Interesting thread, this 'slurHP.com'. If you want some interesting reading
on "fair use" and copyright goto http://www.gigalaw.com. The SPA also put
out a book called, "Online Law - The SPA's Legal Guide to Doing Business on
the Internet", Smedinghoff, Thomas, ISBN: 0-201-48980-5
Mark Wonsil
4M Enterprises, Inc.
Ron Seybold wrote:
It's nice to know where you've resurfaced in the HP community. As an
aside, I heard that HP Professional has now become Web-only, too. A
call to their publisher on the subject -- we heard this from several
of their advertisers at HP World -- has gone unreturned for several
weeks now.
>SearchHP.com operates well within the bounds of current U.S. and
>international copyright laws.
Operating within current laws doesn't speak much to the ethics of
what you did with our article, George. There's a lot of trickery in
changing our headline. "Training options stretch to meet demand,"
became, after your hijinks, "Is HP providing adequate training for
the 3000? Some users think not"
Plus, you had to reach down four paragraphs into our story to get
YOUR version of the lead. Then you took a quote, somebody's opinion,
and stated it as if it were fact, without attribution.
Just because its legal doesn't mean it's ethical. Borrowing someone
else's work -- or abstracting, as your boss Paul Gillin likes to call
it -- should require compensation, or at the least, permission. We're
not in the business of providing your company with content to sell to
its advertisers. Especially while you use headlines that slur the
3000 community.
>Summarizing the content you willing enter into
>the public domain is not in anyway reproducing or copying your original
>expression.
Practicing this kind of hijacking certainly isn't the NewsWire way of
reporting, that's for sure.
>Secondly, I must make clear that our reply was NOT that "we
>would do whatever we liked." In fact, our reply to using your content was:
>"we're going to continue doing what we think is best for our users."
Which apparently runs to sensationalizing our content in your
summaries. Stick to the headlines and leads as we write them.
>And since you've asked, "Who are these searchHP guys, anyway?" Please allow
>me to explain. The editorial staff of searchHP.com are intent on building
an
>online community that serves our IT enterprise audience of HP computing
>users. Everyday we are improving on bringing, not only the HP and
HP-related
>news and the best HP-related web content to our members, but are also
>interested in developing partnerships with those who want to help us in our
>efforts.
I am happy to hear your business mission includes improvement. Ethics
might be an area to consider.
>So, I extend an invitation to all to have a look at searchHP.com. I'd be
>glad to address any questions about the site, our future plans and explain
>any of the features. For those interested in a real-time interaction, then
>please stop by and chat with the editorial team this Wednesday
>(October 11) at 3PM
That's 3PM what time? EDT?
Since this seems to be debating season, I'd be glad to accept your
offer of real-time interaction. I am feeling the current US copyright
laws don't protect us small content providers very well from larger
companies like TechTarget. I'm starting a dialogue with the National
Writers Union on these practices, hoping for some lobbying effort --
and of course, coverage from the business press. In the meantime,
stick to the facts while you do your work.
--
Ron Seybold, Editor In Chief
The 3000 NewsWire
Independent Information to Maximize Your HP 3000
http://www.3000newswire.com
512.331.0075 -- [log in to unmask]
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