Web Hosting Forum – London, UK – BaseKit, the online website builder, has been launched by HostGator; enabling their SMB’s to build and manage their own website with the state of the art technology. The hosting giant, based in Houston, Texas, is offering BaseKit to both new and existing customers.

As one of the fastest growing private companies in America, HostGator is always seeking innovative products and services to enrich its customers’ experiences and surpass their expectations. BaseKit has received international acclaim as an all-in-one website builder that lets SMB’s build a site that “looks as good as most commercial sites” (The Sunday Times, 23 Oct 2011), so it’s therefore no surprise that both companies are working together to make high-quality website creation as easy as possible for small businesses around the world.

According to Brent Oxley (Founder and Chairman at HostGator.com) the decision to offer an advanced but easy to use website builder was based on the company’s regular engagements with its customer-base:

“We have spent a long time researching numerous site builders and talking with our clients about what they needed in a website builder. We received a lot of insight from our community and they asked for an easy to use site builder, with the ability to handle the more advanced aspects such as widgets, popular apps and full css/html control.”

All of HostGator’s 7 Million+ domains will be able to access BaseKit from within the company’s control panel. Brent Oxley continues:

“We needed a site builder that both the most novice and most experienced users could find fit their needs perfectly. We found BaseKit to be exactly what we were looking for. The site builder is extremely easy to use for everyone that wants to build their own website, yet it has the advanced features to cater for our more advanced users and designers.”

The plan to roll out BaseKit to HostGator brands in other countries is still in progress, but can be expected very soon.

BaseKit’s CEO Juan Lobato analyses the partnership from a strategic point of view:

“The timing of the partnership with HostGator was perfect for us. Although we’ve been busy focusing on the BaseKit roll-out in Latin America and EMEA countries, we were always on the lookout for a strong partner in the US too. HostGator gives us customer volume and brand recognition that is an excellent starting point for both future partnerships and our presence in the US. Both teams have done a stellar job on the smooth and quick integration of the BaseKit product onto HostGator’s infrastructure. I am sure that a true partnership like this will result in commercial success.”

About BaseKit
BaseKit was founded in 2008 and has become one of the world’s leading website builders. The BaseKit editor is available in the following languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Turkish and Portuguese.

The company now has over 60 employees, with offices in London, Bristol, Barcelona and Sao Paulo. It aims to help small businesses and web designers create beautiful websites quickly and easily.

BaseKit won Seedcamp in 2008 and has subsequently received investment from Eden Ventures, NESTA and Nauta Capital.

About HostGator
HostGator.com LLC is a world leading and industry recognized hosting provider with more than 12,000 servers under management. The over 7 million domains hosted by HostGator make up approximately 1% of the world’s Internet traffic.

HostGator serves customers ranging from individual freelancers to Fortune 500 companies in more than 200 countries. Customers range from complete novices to computer and technology experts.

In 2008, HostGator was recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing private companies in America. According to Inc. Magazine, HostGator is the 21st fastest growing private company in America, the second fastest growing private company in the “business services” sector, and the fastest growing private company in Texas.

Looking for a new web host? Review and select a certified web host company today at www.FindMyHost.com.

Web Hosting Forum – DALLAS — SoftLayer Technologies today announced the appointment of Walter Z. Berger as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective in March. A seasoned finance and accounting executive, Mr. Berger will help guide and oversee the company’s continued market leadership and financial growth. He brings more than 30 years of experience to SoftLayer, including extensive operational experience as a CFO with several large, publicly held companies.

“Bringing Walter on board amplifies and extends the deep base of experience and expertise of our executive management team,” said Lance Crosby, CEO for SoftLayer. “His proven track record and leadership will be invaluable as we embark on our next phase of growth. We’re delighted to have such a high caliber executive join our team.”

