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Poser - OFFICIAL F.A.Q (Last Updated: 2024 Nov 14 12:36 pm)
Oh my, what person would do this to you.....we will stand behind you Stormrage, you are correct, you do support your products always and have very high quality, I can't believe this has happened. Not to worry, it happened to us to, they must have an evil green envy going on. We are here to support you. Sharen and Mike
Why, that's outrageous! Why do people have to stoop to pond-scum level on occasion just to stir things up around here?? Some jerk always has to pee in the pool! Stormrage, those of us who know you, even slightly, know who and what you are and no explanation is necessary for us. ~Hug~ **clueless as to why people always have to drag family into inults too..... P.S. You get your 'puter fixed yet??
Thanks to all of you for your support. I won't reveal who it is. Except that yes the person I suspect is involved in the community. But I have to have absolute proof of it before I go to court Or even really name a name. I won't lower myself to their level. They aren't worth doing that. Yep my computer is fixed (again) I just know no other way of defending myself. And it's a case of damned if you do and damned if you don't IF i don't defend myself it looks like I am what this person is claiming. IF i don't defend myself it looks like I am admitting this person is telling the truth. So...I defend as much as I can. I try to do my absolute best for the community and do respect that I have a fairly good rep in the community and DO not like anyone trying to tear down what it has taken me years to get. I do respect everyone and have made a few enemies. but I even respect them Though right now I DO NOT appreciate this one's tatics.
Storm tell them to get stuffed and move on. Anyone who has bought your products knows that the quality is excellent. I may say something about someone's product that is not flattering, but at least I don't hide and people know who I am. If they have to hide then their opinion sure doesn't mean much does it? Don't let it stress you out. Marque
Attached Link: http://members.shaw.ca/thunderstorm-creations/
LOL@mosca well, as soon as someone orders the cd then there is someone that can say if our claims are honest about it. they will also be able to honestly refute the allegation that we don't deliver. maybe mods will allow a link to our temporary site...for this. actually free stuff on it also so ..just to the site, not to a sale item. as for Stormrage's comp, I'm still amased that I can always save all the important data when windows crashes and have to wipe the disk. since, as far as we know, i have not been mentioned in the smear campain ( implicated by association ) I'm leaving Stormrage to deal with as she chooses.I don't know what this is about but i guess that somebody have been warning against the texture CD.
So i clicked on Jaqui's link to check it out:
From the text i got the impression it was a CD full of high quality real world texture materials.
"600 megs of textures From Felt to water, wood, burned canvas, velvet, silk and more"
But when i clicked on the previews i got something that looked like painter papers with colour blobs on them.
So maybe the feathers and tar should be put away for a while...
If you want to be a professional then you should deliver professional quality, and the standard for texture material CD's is very high.
.... and maybe the buyers should check out previews before buying something.
Staale
Well, I have to admit that perhaps the sample number two wasn't the best one to put up as a sample, but I haven't seen anything that warrants a defamation of Stormrage's character, or her store's or her husband. (That's dirty pool!!!) If you look at her gallery you can see what she has created using her own textures. Now I will never be able to do art like she does, but that doesn't mean her textures or whatever are not good, it has everything to do with the skill of the user- she's much more talented than me- LOL! If you have a problem with a merchant, a friend or anyone else for that matter, you should have the gonads to confront the person privately, sensibly and rationally. Not defamate their character, their store and their family. You know, I'm fairly certain that if someone had a porblem with the CD they couldn't resolve with her, she'd gladly either rufund or exchange their merchandise no questions asked. Slinging mud is never the way to garner sympathy or get your point across.
Stormrage, have you considered contacting the person you suspect? There might be a way to do that ... an e-mail (so you can keep a copy) saying something like "I have reason to believe you're spreading misinformation about me ... let's talk this out as adults" or some such message. Even if they don't respond, that might intimidate them by indicating that you know who they are. You might include in your message something to the effect of "if libellous activity continues, I will retain power of attorney...(etc.)" As you know, you can't accuse unless you're certain. However, on an educated suspicion, it's reasonable to contact the suspected party in an attempt at resolution. Just be careful how you word it, if you do this. It couldn't hurt to seek free legal consultation on this sort of thing. An experienced attorney's advice would be worth a lot of peace of mind for you. Most lawyers consult for free the first time, so there's no loss, and perhaps a lot to be gained. My own lawyer once told me "if you hire me, we'll win, but your life will get worse for several months until then. Let it go and make the best of things." Most importantly, remember that people don't necessarily believe what they read from anonymous flamers. Look at all the love for you in this thread! Also, so long as you're honest, you don't have to justify the quality of your work. The buyer is always taking a chance with any purchase, and from what I see, your textures are great, anyway. I've bought disappointing things from the Marketplace (not from you,) but figured "oh well, that's how it goes" because there was nothing misrepresentitive in the ad copy. More often I'm very pleased with Marketplace items. Nobody should be complaining about free stuff! If this creepy person really is trying to damage your business via false claims, you almost certainly have a legal case, as the validity of libel charges hinge on damage done as a result of malice. If I were you I'd also solicit advice from whomever is in charge of Renderosity Marketplace. They'll almost certainly have some good suggestions. Best of luck to you, but don't stress out too much! You always win by taking the high road, and your good reputation probably can't be harmed by one anonymous loser.
