simplybeguiling

WARNING: Any and all individuals who post warning messages regarding research and privacy on their profiles are perpetuating an internet meme that is nowhere near as interesting as your average LOLcat. In no way shape or form does it protect you from scrutiny or observation in that while you think your haiku about blowjobs is private it's actually not if posted to a public forum (like I don't know, any and every social networking site). Furthermore most human behavioral research is governed by the notion that observations are perfectly okay unless the research involves directly interacting with you as a research subject however the artifacts that you produce and make publicly available through displaying them on your profile are game for content analysis providing that your identity is not disclosed. Now a good researcher will of course read your disclaimer and say "this person obviously does not want to help me fulfill my NSF grant on the mating rituals of netziens, I'll remove them from my sample and respect their choice to not be included as an anonymous data point" because, well, social scientists are cool like that (albeit not much fun at parties). People who are really that concerned about researchers from Sydney University (the alleged origin of the original curfluffal) or another institution of learning should feel free to pursue their grievance by the most damaging way possible...messing with someone's academic career through creating an embarrassing PR issue for a University that would dare treat sex research as a valid scientific enterprise (which it is even if Kinsey did have a shitty sampling technique and Masters & Johnson were too obsessed with penile pressure cuffs) rather than threatening non-existent legal action or in some cases suggesting that the Dementors will be let loose on them. Researchers though aren't employers or other agencies that have no problem whatsoever ignoring your feeble threat at retaliation. Now, of course copyright infringement is an entirely different matter in that it does have a modicum of merit via an international agreement (not law, there is no international copyright law, individual countries who have signed onto the agreement are expected to enforce their own laws in relation to the agreement) hopefully said prospective injured parties have at least read up on how to protect one's copyright and flipped through the law to understand concepts like "fair use", to say nothing about the utter lack of presumed privacy regarding comments within public forums (even if the location is privately owned) and postings within public places which are actually not covered under a copyright. Also, just as an FYI, US law doesn't actually govern the Internet...I know, I know, it's a kick to the nuts/ego to learn that we're just a part of a global community even if Al Gore did invent the darned thing (which he didn't). If you really want to copyright something then posting an italicized statement on your profile is actually pretty darn ineffective for anything other than adding you to the mass of other people who have posted it on their profiles. Should you actually want to copyright something you need to state or imply ownership for each work of art or intellectual product. For those folks who feel as if they have actually been wronged let's hope that they're up to undertaking the steps to ensure proof of ownership so as to not look foolish in front of the judge having already made the decision to invest the time, energy and effort in hiring a lawyer, petitioning a cease and desist order and then of course following up on it to protect the previously mentioned haiku about blowjobs. Finally given that if you have posted a disclaimer on your profile about not wanting to have your stuff ripped off you certainly should practice what you preach by providing citations, credit and acknowledgement as to where it was from that you stole the funny picture of a cat with a lime on its head as a helmet.

NEW PHASE

"I, being poor, have only my dreams. I have spread my dreams under Your feet. Tread softly because You tread on my dreams." -unknown

Grateful slave of: YoungMistressK

The very instant that I saw you, did my heart fly to Your service; there resides, To make me slave to it; and for Your sake... -- William Shakespeare