSL certificate is to encrypt the information that’s submitted via your website in a way that only the actual recipient of the data can utilize it. In short, no one, except for the person or persons who are supposed to receive it, can read it. Sorry identity thieves and hackers, not on our watch.

When should I get one?

Technically, you can start a blog or a website and not need one right away. In fact, you can even have a website and run purchases exclusively through PayPal without an SSL certificate. While that’s convenient and PayPal is becoming a popular means for transactions, when you’re considering using credit card information for online purchases, PCI compliance requires that you have an SSL certificate. In the long run, we’d recommend that any business gets set up with an SSL cert. If not, you’re telling potential customers that if they’d like to submit credit card information they will need to go somewhere else.

How can I get one?

At Bluehost, we want your online journey to be successful. Getting an SSL with a third party can be a little bit of a hassle, so if you need one and want to ensure a seamless process, we can get you set up. We provide different certificates for different needs and  can help you make sure you get the one that’s the right fit.

Here are the SSL’s we currently offer:

Positive SSL

Comodo’s Positive SSL Certificates are designed for securing intranets, extranets, and websites. These certificates are an ideal and low-cost way of securing your enterprise web server.

Comodo SSL

Comodo SSL certificates provide the strongest protection, greatest flexibility, and can be issued to your website within minutes using our 100% online ordering process.

Positive Wildcard SSL

You can either spend a lot of money and time buying and managing individual SSL Certificates for each subdomain, or you can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars by purchasing just one Wildcard SSL certificate to secure them all.

Comodo Wildcard SSL

Comodo Wildcard SSL secures subdomains such as yourdomain.com, secure.yourdomains.com, and mail.yourdomain.com. One Wildcard SSL certificate saves you money and time by simplifying SSL certificate.

By Eric Ross Anderson

7 Reasons Every Student Should Start a Website

7 Reasons Every Student Should Start a Website

From career boosting to money making, a site of your own comes with the kind of benefits that make a big difference while you’re studying or looking for a job.

1. Think of it as your career ‘game face’

Not only do most recruiters use the web to screen job applicants, more than a third have even knocked back candidates because of their social media activity. According to Andy Sumner at Monster UK, “a Google search will tell a recruiter more than a CV can” — but as scary as that sounds, it’s actually the perfect opportunity to manage your online reputation.

Whatever else you get up to online, a website gives you a professional digital presence to fall back on, as well as a chance of appearing in search results ahead of distracting social stuff. There’s no harm in spreading your personal brand across third-party sites such as LinkedIn too, but starting a website gives you the chance to tell your story in your own way.

2. It’s the ultimate CV

If video content, demos and photos do the best job of showing what you know, a website is what you need. Plus, it’s a lot more discoverable than print or PDF resumes.

An online CV isn’t only a calling card, though: it actively demonstrates you have the skills you say you do(remember the ‘show, don’t tell’ advice about CV writing?). If you’re aiming to get into web design, marketing, publishing— and loads of other professions—a well planned site can sell your enthusiasm for and knowledge of the industry, as well as prove hands-on skills such as coding, picture editing, writing, retail, or flair for SEO.

If your social media already does that, but in lots of different places (Pinterest plus YouTube, or wherever), a website will allow you to keep the highlights in one place — and that means less clicks for employers.

3. You can make money

How to make money from your website is the golden question! Luckily, it’s simple:

Affiliate marketing: Link to partners’ products or services on your site and get a cut of sales from your readers. It’s a neat way to make passive (long-term, low effort) income.

Advertising: Earn cash every time visitors click ads on your site. Google Adsense can automate the process, but if you have the traffic — or the gift of gab — you could make more profit approaching companies directly.

Sponsorship: Allowing retailers to post content on your site (for a fee), or being sent freebies in exchange for a product or service review.

Members’ content: Set up a paid subscribers’ area, or sell downloads of premium content (ebooks, PDFs, insider tips, tutorials, and even audio guides).

Sell products or services: You can sell things you’ve made or can do, too.