Prior to joining SoftLayer Technologies, Mr. Berger was the CFO and executive vice president of Leap Wireless International Inc. From 2006 to 2008, Mr. Berger served in senior management roles at CBS Corporation, including as executive vice president and chief financial officer for CBS Radio, a division of CBS Corporation. Prior to joining CBS Radio, Mr. Berger served as executive vice president and CFO and a director of Emmis Communications from 1999 to 2005. From 1996 to 1997, Mr. Berger served as executive vice president and CFO of LG&E Energy Corporation and in 1997 was promoted to group president of the Energy Marketing Division, where he served until 1999. Early in his career, Mr. Berger held a number of financial and operating management roles in the manufacturing, service and energy fields. Mr. Berger began his career in audit at Arthur Andersen in 1977. Mr. Berger is a certified public accountant and holds a Bachelor of Arts in business administration from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

About SoftLayer Technologies
Headquartered in Dallas, SoftLayer operates a global cloud infrastructure platform built for Internet scale. Spanning 13 data centers in the United States, Asia and Europe and a global footprint of network points of presence, SoftLayer’s modular architecture provides unparalleled performance and control, with a full-featured API and sophisticated automation controlling a flexible platform that seamlessly spans physical and virtual devices, and a global network for secure, low-latency communications. With 100,000 servers under management, SoftLayer is the largest privately-held infrastructure-as-a-service provider in the world with a portfolio of 25,000 leading-edge customers from Web startups to global enterprises. For more information, please visit www.softlayer.com or call 1.866.398.7638.

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Web Hosting Forum – RENTON, WA — Parallels®, the hosting and cloud services enablement leader, today announced the finalists for its Third Annual Partner Awards. Winners will be officially announced and recognized at Parallels Summit 2012, February 14-16, 2012, at the Gaylord Palms Hotel and Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. Anticipation for the event continues to build, as more than 1,500 attendees, from leading hosting companies, communication service providers, independent software vendors (ISVs), value-added resellers (VARs), technology industry analysts and journalists will converge in Orlando for the three-day conference. Parallels Summit 2012 is an unrivaled opportunity to build relationships with the leading players in hosting, while gaining valuable strategies for selling, upselling, reselling, bundling and delivering a wide range of profitable cloud services to Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs), the fastest growing segment in cloud adoption.

The Parallels Partner Awards recognize outstanding yearly achievements by partners who utilize and innovate with Parallels products, solutions, services and ecosystem to increase their revenue, with special attention given to those partners who have excelled in the rapidly-expanding small and medium business (SMB) cloud services market.

“Parallels Partner Awards distinguish the most innovative and successful hosters, service providers and ISVs,” said Jack Zubarev, President of Marketing and Alliances at Parallels. “The nominated organizations have not only positioned themselves well for future growth through their operational strategies, but also demonstrate the advantages of partnering with Parallels and our unmatched combination of expertise, software and ecosystem.”

The award categories and 2011 finalists are:

New Partner of the Year – A partner whose first year in the Parallels Partner Program is highlighted by strong revenue growth and innovative use of Parallels products.

Finalists:
Elabs; Limestone Networks; UPC Broadband

Excellence in Innovation – A partner who has demonstrated innovative use of Parallels technologies in the areas of services, marketing and technical creativity.

Finalists:
Apptix; Otsuka Corporation; Outsourcery

APS ISV/Service of the Year – An Independent Software Vendor (ISV) who has utilized the Application Packaging Standard (APS) to deliver a cloud-based application on the Parallels platform, providing a stellar end-user experience and driving accelerated run-rate growth for Parallels Service Provider Partners.

Finalists:
Ecwid; MXSweep; Symantec

Excellence in Shared Web Hosting Services and Parallels Plesk Panel – A partner that exemplifies a strong commitment to Parallels Plesk Panel technology as demonstrated by: success and creativity in shared web hosting; a strong and growing base of satisfied customers; and deep knowledge and expertise in Parallels products.

Finalists:
Hostalia; MostHost; ViUX Systems

Excellence in Messaging & Collaboration Services and Parallels Automation – A partner that illustrates a strong commitment to Parallels Automation technology through successful and creative deployments of Messaging & Collaboration services, as demonstrated by a strong and growing base of satisfied customers.

Finalists:
KPN; Netstream AG; Ride Co., Ltd

Excellence in Virtualized Infrastructure Services and Virtualization – A partner that has demonstrated commitment to Parallels Virtualization through successful and creative Virtualized Infrastructure Services, resulting in a vibrant and growing base of satisfied customers.

Finalists:
Ipeer AB; KickassVPS.com; ServInt

Emerging Region Partner of the Year – A partner in an emerging market with a strong commitment to Parallels products combined with demonstrated growth and an increased base of satisfied customers.

