Virus opened this issue on Apr 27, 2000 ยท 52 posts
Nance posted Thu, 27 April 2000 at 9:27 PM
Forget about legal action. Except for the risk of establishing legal precedence (which might weaken their defense against any future claims that they have permitted their work to fall into the public domain) this one guy's actions are not worth enough money to ANYONE to pursue it. Not to Zygote, Not to Curious Labs. Besides, this guy is probably "judgement proof" i.e. broke. So the threat of legal action against him is both expensive and ineffective -- what's he got to lose? Here though, are two steps which HAVE been previously successful in dealing with Trolls, that should be even more effective with Pirates because of the stronger basis in statutory law. !!CAUTION and LEGAL DISCLAIMER!!: This stuff could, in itself, be potentially construed as an illegal attack on commerce and therefore result in serious consequences. I am therefore not suggesting that anyone actually do this. I am merely reporting events that I have seen used successfully in similar circumstances with the thought that some legal variant might be applied here . Don't try this at home.-Consult a lawyer,-Look before you leap - Wait 30 minutes before entering the water... and JDK has no knowledge of, or responsibility for the contents of this thread. Ok, here's what worked with problems at another site when the members teamed up: 1. Send him an email with a LARGE attachment every couple of days. - He cannot filter an address until after he receives it. - There are thousands of us, so if just a couple of dozen get through every day, it will clog his box for months before he could filter everyone. - If his box is full he cannot get any orders - he can't sell the stolen works. 2. More importantly, contact his ISP --DO NOT MAIL BOMB THEM! -- Politely, but firmly express your opinion, and let them know you will be contacting their other hosted clients to inform them of their ISP's policy on copyright infringement. -- Now we're talking about someone actually losing something! -- DO NOT CONTACT THEIR CLIENTS ON YOUR OWN. If they fail to respond, a standard letter could be drafted that would present the facts to their customers, but be worded in such a way as to avoid libel and other potential legal liabilities. Unless the weasel is their biggest moneymaker, most ISPs will quickly see the financial, if not the PR wisdom in dumping his site. Also, do not be surprised if Zygote and Curious Labs remain completely silent on this issue. If they choose NOT to legally fight it, they must then maintain the legal position that they are totally unaware of these events. To do otherwise, to admit that they were aware of the offense and knowingly chose to do nothing, is one of the criteria used by (US) courts to determine if a work should ultimately be deemed to have fallen into the public domain. So, they gotta fight -- or pretend they don't know. Don't expect any play-by-play here. And, to this end, perhaps we should stop posting things here that say, "I have contacted Zygote". They may have chosen a wait&see policy until they see what effect our tirades will have without them. All that said, the following is offered with the utmost respect and appreciation (really) for the work that Virus, Fasttraxx, and the rest of you have done in building the PG site into the cornerstone of our community that it has become. I can understand your need to do something dramatic in the face of these outrageous circumstances, but surely you realize that neither he, nor his ISP, gives a hoot whether Props Guild is open or not. You are "locking the barn after the horses are gone". To the contrary, he'll probably get a thrill out of the formidable "power" you have bestowed upon him. While I know you weren't asking for an opinion poll, I still suggest that this may be a counterproductive tactic arising from a knee-jerk strategy. However - though you might think them nutz - you still gotta salute the kamikaze pilots.