There are plenty of other ways to monetize a website but if the ones above sound familiar, it’s because they’re the business backbone of tons of sites you visit everyday. From news and education portals to entertainment, dating, and gaming hubs. And—like them—if you enjoy making content as much as cash, it’s perfectly possible to turn your web work into a whole career.

4. The freedom to do what you love

Got something to shout about? Whatever you care about, you can write, blog or brainstorm it any way you like, including:

Raising money or awareness for a cause.

How-to guides for something you’re an expert in or enjoy doing.

An online journal and/or advice to help others in similar situations.

The freedom to do your own thing is a pretty potent reward but once you’ve got a bank of content, you can always go the monetization route (above). You can also sell your content outright as print or digital books or for use on other websites. It’s great to have the option!

5. A sense of professionalism

It doesn’t matter if you’re applying for jobs or running a business: your own domain name, an email address to match, and some good content looks much more professional. Whether you’re selling products, services, or your career skills, a website demonstrates that you believe in what you’re doing, and are prepared to put in the time and effort.

6. Hands-on experience

Whether you use a website to make money or get your CV seen, there’s nothing like rolling up your sleeves and getting started to see how things work.

Getting and keeping content online is the perfect opportunity to practice problem solving and research skills. You can also perfect your persistence, idea generation, curiosity (how did they do that? And how can I do it?), and network with other influencers. It just so happens, these are all valuable transferable skills as well.

7. It’s ridiculously easy

Luckily, it’s not rocket science! You can start a website — from choosing your domain name and hosting to publishing your first post — in a lunch break or less. Building and buffing your content and brand does take time, of course, but the fewer the hurdles to get to that point, the better.

A website is a bit like a Swiss Army Knife: it’s good for more than one thing. The beauty of it is, you don’t need to be technically minded to be digital. Starting or maintaining a site doesn’t have to take any more time than your average social media fix — and that means bite-size effort, but big-time rewards!

By Ruth Bushi

Nom de domaine premium : qu’est-ce que c’est ?

Nom de domaine premium : qu’est-ce que c’est ?

La jungle des noms de domaine est de plus en plus dense : des centaines de millions de noms de domaines sont enregistrés (130 millions de noms de domaine rien que pour le .com). On peut être quasiment certain que tout nom commun ou marque connue est déjà déposé en nom de domaine (ou être plus rigoureux a déjà été réservé auprès d’un registrar).

Parmi ces noms de domaine, on distingue les noms de domaine premium très prisés dans les secteurs pertinents et par les speculateurs du second marché. Mais quelle en est la définition exacte ? Et qui en décide ?

Qu’est-ce qu’un Nom de domaine premium ?

On s’accorde pour définir un nom de domaine premium d’un nom de domaine normal par 3 caractéristiques.

Il doit être court, mémorisable facilement et surtout signifier quelque chose.

Les 2 premiers critères sont très complémentaires et permettent d’avoir un grand avantage sur les moteurs de recherche très souvent utilisés comme “barre de recherche” : ils privilégient par défaut les noms de domaines courts (même si l’internaute entre une expression plus longue contenant le mot/nom du site).

1. Un nom de domaine premium doit être court

Ce n’est pas nouveau : plus un nom de domaine est court, mieux c’est ! Ainsi des noms de domaine tels que 360.fr, abc.fr ou encore wi.com valent très chers et sont très recherchés. De par leur petite taille ils revêtent à eux seul deux des principales caractéristiques d’un domaine premium, ils sont courts et mémorisable !

2. Un nom de domaine premium doit être signifiant

Il doit évoquer quelque chose pour l’internaute un peu comme un drapeau, une bannière. En général, on dit qu’un NDD est signifiant quand il reprend un mot ou une expression commune, significative du domaine d’activité dont on parle.
Bien que le nom de domaine ait moins d’importance dans le référencement naturel qu’il y a quelques années, un mot clé utilisé comme nom de domaine est toujours un plus en termes de SEO, notamment quand le site aura un contenu en accord.