Finalists:
Kazakhtelecom; MTN Cameroon; PacHosting; UOL Diveo

Cloud Leadership Award – Signifies a partner who has demonstrated leadership in the cloud space, based on their innovative use of Parallels technologies for the delivery of cloud applications and services.

Finalists:
AppRiver; intergenia AG; UberGlobal

President’s Award – A distinguished partner among the Parallels Partner community that has created significant business and market impact; exemplifies high-level commitment to delivering Parallels products and services to customers; and sustains a high level of sales and customer growth, customer satisfaction and innovation.

Finalists:
GMO US; HostEurope; LocaWeb

There’s still time to register Parallels Summit 2012. To register, and for information about the agenda, training and certification sessions, please visit http://www.parallels.com/summit/2012/.About Parallels

Parallels is a worldwide leader in hosting and cloud service enablement and desktop virtualization. Founded in 1999, Parallels is a fast-growing company with more than 800 employees in North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information, please visitwww.parallels.com/sp, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ParallelsCloud and Like Us on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/ParallelsCloud.

Looking for a new web host? Review and select a certified web host company today at www.FindMyHost.com.

Web Hosting Forum – DALLAS — The lines between physical and virtual IT resources are being erased with the introduction of SoftLayer Flex Images. Flex Images allow users to capture, replicate, and store an image of a cloud or dedicated server, and then deploy the image on either type of computing environment. Capabilities traditionally in the domain of virtual infrastructure, including the ability to quickly clone and reload servers, are extended to dedicated servers, along with cross-platform compatibility and simple migration between physical and virtual environments.

“Flex Images provide our customers with unprecedented flexibility and scalability,” said Simon West, Chief Marketing Officer for SoftLayer. “The ability to provision and automate server images seamlessly between cloud and dedicated computing environments empowers users to easily build out their IT environments while being able to quickly meet changing requirements. Our customers can focus on the purpose of their application and then on the right technology solution—with the freedom to move between or integrate technologies as needed.”

Flex Images is a key differentiator for SoftLayer—like the company’s network, portal and automated platform—available to all customers. These new capabilities help showcase SoftLayer’s ongoing innovation efforts, which help blur the distinctions between cloud and dedicated computing environments while offering customers the highest possible levels of control and scalability.

“Flex Images have been a massive time saver,” said Aaron McKee, VP of engineering for Struq, an early beta customer. “We love being able to effortlessly scale and manage our infrastructure. This really sets SoftLayer apart from the competition because traditional cloud systems just don’t have this type of flexibility and performance. The feature has cut down new server deployment by several hours per server, which has made recent expansion bursts at Struq much easier. This is definitely a better way to deploy and manage IT resources in the cloud.”

Key features and benefits of Flex Images include:

• Universal images that can be used interchangeably on dedicated or cloud systems
• Unified image library for archiving, managing, sharing, and publishing images
• Greater flexibility and higher scalability
• Rapid and easy migration
• Available via SoftLayer’s management portal and API

Flex Images is available immediately to SoftLayer customers as a public beta. General availability is expected in the second quarter. For more information, please visit www.softlayer.com/FlexImageBeta.

About SoftLayer Technologies
Headquartered in Dallas, SoftLayer operates a global cloud infrastructure platform built for Internet scale. Spanning 13 data centers in the United States, Asia and Europe and a global footprint of network points of presence, SoftLayer’s modular architecture provides unparalleled performance and control, with a full-featured API and sophisticated automation controlling a flexible platform that seamlessly spans physical and virtual devices, and a global network for secure, low-latency communications. With 100,000 servers under management, SoftLayer is the largest privately held infrastructure-as-a-service provider in the world with a portfolio of 25,000 leading-edge customers from Web startups to global enterprises. For more information, please visit softlayer.com or call 1.866.398.7638.

Looking for a new web host? Review and select a certified web host company today at www.FindMyHost.com.

Website Builder – Toronto, ON – In partnership with Parallels and OpenSRS, myhosting.com has launched support for the industry leading Mobile Website Builder platform, goMobi. Combined with myhosting.com Website Hosting services and a .MOBI domain name registration, Business Owners and Webmasters can build a professional mobile website both quickly and easily.

