Netiquette
Some dipshit (see this link) had the audacity to post a link to one of the mp3s that I posted online in his/her blog for his/her friends to listen to. It quite appalls me how some people can be so bloody inconsiderate and not even think about asking for permission to use my bandwidth, under which circumstances I might have agreed. (i.e. if I’d been asked nicely enough.)
This is a notice to all who read this blog and benefit from the mp3s that I used to upload much more frequently (I’m now staying in dorm where there’s an annoying firewall that makes uploading one song take about 3 hours, so I really can’t be arsed for now), and probably will still continue to upload every now and then:
They are for you to either listen to, or download. I would much prefer if you just downloaded them and stored them in your relevant hard disks, and listened to them like that. That way, a server error or something on my side would not result in you being unable to access your favourite song that’s on my site. (Alt-Click for macs, Right-Click, Save File for winboxes.)
Do NOT, under ANY circumstances, post a link to any files, e.g. download here (http://www.dubdew.com/music/tomorrow.mp3 - this file has now been taken offline, which explains why I didn’t bother to hyperlink it) on your own websites. If you wish to direct anyone to my site, please use the link for the POST NAME. For this case, it would have been http://www.dubdew.com/2005/11/18/epiphanies/ . You may only post links to downloadable files if I have expressly given my consent, either in a blanket statement on my website, or in a private email in which I have replied your request. That’s right - you will be a well-mannered child, just like how I’m sure your parents taught you to be, and ask for permission. FYI, asking for permission does NOT equate to obtaining it, so wait for me to give you the green light. NOTIFYING me (as opposed to requesting for my permission) will result in the file being taken off the server immediately.
Perhaps I really shouldn’t bother with being so generous and should just use a plug-in so you can listen to the mp3s on my site and nothing more.
Update: The dimwit has now deleted the annoyed comment I left on her blog instructing her to remove the link, changed the text that displays, but left where her link directs readers to to the file on my server (which has now been taken down).
7 Responses to “Netiquette”
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January 31st, 2006 at 7:32 pm
Hi,I’m the one who you mentioned in your article.I’m a new comer of the Internet,so I don’t know the international regulation of it.And since the Internet is not so developed in my country,there is no official law or regulation about it.It’s not unusual that we paste the link of a file to another site in my country.You may hardly believe that but it’s the truth.I didn’t realize what I did will bother you so much and I’m really really sorry for that.I put that link on because I love that song so much and I wish my friends could enjoy it together with me. Now I see what I did is not right and I’ve deleted the link from my site already.By the way,I think what you said “changed the text that displays, but left where her link directs readers to the file on my server” is a misunderstanding.For I deleted the link of your file right away after reading your comment and if you see any link comes from my site after that,that is me.
Sorry for the bothering again!!
January 31st, 2006 at 7:52 pm
It’s not about international regulations or whatever - my linking the file may not even be completely legal and your publicizing it is putting me at risk, if you want to talk about what’s legal or illegal.
The point of my post was that basic courtesy would have dictated that you simply ask for my permission, it’s as simple as that. When you want to borrow something that belongs to your friend, is he/she then not awarded the same kind of courtesy?
Thank you for removing the link anyway.
February 2nd, 2006 at 12:03 am
“The Web exists because no one has the right to grant or withhold permission for links.”
Cory Doctorow. [Emphasis mine]
Sorry, W, but your attitude here to this “dipshit”/”dimwit” is just so unimpressing me.
Rule of thumb: if you don’t want people to know, don’t want your mum to know, don’t want your teacher, boyfriend, priest, husband, lover, boss, etc… to know, then DON’T post it.
Ditto for links. Information should be free. Courtesy has nothing to do with it. The Internet is everywhere, forever. You’re gonna have to deal with it.
“Life is highway, I’m gonna ride it all night long…”
cheers, after offending for you forever…
E@L
February 2nd, 2006 at 12:16 am
1. I’m not here because I’m trying to impress anyone, so if you remain unimpressed, I’m wholly unsympathetic.
2. It’s not a matter of whether people know or not - as I have stated, the risk that I took was mine to bear. If it was publicized, e.g. if someone posted a link to the post that I made, that’s my problem to deal with.
3. The point was not about the linking per se, it was about how the file was on my bandwidth, and if the person in question wished to share it with his or her friends, then he or she should have downloaded it, and then put it on his or her own webspace, as I had previously stated when I started posting the files online in the first place.
I have not taken offense to your way of thinking/the fact that you’re unimpressed. I think you have simply missed the point that I have been trying to put across, and would encourage you to reread what I had said. That’s all.
February 4th, 2006 at 12:54 am
W, I’m not actually asking for your sympathy, just your understanding, becasue this is a crucial point. The “dipshit” was not necessarily a dipshit in my opinion, just an internet user doing what internet users do, link. IMHO.
I believe that I get it, totally. I’m not sure you understand where I am coming from.
The Internet is ALL about hyperlinks i.e. about NOT having to move and copy the interesting file anywhere and everywhere and clog up the world with 50 bazillion copies of it…
For one thing, say that the file is an image or a piece of text (or a song). It may be Copyright. In that case you CANNOT legally copy it or move it, except for small parts of a text for the purpose of fair commentary.
You are EXPECTED to link to it, thus keeping it in the copyright owner’s control while boosting their hit-count, which is how they generate income through on-line advertising.
The price YOU pay for joining this brilliant international community of sharing files is the use of your bandwidth in return. As for large files and bandwidth, if you like a song but don’t want people linking to it for this reason, maybe you should take it down from your site, email it to your friends or get them to buy it online themselves (which I hardly ever do by the way!) Then you can all get an mp3 player and some earphones.
I got a fair rundown on this from listening to Cory Doctorow talk at the Singapore Writers Festival last year in one of the blogger sessions. Very enlightening.
E@L
February 4th, 2006 at 1:07 am
I don’t really believe that I get it, totally. What a crock. LOL!
E@L
February 4th, 2006 at 9:26 am
I’ve noted your point of view, along with couple of times you included the phrase “in [your] opinion”.
Very well, you have your opinion that the dipshit was not actually a dipshit, and I maintain that I have mine, which remains that the dipshit was an discourteous one.
No matter what views whoever has on linking/hotlinking/whatever in the internet, the fact remains that I explicitly requested for readers of this blog to not do so, hence the flagrant disregard for the caveat I had included in the use of my files and bandwidth is what I count discourteous.
Thank you again for your views and for the time you have taken to impress them upon me. Again, they have been duly noted and I appreciate your efforts.