CyberMinions.net

A Generic Rant Is Best When Playing In The Closing Escrow Superbowl... I wil not pretend to be so arrogant as to assume to school you on how you feel or bicker about how you express those feelings. I will urge caution because as a periodic playful and crazy person I do understand insanity when I see it (LOL). Why don't I just make it about me responding to what I see:

A broker who questions the ethics or practices of another broker may freely choose not to do business with the person who ticks them off or sets their alarm bells in motion. A person can make a formal complaint. A person can mediate or arbitrate. A person can litigate. A person can walk away. A person can illustrate a pithy point or share a bad business moment in order to gain insight from their peers on what to do (or not do) and how to possibly avoid certain pitfalls.

Sharing knowledge is cool. Mentoring and training peers is a wonderful, time consuming undertaking, however, one may not convey his or her feelings to other trade practitioners in any manner that might lead them to take similar action that results in a boycott or unfair dealings negatively impacting the particular person or firm one is complaining about that would not have happened if not for you and what you have specifically done...

In other words, writing generic rants is best. Don't name names and attack another business or brand on your blog posts. Truth is always a defense and I get the fair use review doctrine but Antitrust issues are a hard pill to swallow. If the "they" you are ranting about are dumb enough to come to your post and confess they are the ones who did you wrong in such an outrageous manner, verifying your truthful complaint while they try to justify screwing you over because they are stupid and arrogant then it may not be your fault they get spanked by their peers if they continue to act like an idiot in public because people can respond to the words coming out of their own mouth that they publish any way they feel is appropriate.

Needless to say I am having a very interesting morning with my e-mail and recreational reading (LOL). No, I will not link back to the blog posts I am laughing about or frowning over, but I will caution you guys to think about what you are doing when you click the comment post button. Those comments may not seem like much now, but they can turn into a serious nightmare later if the blog wars escalate to litigation. You have no idea what anyone in this forum is doing with your blog posts. After all, "Member's Only" posts can be printed and faxed just like everything else on the Internet. Every browser has a "File>Save As" option that allows you to download and save an entire web-page to your hard drive. If you calm down a day late and go back to delete or modify your comments the damage may already have been done and the evidence obtained and delivered to an attorney. 

Even temporarily insane passionate/emotionally triggered miscreants can feel remorse, so think about what you are saying while foaming at the virtual mouth with those political and other category of posts people. In NY State, my Broker In Charge is deemed to be responsible for my real estate advertising and websites. (e.g. every time I comment a link shows up next to my name with TannStarr.com and REMAX People Realty). If you read my blog you guys know I'm not a shy person and am prone to say just about anything. My serious, frivolous and wise cracking ways frequently send people towards and away from my profile/posts. What I will not do is get so riled up over another person's personal opinion that I throw everything I have struggled to attain and build away by knowingly, willingly and intentionally engaging in behavior that triggers a six/seven figure Antitrust fine for me and my firms. Believe you me when I say those laws are so complex and scary people can easily stumble in there and commit a violation unintentionally.

The Community Rules are here for a reason. Respect them. Please be advised that "Member's Only" posts are published to a forum: How private is private when you're dealing with cybersapce? Think about it... Slow your friggin' roll with that acid togue. When you are right, I concede that you are right but if you say it wrong bad things can happen to good people. Freedom of Speech is not free when you get smacked upside your virtual head by the Justice Department or a libel, slander, defamation civil suit.

Go edit yourselves. You know who you are (because you seem to enjoy riling people up as if you're trolling to induce heart attacks or for litigation). Why do people insist on parking on a competitor's blog post and just spew negativity? Go write you own damn post and get as negative as you want. I am a fun and games kinda gal, but even I draw the line at some stuff. Notice how i didn't park over there and simply said what I have to say over here? I am not saying you can't be pissed off and express yourself but what I am saying is you better be real correct about the crap you are flinging around about other people because we all have friends in cyberspace. The links will be forwarded. Group founders will be called. People will go off behind the scenes and start looking for an outlet for all of that anger you have inspired. When the suits come knocking and calling some things can't be taken back with a belated dang I got caught I better apologize attitude.