Hello, Im just reading this thread as well, and seeing where this is really leading up to. Stormrage, before you get all fixed on your "Wadging your Storm Rage" on this individual, you need to understand a few things first. You are not really going to have your day in court, well not unless your in some very small town that BOTH partys live in. (Whats the chance of that happening?) and second it will cost you more than it's really worth, as there is no monitary gains from a lawyers perspective, you will need to fill that gap with a retaners fee. Typicaly anywhere from $300.00 to $500.00 and that usualy covers just a coraspondance. I have a strong Legal background. And "Slander" is not really a heavy case load in todays court systems. Besides the fact that you have no real proof of "assessment of damages", and there is no insurance based for your company, and you have not had a projected sales meeting in months, im guessing. So the profitability of loss is not going to be somthing that is of any "Proof of loss value". You can attempt to sue for personal damages, but again that will be very hard to proove, and its usualy thrown out, or not even heard from the judges point of view. (Judges DO review cases beforehand.) I don't want to sound unfeeling to your situation, but in reality there is really nothing that can be done here. The Internet laws are not being written, and MOST U.S. Courts will not even hear cases on Internet situations unless it is brought to the attention of the courts by a federal investigation, or city investigation for some (typicaly) major crimes. And this last part is the real stickler, if someone has sent an e-mail to another individual, its of a personal nature, and is subjected to freedom of speech, therefore there is no basis of any case. In further, though someone might have a bad meaning towards you. It is their right to have one. There is no law in the United States, that says you must be kind to all. If someone has a website, or is publicly cybersquating on a webdomain, or somehow trying to pass themselves off as you, then you have a case. Otherwise, direct comparisons of "someones work" vs "Stormrage's works" is completely leagal. Lastly, though it is not any of my buisness, you will open yourself for further investigation by the state (you live in), if you are selling goods over the internet, and not paying taxes for your given state, some states even require you to have a buisness licence if you clear over $150.00 per year, some states even less.. Remember those rich people who did not pay taxes for the babysitter? Those rules can somtimes bite you back when you open the gates of the law into your lives. Many new users here have purchased Programs like photoshop or even Poser under the use of Student's, It is Illegal to make a profit from any student version of a program. And you could also open yourself to litigation from a software vendor, if you fall into that catagory. Personaly, I would seek to settle it in the form of an e-mail, and hope for the best. But if you have a personel laywer, then ask him or her of the "validity of the case", im quite sure you will see the similaritys to my statements and your legal helps opinion will be just about identical. " No one ever said 'Justice' was 'fair' " ~Blacksteel
Don't know about one-to-one emails, but comments in forums have certainly been found to be libellous and damages awarded in the UK. It certainly isn't necessary to live in the same town as your libeller to sue 'em, nor is freedom of speech unlimited even in the US. As far as I am aware the educational version of Photoshop can be used for work, and upgraded as a standard version, though I'm not at all clear why you raise that (or the tax issue for that matter).
I haven't seen anything online so if it's email I'm sure Blacksteel is right and there really isn't anything you can do.
But if the texture CD is what it's about:
"The texture CD is not of real world materials. I don't go out and take digital images but these are simulated real world textures so that you can get the detail in your images."
I'd be upset if someone were advertising textures, giving them names of real world textures (leather, wood, etc) but all I got were squares I could make myself in PS.
There are so many real textures being sold now that Photoshop created textures should say so up front.
I was going through the marketplace as I was reading here and your texture product I came across didn't state which they were. You may want to clarify it before you run into further problems.
Just my opinion, mainly on textures and advertising them in general.
