gdp's Comments

PlagiarismToday : Picuous: A Different Kind of Image Sharing Service

Thu, 19 May 2011 15:35:01 +0000

Actually, looking at the stats, it appears to have been scraped twice. I may have to do a follow up post on this. Interesting.

PlagiarismToday : What Should the Punishment for Plagiarism Be?

Tue, 17 May 2011 21:11:58 +0000

On this front, we agree but I think terminology may be getting in the way. If a student buys a paper off the Web and turns it in for an assignment, they need to be punished, regardless of whether or not they were aware it was an offense. They were clearly trying to get out of doing their work and that is a form of cheating in my book, ignorant of the law or aware. That being said, there is a difference between a student who rips off a whole Wikipedia article and one who doesn't paraphrase enough or forgets a citation. All are incidents of plagiarism technically, but clearly the latter two are not cases of a student trying to cheat. Students have to be able to make mistakes. That's part of learning. What they can't be allowed to do is cheat, regardless of whether they were aware of the rules or not...

PlagiarismToday : The TwitPic Terms of Service Debacle

Mon, 16 May 2011 20:56:47 +0000

That sounds like a good system, I'd have to see it in action to really say, but it would definitely be an improvement over the stealth updates Facebook, TwitPic and others do...

PlagiarismToday : The TwitPic Terms of Service Debacle

Fri, 13 May 2011 20:52:44 +0000

The problem with not planning ahead is that forces the company to make one of two choices. The first is to either make the TOS open ended, leaving them open to change the TOS at any time they want or to go back and ask for more permissions as needed. The problem with the first is that it's a very bad deal for the user as the TOS can change at any time. The second is problematic in that it is in efficient and creates legal issues getting the user to re-agree to the terms. While, ideally, I agree that a company should run lean and ask for permission as needed, that's not very practical unfortunately, especially with companies that have millions of users...

PlagiarismToday : FAQs: The Basics of RSS Scraping

Tue, 10 May 2011 20:51:10 +0000

Are you monitoring those articles for compliance? Would be interested to see how rampant this issue is.

PlagiarismToday : FAQs: The Basics of RSS Scraping

Tue, 10 May 2011 20:50:42 +0000

It seems that there's a lot of interest in this topic. Looks like I know what I'll be writing about Wednesday. So, I won't say too much here other than that I agree...

PlagiarismToday : How the Bratz Verdict May Impact You

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 01:54:08 +0000

Glad to help and glad you liked the article!

PlagiarismToday : How the Bratz Verdict May Impact You

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 01:53:53 +0000

I do think jealousy was part of the reason Mattel sued. I don't know which is the better seller, but I do know nothing was said until after the dolls became a hit. That being said, Mattel did have some logic for their suit, but the court just disagreed with it.

PlagiarismToday : 5 Writing Techniques That Can Prevent Plagiarism

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 01:48:35 +0000

That you do. I also forgot to mention that the more niche the content is, the less likely it is to be plagiarized, though certain niches seem to be an exception to that rule. Unfortunately, tech seems to be one of those niches.

PlagiarismToday : Google Accepts Form DMCA Notices for All Services

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 05:14:16 +0000

You can actually add multiple URLs to the form by clicking the "Add an additional field" link below the infringing URL. However, that's not very efficient for sending more than about a dozen URLs. If you need to do that, I suggest following the guide I laid out in this article: http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2008/07/22/how-to-...

PlagiarismToday : 4 DMCA Notice Generators Compared

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 03:30:11 +0000

Just out of curiosity, are the notices in other languages also translated for local laws? I have a hybrid DMCA/EU notice that I use with good success but I don't have it translated into some languages...