Truth is always relative to what is known. If a writer doesn't tell you everything why act like a know-it-all when you respond from out of state? Where you there? Are our laws similar? Do you know the players involved? Wanna help a newbie resolve something? Ask him or her an intelligent set of questions before you cyber-bomb them with your personal brand of sarcastic napalm because you think your 20 plus years of selling houses means something to a person who is barely making it and you've never given one referral to to help them pay their friggin' bills. Everyone in the Rain is trying to make money. Make no mistake about that. When you make someone else feel lower than a roach it pisses a lot of people off. Just because there are three comments on a blog post doesn't mean 1000 people have not read it and several people have shot me an e-mail asking me to say what they dare not say. (Yup. It's true: People count on my misbehaving - LOL). But I digress...

When people ask for an opinion or help in the Rain it is because they are exposing themselves while trusting this community.

Vulnerable people are not for your personal target practice. You know how I get when you mess with my bay-bays. I love my bay-bays. These people are my friends. We are learning each other an getting comfy in the rain. Loan Officers and Stagers are not second class citizens. We are all members of a struggling industry and we all bring something valuable to the table.

Being a Realtor is not the high end of the food chain. You are just one member of an assembled team playing the closing-escrow-superbowl for the client. HOW DARE SOME OF YOU MAKE SOMEONE ELSE FEEL THEIR CONTRIBUTION DOESN'T COUNT IN THIS FORUM. Don't make me come over there... You sure as hell wont like it if I tell what I really know about some of you. No one here is perfect. We all have issues. If Wordy C can shut up and bite her tongue you may want to seriously consider doing the same. Everything on your mind does not need to be said. There is a lot of irony in that statement coming from a writer like me 'cause I say just about everything (LOL). However, I do not start my day out by naming names and intentionally making another specific writer feel like crap in cyberspace.

People have feelings. People can be hurt. Businesses can suffer. Watch your friggin' comments because an objective disagreement or difference of opinion is not the same as an insult, libel, slander and defamation...

Play nice in the electronic sandbox people. :-)

Blog Post Therapy done. Was that generic enough for you? I can write another rant if this one doesn't doesn't suit you. Seriously... (LMAO) ;-)

Stambovsky v. Ackley 169 A.D.2d 254 (NY App. Div. 1991) the Haunted House Non-disclosure Case is a very interesting read. Here's a brief re-cap as a law cliftnote so your eyes don't cross and you don't choke on legal eagle stuff. It's part of my reading list from my attorney girlfriends and I cracked up so much I had to take a break, pop in the Rain and share this with you.

My fave cliftnote quote is a question, then part of the answer: "Issue: Under what circumstances may nondisclosure of information by the seller of a house to the buyer entitle the buyer to rescind a contract for sale?" Part of the answer: Although New York follows the caveat emptor rule and the buyer is required to inspect the house for any defects, in this case the buyer probably would not have been able to discover that the house was haunted had he inspected it. Since D knew about the problem and did not disclose it to P and P could not have detected it, P was awarded rescission of the contract for sale. The court held that the caveat emptor doctrine only acts against those who do not exercise their rights and who fail to take due care. In this case there was no clue or objective standard to apply to P regarding how the ghosts were to be discovered."

Who knew, as a buyer or broker, you had to ask if the damn house is haunted? I sure as hell didn't (ROTFL). Geez... Did I mention my girlfriends were mad fun? If you can't have fun at work, where can you? My tutors sent me a PDF that floored me. It's very well written and the droll, dry treatment of ghosts tickled me pink. BTW, the six page Westlaw PDF file (Cite as: 169 A.D.2d 254) on this is fantastic. You guys have soooo got to read this. Seriously... Law briefs can be funny when you love irony. ;-)

My fave quote from the appeal contained in the PDF is on page 2: "The unusual facts of this case, as disclosed by the record, clearly warrant a grant of equitable relief to the buyer who, as a resident of New York City, cannot be expected to have any familiarity with the folklore of the Village of Nyack. Not being a "local", plaintiff could not readily learn that the home he had contracted to purchase is haunted. Whether the source of the spectral apparitions seen by defendant seller are parapsychic or psychogenic, having reported their presence in both a national publication (Readers' Digest) and the local press (in 1977 and 1982, respectively), defendant is estopped to deny their existence and, as a matter of law, the house is haunted."

Hmm... might want to think twice about what you publish in your blog posts and the comments section... Imagine hypothetically being "estopped" to deny what you published said down the road (LMAO). ;-)

Brokerage Commissions Must Be Earned... Seems like a simple statement but I find it amazing some people don't get this. It's not about an Open house, a flier or a passing conversation; it's about (a) procuring a meeting of the minds and (b) getting the important essentials into an executed contract.

