More with the RSS Funny
Posted by TFG on May 9th, 2005
Jumpin’ Jeebus — it’s STILL going on. Some brainless idiot has managed to suck up a template that re-displays RSS feeds from the poker bloggers and is presenting it under the name “poker.all-information.info“. Clearly, that has caused some personal problems for the site owner/thief:
This site has been redesigned to use a better blogging system. Previous posts are no longer available. This site uses RSS feeds. RSS feeds are provided by blog’s owners themselves so their information is syndicated for use on other blogs and websites. All feeds used on this site are from www.syndic8.com. They are all poker blog feeds. Many poker blogs report news items found on other blogs and news sites. This site is no different. Take a look at the blog empire created by www.weblogsinc.com. They link to all their blogs which include cancer, diabetes, technology, video games, etc. This blog does the same. Local law enforcement and attornies have been contacted regarding the threats, and harrassment by guinnessandpoker.blogspot.com and harrassment, false statements and inciting harrassment by www.kebzweb.com. Emails from both parties have been blocked since May 5, 2005 and are not being received.
It’s fairly clear from this jackass’ lead paragraph that s/he knows what s/he is doing is wrong, but is attempting to find ways to weasel out of it. Let’s take it point by point, shall we?
This site has been redesigned to use a better blogging system.
Well, it’s using WordPress, which is a better blogging system, but then, according to the WP web-site, they’ve surpassed 100,000 downloads, so it’s hardly unique. I’m running three blogs on WP myself. I don’t have a single RSS feed from another blog on any of them, either. I wonder if the WordPress guys know their software is being used as a screen-scraper.
Previous posts are no longer available.
Wonder why? WordPress has a really sweet archival system straight out of the box. Why are you hiding your archives? Having a tough time deleting all the stuff you stole from someone else?
This site uses RSS feeds. RSS feeds are provided by blog’s owners themselves so their information is syndicated for use on other blogs and websites.
Well, it definitely uses RSS, no question about that. However, there is nothing on any of the blogs that I see on P-AI.I’s poker page that indicates the following, as required by the RSS 2.0 specification, which is distributed under the Creative Commons license:
You are free:
* to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work
* to make derivative works
* to make commercial use of the work
Under the following conditions:
byAttribution. You must give the original author credit.
Perhaps the owner of AI.I believes that providing a link back to the original work is all that’s required under CC for RSS by way of Attribution. Interesting question, certainly. Unanswered, so far. Pretty much everyone using CC is doing it in the spirit of which it was created, so no legal opinion exists that I’m aware of. Feel free to correct me.
All feeds used on this site are from www.syndic8.com. They are all poker blog feeds. Many poker blogs report news items found on other blogs and news sites. This site is no different.
I couldn’t find a Terms of Use on syndic8.com, so we’ll assume for the moment that s/he is using syndic8.com correctly. But, I would point out that this crap site is totally different from the sites being stolen from because there is ZERO commentary and ZERO attribution. So, you know, just as a reader, there’s a factual error on the first page.
Take a look at the blog empire created by www.weblogsinc.com. They link to all their blogs which include cancer, diabetes, technology, video games, etc. This blog does the same.
Invoking the Calcanis empire is humorous, at best, but what in the name of all this holy does “cancer, diabetes, technology, video games” have to do with poker? Let’s scroll down, shall we, and see what original commentary there is about “cancer, diabetes, technology, video games, etc.” Hmph — none. Not a bit of it. Why in the world would that be part of a page that advertises itself as ALL-INFORMATION, with a sub-domain of POKER? I wonder if it could be an attempt to capitalize on the misfortunes of one of the first poker bloggers I ever read? Would someone be that cold and heartless? Well, this is America, and I think the answer is yes, there are tons of people who would profit from some other person’s difficulties.
Local law enforcement and attornies have been contacted regarding the threats, and harrassment by guinnessandpoker.blogspot.com and harrassment, false statements and inciting harrassment by www.kebzweb.com. Emails from both parties have been blocked since May 5, 2005 and are not being received.
Ach — here’s a problem. I bet that someone has been sending angry emails, probably a result of having their words scraped off a feed and displayed on another website without proper attribution. That would make me angry, too, knowing how hard it is to come up with crap to post on the web. However, the idea that a domain squatter is going to get more than 30 seconds attention from law enforcement is beyond laughable. I’d make a drinking game out of the phone call and police response, but it would be over so quick, we’d have to play all night (and I mean real fast) to get a buzz. I can guaran-damn-tee you that there are lawyers out there willing to take money for this kind of thing, though. Makes me wish I’d gone to law school, like my mama wanted, thinking of all the people with a big pocketbook and a peanut brain. There’s that “looking in the mirror” thing, though…not sure I would have been able to get past that.
