[Tfug] OT : Site Scaper

[Bexley Hall]

--- On Mon, 5/18/09, Joe Roberts <deepspace at dataswamp.net> wrote:

> 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.

And, by extension, don't ever PUBLISH any software because that
*too* will be copied and stolen.  So, instead of entering a field
where your work *can* be stolen, we should all engage in professions
where the fruits of our labors can NOT be easily copied or stolen?

I guess there will be lots of ditch-diggers in the future (ditches
are very hard to "steal" or copy -- without expending the same
effort that the original digger invested!) and very few "artists",
programmers, photographers, etc., eh?  :<

I don't publish most of my IP as I don't want to have to spend money
defending it (if you don't defend your "rights", the law treats
them as "forfeit").  Instead, I share my IP with "select entities"
where it is to my best advantage.  If that means others who could
potentially benefit from *observing* it lose out... <shrug>