# Stealing from the SDMB? Metatus.com **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 28, 2002, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000 "2002-08-28T22:08:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![butter\_pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@butter\_pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butter_pie)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2002, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/121 "2002-08-31T15:45:56Z")
Whoops, sorry. I didn’t see that you mentioned that. I really need to learn not to post when I’m reading in three windows and just woke up. BTW, we could always hire a 7337 script kiddie to just DOS the site until the owners give up. (Not really.) ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2002, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/122 "2002-08-31T18:16:05Z")
Saw this over there this morning, but it’s gone now. I copied it before it got deleted: > [@](#): > > \*\*Topic: references to drug use on message board “dopers” > > Angry Hamster > Guest > Sat Aug 31, 2002 2:12 pm > > * * * > > I am a new user of this message board, and message boards in general. I am concerned that I see so many posts where addicts (I assume they are addicts) are asking opinions of their fellow addicts, and they make no attempt to hide it! I submit the following posts for your examination: > > ## This person wants robot building advice from drug users [http://www.metatus.com/forum/eng/viewtopic.php?p=13898](http://www.metatus.com/forum/eng/viewtopic.php?p=13898) > > ## This person says "So here’s the point of this post. I want Doper input on the questions raised by the poster " … This is a thread about raising children!!! [http://www.metatus.com/forum/eng/viewtopic.php?p=13687](http://www.metatus.com/forum/eng/viewtopic.php?p=13687) > > ## This person says “I would like to attempt to restore, or attempt to create, a positive perception of the National Guard throughout the Doper community.” … Who cares what the drug users think about the National Guard? The National Guard is against drug use! [http://www.metatus.com/forum/eng/viewtopic.php?p=11376](http://www.metatus.com/forum/eng/viewtopic.php?p=11376) > > ## This one is obvious. Very obvious. Note the how he uses words like “insatiable” and “mind-blowing”. Here is a quote: "I trust my fellow Dopers to come through on this. Thanks! " [http://www.metatus.com/forum/eng/viewtopic.php?p=658](http://www.metatus.com/forum/eng/viewtopic.php?p=658) > > I am upset about this! It seems what all these people have in common is an addiction to something that they think expands their mind or somehow provides them with entertainment! Something so addictive that they have to have it every day, even to the point of doing it at work! Whats next? Are these people going to start having group meetings in real life? So called “doper-fests”?!?!?!?!? > > I guess I am old-fashioned, but I am still shocked \*\* Must be one of ours 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2002, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/123 "2002-08-31T18:25:21Z")
Oh wait, maybe I shouldn’t have copied that. Hummm. Mods, please erase it if I messed up by quoting that entire deleted OP. ---
**Author:** ![Myrnalene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@Myrnalene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrnalene)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2002, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/124 "2002-08-31T19:47:51Z")
Yeah, we wouldn’t want to go around lifting copywrited material. :snerk: ---
**Author:** ![Anubis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@Anubis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anubis)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2002, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/125 "2002-08-31T21:16:30Z")
Yep, they definitely realized they’re mistake. All but the National Guard thread linked to in **Joey G** ’s post no longer exist. COVERUP!!! :foil smiley here: ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2002, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/126 "2002-09-01T03:43:41Z")
**Tubadiva** , here is another one to send up the pipeline. This appears to be a fairly dead board, and this is the only stolen post I recognized. It’s based in Hong Kong also (same people?). [Why is the US so opposed to the International Criminal Court (Straight Dope)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=123463) [Why is the US so opposed to the International Criminal Court (Law99.com)](http://www.law99.com/t.php?t=45) This is starting to get weird. ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2002, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/127 "2002-09-01T04:25:28Z")
Holy Crap. [Online dating: how to blow off a guy politely? (Straight Dope)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=126890) [Online dating: how to blow off a guy politely? (HiCow.com )](http://203.194.245.125/hk/viewtopic.php?t=7701) HiCow and Metatus have a lot of posts in common. I can’t tell who is copying who. ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2002, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/128 "2002-09-01T04:35:30Z")
Holy Crap. [Online dating: how to blow off a guy politely? (Straight Dope)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=126890) [Online dating: how to blow off a guy politely? (HiCow.com )](http://203.194.245.125/hk/viewtopic.php?t=7701) HiCow and Metatus have a lot of posts in common. I can’t tell who is copying who. ---
**Author:** ![Wearia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Wearia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wearia)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2002, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/129 "2002-09-01T04:48:24Z")
So how many boards are stealing from SDMB? This is justs sad. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2002, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/130 "2002-09-01T05:11:56Z")