The paper trail is very important. Some people are pretty casual with their e-mails. You may want to rethink that and do more negotiations in writing. If you do have a phone conversation, re-cap and follow it up with an e-mail. E-mails can help you reconstruct a time-line sequence in the correct chronological order if you habitually use them. They can also refresh your recollection if you forget something that may turn out to be very important later on... As a matter of fact your blog post conversations and posts can also time stamp your business activities. :-)

My gal pals are really gung ho regarding sending me all over cyberspace to understand the intricacies of a commercial transaction. They want me to get out of the books and into the historical life of real estate transactions. From 1986 to 2009, I have a reading list that has been making me go "hmm" since last night. I spent the wee hours this morning with this blurb from Real Estate Weekly, Sept 7, 1994 by Edward L. Schiff.

Do you want to know my favorite points to quote? Check these out:

(1) Helmsley-Spear, Inc. v. Melville Corp. (611 N.Y.S. 2d 240), holds that the mere introduction of a property by a broker to a perspective purchaser does not entitle the broker to a commission. "Despite Melville's refusal to engage the broker's services, Helmsley-Spear claims that in February 1987, one of its brokers made a "cursory showing" of the Dictaphone Building in Westchester to Melville's real estate manager as a possible building to lease. This building was not managed by Helmsley-Spear nor was Helmsley-Spear exclusively engaged to represent the building."

Seems to me the buyer or potential tenant gets to choose who negotiates/writes up their offers and represents their best interests.

(2) Heelan Realty & Development Corp. v. Skyview Meadows Development Corp. -612N. Y. S. 2nd 192 is also a very interesting read regarding "commissions claimed by a broker resulting from a deal which collapsed." Hmm... "It [the court] ruled that no brokerage commission is earned until the buyer and the seller have a meeting of the minds on all substantial issues. Mere agreement as to the price on a proposed sale of real property does not constitute a "meeting of the minds" of the buyer and the seller, absent an agreement as to other terms that are essential and customary to real estate transactions. It is only when the seller wrongfully or arbitrarily prevents the completion of a deal does a broker's commission become due."

Seems to me the binder is only the beginning... We don't stop working until we close escrow. Anything can go wrong at any given moment so if brokers don't cooperate and our clients become entrenched in inflexible ideals, the potential is there for everyone to lose. This deal went south because sets of people (LB, BB, Seller, Purchaser) refused to get a very important letter while demanding the others do it... I am not an attorney so I have no idea why the seller didn't do it and don't know how the buyer could have done it without being the owner of the property. Hmm... I don't know what was technically required but I do know stupidity when I read it.

Non cooperation is the height of stupidity when you are supposed to be dealing in good faith and representing the best interests of both parties involved in a real estate transaction. Do you want to collect days on the market or do you want to close escrow? I am still reading cases from the 1980s and find myself thinking the same crappy attitudes are here in the Rain right now that were evident in the squabbling of old.

Sure you want to keep pissing on another agent about not paying them if they don't attend your Open House? Seems the courts are more interested in the actual work done and the exact factor that proved to be the decisive moment when a buyer and seller has a mutual meeting of the minds.

Our attitudes spill over into the lives of the people who observe us. There is more to negotiating and earning a commission than opening a door and handing a prospect a flier. Your 5 minute conversation may not be the reason they are or are not buying a property. The whole reason is usually the sum of all of the components that factor into their decision making. I routinely have to speak with my buyers, their spouses, their relatives and their friends before some of them will actually say yes. When did your 5 minutes trump my 2 weeks, 2 months, or year?

No practitioner should take any prospect, customer or client for granted. If they decline to choose you and go with someone else you can bet your bottom dollar there is a reason. It doesn't even have to be a good one. People can be irrational and/or generally do what they are comfortable with. It's up to the buyer and/or seller to determine who they want to work with, how and when. It's up to us to service them to the best of our ability when they do select us. A lot of time and conversations passed between the people who eventually litigated their positions.

They each thought they were correct to file their complaints. Things don't always turn out the way we plan...

My girlfriend Susan was kind enough to make this available for a re-blog. Please consider helping families in need and donate to your neighborhood food banks. :-)

Fruit Sushi? Kyoto is the Bomb! Seriously...

Wordy C does not do wordless posts. Seriously... I have to admit I almost did with this one. That dish left me speechless in a good way. I am soooooooo addicted to good food and I love blogging from this place. If you are ever on Union Turnpike near Parson's Blvd in Queens County you have sooooooo got to try this dish.

Awesome... simply awesome...