3. Un nom de domaine premium doit être mémorisable

Les points 1 et 2 font que normalement, le nom de domaine Premium est aussi mémorisable. Un nom de domaine mémorisable permet dans une certaine mesure de s’affranchir du passage obligé par les moteurs de recherche car les gens chercheront alors le site DIRECTEMENT.
De plus, dans la viralité bouche à oreilles que tout le monde veut, un nom mémorisable est vraiment un avantage.

Enfin, un nom mémorisable est très utile pour passer du papier à l’Internet. Quand vous imprimez des flyers ou des plaquettes, un nom de domaine mémorisable permettra de rebondir sur Internet plus facilement.

Un Nom de domaine premium attire les internautes

Un nom de domaine Premium tel que nous l’avons défini plus haut permet d’attirer beaucoup d’internautes qui en voyant ce nom pensent qu’il s’agit de l’”oracle” ou du leader incontestable du secteur. C’est un peu ce qui s’est passé avec hotels.com pour Expedia ou makeup.com pour L’Oréal.

Les NDD Premium coûtent parfois plus cher

Dans certains cas, et avec les nouvelles extensions, les noms de domaine Premium sont facturés plus chers à l’enregistrement initial.

Ainsi, par exemple, la valeur de romance.online est 100 fois celle de romance.bet à l’enregistrement initial. Les Registres fixent ainsi des prix plus élevés pour certains noms de domaine Premium présentant un fort potentiel commercial pour son acquéreur. Cela permet notamment d’éloigner les domainers dont le seul but est de les revendre à prix d’or sur le second marché. Ainsi, le domaine a beaucoup plus de chance d’être réellement utilisé.

Chaque Registre définit la politique qu’il souhaite à ce niveau tant en termes de nombre de domaines concernés dans leur(s) extensions(s), qu’en termes de tarification. Par exemple, certains Registrent proposent le même prix pour tous les domaines qu’ils considenrent comme premium, alors que d’autres offrent des prix très différents. Parfois aussi, le prix du renouvellement est standard et seul le prix de l’acquisition initiale est supérieur.

Le Registre du .com, par exemple, offre des prix très larges pouvant aller de plusieurs milliers d’euros comme pour toutsurlecine.com, coursdechinois.com ou encore thefrenchbaguette.com, ou des prix plus accessibles comme pour vindivin.com ou toutsurlecine.com. D’autres extensions offrent même certains domaines Premium à moins de 100€.

Par extension, les bureaux d’enregistrement appellent souvent aussi “premium” les domaines issus du second marché : le marché des noms de domaines déjà enregistrés. Le bureau d’enregistrement joue alors un rôle de médiateur : ils mettent à votre disposition ou peuvent négocier pour vous le nom de domaine en question.

Chez certains bureaux d’enregistrement, les NDD Premium sont associés à un pack complet

Certains registrars proposent les noms de domaine Premium avec d’autres services, dans un pack complet. Ainsi, le client a en plus du NDD, un espace email, un espace web, des sous-domaines illimités, la gestion des DNS ainsi qu’un service d’assistance par téléphone et par message. Ceci lui permet donc d’utiliser directement son nom de domaine sur le web.

En conclusion, un nom de domaine Premium est un nom de domaine court, mémorisable et qui a une signification commune dans le domaine où vous ouvrez sur internet. Un tel nom de domaine est bien évidemment intéressant mais il peut coûter plus cher qu’un nom de domaine classique. Il s’agit donc d’avoir une réelle stratégie afin de le rentabiliser et de profiter de son potentiel complet.

Protéger sa marque efficacement : dépôt à l’INPI et TMCH

Protéger sa marque efficacement : dépôt à l’INPI et TMCH

Il fût une époque où on s’imaginait que les noms de domaine .com, .net ou encore .org seraient les seules terminaisons envisageables pour les noms de domaines.

Très rapidement pourtant, de nouvelles extensions de noms de domaines sont apparues, que ce soit en référence aux identités nationales (avec les .ca,  .fr, .be ou .us) ou à des domaines d’activité : .biz, .edu, .info, etc.

