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**Erin** · 01-01-2007, 09:42 PM

I'll cut to the chase here. Do NOT violate copyright laws. Do NOT make requests of others to do the same. Do NOT link to sites that are widely known to violate copyright laws. Offending members will be banned.

I know some of you will wonder why I'm using such strong language. Over the last year or so, a few things have happened behind the scenes that I'm not really at liberty to discuss, but here is one thing I can tell you: One of our members recently called me on the telephone. S/he had received a phone call directly someone from ETS in New Jersey about a post s/he made here. ETS threatened some sort of action against the test taker, but a final decision wasn't made when I talked to this person. S/he was told that the matter would be referred to committee for discussion, and that's all I know about it.

But there's more that all of you need to be aware of.

This is what I'm sure of: Our forums are being monitored by large organizations and their lawyers. At least one company is using a bot to scan our forums for certain content. Some members here participate at least partly in admissions decisions at prestigious schools.

This is what I suspect: I believe our forums are read by paid admissions officers from various schools. I also believe that some of our members are notifying schools and organizations of copyright infringement.

Folks, it is just wrong to violate copyright laws. If you see any copyright violations, please notify me immediately.

I'd like to keep this thread open for thoughtful discussion of the issues here, and although I welcome your feedback, I really have no choice in the matter in terms of the action I must take.

01-01-2007, 09:42 PM	#1 (permalink)
Erin So many things to do... Forum Admin Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: USA Posts: 8,273	Do NOT violate copyright! I'll cut to the chase here. Do NOT violate copyright laws. Do NOT make requests of others to do the same. Do NOT link to sites that are widely known to violate copyright laws. Offending members will be banned. I know some of you will wonder why I'm using such strong language. Over the last year or so, a few things have happened behind the scenes that I'm not really at liberty to discuss, but here is one thing I can tell you: One of our members recently called me on the telephone. S/he had received a phone call directly someone from ETS in New Jersey about a post s/he made here. ETS threatened some sort of action against the test taker, but a final decision wasn't made when I talked to this person. S/he was told that the matter would be referred to committee for discussion, and that's all I know about it. But there's more that all of you need to be aware of. This is what I'm sure of: Our forums are being monitored by large organizations and their lawyers. At least one company is using a bot to scan our forums for certain content. Some members here participate at least partly in admissions decisions at prestigious schools. This is what I suspect: I believe our forums are read by paid admissions officers from various schools. I also believe that some of our members are notifying schools and organizations of copyright infringement. Folks, it is just wrong to violate copyright laws. If you see any copyright violations, please notify me immediately. I'd like to keep this thread open for thoughtful discussion of the issues here, and although I welcome your feedback, I really have no choice in the matter in terms of the action I must take. _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ [Say 'hi'!] [Google Interviews Erin] [San Francisco Chronicle Interviews Erin]