NEWS: WE CAN HAZ LEGAL THREATS?

[Inge]

On my forum, also SMF, editing a post does not make it appear as new.  I support double posting, whether by senators or peasants, and I will continue to post my opinions unless or until I am banned from posting. 

The rule has no practical basis, as the same amount of space is occupied by the text added to an existing post as the same text held in a new post.   Editing a previous post also causes extra work for the database server, as data must be inserted and any newer data moved.

Double posting does not make the information harder to read like some other proscribed acts such as textspeak.  In fact lolcatspeak, which is encouraged in this forum, *does* make the posts harder to read.   I therefore consider the no-double-posting rule to be a rule without logical foundation.  Just another tedious obstruction.

[J. M. Pescado]

Catois is typically not employed in posts intended for serious reading.

[Lord Darcy]

As far as I know, editing your post will make it re-appear as a new (unread) post, so there's no need to double post at this site.

Although the "new" icon does appear when you edit your post, edited post will not appear as a new post when you click "Show new replies to your posts" or "Show unread posts since last visit". People may not know that your post was modified until another person responds.

You can make a new post and delete your previous post to avoid double-posting, but I believe that this trick should be reserved for when it's important to notify people of something, like fixed download links or Peasantry updates. This is clearly not the case here.

[Inge]

All the same, no-double-posting is merely a shibboleth to seperate newbies from old-timers, and has no practical basis, other than to discourage the occasional impatient person who posts a question and five minutes later adds a "Hello?" and again posts "is NE1 gonna anser me?".  But those individuals are hardly likely to be discouraged by a mere rule, anyway.

[Kyna]

Double posting in a discussion thread strikes me as attention-seeking.

"Look at me, my last post was just so awesome it took your breath away.  This is the only possible reason that nobody replied.  I know this because I are a speshul snowflayke.  Now here's another post of awesomeness from me, and I know you're all waiting with bated breath!"

Um ... no.  If nobody replies, maybe it's because nobody is interested in the discussion.

Threads at MATY can derail fairly quickly, so I think it's a safe bet to say that most of the threads in the Podium and RL end up as discussion threads.

[Inge]

Well it gives me problems because people turn up at simlogical or the simpe bug forum and post test reports etc, saying they'll test such and such later.  A week on I suddenly think I wonder what ever became of that issue?  Only to find they came back the next day and added it to their previous post.  The email notifications don't even trigger for an edit.  If I had not much to do and could keep checking a thread I would probably have noticed, but being involved in discussions all over the community many of which I am actually trying to give practical help in, it's actually a hindrance to me when people add new information to a post I have already read.  Then we get into the situation where I have to post useless space-wasting posts like "I look forward to your update" just to enable them to post again instead of editing.

[NetKitten]

Hi, I'm new here... but read this thread with interest.  My take on this is if someone puts something on the web... they should expect it to get ripped off. That's just how it is. May not be legal, but it's one of those "known" risks that they should take into consideration when they use the net. 

Second... you can easily cover your ass on this. EA/MAXIS isn't saying that you are hosting these sites, they are pissed off that you are advertising them and by doing so, are sending a lot of traffic away from the Sims store.

Have a sticky thread at the top of your forum saying, "THESE ARE KNOWN SITES THAT CARRY ITEMS FROM THE SIMS STORE. DOWNLOADING FROM THESE SITES IS AGAINST THE STORE TOS AND IS THUS ILLEGAL! WE STRONGLY SUGGEST OUR MEMBERS AVOID THESE SITES AND SPEND THEIR MONEY AT THE SIM'S STORE RATHER THAN GET THEM FREE AT THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS:

Then, of course, list the complete urls and update them as necessary.

This way you aren't *technically* advertising them...but warning your users of potential problems. And EA/MAXIS can't do crap about it. I really doubt they can do anything about posting the links and TELLING people to go there, either. The guilt is still on the people that download and those that actually host the files... but it would be nice to have the links in the same area (Evil Grin)

[Inge]

Well I'd like to know *who* they are going to try suing?  They won't find Pescado's personal details easily, and they are unlikely to be able to enforce a closure notice in Malaysia.  I guess the only person in the firing line is the person whose name the domain is registered in.  And I hardly expect that to be a living human being.

If they do track down Pescado, they then have to get past the Mrs, which I wouldn't advise.

[jolrei]

Have a sticky thread at the top of your forum saying, "THESE ARE KNOWN SITES THAT CARRY ITEMS FROM THE SIMS STORE. DOWNLOADING FROM THESE SITES IS AGAINST THE STORE TOS AND IS THUS ILLEGAL! WE STRONGLY SUGGEST OUR MEMBERS AVOID THESE SITES AND SPEND THEIR MONEY AT THE SIM'S STORE RATHER THAN GET THEM FREE AT THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS:

Sorry, you lost me somewhere around the part that said "spend their money".  That idea and "strongly suggest" don't seem to go together.  It seems grammatically correct but the ideas don't compute. 

