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So, theft is cool now, right?

SeñorAmorSeñorAmor !!!Registered User regular
edited March 2012 in Social Entropy++
Didn't see that anyone posted about this yet.

I haven't checked out the app -- and I have no intention of doing so -- but supposedly PA is one of the comics being shafted.

I didn't see it mentioned on the front page, so I'm assuming M&J haven't heard about it yet, but I would hate to be that guy when the shit hits the fan.

SeñorAmor on
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Posts

  • ButtlordButtlord Fornicus Lord of Bondage and PainRegistered User regular
    Here's a fun story about this shit that I'd have to dig up the link to

    Reddit, for whatever reason, rips webcomics from their sites, throws it on imgur and posts it

    One of the creators came in once and said hey can you either not do that or failing that at least link my site so I get some traffic

    For the thing that I created

    That you're basically stealing

    And they were screamed at by a million stupid assholes

  • BroloBrolo Broseidon Lord of the BroceanRegistered User regular
    hotlinking is bandwidth THEFT

  • TankHammerTankHammer Atlanta Ghostbuster Atlanta, GARegistered User regular
    edited March 2012
    What a shitty thing to do. I say we petition the guy to drop all the web comics and just keep Ctrl+Alt+Del up there.

    TankHammer on
  • ButtlordButtlord Fornicus Lord of Bondage and PainRegistered User regular
    Keep XKCD on there too

  • unintentionalunintentional smelly Registered User regular
    Supermega, three word phrase, and nedroid are all missing

    Bad taste in webcoms, jerk

  • EncEnc A Fool with Compassion Pronouns: He, Him, HisRegistered User regular
    Digital copyright law would give these folks ground to sue the app creator, especially if he is selling the app or getting add revenues from it without their permission.

  • AbracadanielAbracadaniel Registered User regular
    something something open something Richard Stallman something don't buy me a bird

  • Munkus BeaverMunkus Beaver You don't have to attend every argument you are invited to. Philosophy: Stoicism. Politics: Democratic SocialistRegistered User, ClubPA regular
    DMCA?

    Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but dies in the process.
  • ArangArang HUEY LEWISRegistered User regular
    he forgot achewood

    nobody puts achewood in a corner

    thenews.jpg
  • ButtlordButtlord Fornicus Lord of Bondage and PainRegistered User regular
    Arang wrote: »
    he forgot achewood

    nobody puts achewood in a corner

    Except for Onstad

    Who I'm markedly less fond of after the whole "taking preorders for a product that will never materialize" thing
    Smart Hero wrote: »
    something something open something Richard Stallman something don't buy me a bird

    I had to look this up but I am very glad I did

  • BroloBrolo Broseidon Lord of the BroceanRegistered User regular
    edited March 2012
    Enc wrote: »
    Digital copyright law would give these folks ground to sue the app creator, especially if he is selling the app or getting add revenues from it without their permission.

    There's a "free" version (with ads). And a "Pro" version, where you're paying to remove the ads.

    On the one hand, this is a shitty thing to do, and kind of a strange thing since it accomplishes very little you couldn't do yourself with a number of free RSS aggregators that exist for mobile devices.

    However with that in mind I'm not even sure if it's illegal or all that much different from using an aggregator in the first place.



    Brolo on
  • AbracadanielAbracadaniel Registered User regular
    Buttlord wrote: »
    Arang wrote: »
    he forgot achewood

    nobody puts achewood in a corner

    Except for Onstad

    Who I'm markedly less fond of after the whole "taking preorders for a product that will never materialize" thing
    Smart Hero wrote: »
    something something open something Richard Stallman something don't buy me a bird

    I had to look this up but I am very glad I did

    I only read the web via a series of blind people passing handwritten notes to me in a completely dark room whilst I wear my tinfoil hat.