The goMobi Mobile Website Builder platform includes a number of features through a WYSIWYG interface that allows customers to create a mobile version of their website easily, by adding options like Products, Contact Forms, Find Us, Reviews, Image Gallery, as well as a link to their Full Website and many more features. The goMobi Setup assistant can also automatically generate a mobile website based on an existing website, to help users and webmasters get started quickly.

With mobile web browsing becoming a more common way for users to access the internet, be it on mobile phones, iPhones, Androids and other smartphones, as well as tablets like the Apple iPad, the time to create a mobile-specific website has never been better. The goMobi Mobile Website Builder and Setup Assistant allows you to create a site with smaller screens, smartphones and tablets in mind, enabling you to more easily engage mobile website visitors with a customized browsing experience.

“With search engines like Google indicating that Mobile is an upcoming trend webmasters should be aware of, the time to jump on the bandwagon is now,” proclaimed Tim Attwood, Product Manager at myhosting.com. “Mobile users interact with search results and websites differently than desktop users, and with the mobile segment growing every day, every SMB or Website Owner should be thinking about grabbing their slice of that pie.”

By 2013 it is expected that more internet users will go online using smartphones and mobile devices than on traditional computers and laptops. And already more than half of all local searches are performed from mobile devices, with mobile searchers taking action as a result of the search results. With myhosting.com and a newly created goMobi Mobile Website, the time to take advantage of the trend is now!

For more information, please visit http://myhosting.com/mobile-website-builder.

About myhosting.com
myhosting.com is owned and managed by SoftCom Inc., a privately held company headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Founded in 1997, SoftCom provides reliable and cost effective Email and Web Hosting services to more than 10 million customers with support of 26 languages in 140 countries worldwide. The myhosting.com name and the logo are registered trademarks of SoftCom Inc.

Looking for a new web host? Review and select a certified web host company today at www.FindMyHost.com.

Web Hosting Forum – Toronto, ON – Customers of myhosting.com are now invited to participate in the new myhosting.com Hosting Affiliate Rewards program. The in-house referrals system is designed to make it easy for myhosting.com customers to benefit financially from referring friends, family, business colleagues and other users to myhosting.com web hosting, business email and VPS services.

The myhosting.com Affiliate Rewards program has been designed from the ground up to make referrals quick, easy and most importantly, financially well worth the endeavor. Users can quickly generate links they can provide to referrals as well as banners or other web media to engage their web audience looking for their own hosting services. To start, all qualified referrals provide a minimum $75 USD return!

“Our customers are already referring their friends, family and colleagues, it only makes sense to reward them for that,” sings Jeremy Lee Adams, Product Manager at myhosting.com. “We appreciate our customers business and the fact that they’re willing to recommend us means they appreciate ours. More than simply rewarding these customers, we want to promote them as one of the team!”

The web hosting business can be a mystery to many consumers lost in world of designers, programmers and computer techies. Word of mouth is any web hosts strongest asset since it helps to “part the cloud of confusion” and provide an inside understand of what makes a good web host.

Web hosting technology may be veiled in mystery, but with myhosting.com, the company doesn’t have to be.

myhosting.com already has well-established Affiliate Programs through ShareASale and Commission Junction, and this latest program is specifically designed for the average hosting customer over professional affiliates.

For more information, please visit http://affiliates.myhosting.com.

About myhosting.com
myhosting.com is owned and managed by SoftCom Inc., a privately held company headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Founded in 1997, SoftCom provides reliable and cost effective Email and Web Hosting services to more than 10 million customers with support of 26 languages in 140 countries worldwide. The myhosting.com name and the logo are registered trademarks of SoftCom Inc.

Looking for a new web host? Review and select a certified web host company today at www.FindMyHost.com.

Parallels Summit News – RENTON, WA — Parallels®, the hosting and cloud services enablement leader, today officially announced its roster of highly-noted keynote speakers for Parallels Summit 2012, the leading global annual gathering of the cloud industry, scheduled from February 14-16, 2012, at the Gaylord Palms Hotel and Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. Parallels’ featured keynote speakers — including Guy Kawasaki, technology entrepreneur, best-selling author, and Apple’s first Chief Evangelist;Tiffani Bova, noted Gartner analyst and IT value chain and channel building expert; and Marsha Collier, online marketing, customer service and social media guru — are industry experts whose collective advice is highly sought-after for creating strategies to market IT services to small and medium businesses (SMBs).

