Repurposed comment thread...

July 1, 2009 10:58 AM

It seems that comments from a Metafilter thread have been copied into a blog linked in the post...

It looks like the blog author has copied our comments into their thread. Weird, and kind of uncool. Have we seen anything like this before?

posted by mr_roboto to MetaFilter-related at 10:58 AM (110 comments total)

We've seen people copy our comments into cartoons, that's for sure.
posted by spicynuts at 11:01 AM on July 1

What the hell? Seems totally uncool.
posted by rtha at 11:03 AM on July 1

Damn it, I was going to go do Something Else and now I have to stick around and reload to hear the crack of the Banhammer.
posted by Dr Dracator at 11:07 AM on July 1 [2 favorites]

Maybe a bunch of MeFites all went to some unknown blog at the same time to say exactly what they said here. That could happen, right?
posted by double block and bleed at 11:09 AM on July 1 [1 favorite]

Hey, at least they copied my username. As long as they send the royalty cheque, everything is great.

say what about royalty cheques?
posted by GuyZero at 11:09 AM on July 1

Keep waiting by the mailbox, it'll come.
posted by double block and bleed at 11:11 AM on July 1

It's Metafilter's data backup plan. There's nothing to worry about, move along.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:11 AM on July 1

To be fair, the comments look much more professional over there.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:16 AM on July 1 [10 favorites]

Man, that's bizarre. I don't know what he was thinking, but that's totally not okay, yeah.

As far as I know the guy at the blog is not a mefite. We'll drop him a line.
posted by cortex at 11:17 AM on July 1

Drop him a line of pain.
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:28 AM on July 1 [20 favorites]

*snorts line of pain*

Ow! Fuck!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:30 AM on July 1 [32 favorites]

Don't bogart that pain, dude.
posted by spicynuts at 11:31 AM on July 1 [3 favorites]

Wow, is that ever tacky.
posted by five fresh fish at 11:34 AM on July 1

Christ, what a tater.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:35 AM on July 1 [5 favorites]

Maybe a bunch of MeFites all went to some unknown blog at the same time to say exactly what they said here. That could happen, right?
posted by cimbrog at 11:37 AM on July 1 [5 favorites]

All the comments are down now. Any explanation from him, cortex?
posted by rtha at 11:40 AM on July 1

I once saw something similar. Someone who posted a song to Mefi Music also put the song on his band's page and used our comments as "reviews". The not-so-cool part is that they used our real names. It felt kind of weird, but I let it it pass without mentioning it because there was no real harm done in that case.
posted by micayetoca at 11:52 AM on July 1

I've never seen "tater" used pejoratively before. It's kind of exciting.
posted by xod at 11:59 AM on July 1 [3 favorites]

I dropped the guy a polite-but-chilly note to take those comments down, to be followed (most likely) by a wordy-and-less-polite email from cortex and then (I suspect) a stock DMCA takedown notice from mathowie. If none of that works, pb will delete him.
posted by jessamyn at 12:03 PM on July 1 [14 favorites]

pb will delete him.

Now that's ominous...
posted by restless_nomad at 12:10 PM on July 1 [2 favorites]

If none of that works, pb will delete him.

Wow, that sounds so fucking cool.
posted by iamkimiam at 12:10 PM on July 1 [2 favorites]

If pb ever meets you
he'll ctrl-alt-delete you.
posted by cimbrog at 12:12 PM on July 1 [20 favorites]

If pb ever meets you
he'll ctrl-alt-delete you.

Or Alt Control you, at any rate.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:13 PM on July 1 [1 favorite]

Drop him a line of pain.

Dear WeeklyScientist,

I can put you in a mansion, somewhere in Wiscansin,

Yours,
Metafilter
posted by PeterMcDermott at 12:16 PM on July 1 [6 favorites]

Who/what is pb?
posted by spicynuts at 12:18 PM on July 1

I dropped the guy a polite-but-chilly note to take those comments down, to be followed (most likely) by a wordy-and-less-polite email from cortex and then (I suspect) a stock DMCA takedown notice from mathowie.