I suspect that there is something the GNU Public License that prohibits this kind of use of WordPress, too. I’m not a lawyer or a licensing dude, but I bet there’s someone out there who’s sold software before who might understand all of this. If you do, let me know.
Honest to Pete, I don’t think there’s any way for us web hippies to get around thieves. We do what we do…we throw our stuff — thoughts, analysis, strategy, bitching and moaning — out there, and it can be used, for good or ill. Thieves will use it for ill gain. The best thing you can do is old-school, but throw a copyright up. It’s pretty much a paper tiger, but hey, if all of the offended parties start a class-action and start demanding royalties from the use of their work, then it might shut down some of the thieves. That lawyer might get shut of that kind of thing pretty quick.
Before you ask, the answer is NO — I won’t take those links out. A thief is a thief. The more people who know that, the better. And if all 10 bajillion poker bloggers out there named it for what it is, instead of dancing around, the word would get out.
May 9th, 2005 at 11:24 pm
DAMN, Fat Guy!
All the interior links you put up won’t work for me. But, LOVE the write up.
May 10th, 2005 at 8:29 am
The GPL is only applicable to the software itself, not what the software produces. That’d be like Microsoft being responsible for viruses becuase they used VC++ to compile them (although that’s not a bad idea…
).
I’m guessing syndica8 and other sites cannot license the material, it’s up to the content owners to do so. They are just an aggregator. I get several moreover and syndica8 feeds in my bloglines list, so that semi-similar.
I think linking to them is a mistake though. You will do nothing but raise their google page rank and such. Put the URLs there, but don’t link them.
Ironically, we posted at about the same time on this same subject. I’ve got a little different opinion, but I do agree that they’re doorknobs.
May 10th, 2005 at 9:15 am
Meh. Screw the Google. If they get a better page rank, so be it. At least they got called out by somebody. If everybody said something, it might change. If everybody bitched to the hoster, it might change. If everybody bitched at Google, it might change. Yeah, they’ll probably go away soon enough. But raising some hell might stop the next jackass.
Probably not, but I feel better for bitching about it.
May 10th, 2005 at 9:42 am
Rss feeds with no copyright notice or disclaimer are free for use with no problems. Don’t like this capitalist society then move to Cuba.
Like most bloggers I offer a webfeed. On this point, my copyright notice says: “I allow free republication of my webfeed content ONLY, with appropriate attribution and links.” I’ve made this choice because I offer my webfeed with the intent of syndication.
Although most webfeeds are published with the intent of syndication, it’s a mistake to assume that ALL webfeeds are inherently free for anyone to republish. If you wish to republish the content of a webfeed, check the copyright notice or ask the author.
I encourage bloggers and all online publishers to create their own specific copyright statements which address rights issues for both their full-text content and their webfeeds. This discourages plagiarism and misunderstandings.
COPYRIGHT LAW ALLOWS CHOICE
All rights reserved happens to be my choice. Some rights reserved works well for other authors. The key is that only the author can make this choice. I value my right to control my intellectual property. I respect the right of other authors to choose differently.
May 10th, 2005 at 9:54 am
Oh, dear, Mr. Anonymous — you didn’t finish your schooling, did you? You know nothing about capitalism. You’re a government worker, for God’s sake. Does the Commonwealth of Kentucky know you’re blogging on their time and dime?
Where is your webfeed, by the way? You didn’t leave a link, so I can’t find it. I’d like to see what you consider syndicatable.
May 10th, 2005 at 10:16 am
No I’m doing nothing wrong. And I know it. If Iggy hadn’t made threats, used obscenities the first time he contacted me then this would have been a very different story. And yes I was contacted by one site whose feed I was using and I did remove their feed. No problem at all and I didn’t get “huffy”. Iggy and Maude’s feed were never used on that site so they had no legal right to tell me to take it down or they’d continue on with their threat.
Previous posts are available, just not from the wordpress blog. And I had been moving all my blogs over to wordpress and poker was next in line.
No you didn’t realize what syndic8 is for. It’s to find rss feeds. All feeds were found there. I didn’t go rummaging around poker blogs decided whose to use. I’ve never seen any of your sites until Iggy decided to make a few threats.