Parallels leadership will also deliver keynote speeches – including Birger Steen, CEO, Serguei Beloussov, Executive Chairman of the Board & Chief Architect; and Jack Zubarev, President, Marketing and Alliances. These hosting industry leaders will share their insider knowledge on the seismic shift in SMB IT purchasing, and their vision for how to capitalize and profit from the new cloud landscape.

“I’m pleased to launch Parallels Summit 2012 with the opportunity to highlight our momentum, growing expertise and expanding leadership role in the cloud and hosting ecosystem,” said Birger Steen, CEO, Parallels. “It will also be my privilege to welcome to our stage three leading technology and small business experts — keynote speakers Guy Kawasaki, Tiffani Bova and Marsha Collier. Year after year, Parallels Summit is the most valuable opportunity for professionals from across the entire global cloud services ecosystem — including hosters, telcos, VARs, system integrators and ISVs — to acquire valuable insights and actionable strategies for Profiting from the Cloud.”

Parallels invites attendees to register and join the more than 1,500 industry influencers, leading technology analysts, media editors and reporters and online influentials from across the globe. From cloud service providers, hosting companies, communication service providers (CSPs) to value-added resellers (VARs) and independent software vendors (ISVs), Parallels Summit 2012 is an unrivaled opportunity to build relationships with the leading players in the cloud space, while gaining valuable strategies for selling, upselling, reselling, bundling and delivering a wide range of profitable cloud services to SMBs.

Conference attendees will also have access to go-to-market intelligence, action plans, profitability blueprints, plus technical and marketing training and product certification from Parallels and other industry experts. In addition, participants at Parallels Summit 2012 will receive a detailed overview of Parallels’ product roadmap in advance of public announcements.

Keynote speakers at Parallels Summit 2012 include:

• Guy Kawasaki, the foremost authority on technology adoption, was the original chief evangelist at Apple. In his second act, Kawasaki’s excelled at being a serial entrepreneur and networker, social media guru, best-selling author and featured columnist for American Express OPEN Forum for small business on his blog, Powering Small Business Success. In his keynote, Kawasaki will share insights from his life experiences on how to tap into the potential of customer “Enchantment” — the Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions, as chronicled in his recent book of the same title. Regardless of your company’s size or how you deliver services, Kawasaki will explore why enchanting your customers is the key for service providers (or any entrepreneur) to build a business — it’s the path to differentiate yourself in the marketplace as you earn likability and trustworthiness.
• Tiffani Bova, Vice President, Gartner Research, is a 15-year technology veteran, covering IT sales and channel strategies at the noted research firm. Bova’s area of specialization includes the development of comprehensive indirect channel programs, the impact of alternative models on the traditional channel and trends in IT distribution. She spends a significant amount of time with IT vendors at all levels that are looking to launch or enhance an existing channel program, while improving the leverage of their distribution partners and ultimately expand their global reach. Bova will provide insight for channel partners and the requirements they need and should expect from their vendor partners to be successful in today’s market. She will also discuss the development of comprehensive indirect channel programs, go-to-market sales coverage models and the impact of alternative models on the traditional hosting and ISV channels in her keynote session, “The Role of Cloud Services Marketplaces in Your Value Chain Strategy.”
• Marsha Collier, recently named by Forbes as one of the “Top Ten Most Influential Women in Social Media,” will detail the online tactics for taking customer engagement to the next level in the keynote session, “Online Strategies for Improving your Marketing and Customer Service.” As the author of more than 35 books in the Wiley “For Dummies” series and host of Computer and Technology Radio, Collier will define the art of customer service, connection, and engagement. Collier also shares her on-target insights for better leveraging the Internet for marketing and customer service on her daily blog “Marsha’s Collier’s Musings.” All attendees at Parallels Summit 2012 will receive a copy of Collier’s latest book, “The Ultimate Online Customer Service Guide”.
• Birger Steen, CEO, Parallels, will deliver a keynote entitled, “Capitalizing on the changing SMB IT landscape,” an examination of how the consumption of IT as cloud services by SMBs has become the default choice. In this session, Steen will share Parallels’ vision for the hosting and cloud industry, and also provide an update on Parallels strategy and a preview of next generation products. He will focus on how service providers can profitably continue to meet SMB customer needs as their IT spending evolves. Steen will also recognize the winners of the Parallels 2012 Partner Awards, honoring Parallels’ service provider partners across eight categories for their outstanding achievements with Parallels products, solutions and services.
• Serguei Beloussov, Executive Chairman of the Board and Chief Architect, Parallels, will examine “Hosting and cloud in the year 2020.” Beloussov is a cloud expert, entrepreneur, and technical visionary who has spent the last 12 years developing software to enable cloud services. Beloussov’s keynote address will paint a picture of hosting, cloud and IT 10 years from now. Beloussov will share his vision and predictions for how today’s market trends will influence the hosting and cloud industry of the future.
• Jack Zubarev, President, Marketing & Alliances, Parallels, will present a keynote entitled, “Putting hosting and cloud services delivery all together.” Zubarev will connect the dots across the ecosystem, showing how the hosting and cloud services business model is transforming as the industry enters its next phase. He will also discuss how Parallels strategy and product roadmap will continue to deliver the highest profitability for service providers.