PlagiarismToday : The Other Anti-Piracy Strategy

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 01:37:26 +0000

To start with, there are many reasons a client may not want their copyright enforcement strategy made public, he has no desire to encourage piracy and admitting that he isn't going after many, if not most, could be seen by some as tacit permission when he doesn't want to give it. That being said, the issue I have with your comment isn't that I don't think "Embrace it" can't work or doesn't work, but rather your assertion that it is the one business model that all ebook publishers and creators should use. I actually wrote about this just last week: http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2011/04/06/5-mista... It's a mistake to assume that one success or even a string of successes equal a new business model, much less that it is the right business model for ALL creators. By that logic, all of the other books in the NYT bestseller list, the ones that got there through traditional publishing, are proof that publishing houses are the best business model for everyone when I don't believe that to be true either. I've encouraged many people to experiment with encouraging and embracing copying (I'm a big supporter of Creative Commons myself as you can see from my CC license and have actually embraced it as part of what I do with my writing). That being said, I also recognize that every content creator and even every created work is in a slightly different position. The exciting thing about the Web is that it enables and encourages experimentation with business models and copyright law allows creators to try a variety of means to exploit their work. I wouldn't expect McDonalds to have the same sales tactics as a local five-star restaurant. I wouldn't expect WalMart to market itself the same way as Saks Fifth Ave. Finally, I wouldn't expect an ebook targeted at the general public to be marketed the same way as one targeted almost exclusively at niche businessmen. There's no right or wrong way to do business and success for one person does not mean that it would have worked for someone else. I'm actually glad to read about the success of Baen and it's another factor for me to consider and another story to keep in mind. However, the Web is filled with success stories and failures of all types and the Web itself is an ever-shifting platform. What worked well in 2000, might not work well in 2011. I try to keep an open mind on the (admittedly rare) occasions I get to advise clients on business model issues. This means embracing both traditional and non-traditional ones. I choose to keep an open mind and weigh each client and each work individually. Anything from "freetard" to "copyright extremist" can work and does work in some situations, it's just a matter of finding which is right for which creator.

PlagiarismToday : 5 Mistakes "Anti-Copyrights" Constantly Make

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 18:48:44 +0000

While I agree that copyright extensions have made copyright last an insane amount of time, even if you bumped the copyright term to just 7 years the majority of piracy would still remain illegal. Copyright terms, while an important issue, are largely an academic exercise rather than a practical one because even a short term puts the expiration past when public interest in the work has peaked.

PlagiarismToday : Wylio: Making Creative Commons Easier

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 20:07:11 +0000

I can see your point on that one. If you're in a completely non-commercial project then that would be a frustrating requirement. I don't see any major drop off in availability between non-commercial and commercial images but that could be just the images I look for. It is an interesting blunder on their part but someone from Wylio contacted me shortly after I posted this so I'm going to talk with them and see if I can get some fixes...

PlagiarismToday : Google Accepts Form DMCA Notices for All Services

Fri, 8 Apr 2011 16:56:07 +0000

I've been getting a lot of replies lately too. I'm going to have more on this later but I held off for a bit to see what's going on here. It seems almost as if Google is clearing out the backlog and may be getting caught up...

PlagiarismToday : 5 Mistakes "Anti-Copyrights" Constantly Make

Fri, 8 Apr 2011 12:25:35 +0000

That is a good point, though I'd say they often add movies in there because of the newsworthiness of the MPAA. People easily forget that copyright law applies to just about everything, letting people think they've "solved" problems when they've only come up with an unproven idea for one small set of artists in one industry.

PlagiarismToday : 5 Mistakes "Anti-Copyrights" Constantly Make

Fri, 8 Apr 2011 12:23:49 +0000

That is pretty funny. Usually though it seems they aren't blaming copyright law on morons, but saying that it was done by evil people who want to deprive children Mickey Mouse so they can make a few more bucks. Companies that are lobbying for stronger copyright are just doing what they see as is in their best interest and, usually, the best for the world.

PlagiarismToday : 5 Mistakes "Anti-Copyrights" Constantly Make

Wed, 6 Apr 2011 20:14:44 +0000

Thanks, coming from you that especially means a lot!

PlagiarismToday : Jonathan Bailey Announces Candidacy for Register of Copyrights

Mon, 4 Apr 2011 21:26:03 +0000

Sadly, I don't know if I'd vote for me but I know I'd vote for anyone outside of the usual copyright elite. It's time for someone more comfortable with the Web to take the reigns me thinks. Thanks for the support but next time you see Obama I think I have another list of more pressing copyright-related issue that need action first!

PlagiarismToday : Google Accepts Form DMCA Notices for All Services

Fri, 1 Apr 2011 22:05:44 +0000

Thanks for the info, I'll be writing a follow-up article shortly.