  • ButtlordButtlord Fornicus Lord of Bondage and PainRegistered User regular
    Honestly that's one of the best riders I've ever seen that wasn't like

    Iggy Pop's

    Or Wu-Tang's

    Wu-Tang's rider includes like 400 condoms or some ridiculous number like that

  • StaleStale Registered User regular
    edited March 2012
    Uhh... the guy isn't stealing. it's an aggregator.

    Don't want your shit to be seen outside your controlled domain? don't post an rss.

    Stale on
    easysig2.jpg
  • EncEnc A Fool with Compassion Pronouns: He, Him, HisRegistered User regular
    Rolo wrote: »
    Enc wrote: »
    Digital copyright law would give these folks ground to sue the app creator, especially if he is selling the app or getting add revenues from it without their permission.

    There's a "free" version (with ads). And a "Pro" version, where you're paying to remove the ads.

    On the one hand, this is a shitty thing to do, and kind of a strange thing since it accomplishes very little you couldn't do yourself with a number of free RSS aggregators that exist for mobile devices.

    However with that in mind I'm not even sure if it's illegal or all that much different from using an aggregator in the first place.

    In that case, PA and others could try the populist hate defense. Worked great on Thompson and that other crazy guy from Ocean's Marketing.

  • LanglyLangly Registered User regular
    yeah I'm pretty sure this isn't breaking any laws or even getting anywhere near it.

  • Blake TBlake T Do you have enemies then? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.Registered User regular
    Oh is this where we list comics we hate.

  • ButtlordButtlord Fornicus Lord of Bondage and PainRegistered User regular
    edited March 2012
    bleh

    Buttlord on
  • LTMLTM Bikes and BeardsRegistered User regular
    edited March 2012
    Yeah, I feel dumber for having visited that guy's blog.

    I don't think creating a for-profit RSS aggregator is actually illegal.

    Stupid, but I don't think entirely illegal. If this proves profitable, though, fuck the world.

    LTM on
  • BedlamBedlam Registered User regular
    I am outraged that Nedroid isnt on that list.

    Everyone should want to steal beartatoes. And then not do that, because its wrong.

  • BroloBrolo Broseidon Lord of the BroceanRegistered User regular
    Buttlord wrote:
    Stale wrote:
    Uhh... the guy isn't stealing. it's an aggregator.

    Don't want your shit to be seen outside your controlled domain? don't post an rss.

    It's an aggregator that he's selling

    For money

    So you're paying him to view someone else's work without them signing off on it which strikes me as a thing that isn't supposed to happen

    Selling a device that lets you read comics isn't illegal, and I'm not sure if it legally requires the permission of the creators either to point that device at their already freely accessible comics.

  • HunterHunter Chemist with a heart of Au Registered User regular
    Stale wrote: »
    Uhh... the guy isn't stealing. it's an aggregator.

    Don't want your shit to be seen outside your controlled domain? don't post an rss.

    I demand we tar and feather this guy, and the guy from FARK too. Just in case.

  • BroloBrolo Broseidon Lord of the BroceanRegistered User regular
    Hunter wrote: »
    Stale wrote: »
    Uhh... the guy isn't stealing. it's an aggregator.

    Don't want your shit to be seen outside your controlled domain? don't post an rss.

    I demand we tar and feather this guy, and the guy from FARK too. Just in case.

    whoa whoa

    fark is my homepage

    stop censoring my internet!

  • The_ScarabThe_Scarab Registered User regular
    haha look what's on the list: [your favourite web comic here], how silly to include that, nobody likes that.

    on the other hand, the list doesn't have [your least favourite web comic here]. It should because it's the best comic of all.

  • EncEnc A Fool with Compassion Pronouns: He, Him, HisRegistered User regular
    The part I imagine would run into legal problems is if the authors requested their media be removed from his service and he declined to do so.

  • DruhimDruhim Registered User, ClubPA regular
    Stale wrote: »
    Uhh... the guy isn't stealing. it's an aggregator.

    Don't want your shit to be seen outside your controlled domain? don't post an rss.