Not to be a wet blanket, but my understanding of the DMCA takedown notice is that it must come from the owner of the infringed copyright, or their legal representative. Given that "all posts are © their original authors," a DMCA takedown notice from mathowie could only apply to comments made by mathowie; each MeFite whose comments were included would have to file a DMCA takedown notice for their own comments.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 12:20 PM on July 1 [2 favorites]

Alright, everybody mount up!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:25 PM on July 1 [4 favorites]

I thought you'd never ask!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:25 PM on July 1 [1 favorite]

BURN THE WITCH!
posted by The Whelk at 12:35 PM on July 1 [1 favorite]

Or, build a bridge out of 'er!
posted by Mister_A at 12:40 PM on July 1 [3 favorites]

I envision pb deleting him being a bit like the de-rezzing from Tron: slow, agonizing, and with David Warner being arrogant in the background.
posted by adipocere at 12:42 PM on July 1 [7 favorites]

Where are the copied comments? Have they been deleted already or do I have to read all five pages of the article to find them?
posted by iconomy at 12:45 PM on July 1

I told you guys, they dissolve, screaming, into fine particies, which make up the Great Desert Between The Worlds.

I mean, duh.
posted by The Whelk at 12:46 PM on July 1

They're gone, iconomy. He's properly frightened of pb.
posted by rtha at 12:48 PM on July 1

Where are the copied comments?

As rtha mentioned above, they have been taken down already.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:48 PM on July 1

DevilsAdvocate: "Not to be a wet blanket, but my understanding of the DMCA takedown notice is that it must come from the owner of the infringed copyright, or their legal representative. Given that "all posts are © their original authors," a DMCA takedown notice from mathowie could only apply to comments made by mathowie; each MeFite whose comments were included would have to file a DMCA takedown notice for their own comments."

Well, there may be a couple ways around that. Mathowie is sort of acting as our representative, or at the very least the representative of the entity of Metafilter. As such, it could be perceived that he is the keeper or owner of the entities called 'comments'. We, as Metafilter users, are the owners of the content of the comments, but not necessarily the concept of comments themselves. When somebody lifts comments, they are taking both the comment framework and the content of the comment...both being not ok. I personally feel that these distinctions exist, and do carry some weight, but I have no idea what actual law covers.

And I'm sure the semantics of terms in legal documents such as DMCA takedowns have probably already been hashed out to at least some extent in regards to this. Who knows? I'd be curious to hear more about it.
posted by iamkimiam at 12:49 PM on July 1

Okay, not cool that he or she copied the comments, cool that they're taken down now, etc. Still, I can get that maybe s/he saw the comments over here, liked the discussion, and wanted them to be a part of the discussion on his own blog.

Again, not cool, but it hardly seems malicious or anything to me. Just lacking in an understanding of the way things work over here.
posted by Navelgazer at 12:51 PM on July 1

Ah, thanks guys. pb is scary people.
posted by iconomy at 12:52 PM on July 1 [1 favorite]

It's short for "pugilistic bruiser".
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 1:00 PM on July 1 [1 favorite]

pb deleted my innocence.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:02 PM on July 1 [5 favorites]

Not to be a wet blanket, but my understanding of the DMCA takedown notice is that it must come from the owner of the infringed copyright, or their legal representative.

Clearly, we need to industry group to enforce these sorts of things. I propose that we form the Metafilter Industry Association of America, and start suing the crap out of anyone who copies our comments, prints out AskMe threads to show to their therapists, or brags to their friends about being tenuously associated with Adam Savage.
posted by burnmp3s at 1:05 PM on July 1 [9 favorites]

And you will know pb is the Lord when he rains deletion upon thee.
posted by eyeballkid at 1:06 PM on July 1 [10 favorites]

So, Jessamyn = polite, cortex=rude, mathowie=The Man, pb=The Digital Assassin. OK, I think I know all I need to know about Metafilter. Except one thing, what the hell do those dots in the obituary threads mean?