[Marhis]

If they do track down Pescado, they then have to get past the Mrs, which I wouldn't advise.

I would pay real money, honest! just for a Mrs. Pes' killing Eaxian attorneys with thumbs on YouTube.

[J. M. Pescado]

We don't appear on film. You'd just see them dying mysteriously.

[Tchan]

But that in itself would be worth it, because we'd know who did it, and it wouldn't get you or the Mrs in trouble that way.

[NetKitten]

Have a sticky thread at the top of your forum saying, "THESE ARE KNOWN SITES THAT CARRY ITEMS FROM THE SIMS STORE. DOWNLOADING FROM THESE SITES IS AGAINST THE STORE TOS AND IS THUS ILLEGAL! WE STRONGLY SUGGEST OUR MEMBERS AVOID THESE SITES AND SPEND THEIR MONEY AT THE SIM'S STORE RATHER THAN GET THEM FREE AT THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS:

Sorry, you lost me somewhere around the part that said "spend their money".  That idea and "strongly suggest" don't seem to go together.  It seems grammatically correct but the ideas don't compute. 

I see exactly what you mean! It's such a no-brainer! Who would want to go to a free site when they could go to the Sims Store and spend even more on this wonderful product?  Since I've already spent well over 500 bucks on Sims products since the Original Sims... why not spend EVEN MORE on inferior products that require fixing but never get fixed by anyone but the modding and hacking community who do fixes better and faster than Maxis/EA ever could?  I'd much rather buy things that don't match, cause traffic problems, and are the wrong scale... than get them for free and find out there is absolutely nothing in the package I'd ever use anyway. Where is the adventure in discovering you've been screwed?

Oh geez... I'm laughing so hard I can barely TYPE LOL! Seriously, tho...

Back during prohibition, when the making and consumption of alcohol was illegal, there were companies who would make kits to make non-alcoholic beverages. On the label, they would give complete instructions on how to MAKE their product into REAL alcohol, that read something like this:  "We strongly suggest you do not cover product with cheesecloth and put in a dark place for 7 to 10 days or fermentation will occur, resulting in an illegal product.

Along the same vein... the warning was intended to be a slap in the face to the establishment saying, "We are going to do whatever the hell we want to the LETTER of the law... and there is *nothing* you can do to stop us."

So if people do use the links to go and download, you can say "Hey... we posted a warning... we did all we could possibly to warn our membership of this illegal content. We even discouraged our membership from downloading!" I'm sure people will do the smart thing and not go there... right?

Ahem. surrrrrre.

[NetKitten]

We don't appear on film. You'd just see them dying mysteriously.

Hehe... if they ever find you, just threaten to throw them in the pool and delete the ladders.

(that still works, doesn't it? It's been so long since I killed a sim on purpose...)

[Faizah]

We don't appear on film. You'd just see them dying mysteriously.

Hehe... if they ever find you, just threaten to throw them in the pool and delete the ladders.

(that still works, doesn't it? It's been so long since I killed a sim on purpose...)

For now.

[Inge]

Actually I think the Maxoids *are* sims.   That would account for their AI glitches.

[cwieberdink]

If they do track down Pescado, they then have to get past the Mrs, which I wouldn't advise.

I would pay real money, honest! just for a Mrs. Pes' killing Eaxian attorneys with thumbs on YouTube.

EAxian lawlyers are hardly worthy opponents for the missus.  I bet that Pes Sprog would use them as training.

[littletoes]

Well I guess EA should sue me too because I also run a web site were sims fans share things lol  Even if they did find me and sue I have no money anyways... what are they gonna do ? Garnish my wadges?  I make 8 bucks an hour..... guess i would have to move to a smaller cardboard box!

[ElviraGoth]

Gee, I guess EAxis made so little money on all the Sims & TS2 games, EPs & SPs and all the other related crap that they have to go after a website that makes NO money on fixing the bugs and providing the EAxis customers saps with a game they can actually play.

Actually, that's probably the crux of the whole issue here.  "Oops! We made a really bug-ridden game and kept adding more bugs in every EP and SP we put out, so shame on you for fixing our crap!  AND giving them and allowing links to usable sh*t for free!  Communist!"

BIG bunch of BS.

[witch]

Garnish my wadges? 

A little squeeze of lemon and some parsley perhaps?

[jolrei]

Garnish my wadges? 

A little squeeze of lemon and some parsley perhaps?

"Garnish my wadges" did make me wonder.

[Lorelei]

I read that as "garnish my wedgies," boggled trying to parse it, and had to go lie down.

[Assmitten]

Garnish my wadges sounds like the BAD kind of sexy talk.

[witch]

Garnish my wadges and I'll froth your snapsticks.

[Lorelei]

Garnish my wadges sounds like the BAD kind of sexy talk.

*prune-on*