The Problem
In my opinion the biggest threat that Steemit faces currently is not from any other social network or other cyptocurrency. It doesn't from come the voting process or the distribution of STEEM. It comes from the users themselves.
I hope @ned and @dan read and pay attention to this.
How?
Simply due to the rampant plagiarism and copyright theft which is going on. (I have remarked on previous posts about these see here as have others such as @corinnestokes here and @c082832 here.) People are simply copying articles from blogs, newsites etc and posting them here. Others are taking photographs from competitions and the like and posting them here as is. It seem that there is a prevailing attitude that this is "fair use".
Fair Use
This article from Rich Stim at the Stanford University Library sums up fair use very well and is well worth a read. Here is an excerpt:
In its most general sense, a fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work.
He goes on to describe:
If you are commenting upon or critiquing a copyrighted work — for instance, writing a book review — fair use principles allow you to reproduce some of the work to achieve your purposes.
Note the fact that he says "some" - if you copy an entire work for critical or commentary purposes then it may not qualify as fair use - for example taking the entire lyrics from a song or if I simply took the entirety of Rich's article and just reposted it. That would be un-necessary for my commentary and would not be transformative.
It is clear that simply copying another post does not fall under any of these categories. Neither does simply giving accreditation.
But a lot of this work is freely available on the internet
Just because it is available online does not make the work free to use. That is like saying if somebody's front door is open and you can see inside their house then it is OK to take their possessions and do as you please.
But lot's of other sites do it so it must be ok right?
Wrong. Yes there is a lot of infringement of work and illegal use going on but Steemit is different due to it's direct monetisation of content. You can directly see what other people are making from each post.
But Steemit runs on a blockchain and doesn't host any work
In the last few days one of the major torrenting sites was taken down along with the owner (CNN article). Although it didn't host any content the authorities didn't see it that way. Torrents are also decentralised and don't host content themselves.
That does not protect them from the law. @Ned and the rest of the steemit team are publicly known and could also be held accountable just as the torrent site owner was.
The way images and media are displayed on Steemit means that there is no material difference to the end user from them being hosted on the blockchain or not. They look the same as they would if they were copy and pasted.
$400 Million is a massive bullseye for the authorities and copyright organisations
The major copyright organisations have a lot of resources and a lot of lobbying power. STEEM is already valued at $400 million dollars and growing. Who knows how much Steemit could be worth. Copyright organisations might decide that they want a piece of the pie. This might also provide fodder for the existing social networks who have to comply with laws such as the DMCA. They might also see it as tangential way to deal with the competition.
So what can be done?
That is the difficult part. There is no easy solution but here are some things that might help:
- Some clear, official guidance from the Steemit team on what IS and ISN'T acceptable.
- A content flagging mechanism in addition to a verification mechanism for disputed content - should also have an appeal process.
- Proper sanctions for repeat abusers along with.
Now I'm not sure how viable any of the above are for content on Steemit. These things are difficult to do with giant organisations such as Google/Youtube. Steemit has (I suspect) limited human staff to take care of these sorts of things being a blockchain organisation.
In Conclusion
The most important thing is for people to make themselves aware of copyright and be careful with what they post - however this is unlikely to stop those who don't care about ownership and are just out to make a quick buck.
It would be a shame for this fantastic experiment to fail or run aground due to these issues. Dealing with these issues early on will help to save a lot of pain in the future.
I am sure that we as a community can come up with workable solutions though. Some of the most intelligent people I know are part of this community and that gives me optimism for the future.
Please have your say in the contents section below.
(Apologies for any errors or spelling mistakes. Note I have deliberately NOT named any posters who I think are posting infringing content so as not to single them out. Brick wall photo is public domain and taken from here: http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=7483&picture=brick-wall-with-painted-sign)
I have faith in the concept of STEEM and the majority of it's community members to find a solution to preventing plagiarism...
Please make sure to watch both of Charlie's videos and see where you would draw the line. If you don't mind, could you also comment in my thread? It needs a little bit of visibility, not trying to karma whore here. But I really do think the solution is to just get our favorite content producers here in the first place.@thecryptofiend Here is the other side of the debate though... https://steemit.com/news/@williambanks/this-needs-to-stop-why-steem-will-win-in-the-battle-for-content-creators
OK will do once I have a moment. I think I know what you are talking about though. I am familiar with the issue of the takedown system on Youtube and how unfair it is. I don't think there are easy solutions though.
@thecryptofiend: Does decentralized ecosystems have any bearing on any of the above? I agree with you that it is not the right thing to do, but that is why the downvote button was also implemented. There was one post that made a ton and was downvoted to zero after investigations...all within 24hrs...This is a social experiment and I personally believe good will prevail, evil will not.
Community vigilance is definitely an important part of the solution as your example (I think I know which post you mean) is referring to.Not sure if decentralisation matters. As I have said torrents are decentralised see the Kick Ass Torrents case as an example: http://money.cnn.com/2016/07/21/technology/kickass-torrent/
I agree with you. When I see someone just posting photos that don't belong to them, I downvote and tell them they are doing illegal stuff. We need to all be more vigilant about monitoring such illegal behaviours. If you have an interest in this issue, try to get more resources and a team. When working in groups, it's much easier.
Good on you. I think community vigilance is important here.
@earnest I can't be sure if people are scamming or not. Just because I understand the problem doesn't mean I can't get got caught out. What is your evidence about scamming from that poster? Either post your evidence (and you better be sure of it) or shut up. Edit: Just seen your post history not sure if I should be surprised that you would make such comments given you wrote this post: https://steemit.com/beauty/@earnest/how-to-make-yourself-look-better-than-you-are-ugly-bitch
No because this post is about copyright theft. It is not about me being the truth police about who was and wan't raped. What you describe is not evidence to me it is purely your hypothesis and speculation. Just because you are obsessed with the actions of one particular individual has nothing to do with me or my post. Don't know what your problem is but this is not the place to discuss it.
You know very well what I mean. I have no way of knowing if somebody is making false allegations of rape or not and neither do you. The fact that you don't understand that and seem to be obsessed with it is of particular concern.
Right now all I get from your attitude is that because you find someone's story hard to believe you have been harassing them and that somehow we should all sympathise with you for it.
I would rather sympathise with the victim here - i.e. the person who has been raped. Not you .
That is the last I will say on the matter though. If you want to continue this ill-thought and frankly offensive crusade that is up to you.
@earnest actually I no longer wish to engage with you.
You seem to be obsessed with this one person. I am more concerned about your behaviour than hers.
"I have a voice too"
Yes and you are starting to sound like a stalker.
I don't have the time to read every single post that every single person makes so don't pretend that there is even any logic behind your argument.
If someone made false claims of rape that is not my concern and to be honest I have no idea how you can even in your right mind claim to know if they are make false accusations or not.
Furthermore as I have stated and you don't seem to understand this is unrelated to the topic of the post. The only reason I responded was because of the absurdity of your post.
"You are not gonna tell me what to do, this thread is not your domain, I have a voice too."
I rest my case you come across creepy as hell like there is something seriously wrong with you. If I were you I would seriously look at what your behaviour and comments are projecting out to the world.
I've been trying to do my part by flagging any clear plagiarism copy pasted with no additional comment that I run into
Good thanks for doing that.
Your observations are not only very enlightening, but from any perspective really quite plausibe.. I too am hopeful that this site remains growing, not only for the economic potential for so many ( myself included) , but for the fascinating array of authors, commentators and bloggers having the opportunity to be read and acknowledged.. Bravo for bringin this to the forefront..
Thank you. I'm glad yourself and others agree.