You
know, it has been a LONG time since I've felt that I've needed to rant.
Well, guess what? Someone pissed me off today.
As many of you may know, I happen to be a FAQ writer (not exactly a prolific one,
but I write them none the less.
Anyways, as seen on this very site before, I have an Alpha Centauri FAQ. Written
in this FAQ is something called a disclaimer. This disclaimer states that any
website may reproduce my FAQ in its entirity so long as they reproduce it on the
web in *.TXT form (and using <pre> tags as of version 0.10, which is applied
retroactively, but I digress) and emails me with the notice that he/she/it is
using my FAQ.
Well, that worked pretty well. I had a few people contact me, and they used my
FAQ. Then I do a search on google to find my FAQs, and what do I find? A website
using my FAQ without my permission AND not in a legitimate form.
I politely emailed the webmaster to basically change or remove it.
This is where my pissed off day came from.
The webmaster complied and informed me that he got the FAQ from a compilation
(which shall remain unnamed until they reply) sold on a DVD.
Yes, that's right. SOLD on a DVD without my permission. This website
is located in Germany (not Libya or someplace), and so is the company.
Guess what? They violated international copyright laws with MY FAQ.
They pissed off the wrong SPOON!.
People, it isn't that hard. My FAQ gives permission to anyone to freely use and
post on a website as long as they meet two simple requirements. That's it. Nothing
else. Why is this so hard to understand?
Okay, so it wasn't much of a rant... I'm not exactly in a ranting mood at the
moment, so I apoligize. I'll update the rant as I go along.
You may want to go back
to the page that you came from at this point...
Comments, questions? Email me!