For almost 9 years, My account included shoahrose.blogspot.com. It was illegally taken down and then appeared undeveloped under another name. I have registered this account to continue continuity but wish to state that the person using the name 'shoahrose' on any blog other than mine, is not associated with me, or the well known site which has been online since '97 as a subfolder of shoaheducation.com, (previously on Angelfire) and as a separate site since 2001.
No one but myself should be representing anything, content or otherwise regarding the site, or my other sites. It seems appropriate to remind all, that no one is allowed to go on anyone else's accounts, change, alter, modify or delete any posts or accounts, even if they are able to hack a password. When we blog on our services, we own the material as soon as it is a fixed work: we own the copyright, even before registration. Most people today are ignorant of basic copyright law which invests ownership, and therefore 'copyright' of a work with the creator of the work unless the creator agrees to another arrangement. I have emphatically stated since the beginning that my work was my own and that I work alone: I own the copyright to all of my sites. When someone hacks an account and in any way tampers with the site, including rewriting portions, that person is committing plagiarism and copyright fraud in addition to a computer crime of anywhere from a misdemeanor up to a class C Felony.
Many take blogging or any form of writing on the net lightly, but it is subject to the same laws as any other form of publication or intellectual property. Valuable works become impossible when people see them as a 'free for all'. One needs to be aware though, that using work found on a blog or website without the owner's permission, can be taken to court, and the plagiarist will lose: not only can the blogger sue the thief, but so can the blogger service, and potentially even the copyright office or users of the site. Accounts cannot be taken down without agreements practically written in stone. Here's hoping for a safer internet.
Elizabeth Kirkley Best
shoahrose.com
Director
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