Wordy C on Fair Use: A Case Study In Accidental Copyright Violations Part 2 of 5

What drives your blog? The need for speed or do you have a slow, careful writing hand?

The cut and paste function is a very useful but sometimes tempting tool. Used wisely (e.g. to get a small snippet of information to showcase a specific quote you are attributing to another source) you can save time assembling an article. Used incorrectly (e.g. plagiarism, copyright violation), one may find oneself in a very sticky situation when caught. Here's a unexpected, scary thought: what if you get set up?

When was the last time you read Yahoo's Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy regarding Flickr accounts? Have you seen this?  It is very brief so if you have not please take the time to read it. Most people I chatted with didn't even realize the two cyber-entities were interwoven.

I noticed an interesting gap in the conversation yesterday regarding protecting users from other user manipulation. I kept thinking someone would start that thread. Hmm... Oh well... feel free to open the door here. After having spent a lot of time in their (Yahoo/Flickr) forum reading yesterday here is what I discovered:

Users change their digital permissions all the time. They own the copyrights, they own the accounts, they can check a box or click a radio button at whim and create situations you had no idea could get you caught up in potential litigation down the road if you have nothing in writing to protect yourself. For example: One user had taken some great shots that were used by a website he objected to (competition?). He changed the creative commons license and made the photographs private after the fact to deliberately break the links. He checked back a few days later and was miffed that the targeted website showed the missing photographs as being temporarily unavailbe. He openly complained in the forum about what he did and the fact that that their page rankings was still higher because of his Flickr photograph links even though the photographs were no longer visible. His discussion talking points in sum and substance? Was this link back and photograph usage (after he changed the rights after the fact) considered fair use... He thought it was unfair the other site was still benefiting from his free no longer free or visible photographs. I bet you Flickr users didn't see that mind set developing did you? It made me pause, then scrap my original draft of this post because I suddenly found myself wondering exactly what I had accidentally stumbled into while writing a completely different article.

According to Wikipedia: "Fair Use is a doctrine in United States Copyright Law that allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders, such as use for scholarship or review. It provides for the legal, non-licensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material in another author's work under a four-factor balancing test. The term "fair use" originated in the United States, but has been added to Israeli law as well; a similar principle, fair dealing, exists in some other common law jurisdictions. Civil law jurisdictions have other limitations and exceptions to copyright." You can read the full article here.

BTW, a balancing test may be described as any judicial test in which the jurists weigh the importance of multiple factors in a legal case... That leaves the door pretty wide open for a spectrum of conclusions, don't you think? I find the notion of being fast and fickle with copyright permissions very disturbing because there is a lot at stake for anyone who gets caught out there. How does one pass the balancing test for that type of situation if you take a photograph and use it but have no documentation because it is, or was, a social media convenience? Is that trend growing in the forum discussions a potential hint some hypothetical people may be trolling for litigation if the lightbulb goes off and they start playing with the creative commons radio button for use, no use, use, no use situations if they don't like your Google juice and suffer from traffic envy? What mechanisms are available to stop them from creative financial havoc on some poor, unsuspecting blogger if its done quietly with no Internet chatter to tip one off? Is this the beginning of the hypothetical, "Poor blogger, I wont sue you, rich blogger, you had no right to steal my work?" syndrome? Inquiring minds want to know... While we are figuring this out and trolling through more research you may want to stick with taking your own pictures, buying rights from a reputable company and getting your friends and family to help you so you can avoid the possible drama of a cease and desist notice with a damages request.

It's not just an issue of photographs. It's an issue of everything that doesn't belong to you.

Lets go to Wikipedia to quote what Plagiarism is and contrast it to a Copyright Violation. It is vital you understnd these concepts in order to understand what Fair Use is and isn't.  "Plagiarism, as defined in the 1995 Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary, is the "use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work." Within academia, plagiarism by students, professors, or researchers is considered academic dishonesty or academic fraud and offenders are subject to academic censure, up to and including expulsion. In journalism, plagiarism is considered a breach of journalistic ethics, and reporters caught plagiarizing typically face disciplinary measures ranging from suspension to termination. Some individuals caught plagiarizing in academic or journalistic contexts claim that they plagiarized unintentionally, by failing to include quotations or give the appropriate citation. While plagiarism in scholarship and journalism has a centuries-old history, the development of the Internet, where articles appear as electronic text, has made the physical act of copying the work of others much easier. Plagiarism is not copyright infringement. While both terms may apply to a particular act, they are different transgressions. Copyright infringement is a violation of the rights of a copyright holder, when material protected by copyright is used without consent. On the other hand, plagiarism is concerned with the unearned increment to the plagiarizing author's reputation that is achieved through false claims of authorship." You can read the full Wiki article here.

