[Internet Brothers] As a producer of both copyrighted material and linkware, do you want to see governments remain on the sideline of Net regulation and the development of better technological protections, or do you have enough experience with right-click-thievery to support stronger laws and penalties?

[Heather Champ] Many diehard Internet users still feel very strongly that everything online should be "free". Free of charge, and freedom to use whatever content they see fit. I don't think these people understand, respect, or appreciate the creative process that designers and developers undertake to realize web sites. I have an archive of background tiles for people to use in exchange for a link back to my site. It would be generous to say that perhaps less than 20% of those who use my work link back to my site. I can't police the web to determine whether people are meeting with my very simple requests, but I do notice.

It's another matter for material that I create for hchamp.com. I've been quite horrified to find my postcard images sprinkled liberally around a few web sites. In one instance, an architecture student at a west coast university had used one of my backgrounds and also a selection of the postcard thumbnails. I wrote an email to the student requesting that she remove them (which she did). She replied that her professor had told them to build web sites with things that they found online. Now, I don't know exactly what the professor said, if there might have been some miscommunication regarding the observance of copyright, but at the University level?

There needs to be a better process of education regarding the web. Unfortunately most law and policy makers are wrapped up with "traditional" media's portrayal of the Internet as arch demon rather than as the incredibly useful resource that it is. They don't understand the Internet. Look at what has happened to eToy.com. I would much rather have a policing from within the Internet community, but I realize that isn't a viable solution. I don't know what the solution is. If lawyers, policy makers, and government had a better understanding and were well educated, then I would feel they were more likely to protect my rights...

[IB] Would you like to tell us about Peter Pan?

[HC] Arrgh! About a year ago, an individual(s) began to use peterpan@jezebel.com when posting truly vile advertisements for pornographic sites to newsgroups. I've spoken with a couple of Internet lawyers and while assuming a false identity typically contravenes most Terms of Use agreements, it would be difficult to prosecute. With help from some anti-spam Jedi, I was able to track down an individual a few months ago. Unfortunately, he works out of an ISP that is a known haven for pornographers online. He was supposedly booted out but he's still at it. I've been mail-bombed and received some very nasty notes regarding his posts. I'm not a pornographer, there has never been a peterpan@jezebel.com and there never will be. My ISP is doing some further research to see if we can make a case to the FCC. Stay tuned, this will be going on for awhile.

[IB] Do you feel cheated by Microsoft; or enabled by Microsoft?

[HC] I don't think I'll ever know the correct answer to that question. What would the application and OS landscape be like without Microsoft? Would there have been applications x, y and z that could have flourished in a more open environment? Would Netscape be a different product today? My first and second computers were Macintosh, a IIci and a Powerbook 5300ce. My third and fourth computers are now PCs. I made the OS switch (kicking and screaming) at my last "full time" position. The hardware is much less expensive, and the applications available equal those available for the MAC OS. On the other hand, when things go wrong, I'm lost. It's very frustrating.

[IB] When Heather does her own web surfing for pleasure, who are some of the developers that have made you stand up and take notice? What are the technologies you want to dive deeper into?

[HC] Design for design sake is a bit tired — there are many beautiful sites out there, but if you scratch the surface there's little real content underneath. I look for a marriage of good design and content, a sense of humour, and a touch of humility. Unfortunately, many sites implement every bell & whistle, unnecessarily burdening the user experience with interminable downloads merely to view a near "print experience." Designers need to acknowledge the inherent non-linear interactivity of the medium.

Some favourite bookmarks:

KALIBER10000 is a wonderful forum for designers. It's inventive, entertaining and always fresh. The Remedi Project Hell

The Internet Brothers have implemented hierarchical menus for navigation. Easier done than said.

The hierarchical menus were created using Peter Belesis' © Dynomat DHTML scripting tool from Webreference. Give them a visit, you'll like what you learn.

"Unfortunately most law and policy makers are wrapped up with "traditional" media's portrayal of the Internet as arch demon rather than as the incredibly useful resource that it is."

"Designers need to acknowledge the inherent non-linear interactivity of the [Internet] medium."

"Weblogs are editorializing content found on the Internet. This movement has instigated an interesting dialogue within the development community."

"I can't think of a better holiday project to ring in the new millennium than learning a new application."