We are all unwittingly writing a transcript about our life

Case studies include a transcript and video

"Protecting Your Intellectual Property"

Silicon Valley, Los Angeles and Seattle: The simple commandment, "Thou shalt not steal," just four words, is ingrained in our conscience. Now we struggle to understand why we act so differently when it comes to Intellectual Properties (IP). The estimated global annual losses, over $600 billion in 2006, continue to escalate. Economies grow when money is transacted for something of value. Theft kills economies and IP theft is a real pandemic. Lying, cheating and stealing has been going on forever. But now, the other IP (Internet Protocol) has made it so easy to steal, our children and all sorts of decent-loving-gentle people think nothing about "borrowing, using, enjoying" and otherwise ripping off somebody else's creative work.

While we were sleeping, the Pied Pipers of Piracy enlisted an entire college generation to begin nabbing other people's property "intellectual property" without regard for the consequences. Their recruitment was viral. Not only did their business model encourage young fans and average folks to rip off artists because it was quick, easy, free and anonymous, these otherwise decent people had begun acting and thinking like common thieves.

In this episode of the show we visit with the lawyers who argued down Grokster in the U.S. Supreme Court. We visit with a small business owner who is being ripped off, a composer who is figuring it out, and technologists who are waging the war to protect our intellectual assets. More...

Eventually we will all begin writing our "life-transcripts" right online.

You can create a transcript right here by logging in and answering the questions that Hattie has asked business owners since 1994.

Transcripts are rich sources of insight about the attitude, knowledge, and spirit required to run and grow a successful business.

By answering the same questions asked of these business owners, a transcript about your business can be developed right here online.

What is a transcript?

The videotape rolls, and in a moment in time, a person reflects on the meaning and value of their life's work. It is a perspectival moment. However, later during our editing, we carefully analyze those words and phrases and the essential concepts within them; and we try to select those that tell a good story while capturing some universal truth about life and business.

The transcripts then become the flow for our case study guides. The video is edited and an episode of the show emerges. Then, a profile or overview page -- which has functioned as a catch-all for our digital workflow -- gets fine-tuned to become a reference page and executive summary.

All of it is tailored to be part of a huge question-answer database; these question-answer arrays will increasingly become accessible through a natural language query and be coordinated with the videotape (as streaming video).

Each day we work to simplify the access to the knowledge, insight and wisdom of every entrepreneur who is profiled whereby you can quickly and easily find just the right video segment and the related transcript and case study guide to answer a question.

Besides the hundreds of half-hours of highly-produced, broadcast shows of Small Business School, there are a growing number of profiles that are emerging from our online businesses.

Our simple goal is to provide access to the insights and inspiration that can help you run your business just a little better.

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