Aujourd’hui, par rapport à ses débuts, Internet est bien moins rigide dans son organisation. Il y a aujourd’hui des noms de domaine pour presque toutes les circonstances et situations. Et pour une entreprise, une telle réalité impose de prendre des mesures préventives.

Combien de fois n’a-t-on pas entendu parler d’entreprises qui sont forcées de racheter des noms de domaines à des prix exorbitants pour capter tout le trafic qui y échoue naturellement ?

Combien d’entreprises ne sont-elles pas obligées de trouver des formulations inventives pour leurs noms de domaines parce qu’elles ont manqué de proactivité ?

Avec des noms de domaines toujours plus variés, le risque de faire face à de telles situations décuple.

Il existe pourtant des solutions pratiques pour se prémunir dès le départ contre de tels problèmes et protéger sa marque sur Internet : le dépôt de marque à l’INPI et l’enregistrement à la TMCH.

Pourquoi déposer la marque : le rôle de l’INPI et de la TMCH

L’INPI ou Institut national de la Propriété Intellectuelle est l’organisation publique chargée d’assurer la protection de la propriété intellectuelle en France. C’est cette mission globale qui fait de l’institution le premier bouclier contre les usurpations de noms de domaines dont les entreprises peuvent être victimes. La marque fait partie de la propriété intellectuelle, et, à ce titre, toutes ses représentations doivent être protégées contre une exploitation abusive par les tiers. Le nom de domaine ne fait pas exception à cette règle.

C’est donc l’INPI qui reconnaît à une entreprise ou une autre, la propriété intellectuelle d’un nom, sigle ou autre signe et en assure la protection contre la contrefaçon. Ainsi, il ne sera pas possible pour une autre entreprise de créer un site pour proposer des produits ou services similaires aux vôtres, en utilisant un nom de domaine qui s’apparente ou ressemble au vôtre.

L’INPI est le « premier bouclier », mais il n’est pas le seul outil mis à votre disposition. La TMCH (Trademark Clearinghouse) est un service dont le but est de protéger les marques contre le parasitage. Le besoin s’en fait particulièrement sentir avec les noms de domaines de premier niveau (gTLD).

Mis en place par l’ICANN, l’institution internationale chargée de la gouvernance d’internet, ce mécanisme constitue la seconde protection majeure dont vous pouvez vous prévaloir. La protection de la TMCH ne peut être acquise que si votre marque a déjà été déposée dans le registre de l’INPI. En effet, c’est après consultation de la base de données de l’INPI que l’enregistrement à la TMCH peut se faire.

Le mécanisme de la TMCH permet aux marques de bénéficier d’une période prioritaire pour l’enregistrement de leurs noms de domaines dans les nouvelles extensions. C’est ce qu’on appelle la période « sunrise ». Pendant cette période d’au moins 30 jours, les entités listées dans la base de données TMCH auront donc la priorité pour la création de noms de domaines en rapport avec leur image de marque. Le second mécanisme est le signalement pendant 90 jours qui intervient lorsqu’une autre entreprise tente d’enregistrer un nom de domaine qui est présent dans TMCH. La marque préalablement enregistrée à la TMCH pourra donc s’y opposer ou laisser faire.

Comment effectuer le dépôt de sa marque à l’INPI ?

Le dépôt de marque à l’INPI se fait suivant une procédure précise. Il est conseillé de faire appel à un professionnel qualifié, idéalement un avocat, pour vous accompagner dans votre procédure de dépôt de marque. Au-delà des formulaires à remplir et des pièces justificatives à fournir, il faut connaître quelques détails pour bénéficier d’une protection optimale.

Le processus du dépôt de marque

La procédure commence avant le dépôt à proprement parler. En effet, il est recommandé de procéder à une « recherche d’antériorité préalable » de la marque. Il s’agit de savoir si une autre entreprise n’a pas déjà fait usage de cette marque, afin de ne pas soumettre une demande de dépôt qui sera systématiquement refusée. Il n’est pas toujours évident de mener cette recherche par soi-même et d’avoir la certitude de ne rien avoir manqué. Autant la confier, lorsque c’est possible à un professionnel du métier.