    But I need something to focus my moral outrage on!

    belruelotterav-1.jpg
  • AbracadanielAbracadaniel Registered User regular
    If the service was somehow scraping the creator's site and rehosting without permission, that's one thing

    but if they have an RSS up with their stuff, there's not much ground to stand on.

    Before I nuked my Google Reader feeds, I had a 'Webcomics' folder that I would use with an iOS RSS reader. Basically the same thing. Selling ad on the free version is kind of scummy though.

  • StaleStale Registered User regular
    Enc wrote: »
    The part I imagine would run into legal problems is if the authors requested their media be removed from his service and he declined to do so.

    if they post an RSS they can't say what you do with it.

    That's the whole point of an RSS. You're screaming into the world at large, you don't get to pick and choose who listens.

    easysig2.jpg
  • AneurhythmiaAneurhythmia Registered User regular
    Rolo wrote: »
    Buttlord wrote:
    Stale wrote:
    Uhh... the guy isn't stealing. it's an aggregator.

    Don't want your shit to be seen outside your controlled domain? don't post an rss.

    It's an aggregator that he's selling

    For money

    So you're paying him to view someone else's work without them signing off on it which strikes me as a thing that isn't supposed to happen

    Selling a device that lets you read comics isn't illegal, and I'm not sure if it legally requires the permission of the creators either to point that device at their already freely accessible comics.

    Yeah, remember when web browsers used to cost money? Stealing every website.

  • BroloBrolo Broseidon Lord of the BroceanRegistered User regular
    Enc wrote: »
    The part I imagine would run into legal problems is if the authors requested their media be removed from his service and he declined to do so.

    Well - that's akin to asking someone to remove a link to their web page from your web page.

    Don't think you're actually obligated to.

  • LanglyLangly Registered User regular
    Enc wrote: »
    The part I imagine would run into legal problems is if the authors requested their media be removed from his service and he declined to do so.

    See, I'm not sure. I mean, I don't know. But let's say that you had a site that you paid a fee to enter. On the site, it just has links + re-hosted images of popular comics.

    Even if the creator doesn't want you to link to them, or to re-host their image, what can they do about it? It's a public website. The owner of the pay to enter site isn't claiming that the work is his, he is just collecting them for you so you don't have to go to each site every day.




    Now, that, and this app, is a really stupid thing to pay for, but I don't see how it's illegal, even if the creators object.

  • ButtlordButtlord Fornicus Lord of Bondage and PainRegistered User regular
    edited March 2012
    The_Scarab wrote: »
    haha look what's on the list: [your favourite web comic here], how silly to include that, nobody likes that.

    on the other hand, the list doesn't have [your least favourite web comic here]. It should because it's the best comic of all.

    Pffft you're just mad about CAD not being included

    Buttlord on
  • HunterHunter Chemist with a heart of Au Registered User regular
    Druhim wrote: »
    Stale wrote: »
    Uhh... the guy isn't stealing. it's an aggregator.

    Don't want your shit to be seen outside your controlled domain? don't post an rss.

    But I need something to focus my moral outrage on!

    Gay marriage between late term aborted fetuses that are Communists.

  • BroloBrolo Broseidon Lord of the BroceanRegistered User regular
    Hunter wrote: »
    Druhim wrote: »
    Stale wrote: »
    Uhh... the guy isn't stealing. it's an aggregator.

    Don't want your shit to be seen outside your controlled domain? don't post an rss.

    But I need something to focus my moral outrage on!

    Gay marriage between late term aborted fetuses that are Communists.

    In their sexiest pony cosplay outfits.

  • .Tripwire..Tripwire. Firman Registered User regular
    It's always going to be annoying to comic makers that someone else has found a way to make money which includes using their work, because generally comic makers are really awful at making money.

    sigi_moe.pngsigi_deviantart.pngsigi_twitter.pngsigi_steam.pngsigi_tumblr.png
  • WeedLordVegetaWeedLordVegeta Registered User regular
    Rolo wrote: »
    Hunter wrote: »
    Druhim wrote: »
    Stale wrote: »
    Uhh... the guy isn't stealing. it's an aggregator.