Attendees can also meet and interact with other leading players in the hosting industry, including key executives and technical staff from platinum and gold event sponsors Symantec, Microsoft, OpenSRS, Open-Xchange, Scality and eNom, among the over 50 event sponsors from across the entire hosting ecosystem.

A detailed agenda of planned sessions and activities is available at http://www.parallels.com/summit/2012/agenda/.
To register, and for information about training and certification sessions, please visit http://www.parallels.com/summit/2012/.

About Parallels
Parallels is a worldwide leader in hosting and cloud service enablement and desktop virtualization. Founded in 1999, Parallels is a fast-growing company with more than 800 employees in North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information, please visitwww.parallels.com/sp, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ParallelsCloud and Like Us on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/ParallelsCloud.

Looking for a new web host? Review and select a certified web host company today at www.FindMyHost.com.

Codero News – Lenexa, Kan. – Codero demonstrates its commitment to customer needs by updating its network.  A leading provider of dedicated, managed, and cloud hosting, Codero recognizes their services are mission critical to their customers’ business success, which is why they are constantly making upgrades to their network.  The latest updates include an additional Tier1 bandwidth provider, increased network capacity with a 10Gbps expansion, as well as an increased 100% guaranteed network uptime.

“Our customers have told us that they ‘just want it to work,’ our network that is” says Ryan Elledge, Chief Operation Officer for Codero.  “Our network engineering team monitors our network around the clock routing traffic as necessary to make certain our customers’ servers always have access to the internet. Past experiences have shown that sometimes, despite all efforts, systems fail. When they do, we are able to learn from those experiences and put additional measures in place to avoid similar issues in the future.  Increasing our guaranteed network uptime to 100% is our way of showing our customers that we understand they can’t afford downtime and we make every effort to make that a reality.”

To bolster their existing network, Codero has increased network connectivity three fold by replacing existing Gigabit Ethernet connections with 10Gbps fiber optic connections with upstream providers.  This conversion culminates the 10Gbps expansion within the data centers that Codero began rolling out in 2011.  In additional to converting existing circuits, Codero partnered with Tier1 bandwidth provider XO Communications to increase redundancy and reduce latency for customers.

About Codero
A leading provider of optimized hosted infrastructure, Codero creates scalable environments using dedicated, managed and cloud hosting with a 100% guaranteed uptime. Codero recognizes customer needs come first, focusing on product, service and support.  They display this commitment through SAS 70 Type II secure data centers, live 24/7/365 U.S.-based support and a certified staff with international experience in the hosting business for over 15 years. Another demonstration of Codero as a customer-centric industry innovator is their customer loyalty Rewards Program—unique to the industry. For more information about Codero, please visit www.codero.com.

Looking for a new web host? Review and select a certified web host company today at www.FindMyHost.com.

Web Hosting Forum – McLean, VA – ServInt, a pioneering provider of managed hosting for enterprises worldwide, today announced its Chief Operating Officer, Christian Dawson, will be a featured speaker on the January 10th Consumer Electronics Show (CES) panel that will examine and provide alternatives to copyright-infringement legislation Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) that is now pending before Congress.