Lorsque cette recherche ne fait pas apparaitre de conflits potentiels, on peut procéder au dépôt en remplissant le formulaire de l’INPI. Ce dépôt peut désormais se faire en ligne. Dans ce formulaire, il faudra préciser les différentes classes (secteurs d’activité) dans lesquelles on compte déposer la marque, mais surtout, les ordonner selon la classification internationale consacrée. Il faut préciser que les frais de dépôts s’élèvent à 250 euros avec 3 classes prises en compte. Pour chaque classe additionnelle, il faudra compter 42€ de plus.

Le dépôt de marque peut être fait par une personne physique, une personne morale, un professionnel mandaté ou tout autre personne tiers. Il faudra cependant que le mandaté soit muni d’un pouvoir. Le dossier de dépôt devra donc comprendre :

–          Le formulaire dûment rempli ;

–          Le pouvoir en cas de dépôt par un tiers ;

–          Le bordereau de paiement

Après l’expiration d’un délai de six semaines environ, le projet de dépôt est publié au Bulletin Officiel de la Propriété Intellectuelle. À compter de cette publication, le délai d’opposition légal commence à courir. C’est pendant ce délai de deux mois que toute entreprise ou personne désireuse de contester ce dépôt de marque devra se manifester. Trois mois après l’expiration de ce nouveau délai, la marque pourra être effectivement enregistrée et vous recevrez un certificat d’enregistrement attestant du dépôt de la marque. Ainsi, il s’écoule 5 mois au minimum entre la publication au Bulletin Officiel de la Propriété Intellectuelle et l’enregistrement.

Les bons réflexes à avoir :

  • Déposer plusieurs versions de sa propre marque

Les entreprises sont nombreuses à changer au fil des années. Votre entreprise n’échappera certainement pas à cette règle. D’où l’intérêt de déposer autant de versions que possible de votre marque afin de se préparer à de tels changements de nom ou de logo. Cette précaution permet aussi de bloquer certaines marques déposées semblables à la vôtre, mais qui pourraient tout de même être reconnues comme étant assez distinctives et autorisées par l’INPI.

  • Anticiper et prévoir

Dans le projet de dépôt de marque, il est demandé au déposant de lister les activités, produits et services qui seront associés à la marque. Il ne suffit pas de lister les produits que vous commercialisez ou les activités que vous menez au moment du dépôt de la marque. Il est impératif d’avoir une attitude proactive et de lister tous les produits et services que l’entreprise pourrait être conduite à proposer dans le futur.

Il faut savoir qu’une fois la marque déposée, elle devient une entité rigide. On n’y ajoute pas de nouveaux produits ou services. Une telle démarche nécessitera de faire un tout nouveau dépôt. Faire preuve de prévoyance vous évitera donc bien des problèmes…

The Domain Manager plan has been upgraded to include an email service

The Domain Manager plan has been upgraded to include an email service

2018 has only just begun, but we are already working hard to complete all the projects that have remained unfinished.

One of the most sought-after features last year was the integration of an email service into the Domain Manager plan.

The latter now includes the option to create and manage mailboxes and send/receive emails, just like a regular web hostingaccount does, thus taking the Domain Manager plan one step closer to the ‘real’ hosting service.

What is the Domain Manager upgrade about?

The Domain Manager plan is the smallest of all the packages on our platform and it targets a specific niche – namely people who do not need or are not yet ready to commit to a fully fledged hosting account.

This allows for customers to order sole domain name registrations/transfers from Wise Host and to manage all of them from one and the same place without the need to invest in a web hosting account to achieve that.

The Domain Manager plan is great for users who want to lay their hands on an attractive domain name for a given future project before anyone does.

So far, domain owners have only been able to register and transfer domain names and to edit some basic settings (Whois details, name servers, domain parking pages, etc.).