Jumping to conclusions aren’t you? I don’t know any poker bloggers. I have no idea who the first blogger you are referring to or what their problem is. I pointed out weblogsinc.com because they have blogs on differnent topics and link them together. I do too. So do many others. That’s all. If you want to be crabby they’re making money off cancer with their blog.
Angry emails due to site’s feed being used? No. Only one site contacted me and professionally asked for it to be removed. It was removed as that’s no problem at all. If a feed owner wants it removed then I’ll remove it! But the other bloggers bitching never had their feeds used. They have actually threatened me by phone and email. The police were very interested in the threats and taped the phone messages. So yes it’s getting more than 30 seconds of attention from them. Now are you condoning their actions which may turn out to be criminal?
You have to understand that rss feeds are being promoted as a huge thing in the internet world. For the last many months every internet marketer has been using rss feeds on their sites as it’s being promoted as free frequently updated content. It’s up to the internet marketer to find feeds and syndic8 is a great place to find feeds. There’s no time to find blog sites on your own. Then you check the site to make sure there’s no disclaimer preventing you from using the feed. If not, use it. That’s the premise of rsstoblog.com software. There’s several other software programs out there doing the same thing. It’s a way to have a site about a topic that is frequently updated without you having to update it.
And that’s just all there is to it. I leave links on the feeds so if anyone actually reads the blog they can go back to the original poster. But there is an option in the software to turn off all links, so it does look like you wrote it. What are you going to do? People find a need and fill it.
May 10th, 2005 at 10:47 am
No I’m doing nothing wrong.
Yeah, you are. You know it, too. I ain’t talking legalities, schmuck. I’ll deal with you later.
May 10th, 2005 at 11:07 am
Veiled threat over rss feeds. Grow up.
May 10th, 2005 at 11:11 am
Time management, fool, not a threat.
May 10th, 2005 at 4:20 pm
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Everything that is not explicitly placed in the public domain is copyrighted. Not just things that have the little “c” at the bottom, or have a copyright line on them. EVERYTHING.
Don’t take my word for it. Ask the U.S. Fing Copyright Office:
In other words, you are a moron, and a criminal. “But people quote people on the internet all the time!” Yes — that is called “Fair Use. Fair use gives a few exceptions in the public interest, depending on whether or the use is commercial, the extent of what is quoted, and for what purposes (social commentary, satire, parody, etc.)
In that sense, you have absolutely no protection under fair use. You aren’t making any commentary, you are quoting in full rather than excerpting, and you aren’t attributing it at any rate.
You, sir, are a fucking leech. You suck content from other people, as I suspect you suck at everything. Go away and forget that you ever saw that World Wide Web thing.
May 10th, 2005 at 4:22 pm
And, since you are running ads, you are liable for damages. IIRC, the damages can be trebled, meaning that TFG can get triple everything you have ever been paid for those ads. Before you take out expenses; he gets triple the gross.
May 10th, 2005 at 4:57 pm
Well, not me…the people s/he’s leeching from. I’m just bitching up to help my poker peeps. And whatever the next fad is that all-info wants to leech for.
May 10th, 2005 at 6:10 pm
[...] stunning display of petty intellectual one-upmanship: The original comment from hose-head can be found here. No I’m doing nothing wrong. Yes, you are. And I know [...]
May 11th, 2005 at 11:20 am
Wait a minute. The poker bloggers are creating RSS feeds, and now want to dictate how people use them? WTF? Look, the linkfarming is stupid, but you can always blackhole his site if you don’t want to serve him in particular.
The moment you try to enforce the copyright law on an RSS feed is the day the entire RSS thing goes in the shitter.
May 11th, 2005 at 11:41 am
Wilhelm, try to keep up, please.
#1, yes, I want to dictate how people use my RSS feed. It is, after all, MINE. I don’t want it used for commercial purposes unless I’m getting a cut.
#2, it’s being scraped off of Syndic8.com. So it’s not as simple as blackholing a particular offender.
#3, why is RSS exempt from copyright? Why, why, why? It’s my freaking work. God — how big of a blockhead do you have to be to not understand that?
#4, RSS already sucks to high, holy hell. The RSS readers, the aggregators, the producers — all a big ragtag bunch of inconsistencies.
Now, start at the top (i.e., not here) and start over.
May 12th, 2005 at 5:02 pm
Dictating how people use them? Sure. Use them, as in, read them. That is like bitching that you can’t buy a paperback, run down to Kinkos, run a photocopy off and then start selling it. Make no mistake — our knucklehead here is running ads on his site in the middle of the content, so he is very much reselling the information.