Dawson also is one of the founders of the Save Hosting Coalition, a consortium of businesses in the Internet infrastructure industry. The Coalition last month delivered letters opposing SOPA and PIPA to Congressional leaders. The letters were signed by more than 500 Internet industry executives.

The CES session “Infringement, Rogue Websites and Copyright Crackdowns: How to Catch Tuna Without Catching Dolphins” (12:30 p.m. at the Las Vegas Convention Center, North Hall, Room N264) will be moderated by former U.S. Representative Rick Boucher (D-VA), who is now a partner in the global law firm Sidley Austin LLP. Other panelists will include: Jayme White, Staff Director for the office of U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR); Ryan Clough, Legislative Counsel for the office of U.S. Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA); and Casey Rae-Hunter, Deputy Director of the Future of Music Coalition.

Dawson will represent the interests and perspective of the Internet industry. His presentation will emphasize the importance of protecting the rights of intellectual-property holders while preserving America’s leadership position in the Internet economy.

“This is a turning point in the history of our industry,” Dawson said. “The Internet touches nearly every part of the U.S. economy. Never before has protection from those who wish to illegally exploit the Internet’s power and reach been more important. However, if we act out of fear and do not carefully consider the effects of our actions, we may damage the very engine that has spurred innovation and economic development in the U.S. for the better part of the past two decades. We must not let fear prevent us from developing fair and effective public policy.”

About the Save Hosting Coalition
The Save Hosting Coalition is a consortium of leading companies in the web hosting and Internet infrastructure industries that are working together to make their expertise more readily available to American policy makers. The Coalition’s goal is to help lawmakers produce legislation that protects the rights of intellectual-property holders while protecting America’s status as a leader in the global Internet economy. More information can be found at www.savehosting.org.

About ServInt
ServInt is a pioneering provider of high-reliability, managed hosting for enterprises worldwide. ServInt was founded in Northern Virginia in 1995 as one of the first hosting companies to offer a Managed Dedicated Server solution. From multiple world-class data centers, ServInt now provides its scalable suite of VPS and Managed Dedicated Server packages to thousands of customers in more than 100 countries. To learn more about ServInt’s hosting solutions, please call 1-800-573-7846 or visit www.servint.net.

Looking for a new web host? Review and select a certified web host company today at www.FindMyHost.com.

Web Hosting Forum – McLean, VA – The Save Hosting Coalition, a consortium of businesses in the web hosting and Internet infrastructure industries, today announced it has delivered a letter from 275 leading industry executives expressing their opposition to the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA). The Coalition delivered the letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA).

Christian Dawson, one of the founders of the Save Hosting Coalition and Chief Operating Officer of web hosting provider ServInt (www.servint.net), said the timing of the letter was important.

“PIPA could be brought to the Senate floor for a vote before the end of this month,” Dawson said. “Before any further movement, we need to make sure legislators hear loud and clear that the passage of this legislation would be bad for the American Internet economy, bad for intellectual-property protection, bad for jobs and bad for the country.”

Dawson continued, “The Internet infrastructure industry is deeply committed to protecting the rights of intellectual-property holders. We have continued to offer to help craft legislation that achieves that goal. If Internet business professionals were engaged in the process and allowed to share their technical expertise, we could help create legislation that maintains America’s leadership in the global Internet economy while keeping copyright predators at bay. Unfortunately, the process thus far has kept technical experts out of the discussions. What we are left with in PIPA is a bill that is heavy handed, unfair, ineffective and fundamentally stupid.”

Dawson said that although PIPA is of critical concern in the short term, the Internet infrastructure industry also is concerned about PIPA’s sister bill in the House of Representatives, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). The Save Hosting Coalition believes that SOPA has many of the same flaws found in PIPA and it is gathering signatures on a letter opposing it as well.

About the Save Hosting Coalition
The Save Hosting Coalition is a consortium of leading companies in the web hosting and Internet infrastructure industries that are working together to make their expertise more readily available to American policy makers. The Coalition’s goal is to help lawmakers produce legislation that protects the rights of intellectual-property holders while protecting America’s status as a leader in the global Internet economy. More information can be found at www.savehosting.org.

Looking for a new web host? Review and select a certified web host company today at www.FindMyHost.com.