Oh yeah, and vacapinta is some sort of ninja that we don't even talk about, but I tell you I've seen the deletions... oh god, the deletions...
posted by Elmore at 1:07 PM on July 1 [6 favorites]

I don't think jessamyn was saying that cortex is rude. I think jessamyn was saying that cortex is verbose and rude.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:09 PM on July 1 [6 favorites]

I don't think jessamyn was saying that cortex is rude.

Yes, she is very polite.
posted by Elmore at 1:11 PM on July 1 [2 favorites]

Similar phenomenons happening here, and here.
posted by mattdidthat at 1:11 PM on July 1

cortex is wordier and good at using a lot of words to be a little more direct than I am about whatever the problem is. I wouldn't call it rude. But then again I wouldn't call me polite either.
posted by jessamyn at 1:12 PM on July 1 [2 favorites]

I feel silly for putting my pitchfork away in the shed with the winter shovels.
posted by jerseygirl at 1:13 PM on July 1 [2 favorites]

I think being snarky is a pre-requisite of being a mod. Like a lifeguard must know how to swim.
posted by jerseygirl at 1:15 PM on July 1

a lifeguard must know how to swim

Or jog in slow motion.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:17 PM on July 1 [8 favorites]

Again, not cool, but it hardly seems malicious or anything to me. Just lacking in an understanding of the way things work over here.

I dunno, Navelgazer. It's not really the way things work anywhere on the internets, as far as I know, either legally or culturally. I don't know anyone who runs a blog who would consider it in the realm of okay to swipe comments wholesale from another site. It's weird and it feels much more like "Let me make people think that lots and lots of people commented on this post I made, even though I get almost no traffic to my blog." I'm not saying cluelessness didn't play a part, but it feels less like that and more like "Gotta show folks how popular I am! So I'll lie about it!"
posted by rtha at 1:17 PM on July 1

Except one thing, what the hell do those dots in the obituary threads mean?

You see those when pb highlights your user account in the database. Means you're next. Run!
posted by FishBike at 1:23 PM on July 1 [2 favorites]

.
posted by Elmore at 1:25 PM on July 1

I guess you're right, rtha. I'm just picturing an oblivious dude checking his data and realizing there was this MeFi post, getting all excited and dragging some choice comments over to his site because, to him, they were responses to his thing anyway, right?

But yeah. Not cool in ay circumstances, I guess.
posted by Navelgazer at 1:40 PM on July 1

DID I MENTION I AM ALSO A LIFEGUARD???
posted by jessamyn at 1:40 PM on July 1 [6 favorites]

Stars have been droppin' like flies, are you certified?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:45 PM on July 1

No I just do it as a hobby....

yes, I'm certified
posted by jessamyn at 1:46 PM on July 1

Speaking of stars dropping, I'm looking forward to a nice slow-brewed quality post on K.M. today.
posted by exogenous at 1:51 PM on July 1

I dunno about Adam Savage, but I had beer with Adam Greenfield last week... ;p does that count?
posted by infini at 1:53 PM on July 1

DMCA takedown sounds like the latest WWE wrestling move. Next thing you know we'll be driving fellow Mefites into the turnbuckle as an acceptable method of ending a filibustered thread.
posted by netbros at 2:08 PM on July 1

If none of that works, pb will delete him.

YOU'RE OUT OF THE COMPUTER! (direct mp3 link)
posted by Ian A.T. at 2:43 PM on July 1

Besides User Friendly, I know of two incidents of Metafilter comments being copied in an artistic context. Although there was a variety of responses, neither one brought on much wrath.

I'm not saying we should be more angry about those people. I just find it curious that the copiers who make everyone the most upset are the ones who clearly did it out of misunderstanding for how the internet works.
posted by roll truck roll at 2:50 PM on July 1

I heard one time someone tried to shoot pb in the head to stop his awesome digital rampaging but all that came out of the shoot wound was ones and zeroes and then pb smiled and then his arm turned into a giant blade and then he flicked his cigarette off to the side and the dude who shot him thought "oh shit, this is just not my day" and pb was like "damn straight" because pb heard him because pb can read minds

pb can you confirm or deny
posted by Greg Nog at 2:53 PM on July 1 [39 favorites]

As such, it could be perceived that he is the keeper or owner of the entities called 'comments'.

