Alex Plank is getting sued...

[TheoK]

It's brave to be a rebel! 

[Natalia Evans]

Someone on WP quoted a post from Zack's blog and posted it on WP and he didn't like it. So he is suing Alex for it. I mean I don't see news stations and newspaper companies suing forums just because someone quoted their article and posted the link.

Few people have copied and pasted my posts before and I didn't see it as copyright infringement. I have been told it's wrong to do but people do it anyway so I don't see why it be wrong.

[TheoK]

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

- George Bernhard Shaw

[Pyraxis]

Goddamn you guys are smart. I can't even bring myself to read all that, but it looks legit. I agree. 

  You agree with which one of us? None of us seem to agree.

[Christopher McCandless]

We agree on one thing - Alex is a knob. He has finally replied, bless him:

"please withdraw your claim because I don't want to waste my time writing a counter-notice explaining why you have no case for copyright infringement and why you're full of sh**."
How polite

[Pyraxis]

Once he gets enough exposure all the skeletons he has in his cupboard will pop out - if he gets anywhere too high then it will be his own demise. He is not Mandelson; far from it. Its easier to wait for him to fall.

You think? What would make the tipping point?

The last thing I want now is a big group of followers, it is not my time. Once you become liable for a group of people it takes a serious amount of effort to deal with them. Remember about power needing to be maintained - I certainly don't want any before its time if I can help it.

Okay, fair enough, I can understand that. But what do you see as your current role, then?

One problem, although I know who they are mostly - approaching most of them is difficult without publically giving up the pretence that I am an NT.

Yes, that would be a problem.    It's hard to advocate for the needs of a group when you can't even publically identify with them. What do you intend to do, come out as autistic once you've got yourself established, or something?

Though the easiest way would be to exploit the offline networks that exist quite a bit already, namely the NAS in the UK which has an annual budget of £70m just so you get an idea of its size.

Are the members of the NAS even close to the same demographic as the members of the online communities?

Though the repeating strategy is the best one in politics, the reason for example US senators have had a 96% reelection rate is because they get their name repeated everywhere in the media for their term. Thats pretty much all they do.

An online message board full of intelligent autistic individuals, where communication happens one on one, is a very far cry from a US senator addressing a crowd over mass media. This is what I mean about knowing your audience.

[odeon]

A rebel looking for a cause?

A rebel without a clue, more like.

[Christopher McCandless]

Once he gets enough exposure all the skeletons he has in his cupboard will pop out - if he gets anywhere too high then it will be his own demise. He is not Mandelson; far from it. Its easier to wait for him to fall.

You think? What would make the tipping point?

The point when any half-serious journalist bothers to investigate his background rather than just using him as an easy source of articles to pad out a magazine. So basically whenever he gets given something more meaningful than an invite to sit in a room, something with some actual power attached to it. If he ever gets offered that is of course, because no political party would take him on, they investigate all candidates backgrounds (trust me they are pretty dirty when it comes to this).

The last thing I want now is a big group of followers, it is not my time. Once you become liable for a group of people it takes a serious amount of effort to deal with them. Remember about power needing to be maintained - I certainly don't want any before its time if I can help it.

Okay, fair enough, I can understand that. But what do you see as your current role, then?

Learning the skills necessary to do something - basically little more than biding my time. Of course if anyone shows up who is eager to do something, I might drop them a suggestion or two.

One problem, although I know who they are mostly - approaching most of them is difficult without publically giving up the pretence that I am an NT.

Yes, that would be a problem.    It's hard to advocate for the needs of a group when you can't even publically identify with them. What do you intend to do, come out as autistic once you've got yourself established, or something?

Ideally I would like to set up the show and then disappear into the background. If things get to the point when I have to show my hand publically then obviously then I will do so - though I really would rather avoid it if possible.

Though the easiest way would be to exploit the offline networks that exist quite a bit already, namely the NAS in the UK which has an annual budget of £70m just so you get an idea of its size.

Are the members of the NAS even close to the same demographic as the members of the online communities?

Its largely parents, though due to the size of the organisation it would still make a good recruiting ground. Especially as they are now trying to get people on the spectrum more involved with the organisation.

Though the repeating strategy is the best one in politics, the reason for example US senators have had a 96% reelection rate is because they get their name repeated everywhere in the media for their term. Thats pretty much all they do.

An online message board full of intelligent autistic individuals, where communication happens one on one, is a very far cry from a US senator addressing a crowd over mass media. This is what I mean about knowing your audience.

Ideally I don't want the smarter ones to be too dominant in the organisation for that very reason. The chances are we would spend more time fighting ourselves than actually getting anything productive done. Really we need a smart hardcore of say 10-20 well picked people to run the show - picked both for their talents and commitment to the cause.

[Christopher McCandless]

Plank has more to say:

WP Member: Could you not just delete the post in question? It would be certainly quicker than writing a letter.


Alex: Because I actually have principles

...so he claims...

[odeon]

I can understand his point of view. I doubt the copyright infringement claim would hold.

[Pyraxis]

I think his point of view is useful to take note of for the next time he cries copyright infringement because of someone quoting something from WrongPlanet elsewhere.

[Christopher McCandless]

I think his point of view is useful to take note of for the next time he cries copyright infringement because of someone quoting something from WrongPlanet elsewhere.

Has he done that? I am so tempted to make a sockpuppet just to stick it in that thread... 

[Mr Smith]

wtf is this shit.. someone give me the gist of it?

Well as you have a WP link its not difficult, unless planky had deleted the thread.

Unless you are asking about the DMCA?

I can't be bothered reading the whole thng. Hence why I asked for the gist.

[Pyraxis]

He's been very paranoid in the past about people quoting his words, because he doesn't want to be caught in a lie. He freely deletes his own posts and those of others he thinks will cause him trouble.

A good way to take him down, when somebody eventually does, will be to go around to all the people who've been slighted by him, gather any chat logs and written records they have, cross reference it all, and publicize it. If Alex hasn't changed from the way he used to be, that will reveal glaring inconsistences, evasions, and outright lies all over the place.

[Mr Smith]

Someone on WP quoted a post from Zack's blog and posted it on WP and he didn't like it. So he is suing Alex for it. I mean I don't see news stations and newspaper companies suing forums just because someone quoted their article and posted the link.

meh. I'm probably going to get flamed, but that's pretty fucking stupid.