Now we're a criminal gang of hypocrites*

Well, yesterday, Meryl Dorey blogged about the recent false DMCA's filed against the Stop the Australian Vaccination Network (SAVN).  "In two hours, I filed approximately 50 copyright claims against various Facebook members for using screenshots of my posts without my permission." (Dorey, M, 2011). I had wondered how long it would take the person responsible to own up. Only a couple of Days apparently. It is clear that Ms Dorey believes that anything she says or does is automatically copyright. "I know that my words, my images and my posts are my own and they have no right to use them for any purpose without my express permission."(Dorey M,2011) This includes the comments I highlighted, made on the ABC 4corners forum (I wonder if the ABC has Ms Dorey's express permission to archive her forum responses?). It is also apparent that she doesn't understand that concept of Fair Use (as it is known as in the US) or Fair Dealing (essentially the same in Australian). If you've been following this saga, you'll know that the reproduction of material that is copyright is allowable for the propose of criticism, and that I went to some length to ensure the screenshot was properly referenced. There was no doubt about where it had come from, are who had made the statement "Measles is NOT a serious disease" (Dorey M, 2005). 


The blog titled "Hypocrisy- thy name is 'SAVN'" Describes the extreme lengths that AVN members have had to go through to feel safe using the social networking site. I too have worried about my family being victimsed, and blocked access to photos for anyone outside a customised list of approved viewers. I have increased security has strongly as I can, I have blocked accounts of known harassers, I blog and tweet under the alias Eggrings (admittedly, it's not a particularly good alias). One can make the links between the "real" me and Eggrings, but I didn't want it to be easy. My point is, this is nasty. Both sides are feeling that insure on the internet. But, really, learning to protect yourself on the internet isn't a bad skill to have anyway.

Ms Dorey also continues to harp on about the pornographic images Personal Messaged to her, and fellow AVN members. This did happen. Ms Dorey has every right to be appalled, offended, and pursue any legal action she sees fitting. At the time that this occurred, I was still new to the SAVN, and didn't really catch everything that was unfolding. What I DO know is that this behavior was never condoned by the SAVN. In fact most members of the SAVN facebook page were appalled and offended too.  Ms Dorey only quickly mentions that this was a "member of the SAVN page (to be fair, SAVN did kick this person off after they were alerted to his abusive messages) "(Dorey M, 2011) As one Facebook member of the SAVN said "blink and you'll miss it".  From Ms Dorey's blog, one could be easily lead to believe this was common practice on our group site "Indeed, abuse and harassment is their stock in trade."(Dorey M, 2011). 


Finally, Ms Dorey has missed the fact that she my in fact be committing an illegal act by lodging these DMCA's. Without an understanding of the acceptable grounds of Fair Dealing and Fair Use of copyright material, it could be easy to see why the posting of someone else's comments may appear to be an infringement of copyright. But, for the reasons I've already outlined, I believe I was within the law when I posted the screenshot. This being the case, Ms Dorey has filed a false DMCA against me- and 50 other images on the SAVN website. This is illegal.


In closing:

The AVN has gone and spoiled all of their fun and they are not going to come out and play any more until Facebook says they are sorry and returns all of their vile posts to where they were previously.   
Nearly right Meryl. I am using the Facebook appeal process because the 'rights and responsibilities' page says that I can. They don't need to say 'sorry', just do the right thing, in accordance with their own rules. But I do want the "...vile posts [returned] to where they were.."(Dorey M,2011) Because you are the author of a great many of the comments contained in these images.    


The following is referenced is using the Chicago system, and has been carefully denoted at the bottom of my blog, for the benefit of Ms Meryl Dorey and her loyal AVN members:
Dorey. M., 2011, "Hypocrisy- thy name is SAVN" in Living Wisdom [blog], May 2, available World Wide Web URL: http://avn.org.au/nocompulsoryvaccination/?p=1015 (accessed 3 May, 2011) 


*Please note that Ms Dorey didn't coin this term. Nor did she call the SAVN 'a gang' at any point in this blog (well, no where that I saw)


  
  

I am NOT a criminal

So, after a full day of Public Relations down at the park in my SES uniform. I've come home and filed a DMCA counter-notice with facebook. Addressing the fact that the image was reproduced for the purpose of commentary and criticism and therefore came under Fair Use under Part 3 Division 3 of the Australian copyright act 1968 . I have also pointed out:

"The Facebook group from which my image was removed has had several allegations made against them. I believe that is it another organisation, or perhaps simply one member of this organisation, misusing Facebook's reporting tool as a way of bullying and intimidating our members"...


..That I consider it harassment. Furthermore, I don't take lightly, the allegation that I was involved criminal activity. I also implored Facebook conduct a thorough investigation, and if it was uncovered that the repeated DMCA submissions were baseless, malicious and false that the offender face appropriate disciplinary actions.  


The free market of ideas will triumph!

That is all for now. 

My alleged copyright criminal activity:

Logged onto facebook this morning to find this notice:












Turns out that some one was very busy censoring the StopAVN page last night. Resulting in the disabling of 2 accounts of fellow StopAVN facebook group members. In case you were wondering. Here is the post, from the 24th of April complete with referencing:

And naturally there are very few ways of contesting these allegations. Apparently all a user needs to do is report a possible infringement. Then without any checking up on the legitimacy of the claim, facebook pulls the picture. Copyright, of course, allows for what is called Fair use.  This comment was loaded for the purpose of commentary and criticism, which are both terms of fair use.

Nice way to censor the market-place of ideas, huh Meryl?

(Not that I can be sure it was Meryl. However, the likelihood of it being someone from the Australian Vaccination Network is high, due to the large amount of content removed from the StopAVN page.)

National Identity replacing Religious Identity as a way of forming "Imagined communities"

This link will take you to the ABC Drum where there is an audio interview with Scott Stephens. Mr Stephens is the Online Editor of Religion and Ethics for the ABC. In this interview, at about 11:10 Scott Stephens mentions that only stupid people would not acknowledge the important role of religion in 'binding people together or creating associations".


Perhaps in the past.


Baldwin, et al, Recognize the decline in organised religion in western societies and that westerns tend to create their "imagined communities' around ideas of National identity instead (2004, "introducing cultural studies" Pearson Education Limitied. pp157-158, 167, 289)


At this point I should mention that in sociology, a nation is an imagined community because the members if this community will never meet most of their fellow members, nor will they visit every historically, culturally or geographically significant place. But neither the less, members of this national community find a sense of identity and belonging to each other and these places. "It is only in the imagination that collectivities of this scale can exist" (Baldwin, et al, 2004, p158)   


But it's not like this new 'national identity' isn't without it's issues. It's built just as much upon exclusion as any other imagined community, including religions. But they are territoriality based exclusions. And the idea of national comradeship glosses over any inequalities experienced by the peoples of that nation. And in effect this lessens the social awareness of the plights of marginal groups. But this idea of mateship between Aussies seems to fit more snuggly in with the Australian world-view, than 'Christian based values'. 

Christians might think that the string of tragic world and local events in the past few months will drive more people to church in search of answers this Easter. And maybe so. But I argue that the "binding together of people" and the practice of symbolic rituals will happen down at the Pub, over a game of two-up on Anzac day