Bloggers are a nebulous group comprising people from all walks of life and every profession inmagined. A blogger may or may not be a student or journalist. What ever your station and status in cyber-life one point must be made very clear: your station and status does not absolve you from engaging in or being accused of plagiarism and/or copyright violations. If you like what someone says quote them. Doing so brings clarity to the discussion at hand and helps to facilitate a meeting of the minds regarding talking points. If you like a picture, get permission to use it in writing. How hard is it to shoot off a two line e-mail?

Revisit The ActiveRain Community Guidelines:

(1) Respect copyrights. Only upload content/images that you have the right to use (what you have paid for or own), and whose copyright rules allow for commercial use. 

(2) Do not plagiarize (copy and paste) content from another source, and publish it as your own. You must obtain expressed permission from the original source to republish, and give reference to such within the body of your post. Permission to re-print is NOT the same as permission to re-publish. This also applies to publishing other real estate listings that are not your own.

Here is a third guideline quote I would like to share with you that I believe is very important but frequently gets overlooked: "Please take these rules seriously. Don't try to look for loopholes or ways around them; please take them to heart and try to respect the spirit in which they were created. We administrate this community using logic and common sense, and we will give greatest regard to the intention of the rule. If we decide to terminate your account as a result of a violation of these Community Guidelines, you will be prohibited from ever signing up for another account!"

Last talking point: Don't hide behind the mantra of Fair Use to swipe things that do not belong to you... It can get very expensive...

A Case Study In Accidental Copyright Violations Part 1 of 5

What Drives Your Blog? Original or Borrowed Content?

I am going to take you out of the Rain to Google. When it comes to researching about copyright violations, Lexus Nexus and Google are my best electronic friends. As a Paralegal, I pay thousands of dollars to access Lexus. Since Google is free, lets stick with the equal opportunity use search engines and the on-line clearinghouses available for you to conduct your own research to check the veracity of my statements.

I would like to bring your attention to the Chilling Effects Clearinghouse on-line samples. Have you heard of it? Have you visited this database? As a blogger you should. Start here at the KazaA complaint to Google. Read the entire link because I am not going to paraphrase it here for you and the Q&A section underneath is fabulous.

Sometimes you have to see things for yourself to understand why I say and write the things I do to you. If you knew what I knew about how bad a copyright violation could get you would, like I, hesitate to use third party works that you have no idea where they originated from.

I am not against third party providers, I am against people who do not watch their copyrights or check the veracity of the third party claims. Some third parties provide for academic use, others for commercial use. Some fly by nights steal other peoples work, make some quick on-line money, then disappear. Watch your licenses and use the material according to the rights provided for. If you don't have written permission or a licensing agreement you are leaving yourself wide open for a world of hurt if your blogging habits result in a copyright violation complaint being lodged against you.

Did you know if you accidentally accuse someone of a copyright violation and it's really "Fair Use Doctrine" material they can get damages from you, possibly into the six figure realm? Here's an example of what I am talking about: http://www.onlinepolicy.org/action/legpolicy/opg_v_diebold/

Here's an interesting warning I shall quote from Google to make Blogspot bloggers think: "Please note that you will be liable for damages (including costs and attorneys' fees) if you materially misrepresent that a product or activity is infringing your copyrights." http://www.google.com/blogger_dmca.html

Creating original works can keep you out of trouble and possibly bankruptcy court (if you lose after getting caught). Why is my picture blurry on this post? Because I want you to get it out of your head that it has to be perfect. You can shoot a picture of anything and make it interesting if you just try... BTW, my three year old took several pictures in our garage of my neighbor's bike while Mama stood there smiling. You people telling me you can't take a friggin' picture yourselves? Seriously? He was hanging off of me trying to get the camera back while I shot a few. It was great. We had fun. Took two minutes. You don't have two minutes to invest in your blog by whipping out a camera and shooting whatever you see???

Do you know your ActiveRain community rules? Do you understand they assist in copyright violation investigations? Do you want to go to another social media spot and acquire photographs from people you do not know who may not even own the rights to those photographs? My kids supposedly made it to a photostock company that supposedly sold their pictures to a third party. They changed their tune when I said I was their Mama, there was no model release and fax me the receipts.

People lie. Can you afford to pay $100,000 if that social media account mysteriously closes down and you have no receipt or written permission from the "owner," just the picture you are accused of stealing sitting on your blog?