Such a perception would be wrong in intent and in law. It is completely the opposite of "All posts are © their original authors."

Sure, he could act as representative of posters, though that might be unauthorized practice of law..
posted by Chuckles at 3:05 PM on July 1 [2 favorites]

Yes, cease and desist
Do not copy our comments
Or risk deletion
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:06 PM on July 1

are you certified?
- No.

Is that unauthorized practice of Bay Watch? No? Those lifeguards need better lawyers..
posted by Chuckles at 3:07 PM on July 1

Sure, he could act as representative of posters, though that might be unauthorized practice of law.

Ok, how bout if he just lets them know that we are going to know, and that when "© their original authors" know we will know. Ya'know?
posted by bigmusic at 3:24 PM on July 1

Reading his whole blog post though, it's clear that he attributed his quotes from other sources at the end of the piece. Did he not give attribution to metafilter at all? Because if he did, I see no harm at all - in fact it could be considered fair use, and he just didn't want to belabor the point.
posted by bigmusic at 3:27 PM on July 1

I don't think you're getting the picture, bigmusic. He wasn't just quoting people's comments. He was taking the entire thread of comments and inserting it into his own comments section to give the appearance that the comments had all been made on his site in response to his article.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:30 PM on July 1

To be clear, it wasn't just a matter of "quoting" the comments from the thread—he actually imported them (manually, even, apparently?) as comments on the blog post, usernames and all.

He took the comments from the metafilter thread, and made them comments on his blog post. That's more than a couple degrees off bearing from any kind of normal web etiquette.
posted by cortex at 3:31 PM on July 1

And I got a nice note from him, sort of a combo apology/please-don't-kill-me, so we're all good.
posted by jessamyn at 3:35 PM on July 1 [7 favorites]

Well, there may be a couple ways around that. Mathowie is sort of acting as our representative,

If by "sort of" you mean "not at all, in any legal sense" you are correct.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 3:38 PM on July 1

we're all good

But some of us are getting a little ripe. Not saying who. Just... some of us.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:41 PM on July 1

And I got a nice note from him, sort of a combo apology/please-don't-kill-me, so we're all good.

Well damn. Who's pb gonna delete now?
posted by rtha at 3:45 PM on July 1 [1 favorite]

But then again I wouldn't call me polite either.

I wouldn't call you rude though. I don't want you to sic pb on m
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 3:50 PM on July 1 [2 favorites]

No mention of the amount of sleep he has obtained recently? Curious.
posted by ODiV at 3:53 PM on July 1

Wait, what? I'm not that dramatic. Is this one of those reverse nickname things?
posted by pb at 3:55 PM on July 1

Then you'd be British Petroleum.
posted by jessamyn at 3:57 PM on July 1 [5 favorites]

I'm a lifeguard, but not, like, you know, a beach or swimming pool lifeguard. Just a regular life guard. Sometimes I'll stand streetside and, if I see someone who looks like they are going to get hit by a car, I'll blow my whistle at them. Or, you know, if I wander into someone's bedroom and see them engaging in some sort of unsafe sexual activity, I'll blow my whistle at them.

I tried to get certified for this, but apparently there is no organization that certifies you to be a life lifeguard.
posted by Astro Zombie at 4:13 PM on July 1 [15 favorites]

So am I right in thinking DMCA is the opposite to MEME?
posted by Elmore at 4:20 PM on July 1

Nevermind. I actually read the posts I missed in the mean time. Bloke did stupid thing, copped on and stopped, apologised and hoped he wouldn't get his ass handed to him on a plate of beans. Fair enough. Been there, done that.

Live and learn.
posted by Elmore at 4:23 PM on July 1

DELETED!

by RUN DMC F@M

this comment-biter cheated
it needs to be repeated
he does this shit again you know
his ass will be deleted

that's how he will be greeted
when punishment is meted
IP theft is illin' and
that shit will be defeated!