...... Kendra
I hope all this gets resolved to the satisfaction of Stormrage and all other parties concerned. Just looking at one of the latest posts and not knowing any of the parties involved, I do take responsibility for piping up and saying that, as someone who makes his living proofing documents of all kinds, primarily legal, medical, and business, that the fact that someone makes "....17 se(r)ious spelling, grammatic, and diction errors in your first multisentence ..." would not necessarily have any bearing on their knowledge of matters, legal or otherwise. Some lawyers, and most doctors, are among the most grammatically challenged people on this particular planet. Just looking at that particular post (with all the typos - and there are plenty), though, it seems to me like careful reading of the content alone would more than likely reveal the common sense that it contains. Just my thoughts. Me butt out now. Larry F
Kendra, I know I need to rewrite the advertisement for the cd. It's not a bunch of squares you can make in photoshop though. I have scanned somethings in and blended them, then reblended them to give them more depth more color I am not even really asking people to buy the cd. It's there if people want it. Same with all my stores, I never really advertise. It's there if you want it. If not.. which may be why I am not the merchant of the month. And don't pull in tons of cash. The CD has tons of textures all unique. Shrugs but again I am not asking people to buy it. Though I will be giving more and more textures away. People had asked for the textures I used and therefore I released them. They are the one's who asked for the CD. So I made it. as for the rest.. I don't want this thread to turn into flaming, being nasty or anything else. THAT'S What i am trying to stop with this thread. Not to get into an argument Legal or otherwise. Especially since US law right now isn't what I am dealing with. Remember I am in canda Storm
to be fair...i actually....gag, groan...went to the marketplace. now, i really remember why i have never purchased anything there....EVER!!! just the thumbs were, to me, a poser nightmare on acid. however, this is what i really think of all this....hey, if you see something you want...you don't know how, or have the time, to make it yourself...don't come whining around that you don't like what you bought. don't hurt someone's small business because you did not do your homework, as a comsumer. i'm not a merchant here. however, i sell here, and there, to private clients in the real world. but, i guess, since i don't deal in internet commerce...it is easier....if they have a problem...none yet, thanks very much....i fix it. if i can't fix it. i refund their money. however, i totally believe in letting them know, from day one, EXACTLY what they are getting. i don't want confusion to send me idiot enemies. pop...pop...Poppi!!!
Dammit, Larry, I left that "(r)" out as bait ;p
To be serious, there is a profound difference between the occasional typographic error and what strongly resembles functional near-illiteracy. Oh, ok, that's a little strong. How does "severely inarticulate" strike you? Having both lawyers and physicians in the family, and having worked as an independent contractor for KPMG LLP, I agree that there are some linguistically challenged folks out there in suitland. However, they can usually be relied upon to be able to string together a few coherent sentences. One would at least HOPE that someone with a strong legal background would be able to properly spell the word "legal", yes?
Or perhaps you LIKE having an advocate with what seems to be an earned-by-mail GED? shrugging shoulders, moving on
What sense I have wrested from the tortured verbiage of the post in question seems to indicate that BS thinks SR has no case, and/or no hope in hell of getting a trial. That's bull. This could be handled in a small-claims court. It could be handled by trial in-absentia. E-mails are subject to subpeona. If those transmitted defamatory e-mails were sent to a plethora of her clients or people in the community as a form letter (ie: was sent as spam), contain her name or working-name, and contain demonstrably false statements, they constitute a campaign of serial defamation with intent to harm. If any of these e-mails crossed state or national borders it may very well constitute a form of interstate fraud.
Like I said, bull.
It comes down to evidence, not opinion. If SR has more than one e-mail as described above, with headers tracing them back to a person's specific e-mail addy, SR has a case. If, on the other hand, SR does not have such evidence, or if the e-mails were routed through proxy servers... then there is a bit of a problem proving source/origin, and then SR would probably be S.O.L.
Finally, "Common Sense" and the law have little at all to do with one another. eg:
Common Sense - a rose by any other name would smell as sweet
Legal Sense - a rose by any other name is NOT a rose.
Do I have a point? Maybe. I have seen internet defamatory campaigns waged before, and one of the common tactics for a slandering aggressor to use is to post misleading and sometimes pseudo-friendly statements in a public forum under a pseudonym. There is a long-standing internet stalking case in a suburb of Atlanta with which I am rather familiar, and it features such nonsense as I have described.
I am not saying that Blacksteel is the one who is defaming SR, merely saying that such a poorly crafted and essentially incorrect post of "leagal" (sic) advice makes my ingrained suspicions twitch their ears.