Live From The Flower Bed

This is one of my fave outside offices. It's the walkway to our apartment building. While the shorties play and wait for their school bus pick-ups I tend to get quite a bit of work done. I have sixteen e-mails that I need to answer because I think there's been some confusion generated regarding my last post.

I don't like causing confusion unless I deliberately mean to be confusing. I thought "stop stealing" was a pretty clear missive. Guess not (ROTFLMAO). Seems I upset some people who steal but would rather I use a more delicate, politically correct euphemism for their predilection in engaging in copyright violations... Okay. My next post shall be a case study in accidental copyright violations... Hmm... Nice blog post title. I shall use it after lunch (LOL). ;-)

I like chilling under the trees hanging out with my neighbors... We stay here sometimes long after our kids have gotten on their buses. Gotta go. Time to pick up Sana.

Hmm... My next post is going to be mad fun because it's a perfect example of people taking something that is said and turning it into something else based upon what was not said by me. I like inspiring others to write so by all means have at it but don't whack me for protecting my interests... Might whack you back (ROTFLMAO). You guys certainly know how to keep things interesting.I shall play nice in the electronic sandbox when I return. Seriously... ;-)

Thank you for taking the time to write and voice your concerns. I suppose this is the part of the show where I go into Paralegal mode so you can get it... I shall try to be helpful after lunch and provide some interesting examples of why it's best to be original but there may be some sarcasm and irony in there. After all, that tends to happen when you flip my b*tch switch. ;-)

Minion Painting 102: Drawing Can Be Fun So Go Create Something New And Original... Stop Stealing...

You do not have to do what I do but you do have to do something original with your blog posts. It doesn't take much to splash a little color on a small board. You can finger paint. You can pixelate. You can even fling paint like a monkey. You can grab a bunch of kids and draw stick figures, flowers and butterflies under a rainbow together. Use crayon if you have to... Do what ever it takes (like buy commercial use clip-art and stock photographs, giving them their notice props) but stop swiping other people's stuff.

Stop acting as if you can collect what you want without written permission.

How hard is it to send an e-mail and ask? Don't casually ask over the phone, people. Get it in writing. People may not remember you 6 months down the road. People may die and estates may come after you for some money because there is no paper trail that the original owner said "yes."

Be original. Be yourself. Do it your way. Draw, paint, splash color, photograph, sing, make music, make noise... I make lots of noise (LOL). If all you got is chatting on audio, then talk into your microphone. Don't be shy... Have that virtual, audio conversation. I love hearing from people. It's a pleasure to hear bloggers speak. Your audio can be your art. You can be poetic and lyrical if you develop an audio blog to go along with your written work. Original creative art is always interesting to check out because it says something unique about you. What do my drawings say? That I am sometimes a very anal retentive with detail personality (LOL). 

Original blog posts with your original audio, photography and other forms of art is the way to go. I've been noticing people cutting and pasting other people's work because they somehow believe a re-blog means the writer is doing some sort of creative commons license.... Some people disassemble and take what they want thinking this is not plagiarism or stealing. Got news for you: NO we are NOT giving away freebies because we post to the public and yes you are stealing when you take something without permission that does not belong to you...

Know what I think of your e-mail arguments when you get caught after I and other Rainers simply say stop: What a bunch of crap. I will not play nice in the electronic sandbox if you steal my work.  That's exactly what I am thinking and i mean what I say about stealing from other bloggers is wrong and has consequences. Most people new to blogging don't know a lot, so I have a lot of patience explaining the copyright rules to them. Then there are the ones who get caught over and over and over and over... Those people flip my b*tch switch.

The Internet is not a creative-commons-automatically-in-the-public-domain so I can use it place. The Internet is simply an electronic platform facilitating the transfer of files. It's a tool like your telephone.

RSS feeds are tools as well. They do not confer rights from the owner to you. An RSS feed is just for links back to the original work because you're asking for updates on your fave spots. RSS feeds are not creative commons licenses so do not for one minute think that if you piss a writer off you can hide behind argumentative dribble like, "the Internet is public domain" or "I subscribe to your blog through RSS feeds so I can publish your work without your permission because the feed grants me access and permission..."

Oh really? Have you Googled the fines on copyright violations? You need to do your research on that one. It will not stand in court if you get caught and you will eventually piss the wrong person off and get caught big time if you do not stop.