Hooooooo!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:25 PM on July 1 [4 favorites]

Astro Zombie is like the Walmart greeter of superheroes. The Whistler. I can hear the theme song now:

Wherever danger grows
The Whistler blows...
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:26 PM on July 1 [1 favorite]

The problem here is, when parties settle out of court it isn't precedent setting.
posted by Chuckles at 4:46 PM on July 1

He was going to footnote the comments but then Blogger said no footnotes, so he accidentally incorporated them into his comments. Happens all the time, apparently. Just ask Chris Anderson.

Cut and paste is an awesome tool. Too bad it doesn't come with ethical instructions for use.
posted by Toekneesan at 5:35 PM on July 1

Stars have been droppin' like flies
Oh no! Danny La Rue. Is there no end?
posted by tellurian at 5:37 PM on July 1

Wait, what? I'm not that dramatic. Is this one of those reverse nickname things?

Then you'd be British Petroleum.

I'm happy with thinking of you as Pritish Betroleum, pb.
posted by armage at 7:28 PM on July 1 [1 favorite]

and then (I suspect) a stock DMCA takedown notice from mathowie.

Slightly pished from a Canada Day bbq with surplus convention beer, so I read most of this thread thinking DMCA wasn't an actual thing, but rather "Delete the Mother-fucking Content, Already".
posted by CKmtl at 8:38 PM on July 1 [3 favorites]

SHANNEN'S SECRET WEDDING

(I am hoping here for an infinite recursion)
posted by turgid dahlia at 9:07 PM on July 1

You can't hope for recursion, recursion just is.
posted by Dr Dracator at 9:23 PM on July 1

I am not the hivemind's lawyer (heh, I guess there was a part of me that always wanted to say that which I didn't know existed until right now), but I definitely agree with DevilsAdvocate's interpretation of the DMCA. OCILLA specifically says that a notification must include:

A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Absent an agreement, I have to believe that this authorization rests with the copyright holder. Conceivably, MetaFilter could adopt a new policy toward user-posted material on this site, wherein which users grant MeFi the right to act as representatives pursuant to the DMCA.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 9:34 PM on July 1

Ok, Matt&co are hereby authorized to act to protect my copyright from all those plotting against me. And I authorize him to protect all of your copyrights too, neener.
posted by Justinian at 10:03 PM on July 1

HANG THE SUMBITCH UP BY HIS BALLSACK AND BEAT HIM LIKE A PINATA FULL OF RED-HEADED STEPCHILDREN!


Oh, he's apologized already. Pssht- I thought I'd have something to get dressed up for.
posted by mountain_william at 10:37 PM on July 1

Well damn. Who's pb gonna delete now?

*puts finger on nose* *calls "not it"*
posted by snwod at 11:17 PM on July 1

cimbrog: "Maybe a bunch of MeFites all went to some unknown blog at the same time to say exactly what they said here. That could happen, right?"

July 2, 2009

Robert Ambulancechaser, Esq.
Dewey, Cheatham & Howe
101 Rodeo Blvd.
Beverly Hills, CA 90210

Matthew Haughey
C/O Copyright Agent for Notice of Claims of Copyright Infringement
Metafilter Network LLC
1 Metafilter Circle
Portland, OR 97204

Sent via: Postal Mail and Weblog post

DMCA Notice of Copyright Infringement

re: Copyright Infringement by Metafilter.com weblog user "cimbrog"

Dear Mr. Haughey,

I, Robert Ambulancechaser, Associate Attorney at Dewey, Cheatham & Howe certify under penalty of perjury, that I am an agent authorized to act on behalf of the owner of certain intellectual property rights.

I have a good faith belief that the items or materials listed below are not authorized by law for use by the above named domain name owner or their agents and therefore infringes the copyright owner's rights. I hereby demand that you act expeditiously to remove or disable access to the material or items claimed to be infringing.