Typo's do not equate to lying. My husband could explain finances to someone quite well but if he were to type it out you'd wonder if he finished high school. Storm, I'm sure it's more involved than simple ps filters, I didn't mean to imply they were. But, for me I wouldn't buy textures that weren't high-res photographed (preferably seamless) textures since I can create something in ps myself. It's just what I look for while "shopping" and thought I'd mention it since the textures came up in the discussion.
...... Kendra
demosthenes, Notes: Spelling errors are things a secretary or a spell checker takes care of. If blacksteel is a psudonym it has been going on for a while because there are occasional (rare) posts by blacksteel going back a couple of years. The spelling errors are consistant throughout the posts as well. Other than the spelling the writing style is reminisant of a another member of this community. I suspect that blacksteel is not this other member as that one has a fetish about proper spelling and would not post with mispelled words. In short - I would be suprised if blacksteel were the culpret. Further I doubt if the culpret is infact an active member at all. Time will tell. You seem to have a good sense of civil law and if the culpret is discovered I have no doubt that person can be prosecuted criminally as well. Stormrage should contact the federal authorities and file a complaint. The email can then be tracked to it's source. For us to accuse someone when we don't know who it is isn't right. Stormrage: Report it and leave it to the coppers. - TJ
a truly lighthearted rebuttal: My brother was an international business lawyer. Prior to, during, and after this period in his career he was and remains quite thoroughly literate. So there, nyagh! My personal lawyer is among the most literate people I know. Again, so there, nyagh! My mother is a physician. She is also one of the most literate people I know. AGAIN, so there, nyagh! If you desire to see true illiteracy among those whom you might presume to be intelligent and well educated, try software engineers. All of them seem to be aliens translating from their arcane gobbledygook by use of a poorly comprehended thesaurus.
"..."typos" do not equate to the morass above." It's plain and simple common sense. Typing and talking are different. I know a couple of people with high IQ's. Strange as it sounds, the simplest things tend to be confusing for them and the common sense the average person has, completely escapes them. Nothing is black and white.
...... Kendra
I am amazed you made the error of treading this path. Truly. My IQ has been measured consistently between 155 and 175. The statistical average IQ is 100. Normal statistically significant deviation is supposedly 15 points. I am thus supposedly 4-5 deviations above "average". Supposedly this renders me a genius. This is horsepuckey - I have known real geniuses and their intellects utterly eclipse mine. I am, however, literate. Some things are black and white. So there, Nyagh! ;)- waiting for the next unnecessary attempt to excuse the absurd and essentially meaningless (in other words, you might wish to consider taking my friendly suggestion and "nevermind, forget I said anything." This is a silly side argument, one you cannot possibly win, and one which I have no need to continue. Pax?)
"This is a silly side argument, one you cannot possibly win, and one which I have no need to continue." Forgive me, I didn't realize this was a competition. I truely thought it was a discussion. Forgive my error of pointing out simple common sense. (that typos don't equal lying) I tend to forget how uncommon it really is. You could have stuck with "forget I said anything" without adding the "morass above" comment you know. But by all means, dem, if you must win feel free to declare yourself the winner of this one sided competition - with my congratulations.
...... Kendra
Well I made 4 fatal errors in my first post that seems to have stirred up so much. 1) I let out more than I should have about what I do for a living. 2) I didnt use a spell checker, when I obviously should have. 3) I got involved with a community member, who I felt was looking for some help. 4) I forgot how many people in this community, is THE place where the bulk majority of high IQ people hang out at (when they are not studying for the next IQ exams) to validate there own existence in life. To reaffirm my original statements, there is no case here Storm, I'm sorry. There is virtually no evidence, and there is simply no amount of personal injury that will be allowed in court. (The U.S. Court systems mind you) Im not in Canada, so I'm not sure about whats going too be legal there. And the costs to you alone to have e-mail files searched for and subpoena into court, will COST you money, up front and well before the case is even heard. Think about this this is not a $50.00 onetime fee what you are speculating is a heavy case, with realy no amount of damages, that will hold a value higher that what you have made in profits for the past 10 years. My first post was, written while I was at work, We have the ability to surf the net, and I was simply reading the forums. When I saw this thread. In a real Law office, each computer must log in to use MS word to use the Spellchecker, and in order to do that I must Bill a clients account in order to use such utility. So I did slap together a rather quick reply and hit the send button. This has caused the illusion that I am the culprit going after Storm Storm, I only replied to you because of your contributions to this community. And I was basically setting you on a path that will be, because as many people