HMEM changed software ............... =?)(?=)(?=/)(&(&)(%/&%

[PatJ]

I am excited to see that talented group of people regrouping.

I wish I could say I have never witnessed such a heavy handed forced takeover as I saw the other day, with such onerous and just outright laughably absurd terms of service (in my opinion).

I was a member of "that other forum" (I refuse to dignify it with a name) for many years, but my interests changed, and as I accumulated a lot of material, I felt uncomfortable putting in a location that I had no control over.

So last year I started a new forum specifically taylored towards my interests (design and engineering).

I struggled with what my forum should be and who it should appeal to, and since then I have reached the conclusion that you can be a large and popular forum, or you can be a small and narrow focused forum.  My choice has been to stay small, stay focused on a narrow topic, and let the other forums handle the multitudes.  One important lesson I have learned is that it is folly to try and be all things to all people.  You can't.

I am still a working stiff, and so I would not have time to keep up with a large forum, and would be unwilling to relinquish control of my forum since doing so could lead to a loss of control and the stampede we witnessed this week.

People have their own preferences, like hanging out in a favorite pub, and I have seen some come and go.
I am not worried about popularity or quantity of membership, but rather keeping focused and on topic, and posting quality technical information.

Differnet strokes for different folks I guess.

I hang out on this forum and others, and am a moderator on one other forum other than mine.

I am known to be a rather opinionated guy, and am not bashful about speaking my mind, so my short list of friends is extremely short.

But I support hobbies and non-commercial forums in general, and like the variety of people and interests.
I don't see it as a competition thing at all, but rather a collaborative effort of like minded individuals spanning multiple forums.

There are members here and members elsewhere who have been a great help to me, who have openly shared information and resources, and who continue to be a great help (I read topics across multiple forums daily), and I would not be where I am today in the hobby without help and guidance from those numerous people, so thanks to those individuals.

Whether I can contribute to the new forum without locking horns with anyone remains to be seen.
I support them in spirit at a minimum, and am proud of them standing up for what is right and just.
They deserve better treatment than they got.

Just my thoughts.

Pat J

[lordedmond]

i asked that my account be removed and this is the reply i got.

Chuck,

I do not have the permissions to handle take down requests however I did close your account. Copyright issues need to be sent to our attorney here:

Copyright Agent - Group Builder, Inc.

so my account is closed and as far as copyright issues if they can make money off of my ramblings GOOD LUCK.  i just don't like the way things were done

chuck
a former hmem guy

Chuck
I have requested that my accts at HMEM be closed as I am not OK with the new T&C they were not the ones I signed up to as a rider I also asked that all my personal details be removed from their data base ( as is the legal requirement of the data protection act here in the uk )

I got the exact same email as you not happy. It would now be clear why thy purchased the data base for the forum they are going to rape it for what they can get out of it inc the postings builds ect.

Stuart

[tel]

I don't like the way the moderators were treated. Seems to me they put more of their time and effort into making HMEM what it was than most of us did and in the end it looks like they were treated like they didn't exist. Sorry, that is inexcusable.

-Trout

You got that right Troutster - we ended up with the rough end of the pineapple

[PTsideshow]

For all the mod's from HMEM, don't worry as you will not be moderators long or the things you can do will need to have admin approval. As a money making operation can't afford to have a disgruntled member screwing up their investment!

Also they really don't care if you remove your content from the visible forum as they backed up the forum content before the change roll out. So they have all the content they bought.

They probably aren't to worried about the copyright thing or threats or suits, as they can be long and very expensive. Plus they can use the content while it is court.
I know from hard copy, copyright theft! unless you have deep pockets, are a lawyer that does only copyright, or like spending time waiting around for nothing to happen. Get on with your life.

I had a magic shop that bought 5 of my clown magic booklets, he took one and xeroxed it cover and my name etc. 3 different lawyers all said the same thing. Forget-a-bout it.  There is a famous local case against Ford motor and the guy that invented the interment wipers it involved copyright and patent infringement. It went on so long the guy died, and never really got justice for his heirs. Since Ford has a gaggles of lawyers, they just have a junior one file motions.

In their case they will have a secretary do the paper work and the lawyer will sign it!
 

[PatJ]

I would say that if you feel your copyright has been infringed, by all means consider a suit.
Simply charge the party guilty of infringement all of you legal fees, and damages for every day they use your material without your consent.

They can use your material without your consent, but it may cost them dearly in the end.
A very risky gamble in my opinion.
Sooner or later, they will run into people who will not tolerate such behavior and can and will do something about it.
I think they already have.

Pat J

[PTsideshow]

I would say that if you feel your copyright has been infringed, by all means consider a suit.
Simply charge the party guilty of infringement all of you legal fees, and damages for every day they use your material without your consent.


Pat J

Don't know what planet you are on. It doesn't work that way in the real world of publishing on this world as the suits can drag on for 25 years or better. and the only real winners are the lawyers. 

And internet litigation is even worse since there is so little case law to back them up!

[PatJ]

If they had not removed my drawings, I would have taken whatever legal steps where required, no matter how much it cost, or if it took 100 years to resolve.

The planet I am on is that people don't use my copyrighted material without my permission, it is against the law in this country.

Pat J

[Brass_Machine]

Soooo I am going to close this topic.

For those of you that are looking for a new Model Engine Haven, look no further, just click the link:

ModelEngineMaker

Eric