Are pol. forums LITERALLY causing probs?

[Chrome]

In a recent thread, one of our kind moderators mentioned something about people using up a lot of bandwidth by cutting/pasting huge articles, etc., in the political forums.

While I get a great deal of entertainment out of those forums, if they are in any way impinging on the rest of the site somehow (I don't really know what "using up bandwidth" means), I think we should reconsider getting rid of them.

[Jim Alfredson]

My concern is not necessarily bandwidth (I don't think text takes up that much bandwidth... pictures, on the other hand, are a different matter.) My main concern is with copyright issues.

I'm sure it's completely illegal for someone to post an entire article from the New York Times here, for instance. That said, I'm not worried about it until someone complains.

Or we get shut down.

[RainyDay]

I exchange e-mails with a local columnist here and on one occasion I let him know I posted one of his columns at Jazz Corner, of course identifying the author and the paper. He said I was free to post any of his work as I saw fit. If it was a problem, I'm sure he would have said. so. Unless he doesn't care if it's a problem and that's also a distinct possibility with this guy. B)

[Chrome]

Thanks for the reply, B3-er. I remember when I couldn't log on here for a day or two and I went into some kind of horrible withdrawal. The idea of Organissimo being shut down for good would really be too much to bear!

[Simon Weil]

If it ever does become a problem to post copyrighted news reports (it is mostly news reports that get posted), I'm sure there'll be warning. Probably lots of warning. Law suits cost money and warnings don't (really).

But if Jim feels easier without this material here, I have no problem letting it go. I mean, Organissimo provides us a fine place to post - and if we can do something in return, sure.

Given the babe thread, this seems kind of moot though.

Simon Weil

Edited April 6, 2004 by Simon Weil

[mikeweil]

If it's illegal - is there any precedent? Papers etc. protect those parts of their sites with copyright protection by passwords, everything that is freely accessible should be quotable - but please all make sure you give th source of the quote. A link, IMO, functions pretty much the same way as a quote, doesn't it?

[Christiern]

I think it would become illegal if Organissimo charged an access fee. But I'm not a lawyer.

[Claude]

I think it would be better to post only the title and the introductory paragraph of an article and then the link to the complete article. That will cause no legal and no bandwith problem.

Some newspaper sites such as the NY and LA Times require a (free) registration, so it's not so convenient to post only a link. But I´m sure that most people who read the Politics forum are registered at the NY Times.

Quotes are allowed by copyright law, but an entire article is more than a quote. In Europe, someone who compiles a press review with complete newspaper articles for use within a company or a school doesn't need to ask for permission but has to pay a fee to the organisation that represents the copyright interests of newspapers.

[Dr. Rat]

I think it would become illegal if Organissimo charged an access fee. But I'm not a lawyer.

I think there's a legality problem because some web material (NYT articles, for instance) have a limited lifespan on the web before they go into a pay web archive.

The danger is that people might find these articles here via google when it is otherwise unavailabe for free.

Right now, reposting by cutting & pasting is a common practice online, but eventually copyright holders might get a bit more serious about protecting their assets in this regard.

There probably would be ample warning.

--eric

[7/4]

Folks have been posting NY Times articles on Yahoo lists for YEARS and I don't think there have been problems.

[7/4]

Folks have been posting NY Times articles on Yahoo lists for YEARS and I don't think there have been problems.

Having said that, I really do think Danny shouldn't be so whiney.

[GregK]

I would be much happier and would visit the site a lot more frequently if we got rid of the politcal forums. I just get disenchanted when I occasionally enter the political forum and see the endless articles posted by Johnny E. And then the bickering starts. Enough already

[AfricaBrass]

I would be much happier and would visit the site a lot more frequently if we got rid of the politcal forums. I just get disenchanted when I occasionally enter the political forum and see the endless articles posted by Johnny E. And then the bickering starts. Enough already

You could just ask B3-er to put you on the Political Forum Ignore list.

No muss, no fuss.

[Guest Chaney]

You could just ask B3-er to put you on the Political Forum Ignore list.

No muss, no fuss. 

Highly recommended!

Political forum? What political forum? -_-

[Jazzmoose]

I agree. Greg, if you can't stop yourself from looking, just get on the ignore list.

As for the copyright problem, singling out the Political forum is a bit silly, considering the copyrighted LP/CD covers plastered all over the various "listening to" and 'whatever' cover threads here. Not to mention the photos on the Babe thread as Simon points out.

My guess is that the problem that will bite this board in the ass much sooner than copyright violations is the rampant bandwidth theft when people post photos from other site directly rather than downloading the photo and then uploading it to the board. I must admit to being guilty as well, but this is something most "netizens" consider bad form, and can really screw things up for those with limited bandwidth availability.