IP or IP?

I thought I knew what IP stood for. Internet Protocol as in Kintronics, the IP Camera experts.  But last week I came across another IP on Twitter and when I clicked on it, the tweet made no sense. It brought my mental gears to a blinding halt.  Did I know exactly what Internet protocol is?

Protocol

I know what internet is, but what is protocol? According to Dictionary.com, protocol is

1. 1. The customs and regulations dealing with diplomatic formality, precedence, and etiquette
2. 2.   An original draft, minute, or record from which a document, especially,   a treaty, is prepared.
3. 3.   A supplementary international agreement
4. 4.   An agreement between states
5. 5.   An annex to an agreement giving data relating to it.

None of these definitions seems to really fit so I delve a little deeper and find that network protocol is defined as rules and conventions for communication between network devices.Looking at it this way #1 fits if we substitute technocratic for diplomatic.

 Internet Protocol specifies formatting rules pertaining to how data is packaged into messages to be sent or received. Internet Protocol also includes mechanisms for devices to identify and make connections with each other.  This brings me to another IP – IP address.

IP Address

 The IP address is a numerical address assigned to a specific device on a computer network. IP addresses are expressed as binary numbers but stored in text files and displayed in human language such as 172.16.2541.1. An IP address serves two functions. It identifies the host or network interface and addresses the device’s specific location.  

·        

 Or to put it succinctly an IP address points out

·         Where it is

·         How to get there

 

 IP Camera

 Each IP camera is connected to the network and has a unique IP address.  This is a stand-alone computer device that allows a user to view live, full motion video from anywhere on a computer network, even over the Internet, using a standard web-browser.  When you install IP cameras the first thing you have to do is set the IP address.   

The Other IP

I found out it stands for Intellectual Property.

 Intellectual Property covers a lot of ground. No pun intended. (If I were making a pun I’d say a lot of acres) Intellectual property refers to inventions, literary and artistic works, or to put it another way, creations of the mind. Names, images, and designs used in commerce are included.
This type of IP can be divided into two categories: 

Industrial property

·         inventions (patents),

·         trademarks,

·         industrial designs

·         geographic indications of source;

Copyright,

Literary Works – novels, poems, plays, films
Artistic Works - drawings, paintings, photographs, sculptures, architectural designs
Musical Works

Rights related to copyright include those of performing artists in their performances, producers of phonograms in their recordings, and those of broadcasters in their radio and television program. This was the issue at the heart of the storm of opposing arguments regarding the legislative bills known as SOPA (Stop Piracy Online Act in the House of Representatives) and PIPA (Protect IP Act in the Senate) which seek to fight against foreign websites that infringe on copyrighted material.
So now you know. Kintronics is not the place to come for an idea for a sitcom, but we’re still the place to come to for assistance in designing your IPcamera systems to fit your needs. Contact us at www.kintronics.comhttp://www.kintronics.com/ or 800-431-1658 or 914-944-3425.