The integration of the emailing functionality takes the Domain Manager plan to a whole new usage level.

It allows domain owners to send and receive electronic messages, i.e. to make actual use of their domain names.

This way, clients can have personalized email addresses for their individual or business needs right from the start.

How to make use of the new email feature?

The new emailing functionality is available to all new Domain Manager plan users.

You will recognize it by the Mails icon on the domain management dashboard’s index page.

Once you’ve clicked on it, you’ll be taken to the well-known Email Manager interface, which is accessible to all regular web hosting account owners who are using the Wise Host Control Panel

From there, Wise Host customers will be able to create mailboxes, to set up email forwarding and autoresponder messages, to create mailbox spam filters, etc., i.e. they will be able to perform all important email management operations.

By taking into account the regular email usage on Wise Host platform, we’ve set specific quotas with respect to the maximum number of mailboxes and the total amount of email storage space.

This way, we’ll prevent the use of the emailing functionality for abusive purposes and will cater only to customers’ real email hosting needs.

Uses can find more details in the Account usage section of their Domain Manager accounts.

 

You can now choose to enable/disable SSL certificates on your store

You can now choose to enable/disable SSL certificates on your store

At a time when cyber security is becoming more vital than ever, the need to raise awareness of the importance of HTTPS encryption is rapidly increasing. To put it simply – SSL certificates are a must-have for any safety-conscious site owner.

Starting today, you will be able to manage your SSL offerings like you manage any other product on your store. Learn more from our post.

Why are SSL certificates a must-offer service?

Cybersecurity has become the number-one topic on the web since Google announced in September 2016 that HTTP URLs would soon be marked as insecure, whereas SSL-enabled sites – pushed up the rankings with priority.

The rush for SSL certificates has created great opportunities for hosting providers and domain registrars alike.

By offering SSLs on your store, you will become fully compliant with the security guidelines that went into force in 2017.

Apart from regular SSL certificates, you can also offer free Let’s Encrypt certificates, which we introduced last year on our platform in an effort to make this service more affordable.

Regular vs. Let’s Encrypt SSLs – what’s the difference?

Both Let’s Encrypt and commercial SSLs offer basic HTTPS encryption that will protect your sites against interception and eavesdropping.

Their mission is to ascertain that your site visitors are exchanging information with the domain that is visible in the address bar and to ensure that their login details or credit card information cannot be eavesdropped.

Also, both SSL types are trusted by all major browsers, which means that the “https://” part at the beginning of the URL in your browser’s address bar will be preceded by a green padlock:

Here are the main differences between a Let’s Encrypt certificate and a regular SSL:

  • Warranty: regular SSLs include a warranty against misuse or mis-issuance, whereas Let’s Encrypt certificates do not;
  • Wildcard Certificates: the traditional Certification Authorities usually offer wildcard or multi-domain certificates, whereas Let’s Encrypt does not;
  • Validity Period: Most regular SSL certificates are valid for at least one year. Longer validity periods (3, 5, etc. years) are an option too. Let’s Encrypt certificates are only valid for 90 days and must be renewed before they expire. On our platform, Let’s Encrypt certificates are renewed automatically, so you won’t have to worry about that.
  • Support: Let’s Encrypt does not offer assistance with creating or installing SSL certificates, only community help is available. However, this could be easily solved with a quick re-generation and re-installation of the problematic Let’s Encrypt SSL, as is the practice on our platform;

NOTE: Let’s Encrypt will begin issuing wildcard certificates later this year. We will, in turn, do our best to enable them in the Control Panel in the shortest time possible.

So, which SSL type is the right one to choose?

Actually, your choice will be solely determined by the type of site you manage.

For instance, if you own a non-commercial site like a blog or a photo gallery, or just need a quickly configurable, simple and free SSL certificate, then Let’s Encrypt is the best option for you.

However, if you run an e-store or an enterprise site, then you will need to invest in a paid, warranty-backed-up SSL certificate issued by an established Certification Authority, which will be your guarantee against online abuses.