Bill Hopkins is the Webmaster of PhotoSourceFolio* (www.photosourcefolio.com) and a regular contributor to PhotoStockNotes. Send comments via Email to wh@photosourcefolio.com. Fax: 1 818 831-0916. Or US Mail: PhotoStockNotes. (*Display 6 of your images on our Web site!) For on-line marketing questions, contact him on the Kracker Barrel at www.photosource.com/board

Research from the Electronic Messaging Association shows that in 1998, 55% of respondents increased their use of electronic communications tools in business, according to the study (http://www.cyberatlas.com). More than 70% of respondents reported they would rather send Email than leave a voicemail, and 20% said they use Email specifically to avoid speaking to a person. More than 80% of respondents said their business use of Email has increased in the past year, versus only 28% who increased voicemail use. Moral: Get online!

Cybersquatters (those who attempt to register popular trademarks as Internet addresses, and them try to sell then to the trademark owner) may soon be things of the international past. Yes, companies can sue cybersquatters in court, and have generally won (at least in the U.S.). Now the UN's World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has entered the fray by drafting a proposal to "try to suppress a practice that we found is condemned by all as abuse. It undermines consumer confidence in electronic commerce and creates a wasteful legal diversion for corporations," says Francis Gurry, Assistant Director General of the WIPO.

Get your Web site listed on Yahoo! Point your browser to http://dir.yahoo.com/business_and_economy/companies/photography/stock_photography (note: no spaces or hyphens in this address) and click on the Suggest a Site hyperlink at the bottom of the page. If accepted, it can take quite a while for your site to show up in Yahoo! but the wait is worth it. For those who have a personal page on PhotoSourceBank or PhotoSourceFolio, why not add it to Yahoo!?

Email messages have been circulating recently about a bill afloat in Congress, Bill 602P, to place a 5-cent surcharge (i.e., TAX) on each Internet mail you send. According to these Email messages, the U.S. Postal Service claims it's losing $230 Million a year because citizens find Email more efficient and expedient than old-fashioned letter writing. Well, looks like another Internet hoax. Check out the USPS response at http://www.usps.gov/news/press/99/99045new.htm.