If you blog do yourself a huge favor and protect other's people's copyrights the same way you would protect your own intellectual property. It may keep you out of a heap of trouble. For example: My kids are cute. I use them all the time. They are popping up everywhere because some people think they are models for stock photography companies. Yes, I've been lied to and told they purchased my photographs from a stock photography site (LMAO). When I explain that I am their Mother and they are real people who work for M&Ms and only for me, the conversation usually gets very interesting after that (ROTFL). Have I sued anyone? No. Will I sue someone? Maybe... Depends upon their intent and how stupid they get when I ask them to take my kids down from their websites.

My children live in ActiveRain, Facebook and YouTube. My original art is also considered to be my virtual children by me. If  you take them (my brick and mortar bloodline kids and virtual children) somewhere I did not intend for them to go I shall politely ask you to send my babies back home by removing them from your unauthorized areas. I will only ask one time because my creativity, like my kids, belong to me. If you do not receive me, then you can receive something more official to prove how serious I am about protecting my work and the reputation of the wee people.

If something that I do can help you and others I have no problem considering giving you my blessing but you have to ask me. I am very open about Autism and PDD-NOS issues. I tell a lot about my quirky life. You don't get to put that in a book without my permission. You don't turn them into a brochure. If you are not one of my blogging buddies that I routinely tell to use whatever they find useful (e.g. Big Mike, Margaret Rome, Elizabeth Weintraub, Lizette Fitzpatrick, TLW, Paddy Pizappi, Melodious, etc... ) don't pretend that joining Club Chaos automatically makes you one of my bay-bays. I know who the bay-bays are because they are my friends. They are the family I get to pick for myself. I know them. They know me. We know how far to go. We apologize when we go to far. First we tried, then we trusted each other. We have contact in ways you have no idea of. Friendship is a beautiful thing and I absolutely love my friends. Don't abuse your virtual friends and your social media platforms. You can be kicked out of virtual places if you are not careful and there could be liability issues that hypothetically may wipe out your savings if you lose in a court of law.  

Faking friendships with other writers to steal their stuff is a no-no. You will be found out. Friends talk among themselves. Stealing the work of your competition because you want their Google juice is a no-no. You will be found out. Thinking that Rainers will not sue other Rainers for blatant copyright violations is a lie from the pit of Hell. Being in the same group as another member does not a friend make. Leaving a comment on a post that you are going to use the post, then cut and paste from it like you created the work is a no-no. When Wordy C writes a long comment on your post, you can not one week later cut and paste it into a blog post with a bit of clip art for 200 points. That's a no-no. Matter of fact, that is seriously bad blogging (LMAO). Cut your own comments into a friggin' post, not other Rainers. That comment on your blog post belongs to me. I am having a conversation in cyberspace, not supplying you with new material to steal as your own post later on. Those comments are part of your record concerning who responded and how, HOWEVER, they are not your intellectual property.  It's no different than a YouTube video being embedded in the comments section. You certainly didn't gain any new rights from someone like Pink or a band like U2 for it being there now did you? What the hell makes you think you can steal rights from other Rainers? Because we're nice??? Did I mention I have a b*tch switch? (LOL)

Do you see where this conversation is going? Don't take me seriously because I routinely don't take me seriously? That's fine (or may be a no-no if the B-switch is activated). However, even my silly bouts of misbehaving on-line belong exclusively to me. When Wordy C reads her e-mail and answers back you can't collect them and my Twitter tweets and compile them into a book. You need permission. Quoting me once or twice is not the same as devoting a chapter to my work. Twitter does not own our tweets nor does Twitter give you a third party license to collect them for a tweet-publication. Tweets are 140 character micro-blogs. Your Twitter landing page is the one comprising a collection of micro-blogs that belong to your profile. Imagine miniature outside blog if the thought escapes you (LOL). So what if we are chatting openly among friends and the general public at large on a blogging platform. Lack of privacy in a written conversation does not constitute lack of intellectual property rights by a blogger tweeting thoughts and linking back to ActiveRain or another website so you can read the whole story. It also doesn't give a person rights to music because they Blip.fm a song into the Twitter stream and it friend-feeds that into Facebook. Yes, I have had the argument and am still having it with people who should know better but don't  (LMAO). 

