Explore Chaos with Heather Walker

Just when you thought they weren't looking...BAM!! Here they are!   (Ooops...stole from Emeril just now, didn't I??  Sorry!)  I think the Keen Team appreciates the kudos you gave.

Cheryl

I think that it is great that keen is paying attention. What I recommend to advisors that if you are not sure if you can post something just email keen. I do that sometimes and they will let you know. It is easy to stay out of trouble.

I do not want this blog to be taken as me being happy someone felt the negative impact of their actions.  I think a community benefits from the input of ALL people and certainly I take no pleasure from someone suddenly unable to give input or interact.

It is fine and dandy if a person wants to view the world as a shared pool.  If they want to donate their belonging to the global community, more power to them!!  Awesome.  And so long as their view does not manifest as an action resulting in theft of intellectual property, who cares what they think.  Freedom of thought is just as important as freedom to claim rights to original works.

Those who put out original thought ARE protected by law and morality.  I'm not here to dissect someone who cannot see the immorality of someone claiming another person's property as their own (intellectual or real property.)  I'm just saying thanks to the higher ups!!      

And the games begin.  You know as well as I do it will cause less than "ethical" advisors to hunt down the blogs of other advisors in order to start trouble as well.  Just as the notorious "bash the competition" came into play with the feedback.  I'm all for copyright...but you know very well what this is going to cause.  LOL.  Keen has to do what they have to do.  But advisors with too much time on their hands will play the blog police.  LMAO.

Oh, sometimes its not a question of immorality.  You shouldn't go so far as to label anyone immoral who may have made the MISTAKE of just posting it.  Sometimes copy and paste isn't a matter of MORALITY.  What about the images on some advisors pages?...won't this prove to be interesting.  Anyway I'm not bashing you...just giving you another perspective.  I can see your point to some degree.  

EM,

This is not a NEW thing, this idea of copyright.  It's not even new to Keen.  Many people just opt to ignore the idea (law) and the rights of the originator.  

Keen blog terms of service clearly stated from inception that to post anything in a blog the blogger is implying that they have the right to do so.  How many people have ignorantly copied something from Yahoo or some e-zine and "forgotten" to give credit to the author?  I've seen people PUT THEIR NAME on stolen works, as though they were the author.  How fair is it to the author that someone else is using their mind product to attract business and make $$$?

The truth is, even taking IP from someone without permission and *giving* them credit is a violation of copyright in a commercial realm like Keen.  It would completely different if it were for educational NON-PROFIT use like a term paper.  This is a site of commerce.  Not education.  

I'm not actually sure what you think this is going to cause.  I was hoping it would cause people to be more aware of the rights of others when it comes to intellectual property.  I was hoping it would cause a stop to plagiarism and violation of IP rights here on the blogs.  I was hoping it would make us all look a little more professional.  I was hoping it would allow original words to flow in this blog realm, rather than being bogged down with stolen words.

You clearly think it to be unethical to report abuse.  I think differently.  Now I'm far too busy in life to scour the blogs and advisor sites for violations of TOS, but due to my profession I'm a bit of a stickler when it comes to IP rights.    

I think many advisors have too much time on their hands.  And I agree, this is probably the pool from which the "blog police" originate.  Such is life.  Or such is no life?  What ever.  I see nothing wrong with reporting obvious abuse of my community.  We here have the luxury of helping others for a living.  Some people make their living with quill and ink (well, kinda) or brush and paint.  What gives any of US the right to steal from them?  
   

EM - I never take commentary as bashing, no worries.  Plus I know you to be rational and clever and clearly wanting to add intelligent input.  I appreciate that 100%!!  

I *never* label people as immoral.  Not unless I know their deeds well and I'm sitting in a jury box.  I did attach a label of immoral to the ACT of stealing.  Yes, tis true.  I stand by that.  I do not, however, think violating IP makes one immoral.  That's way too black/white for me.  

I think awareness of a wrong does not change the nature of the "crime."  A child who steals a pack of gum is wrong, even though they did not know it was wrong to steal.  Stealing a loaf of bread to feed a hungry family is still *wrong*...the thief has to weigh morality against the benefit of feeding his/her family, and make a choice.  It seems like a "how can that be wrong" question...except what if the baker of the bread needed the money earned from selling the bread to feed his family?  Or pay his workers, so they could feed their families?  Even still, the chain of "what-ifs" is not what makes an act wrong or right.          

You raise SUCH a totally valid point.  People DO have many stolen items on their Keen pages.  I suspect once the blog issue is under control, Keen will look into it.  I hope.  I know when someone comes to me for ANY sort of help with web pages/flash, Keen or otherwise, I ask for proof of copyright.

There are programs on the market that allow artists to "tag" their graphics by embedding markers.  There are also services that "sniff" these tags across the web.  The FBI uses this sort of tool for catching people involved in child pornography.  Many times simple animated gifs and jpgs and flash contain embedded illegal images.  Peddlers can pass these images to interested parties, hoping to do so under the eye of the law (some hot-under-the-collar types might call them the "porn police"...)  

Which raises the interesting question of .... what's REALLY in your stolen images?  To those who lift images from others to use on their Keen site....I hope you know the artist well!  But then, if you did, you would not need to steal...  

To those who have purchased "web design" services...where did the "designer" get those images?  Did they have right to use?

Anyway, I get chatty.  I know.  I'd like to chalk it up to too much free time, but that SOOO is not the case.  ;-)