I just got a spam from Metatus today. Coincedence? Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2002, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/131 "2002-09-01T06:06:38Z")
Well, aside from the obvious problems, this is kinda cool… I feel like I’m in the exposition to a _Twilight Zone_ episode. Hopefully we won’t be wished into the cornfield. But yeah, these guys suck. Then again, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, you might as well steal from the best, yadda yadda… ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2002, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/132 "2002-09-01T12:36:04Z")
Spammers are tough to fight. _Foreign_ spammers can well be impossible to fight. Even if you can track them down (as we have here), getting the ISP to do anything ranges from Very Hard to Really Fucking Hard to Beat Your Head Into The Pilings, Son, It’ll Feel Better. Hong Kong, and Asian countries in general, are notorious for long-lived, nigh-untouchable spamhauses, where spammers of every stripe buy email access and spam unmolested because: [ul] [li]The ISPs obviously aren’t going to stop them, and[/li][li]The local governments either aren’t aware of the problem, aren’t convinced it is a problem (some see spamming as a Free Speech issue, which is isn’t), or have been paid to look the other way.[/li][/ul]In the world of Usenet and email, the vigilante remedy, used when the official channels are ineffective, has been RBLs, or Realtime Blackhole Lists. RBLs ensure that those who subscribe to them do not pass along _anything_ from a blackholed domain. There are various ways to get blackholed, which vary from RBL to RBL. Spamming, obviously, but also running on open relay, a system configured to allow anyone to pass email through it. RBL makers, such as [MAPS](http://mail-abuse.org/rbl/), probe for open relays and add domains to their list as appropriate. Is the practice of RBLs legal? Yep. Is it open to abuse and capriciousness? You betcha. ORBS was, at one time, MAPS main competition. But it was run by a complete asshole who would add domains for purely personal reasons and refuse to remove them. Result? Those who subscribed to his service did not get information for really stupid reasons. Upshot? ORBS is dead, long live MAPS. [MAPS RBL Rationale](http://mail-abuse.org/rbl/rationale.html) — MAPS defends themselves. It reads like a manifesto of sorts, a common-netizen’s Declaration of Independence from unsolicited email of all stripes. [MAPS for DISASTER](http://profitmall.sysop.com/MAPS_for_DISASTER.htm) — A CAPTIALIZATION ADDICT who HATES the MAPS CONCEPT. A fun read if you keep in mind he’s a loon. Related in the MAPS-hate-a-thon is [Combat HQ](http://www.combat.org/). A good list is provided by [MAPS itself](http://mail-abuse.org/anti-rbl.html). Contentious issue, but MAPS is on the Right Side. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2002, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/133 "2002-09-01T19:12:51Z")
This is all very wicked and weird. I hope the proper authority on the board will keep us informed as to the developments of this very interesting debacle. ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2002, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/134 "2002-09-01T19:40:00Z")
OOC, are they getting our double-posts too? Because that would be…um, _kinda_ funny. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2002, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/135 "2002-09-01T19:47:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjtm \* > \*\*Well, aside from the obvious problems, this is kinda cool… I feel like I’m in the exposition to a _Twilight Zone_ episode. > \*\* This is **Jjtm** , an ordinary user of an ordinary message board. But **Jjtm** will see something…something that will cause him to question the world around him, and even his own identity. Because this message board…is in the Twilight Zone ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2002, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/136 "2002-09-01T21:24:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Anubis \* > \*\*Apparently, whoever is doing this has either read this thread or found his/her mistake in leaving the word ‘Doper’ in the copied threads: > [Here](http://www.metatus.com/forum/eng/viewtopic.php?t=66&highlight=doper) we have an OP that says > > and later has a quote of the OP except with HC’ers still as Dopers and someone asked, “what’s a Doper?” And I could have sworn that someone later said that a doper was a member of these boards, but that post is now gone. \*\* The response is still there, near the bottom. ---
**Author:** ![Anubis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@Anubis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anubis)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2002, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/137 "2002-09-01T23:12:29Z")
Ah. I have a short attention ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2002, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/138 "2002-09-02T05:28:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Esprix \* > \*\*Great honk! > \*\* You mind your phraseology! Mayor Fenris Shinn ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2002, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/139 "2002-09-02T21:22:11Z")
They now replace “straightdope” with “[law99.com](http://law99.com)” on their board. I really don’t appreciate them posting my threads in my name, and I said as much. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2002, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/140 "2002-09-02T23:17:57Z")
…And when they cloned me they add an “s” to my username. It’s like these Hong Kong knock off jerks don’t think my username’s good enough as it is. I know I shouldn’t, but I resent that. Can Bush declare them part of the “drivetrain of evil” or something? At last count, I counted 15 stolen threads currently posted. (the real)TV\* \*[sub]except for **Veb** , of course, and that newer **TVguy**.[/sub] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000.md?page=8)