Wednesday, January 18, 2012

SOPA Controversy: Columnist has point about people stealing his work

I was reading Bob Sullivan’s article Stop pirating my stories about SOPA, or I'll have to support it today when something struck me:

People pirate my columns all the time! My most recent column

was picked up by 15 web sites the day it came out.

More have been added since, but you get my point. This happens all the time. About four years ago when I first started noticing websites picking up my columns without asking permission, I contacted them and complained.

I was ignored and no one responded. They must have felt it was okay to pirate my stuff. Freedom of the Internet and all. As the years went by, my thinking evolved on the subject, and I came to the conclusion that having my columns picked up by other sources gave me more exposure and opened up new paths to explore.

Granted, I don’t look at each visit to my blog as a revenue source like Bob Sullivan. I blog purely for fun and that’s why you don’t see ads here. It’s how Bob makes his living however, and I understand where he’s coming from. He’s tired of people picking up his stuff without so much as  link to the original and losing money on top of it.

                         Wouldn’t you be?

Related story: Are websites' SOPA blackouts an 'abuse of power'?

I’m opposed to SOPA and will be until my dying breath, but I think more can be done to deal with the offending individuals on the internet. It’s not right to blanket all internet users for the sins of a minority.

As It Stands, there’s no reason to bring a bazooka to a gunfight and take the chance of killing innocent bystanders. 

 

2 comments:

JosephAlsarraf said...

Copying is the highest form of flattery.

ImBlogCrazy said...

That's one way of looking at it Joseph.

I'm afraid Mr. Sullivan doesn't feel that way.

Like I said, I don't mind people picking up my stuff anymore.

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