Today ebuyer.com, the computer and technology etailer, launched a £1 clearance giveaway. As they hoped, the demand was high but perhaps they didn't expect their capacity constraints to bring the entire site down with such a bang!

Within minutes of the website stalling, eBuyer.com found a tirade of critical posts on their facebook page and I'm sure a number of their staff scratching their heads saying "why didn't we spot this as a possible issue?"

The fact is, just because your website runs well in your normal day-to-day opperations, before you embark on a significant scale in demand, you must be sure your services can cope. Cloud based hosting is an option, the cloud gives you the flexibility to scale as your demand increases and scale back when demand reduces. Often such changes to capacity can be tweaked in realtime meaning no reboots or significant outage times.

eBuyer.com, we hope you manage to the fix the issue quickly and as always are more than happy to assist your scalability in the future so such problems don't happen again.

We have had a few clients who have purchased images but then receive demands for backdated royalty payments over their use of the images on their website.  How can this be avoided?  

The first step is to check the usage rights for those images. For example:

• Are there any limitations on your use of the image? 

• Are you able to use them on your website?  Any other website?

• Is the use limited to a specific time period, after which you need to pay an additional fee if you wish to continue using the material?

• Have you obtained the images from a reputable source/from someone who has the right to sell the image to you?  Images can often be sourced by website developers, but their licence may not cover the use of the image on your website.

If you do receive a claim regarding unauthorised use, you should:

• Suspend use of the image while you investigate; 

• Contact the third party who supplied you with the image to ascertain how the problem arose; 

• Do an internet search to see if anyone else is complaining of a similar problem with the photo agency in question and how they have dealt with it.  

In most cases removing the image should be sufficient, but if not you will need to consider settling.  It should be possible to negotiate the amount due.

Businesses that have been rushing around, trying to find a solution to the vague new EU cookie laws that are coming in tomorrow, can breathe a sigh of relief, as the ICO states that websites have a full year to find a workable solution in gaining users consent before cookies are stored.

According to the BBC, the Government have set up a working group to work with browser manufacturers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome) to find a workable solution that runs cookie protection processes in the background.

This doesn't let everyone off the hook, however, as the ICO has stated that "Those who choose to do nothing will have their lack of action taken into account when we begin formal enforcement of the rules."

For more information, you can read the official ICO release and the official article on the Government's department for culture, media and sport website.

If you'd like us to carry out a review of your website, or have any questions, you can contact FastTrackIT on 0845 838 7802.