You can't embed the YouTube of a song in ActiveRain because someone else did it or it's in your friend feed. How many times do I have to say watch your copyrights? Yes, it is a lot of fun, but did you fax or  e-mail and ask permission? Was permission granted? Did you use a sight like Blip.fm that has contractual arrangements with Twitter, iTunes, Amazon, the record labels, etc. Do you know who has or doesn't have arrangements with Facebook? Stop pointing to other platforms and saying it's okay to continue it over here because it is not. Read the community rules (and stop driving Harlen crazy...) I have 820 people to worry about. Imagine the handful of people at ActiveRain having 158K plus members to worry about. Can we give these people a friggin' break? I certainly need a break. I have been e-mailing my behind off about copyright concerns. I am a wee bit tired playing Chaotic Mama to a handful of recalcitrant cyber-children. I love you dearly, thus the gentle spanking.

Pay attention to your platform's terms of service. You, as a writer creating intellectual property for publication, should always monitor your work and create as much original content as you can. Quoting is cool. Fair use is cool. Get creative with sticking with the rules. Your creativity can open so many doors if you take the leap of faith and color your virtual world with yourself... Need music? Buy a license or get your permission in writing. Cover your a$$. People tend to forget where they left their car keys. Do you think a band is going to remember they said it was okay three years from now when the record label attorney drags you into a hypothetical class action lawsuit against YouTube-Users as a hypothetical user who violated the ActiveRain and YouTube terms of service agreement? They are tracking down grandmas and 12 year olds right now regarding copyright violations people. Don't believe me? Google it...

Respect the re-blog, the RSS feeds, your writing neighbors and all copyrights. The blog and bank accounts you save may be your own... Just sayin...  :-)

Morning lovelies. :-) I'm sitting in Yahoo minding my business reading my e-mail and scheduling appointments when I come across a notification from ActiveRain support that my writers have new posts to be approved for my team blog. Cool. I click the link, log into AR, make a few comments, approve the post syndication and start trolling the blogs for my blogging buddies.

I see Lenn Harley did a reblog. Cool. I check it out. I click the links. Register. It says I have to check my e-mail to confirm. Okay. Back to Yahoo I go. I click the link. I get a confirmation page. Before I can close the tab out a new tab pops up entitled "VirusDoctor" and I get crazy screen showing a green program load bar flying from 0 to 100%

I rip the network cords out of the back of my computer.

I am staring at a new browser tab pissed the hell off because I don't know what this is. I have a triple firewall and double antivirus. How the hell did I get this? Adware.Win32.Winad? AdvWare.Hotbar? Trojan-Downloader.Win32.Small.dge? Trojan.Qoologic - Key logger? Sheur.ZSQ?

I freak out when I see the key logger shit because that is a nasty hack attack. I gotta go change all of my account passwords if this turns out to be true. The damn thing has the nerve to recommend "Click 'Start Protection' button to erase all threats."

Oh really?

I am not clicking that. It is inconceivable to me that Norton 360 would miss these and a few others. The tab claims that I have 10 critical and high threat viruses. Hmm... The interesting thing is the scan has been disabled on my PC Tools Antivirus but not Norton 360. Hmm... I am running Norton 360 waiting for confirmation that these things are actually on my computer while I stare at three red blinking warnings declaring 10 viruses found: 1 in my documents and 9 in shared documents.

Off I migrate to the laptop to write this while I wait for Norton to give me a report. Mike's computer and my laptop appear to be fine. We are sharing a five station router. My HP tower is the only one that appears to be under attack. Bummer. All my work is on there. I can't afford to lose a single file off that machine.

I don't know what this is and I hope it isn't crap to make me buy something that I do not need. I certainly am not clicking some strange button to "remove" something that appears to have been maliciously downloaded this morning. I am pissed off that my PC Tools wont scan this. Norton appears to be doing it's job. When Norton is done I'm going to use Evidence Eliminator to wipe all of the temp files with a department of defense scrub and digital bleach job. I don't want any temp files left anywhere... I am thinking clicking the "start protection" button will trigger a malicious installation. What say you?

WTF is Microscano.info and how did it pop up it's own tab on my Firefox browser to start this shit???

This better not be a fucked up advertisement for a product because I am soooo calling my attorney girlfriends about this unauthorized intrusion into my little digital world. I am stressed out beyond belief because Paralegals have to maintain the confidentiality of client files. Comprehensive scans and running computer forensic tools to track alterations and accessed files take a long time and I have a client I need to drive to an open house in Long Island. I just cancelled my gym routine to deal with this crap.

A pissed off Wordy C may be getting really evil with some stupid person later this afternoon... Seriously evil... I do not let people mess with my home office. It's how I pay the bills and feed my kids. Mama is really loaded for bear today. Will keep you guys posted...