Backup gathering should this place go poof

[falken]

I have been concerned like many others about the way Ben vanishes for long periods of time, and wanted to preserve what I could if interest is ever lost in running this forum or it goes down for any reason (still waiting since last year for replacement on a broken kit).

This is hands down the best place on the net for REAL pool information.

I have made a copy-cat site and just wanted to make it known. I am NOT encouraging anyone to leave, I just wanted a backup gathering available.

http://www.pooltalk.info is the web address.
www.pooltalk.info

If the moderators feel this post is out of line, please delete it, I will not attempt to post any information about it agian. I feel like I am doing something wrong, but my intentions are good. I hope everyone doesn't see it as a bad thing.

[Poconos]

Personally I couldn't care and commend you for doing it. But....Ben does have a copyright notice at the bottom of the pages and I have no idea about the legality of what you're doing.
Al

[Kimrst]

I too love this place, and I love the info that is passed here. I saved the link and I will put it aside in case the worst happens. I used to be on several boards untill they suddenly disapeared out of no where. On one site the owner died and we only knew it because a few of us passed real names and numbers to each other. When we hadn't heard from her for awhile and the site disapeared, somone called her dh and then found her obit in a NY paper. That was FREAKY!

I guess part of me that is most worried is that I thought in order to have a board someone had to do some work on it when it ran? Isn't there costs involved in boards like this? It would be a shame to loose touch with all of you. I really wish Ben would reappear if only to touch bases for a moment...Kimrst

[chem geek]

Technically, the content is owned by the author, though putting it into a public forum at least somewhat puts it into the public domain. So transferring posts from individuals from whom you have received permission should not be a problem at all -- copying without permission *might* be an issue (depends on whether such posts are truly considered to be public domain after posting). Ben's copyright is really for everything he has posted (plus see below).

As for the format of the forum itself, its main topic organization, etc., that is probably also copyright to Ben since he set that up initially, though that starts to get a little dicey as to how unique that is. If it is an exact copy, which is what it looks like was done in this case with PoolTalk, then that's probably not kosher. At least changing the sub-headings or providing some other unique value-add would be advisable.

Anyway, I'm hoping none of this becomes necessary, but I thank you for at least getting something set up. Given all the troubles that Ben had with hackers, I hope your site doesn't experience the same thing. Also, some sort of site where new people can register is needed. I've gotten requests from some other sites for people to talk to folks here (y'all have developed quite a reputation!) and I can't really help them.

[EDIT] Not that it matters much, but I did a little quick research and yes, technically, Internet postings have an implied copyright unless explicitly waived. Remember, however, that the ideas that are expressed are not copyrightable (though they are potentially patentable, depending on what those ideas describe -- i.e. an invention or process, but patenting requires an explicit filing and granting procedure). So the ideas and concepts can be expressed elsewhere in a different way and not violate the copyright. In essence, what is copyrighted is the explicit expression of an idea -- the words themselves, in the case of writing (or the actual visual presentation, in the case of art; or the actual notes at least of the melody, in the case of music). Now that said, it is probably reasonable to simply ask anyone if they object to copying their posts to another forum as that sort of "opt out" is the only practical way to do this. Also, note that unless the copyright is actually registered with the copyright office, then one is not in a good position to litigate violations. Since Internet postings are likely to have minimal "value" in terms of people purchasing the copyrighted words to read, such litigation is likely to lead nowhere. Of course, morality and law do not always intersect. I agree that IF Ben does not come back to this site or otherwise no longer wants to run it, then some form of royalty compensation (for some period of time or limited amount) from the "new" site that used this material would be a decent thing to do (and I wouldn't copy PoolSolutions at all without Ben's permission). [END-EDIT]

Richard

[falken]

I agree on the copyright issue, I did copy his headings verbatim. Its hard to say if one can hold a copyright on general topics of discussion, and the layout is the default vbulletin software layout. If anyone has suggestions on a good way to reword/rework it make it just as easy or better i'm open to any and all suggestions.

That being said, all it would take is a simple request from Ben and I would change anything he claims to have a copyright on and does not want reproduced. After all, its his absence that prompted it to start with.

I did crawl the site for all the posts, I would not even consider doing anything with them unless this site is actually gone... Then we could worry how to handle reposting of old comments.

[nater]

Its spooky that I was thinking about the same thing today (keeping the forum alive should this one crash) after spending 20 minutes "preaching the gospel" to a guy in the pool section of Lowes today. I told him to check this forum out becuase it really is the best place for information concerning pool care around.

I'll support this forum and pray for Ben's well being as long as it's running. Should this one crash, I'll definately support a parrallel effort for the sake of keeping this knowledge alive.

[Poconos]

More comments.

My last communication with Ben in early November indicated all was well from a health standpoint. I hope that is still true.

The cost of running a site such as this is directly linked to the bandwidth purchased. Cost is relative. To Bill Gates...way in the noise. To most normal people, Poolforum is very significant I would bet. It all has to do with how easily and quickly people access the site. Just looking at stats for the number of users online etc I would bet Ben pays a good bit of $$$.

As for other costs, the hardware and software are not cheap.

Backups are another issue. We have no idea if anything is being done.

Systems can run for a long time unattended. I believe Ben hosted the old stuff, before VBulletin, on Linux. No idea of the present platform.

I more than anyone because of my long association with poolforum, hope Ben does surface. He has a great and loyal following.

Think positive....it will all be resolved eventually.

I wish I could be of more help and enlightenment but I can't.

Al

[falken]

There were more member signups then I thought there would be...

I posted an annoucement on my site welcoming new users since this site is not accepting any new registrations.

I am going to answer what I can, but I welcome others to pop in if they get time to see if they can answer a newbies question. I pointed someone at this site and they told me without being a member they were not even able to search the forums, hard to find answers that way...

Also, if there are any moderators on this site that would like moderator status on my board all you need to do is register and send me a message, you are already approved.