pointed out here of all the wonderful things you could sue for, all of them would be thrown out. And you would be forced to pay a lawyer to simply loose. Look people, I have no grudges, but if you read the thread as I did, you will see than there was allot of sympathy for Storms situation. Sympathy sometimes leads into fantasy. And my (highly misspellings gives the illusion that I am someone else, and I am trying to sound official.) So, this is only to kill the thread that I am somehow involved with this issue. I am not, I have been here for a very long time, and I am simply a poser user who enjoys this website. My fatal error number one suggests that I know many of the answers to the law. Yes I do, but the point is I don't file papers; I hardly type anything up. (We use Dictaphones people, ya know TAPE RECORDERS.) My point to all of this "blowback" is my own fault. I should have not hastily written that reply. Lets just step back for a moment, and say, Ok Why is there a website thats called www.Statefarmsucks.com? Or www.chasebanksucks.com?? How they are not sued out of existence? It's freedom of speech, and so long as the registrant is in the United States of America those laws are applicable. This forum is even protected under U.S. law. My point was simple. For the amount of money, and problems that will arise from this, there is little reward for a lawyer to really want this type of case. Its simply not going to be a winnable case. Thats all I really wanted to say, and not cause all the fuss over a high speed written post. Im so sorry I ever even posted. And to demosthenes_aborigin. As intelligent as you claim to be, do you have a speech impediment that I should pick on as easily as you do about my typos? Or did you misspell your name intentionally? Should it not be, Demosthenes as the Greek orators? (384-322 BC) ~Blacksteel
Thanks for the clarification, Blacksteel. I disagree with your legal assessment, since it runs counter to my limited experience in such matters, but that is neither here nor there. Your new post has at least soothed my suspicious nature.
In answer to the trivial:
No, I do not have a speech impediment (one should of course be aware that a speech impediment is usually not related to intellect) but I am balding and acne-scarred, so feel free to needle me with that, if you are of a mind to do so.
Yes, I did take the name of the nemesis of Phillip II of Macedon (in words, at least... the poor dear did rather poorly on the battlefield by all accounts). Cute demonstration of your own erudition, by the way. Not subtle, and certainly a little comical after your long chastizement of what could be called Mensa-bation, but cute nonetheless. Now, if, by "misspell", you wonder why my nik is not capitalized, the reason is simple - I prefer lower case for all passwords and user IDs I use, for the sake of simplicity. If, on the other hand, you are curious about the "_aborigin", the reason for that is also simple - someone had already laid claim to "demosthenes" when I joined up at this site, so I had to make a modification. As I have been using the pen-name "demosthenes" since 1986 I felt justified in adding a tag indicating this long-standing use. I translated "from the beginning" into Latin (sorry, my Attic Greek was never worth a tinker's dam) and typed it in. Unfortunately, it over-ran the character allowance and I was left with a somewhat odd-looking suffix.
I do hope this answers your question.
As to all the folks who did not read the details... I seem to have forgotten that most people do not notice limiting and modifying terms, phrases, and paragraphs. Little things, like: "seems" and "appears" and "resembles" and "I am not saying..." and "maybe" and "perhaps" and... the list is actually rather long. I used them deliberately to avoid making an accusation, but it seems they were not sufficiently prominent to catch your attention. This is a problem I have often encountered, but I have yet to find a solution to it. My bad.
For those who engage in an argument and, having had their counters thrashed line by line, then decide to retreat to a false moral high ground ("I didn't know it was a contest" etc...)- shame on you. I started with a simple observation, for Blacksteel, with an implicitly expressed doubt of either his competence and/or veracity based on an obvious apparent contradiction. YOU OTHERS began the argument. You post broad and spurious generalities, I respond with specific facts. Facts trump pabulum. Now you say you were not arguing?
Shame on you.
That's the last I have to say on that matter. If you MUST have the last word, knock yourselves out.
Finally, the only important part of this post -
for Stormrage: Whatever course of action you decide to take, may the best of fortune go with you.
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It has recently come to my attention that certain persons have decided to ruin my reputation within the Poser community. I am pretty sure that I know who this individual is but I am not even going to name that person or lower myself to that persons level. My online store is not a cheat I DO Deliver what people order. My CD IS exactly what I say it is.. I am NOT lying about the amount that is on it nor how large the images are. I DO Support my products fully and completely. I DO try to produce high quality items worth your hard earned money. And for other things that you may have heard about me, Thunderstorm Creations and My husband are not the truth and when I get absolute concrete proof this person, will be finding him/herself in COURT explaining to a judge why the HE** he/she is slandering me I do not know how else to defend myself except by posting this.