I was pretty distracted at work today, and found myself missing the Lost Legionary. If it weren't for that blog, I never would have met Stu. And now it's gone. Well, not entirely. As luck would have it I wgeted it just two weeks ago, so all is not lost, for me anyway. But it's still really sad to know it's not online anymore for anyone else, and won't be being updated.
Well after several months of work, the new website was declared ready for soft-release to faculty office staff. There's still a stack more work to be done on it, but it's mostly just cleaning up now. But it was still pretty exciting. Might also be why I felt so distracted this afternoon, I felt like all the pressure was suddenly off, at least until tomorrow when we begin the process of making the thing really live.
Somehow I had cause to say "kazza, the blank one" in front of Josh tonight. And he says "oh I saw that, online" .. a truly ominous statement from a seven year old. Mainly because it means the family (or at least George) could be reading my blog. Well if you are, George, leave me a comment :)
Now just waiting for the washing to finish before I can hang it out and go to bed.
Bo Peep's Sheep
It's been brought to my attention that Aurelius has asked you to delete the copy of his blog that you have, and that you have declined, citing sentimental reasons.
While it's all well and good to have memories and sweet thoughts regarding how you and Stu came to be together, you did not ask permission to make this copy, and if you had, it would have been declined.
Some times what we want for ourselves isn't in the best interest of other people. It would be easy for you to let go of this, and in principal you should. Life is about respect and you are disrespecting another persons simple wish.
While ownership of what is on the internet seems to be a grey area, friendship and right and wrong are not grey areas at all.
Delete it out of friendship. Delete it out of respect. Delete it because it is the right thing to do.
Remember, you didn't ask for permission. I know you might find it hard to believe that you have done something wrong, but you actually have. Save yourself and Aurelius some heart-ache and show some respect.
Stu
Bo Peep, I think your arguments are flawed. To read a website, you have to download it to your computer (well, your browser usually does that for you) � there is no technical difference between reading a web site and caching a local copy (you have to do the latter to do the former). To say that you need permission to make a copy is the same as saying you need permission to read it. I still have bits of Aurelius� old blog in my browser cache, and since I�ve been using an RSS newsreader, have his more recent posts cached in Freereader. Google still has his blog cached, and various projects that create snapshots of the web at regular intervals may well have a copy too. In other words, it is nearly impossible to remove all trace of something released onto the web. That is not to say that the author retains no rights; I agree with you that the author does retain certain rights. Not least is the right to be identified as the author of the work. If Kazza was republishing Aurelius� writings, whether for profit or not, she would have a legal and ethical duty to obtain permission or not publish, but to say that the author has the right (even just a moral one) to demand that someone delete a personal copy of something that was freely available on the web seems to be stretching things quite a bit � there is such a thing as �fair use� when it comes to intellectual property. Should we also try and expunge from our memories everything Aurelius wrote? I think it is incorrect to suggest that Kazza has done anything wrong.
kazza
The other thing is, I never said I wouldn't delete it. I believed our conversation yesterday to have finished in an unresolved state, where I said I was still thinking about it. To say with certainty that I had declined was either an outright lie, or a very misguided assumption. That annoys me almost more than any of the other arguments for or against having a copy.
In the interests of not damaging relations I thought yesterday that I probably would delete it. But now I'm back to thinking about it some more.
Bo Peep's Sheep
You're his friend, right?
You would know then that to not give him a definitive answer straight up would lead him to the assumption that you were not willing to do as he asked.
You've got to question your motives.
And now not deleting it out of spite? Is that what you are suggesting? How old are you?
Assuming that there are caches of the blog here there and everywhere, Aurelius isn't exactly having a great time. In times of trouble, the last thing you need is for your friends to make it harder on you.
I deleted a blog, for lots of reasons, and it would be heart wrenching for me to know that a friend was retaining a copy of that blog against my wishes. And to ask that friend to delete it and then have them deny my request? They would no longer be a friend.
Just do a friend a favour. Don�t question his motives, don�t ask why. Ask yourself �Is this worth the heartache?� because if �The Lost Legionary� really meant that much to you, it is alive and well in Aurelius and to continue to know him as a real person has far more quality to it than the words that he threw into cyberspace.
It's these sorts of situations that make me want to stop blogging all together.
Aurelius
This is not a question of the legals. This is not a question of the technicalities of caching. This is not even a question of copyright.
This is an issue of respect.
*I* wrote a blog. I decided I wanted it killed, and I deleted it.
I feel the archiving of it over-rides what I wanted, and what I did.
Hence, I requested, and still do, that the Lost Legionary be allowed to rest in peace. Not used in the future against my wishes.
kazza
"Not used in the future against my wishes."
That's what all of this is about isn't it? You are utterly paranoid that I will hold onto something you've said and bring it up again later to use against you. Well this speaks volumes to me about how much you trust me and our "friendship".
Well don't worry I've removed it now. But not out of respect, but because I have no interest anymore.
Aurelius
Karen, don't misinterpret what I said. I wasn't paranoid about what you might do with my blog, because you do not or would not ever have that ability. This was a question of me, making a decision about something that I wrote. And requesting that decision be respected.
When I said "used against my wishes" I meant that its continued existence was against my wishes, and so any use - even someone reading it - was against what I'd like. I pointed that out.
It is no different to an artist or musician retaining control over how their works are used or distributed.