My contact information is as follows:

Robert Ambulancechaser, Esq.
Dewey, Cheatham & Howe
101 Rodeo Blvd.
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Office: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
[e-mail]

Allegedly Infringing items or materials:

Weblog post on metatalk.metafilter.com identified by Universal Resource Locator (URL) ID: http://metatalk.metafilter.com/17913/Repurposed-comment-thread#659691

Infringing material that I demand be disabled or removed in consideration of the above:

A weblog comment by user "cimbrog" posted at 2:37 pm EDT on July 1, 2009

Universal Resource Locator (URL) ID: http://metatalk.metafilter.com/17913/Repurposed-comment-thread#659691

Location of ORIGINAL WORKS:

A weblog comment by user "double block and bleed" posted at 2:09 pm EDT on July 1, 2009

Universal Resource Locator (URL) ID: http://metatalk.metafilter.com/17913/Repurposed-comment-thread#659677

In addition, I demand that all "favorites" granted to the infringing user be immediately transferred to the rightful copyright holder, user "double block and bleed"


My actual or electronic signature follows:

Sincerely,
/s/ Robert Ambulancechaser, Esq.
Associate Attorney
posted by double block and bleed at 11:46 PM on July 1 [4 favorites]

HANG THE SUMBITCH UP BY HIS BALLSACK AND BEAT HIM LIKE A PINATA FULL OF RED-HEADED STEPCHILDREN!

When will the ginger-hate end?!
posted by mrmojoflying at 4:58 AM on July 2 [1 favorite]

I'm not saying pb is racist, I'm just saying he wants to delete your skin.
posted by fleacircus at 5:12 AM on July 2

pb=The Digital Assassin

That would make a fantastic business card.
posted by quin at 8:07 AM on July 2 [1 favorite]

thinking back to the one time I met pb, years ago, "Digital Assassin" seems like an incredibly unlikely description. "mild-mannered" is the adjective that comes more easily to mind.

then again, isn't that what they always say about secret deadly superhero/assassins?
posted by epersonae at 9:55 AM on July 2

Dear Robert Ambulancechaser, Esq.,
I am sitting in the center of an IP lawfirm surrounded by IP lawyers.

Come and get me.

Sincerely,
cimbrog
posted by cimbrog at 9:59 AM on July 2 [2 favorites]

he actually imported them (manually, even, apparently?) as comments on the blog post, usernames and all.

I wonder if he created fake accounts for all of the comments he posted, possibly with an easy to guess password. I can just imagine a day in the future where he turns comments back on, and someone discovers they can login to this guy's blog as someone with an account name that leads back here, and starts posting shit.
posted by nomisxid at 10:31 AM on July 2

Dewey, Cheatham & Howe

Awesome.
posted by Night_owl at 10:32 AM on July 2

When will the ginger-hate end?!

Not until the last ginger bastard has been repatriated back to their ginger homeland.

It's not that I'm hair-colourist. I'm simply advocating that we follow a policy in which the various hair colours live seperate but equal lives.

Back in fucking ginger-land where the Copper-Topped bastards belong.

Oh, and for those of you who keep on insisting that they're ok really, and no different to the rest of us, I give you:

Exhibit 1
Exhibit 2

Must I go on?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 10:40 AM on July 2

For those who lack permission to access Mick Hucknal, yes.
posted by y2karl at 10:49 AM on July 2

Citing Carrot Top as an argument against redheads is like citing cancer as an argument against cytokinesis.
posted by cortex at 11:31 AM on July 2 [2 favorites]

Although, citing Carrot Top as an argument for cancer is still valid.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:49 AM on July 2 [2 favorites]

Carrot Top doesn't cause cancer. He just makes you wish cancer aggressive attacked prop comics.
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:59 PM on July 2

aggressive-LY, rather.
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:00 PM on July 2

Dewey, Cheatham & Howe

Awesome.

The history behind Dewey, Cheatham & Howe.
posted by ericb at 1:39 PM on July 2

But some of us are getting a little ripe. Not saying who. Just... some of us.

I haven't showered today, but I'm sure... *sniffs armpit*

Oh.
posted by deborah at 3:59 PM on July 2