The iBlog12 Experience

09/19/2016 01:41:07 AM

It's that time of the year again. And perhaps a lot of us are questioning the set-up of the event. I guess that;s what gonna happens if there are lot of events coinciding with one of the biggest gatherings of the blogging community not just here in Metro Manila, but also for the entire Philippines.

Heck, even guys from Cebu, Cagayan and Camarines Norte could attest to this. (Well, based in my four times of attending the Philippine Blogging Summit).

Well, topics about legality and security (in general) were seemingly compressed in one-day affair as iBlog12 have formally taken place back to Malcolm Theater inside the University f the Philippines College of Law in Quezon City last Friday, 16 September 2016. Mind you: it may sound a little impact among both the blogging, new media, and social media community in general, but it doesn't matter what you think, 'cause it is never an easy one to debacle and be taken lightly.

This is where experts from the IT, legal and media departments took their respective time at the podium to share their insights and engage in conversations with the attendants inside the venue.

Atty. Jam, Jeff Lo of Pinoy Fitness, and Jing Garcia of Interaksyon and Radyo5's Tech Sabado first took over as the trio discussed the Data Privacy Law with bloggers and social media users as personal information processors.

Later in the morning, Atty. Jam was joined by AskSonnie's Sonnie Santos and the returning Jaemark Tordecilla of GMA News to tackle Data Privacy Law with bloggers and social media users having the obligations to respect and accountability on the privacy of the people (in general).

Sponsor talks also took place before lunch time, with Miguel Warren of Payoneer, and Ken Chan hitting the stage as they promote their respective brands. The latter, though, spoke about cyber-bullying and their ongoing campaign on the medium.

Early in the afternoon, more of the iBlog sponsors made their pitch: TravelBook.ph, Check Me Out, E-Cash, and Lazada Affiliate Program. Since then, we were back to regular programming with Mr. Richard Suba of Back2Gaming, Marck Ronald Rimorim of The Marocharim Experiment, Mary Grace Hizon a.k.a the notable Gracia Amor of Diary Ni Gracia and one of the iBlog head organizers Atty. JJ Disini, talking about the Cybercrime Law and its impact on bloggers and social media users regarding hacking and anonymous comments and publishing.

Veteran journalist Ellen Tordecillas of the VERA Files also spoke about the fallacies of journalism, as well as Jane Uymatiao of Blogwatch and Atty. John Paul Gaba of ACCRA Law joined through in discussing the libel issues concerning bloggers and social media users.

Later that afternoon, it was all about copyright issues in the online content, with Marvin De Leon, Atty. Gaba being the panelists for the matter; and lastly, talks about what's ahead for the blogging industry as they move forward with speakers Noemi Dado, Sky Gavin of WhenInManila.com and Kel Fabie (also dubbed as the “last man standing” of iBlog due to his appearances since the first ever staging of the summit).

Despite staging only for a single day, I must say this has been one of the stuffiest summits I have ever been with. Frankly, it focused more on the issues concerning legal and security which seems good; considering most blogging-related workshops were about 101 alone. I kinda wish there were more of “learning-to-improve-your-craft” summits soon.

Nonetheless, there are lots of insights gained. Heck, even those pa-simple photographs could get you into harm if not been advised properly. And so does the habit of just stealing work, from photographs to articles alone. 

In case you are not aware of Creative Commons, it's about time you should be.

Also, there's a so-called Anti-Data Privacy Law which were signed days before the controversial Cybercrime Prevention Act. And it may not sound that ethical, but bloggers – just like any other human beings – should learn to deal with privacy of others and how to be accountable of it. 

Even media publishers should be wary about what the so-called “Notice to the Public” as this space in the publications could have a lot of gray areas prone to defamation.

And imagine how a malicious tweet could sentenced you by paying up as much as 120 thousand pesos per count. That may sound alarming (or even too much compared to the ones stated on the revised penal code), but that's how it really is. Somewhat, the process can be really grueling to determine as such. 

That being said, I commend Janette, Atty. JJ, Flow and the hardworking men and women of this event for still making this possible amidst the busyness of the blogging industry as a whole.

Author: slickmaster | © 2016 september twenty-eight productions