[Tfug] OT : Site Scaper

[Joe Roberts]

On Mon, May 18, 2009 at 2:12 PM, James Hood <ebenblues at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On the other hand, keep in mind that anything you put online is liable
>> to be stolen. I'm not saying you shouldn't defend your IP, just that
>> if it really means that much to you, don't put it online in the first
>> place.
>
> Maybe this was just meant to be a troll, but this was such a
> ridiculous comment. The reason things get put online in the first
> place is because the owner deemed it not only valuable to himself, but
> potentially valuable to others as well. Why should everyone else miss
> out on valuable information because a few people don't respect
> copyrights? I think Keith's doing the right thing in successfully
> pursuing the copyright infringement.

Because the question of whether or not someone is violating copyright
is irrelevant to the basic reality that when you put data online, it
will be duplicated, whether through google's caching system or by
someone else.

The age of copyright and the control of information is coming to a
close, whether people like it or not.  Certainly people mirroring or
copying a site should ask permissions as a matter of basic manners
(and respect the feelings of the owner), but the comment about not
putting it online if you can't tolerate it being copied is a sober
one.

Once you put it on the web, you cannot control it.  Even if you manage
to get things taken down here in the US, good luck trying to get
someone else in another country to take it down.

Just ask the Church of Scientology.  Or the movie studios.  Or the
music studios.  Or anyone who had a sex video or photograph posted.

If you put it up, expect it to be copied.