    Don't want your shit to be seen outside your controlled domain? don't post an rss.

    But I need something to focus my moral outrage on!

    Gay marriage between late term aborted fetuses that are Communists.

    In their sexiest pony cosplay outfits.

    Playing the worlds of warcrafts

  • BroloBrolo Broseidon Lord of the BroceanRegistered User regular
    .Tripwire. wrote: »
    It's always going to be annoying to comic makers that someone else has found a way to make money which includes using their work, because generally comic makers are really awful at making money.

    btw thanks for letting me use your comics on my cafepress line of shirts! they're super popular!

  • UsagiUsagi Nah Registered User regular
    Hunter wrote: »
    Druhim wrote: »
    Stale wrote: »
    Uhh... the guy isn't stealing. it's an aggregator.

    Don't want your shit to be seen outside your controlled domain? don't post an rss.

    But I need something to focus my moral outrage on!

    Gay marriage between late term aborted fetuses that are Communists.

    So that's why the birthrate is declining!

  • DruhimDruhim Registered User, ClubPA regular
    Hunter wrote: »
    Druhim wrote: »
    Stale wrote: »
    Uhh... the guy isn't stealing. it's an aggregator.

    Don't want your shit to be seen outside your controlled domain? don't post an rss.

    But I need something to focus my moral outrage on!

    Gay marriage between late term aborted fetuses that are Communists.

    My dream come true. Now I can finally marry a dead communist fetus!

    belruelotterav-1.jpg
  • EncEnc A Fool with Compassion Pronouns: He, Him, HisRegistered User regular
    Langly wrote: »
    Enc wrote: »
    The part I imagine would run into legal problems is if the authors requested their media be removed from his service and he declined to do so.

    See, I'm not sure. I mean, I don't know. But let's say that you had a site that you paid a fee to enter. On the site, it just has links + re-hosted images of popular comics.

    Even if the creator doesn't want you to link to them, or to re-host their image, what can they do about it? It's a public website. The owner of the pay to enter site isn't claiming that the work is his, he is just collecting them for you so you don't have to go to each site every day.

    Now, that, and this app, is a really stupid thing to pay for, but I don't see how it's illegal, even if the creators object.

    It's a hard call, IANAL but reading the law as it stands:
    Uploading or downloading works protected by copyright without the authority of the copyright owner is an infringement of the copyright owner's exclusive rights of reproduction and/or distribution. Anyone found to have infringed a copyrighted work may be liable for statutory damages up to $30,000 for each work infringed and, if willful infringement is proven by the copyright owner, that amount may be increased up to $150,000 for each work infringed. In addition, an infringer of a work may also be liable for the attorney's fees incurred by the copyright owner to enforce his or her rights.
    Whether or not a particular work is being made available under the authority of the copyright owner is a question of fact. But since any original work of authorship fixed in a tangible medium (including a computer file) is protected by federal copyright law upon creation, in the absence of clear information to the contrary, most works may be assumed to be protected by federal copyright law.
    Since the files distributed over peer-to-peer networks are primarily copyrighted works, there is a risk of liability for downloading material from these networks. To avoid these risks, there are currently many "authorized" services on the Internet that allow consumers to purchase copyrighted works online, whether music, ebooks, or motion pictures. By purchasing works through authorized services, consumers can avoid the risks of infringement liability and can limit their exposure to other potential risks, e.g., viruses, unexpected material, or spyware.
    For more information on this issue, see the Register of Copyrights' testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

    Really all depends upon the nature of RSS feeds. If they are considered traditional peer-to-peer file sharing (which they have been), there could be grounds for some kind of litigation. But as the authors are posting to the RSS feed themselves they are probably going to be interpreted as giving consent. Should they remove their work from an RSS feed and request previous images removed from the aggregate and the aggregate refuses, I think there could be a case. Otherwise probably not.

    Still sucks. Best way to kill this thing would be probably to sick public opinion on them.

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