# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/161 "2002-09-04T11:11:16Z")
Like you **reprise** , it’s not my intention to play the vigilante Doper on Patrol, and possibly get in the way of the _Reader_, but I think the registering and lurking idea is a good one. Sure, they can probably find out I’m a doper without trying too hard, but I think if they know that some of their own members are quietly monitoring them, yet not causing trouble, they might rethink a few of their current practices. ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/162 "2002-09-04T11:13:35Z")
OK; just tried posting over there using the name you just registered **TLD** and it wouldn’t let me use the name, so registering does secure the nick. ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/163 "2002-09-04T12:16:15Z")
Uh, they don’t care, from what I can tell. They’re stealing content to look like an active area, and roping people into becoming members this way. When y’all register, I’d imagine their numbers go up so they look even MORE active. And when you post, you add even more to their numbers. It’s DNFTT on a site-wide scale. Then again, the good and intelligent people on here stun me constantly with their inability to leave the trolls alone without someone holding their hands, so the fact that people keep on registering over there (with names like “Cecil Adams,” no less) and posting and generally making it more difficult for the Chicago Reader legal staff to do their job doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. It stuns me every time I see this crew of remarkably intelligent people acting in such an abysmally idiotic way. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/164 "2002-09-04T12:23:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheLoadedDog \* > \*\*Then there’s this: > " he newest registered user is [Coldfire](http://www.metatus.com/forum/eng/viewtopic.php?t=1864)" > :eek: \*\* Not to worry, that was me. If you see any other staff member names, chances are it’s them, too. Just making sure no one else takes our names. ---
**Author:** ![johncole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5f9b8f/32.png) [@johncole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johncole)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/165 "2002-09-04T15:16:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by White Lightning \* > \*\*Not if the stolen posts have been edited to remove any reference to the SDMB. \*\* Well, they missed this reference: > [@](#): > > thread:\> A Human being should be able to … > > post: > A human being should be able to > 1.change a diaper > ‘wear a diaper’ > 2. plan an invasion, > 3.Hi opal! > 4.butcher a hog > 5.conn a ship > … > > post: > How do you do Hi Opal? Can someone explain what this means to me? must be my poor english? > > post: > Your English is excellent. No one does a “Hi (hello) Opal” unless one knows a person named Opal. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/166 "2002-09-04T15:58:54Z")
What **Hamadryad** said. Or, to quote **Coldfire** from about two pages back: > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Coldfire \* > **WILL ALL THE VALIANT KNIGHTS WHO APPARENTLY WERE TOO BLIND TO SEE THE PREVIOUS SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS KINDLY STOP POSTING AT THAT OTHER MESSAGE BOARD?** Sheez Louise. Maybe the mods should just close this thread, and post a sticky reminding people to not post over there. There really isn’t anything more that can be said about this subject that isn’t just plowing the same old ground. Other than to list still more copied threads, and we’ve already listed plenty of those, so why bother? Meanwhile, the continued existence of this thread seems to encourage smart people to act stupidly, as **Hama** has pointed out. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/167 "2002-09-04T19:41:52Z")
I have not and will not post anything on their site. I have and might be back to visit, maybe. But, until the mods. here say different, I’ll let the BIG DOGS do their thing first. I’m not a PCgeek, so maybe someone here can explain: Some advertisers pay sites per click. There ARE ads running on the “evil ones” site. Could this be somebody’s scam to run up their “visits” to make money? ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/168 "2002-09-04T22:19:13Z")
**t-keela** , it could be a scam to increase their registrations (people WILL register their nicks to stop them being used by others) so they can claim a large membership or just to attract more hits so that they can inflate the numbers they show advertisers. Also in order to register you must provide an email address and confirm your registration from that email address, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the email addresses people used to register (you DID all create webmail accounts solely for that purpose, didn’t you) start getting a lot of 3rd party spam. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/169 "2002-09-04T23:36:37Z")
Re: Copyrights and Trademarks (real simple 101 class notes:) Sometimes the worst thing you can do is nothing. Let’s say you open a porn shop in Butthole, Wyoming called “Sex In The City”. Now some of you think, who cares - it is not like anyone is going to think HBO owns it or confuse it with the series. True. BUT - if HBO didn’t go sue your ass for opening the place, they are leaving an opening for someone to open a porn shop in NY called Sex In The City, or open up a chain of them around the world. The problem is, if there can be proof that you did nothing the first time you were made aware of an infringement, a case can be made that you did not care, and do not care, enough about your trademark/copyright to protect it. Thus, everyone is entitled to use the name. That is why Disney is put in the unfortunate position of having to sue Aunt Mabel’s Day Care Center for the picture of Micky Mouse out on the garage. That is why DreamWorks, MGM, Universal etc etc all have teams of lawyers cracking down on “little” stuff. Do you really think they give a damn if someone opens some cheesy Indiana Jones Cafe in Peoria? No…but they have to sue to save the name. The upswing…by letting the other board come in, rip off threads at will and doing nothing, SDMB is saying they don’t care…maybe they don’t, but it is hard to undo the damage later if they don’t hop on the problem now. ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/170 "2002-09-05T00:25:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by t-keela \* > \*\*I’m not a PCgeek, so maybe someone here can explain: > Some advertisers pay sites per click. There ARE ads running on the “evil ones” site. \*\* There was one business that had a banner ad. I emailed them to let them know that I wouldn’t shop there for that very reason, and they emailed me back saying that the banner ad was not authorized and they were in the process of having it removed. They were successful. It appears they are crooks in every sense of the word. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/171 "2002-09-05T07:35:14Z")
Is there any way we can check to see if they all have beards? It may, after all, be the evil SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![Caught\_Work](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/919ad9/32.png) [@Caught\_Work](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caught_Work)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/172 "2002-09-05T08:07:43Z")
Hmmm. I have never visited ‘that other place’ after reading everything that’s going on here, but it does appear plain that they are harvesting email addresses from the SDMB as I received a SPAM email this morning from some bozo. It’s obvious they’re up to no good otherwise I would have expected an email address with [metatus.com](http://metatus.com) as the domain and not hotmail. I wasn’t overly grumpy until I received this, now I’m grumpy. > [@](#): > > Publish your article, share your thoughts > On line Journalism, [Metatus.COM](http://Metatus.COM) > Lots of Talk, Little Censorship & No Registration. > sex, politics, work issues, religion, hobby, the works > [http://www.Metatus.COM](http://www.Metatus.COM) > if you wish to unsubscribe, write to [mandy24k@hotmail.com](mailto:mandy24k@hotmail.com) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/173 "2002-09-05T15:25:52Z")
It is like watching a serious accident; I know it isn’t good, but I can’t drag my eyes away. There whole place is just such an overwhelming smorgasbord of trollery, bigotry and flawed logic. If anyone is in any way dissatisfied with the SDMB, the Mods should prescribe (read only)visits there to see exactly how lucky we are. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2002, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/174 "2002-09-07T04:22:57Z")
Been away…any news on the “Evil Ones” website? Cecil sic the dogs on 'em yet? ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2002, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/175 "2002-09-07T15:38:01Z")
Haven’t heard back from the Reader, but I’m sure they’re on the case. Y’all keep monitoring if you like – maybe you should send me email instead of stirring up this pot on the board. That’s [TubaDiva@aol.com](mailto:TubaDiva@aol.com). I’ll pass on information as it comes to me. your humble TubaDiva Administrator ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/176 "2002-09-08T14:40:17Z")
u betcha…😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dark\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/177 "2002-09-08T21:17:54Z")
Interesting… I hope they get sued and knocked off hteir high horse! ---
**Author:** ![EasyPhil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47c2d/32.png) [@EasyPhil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EasyPhil)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/178 "2002-09-09T06:16:21Z")
The site seems to be down now. ---
**Author:** ![kitarak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kitarak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitarak)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/179 "2002-09-09T12:29:54Z")
Did anyone else get a counter-spam E-mail asking you to boycott Metatus? I got one from someone with the e-mail address ‘Saber Girl’. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000/180 "2002-09-09T13:12:52Z")
they’ve even started stealing our humour! > [@](#): > > OP: > > Would you rather have sex with an octopus or the admin of Metatus who is a lying 5pammer? > > reply: > > The octopus sounds good, could satisfy a few orifaces! > > reply: > > Yeah. The admin at metatus is only a single orifice. An asshole. So if you’re into anal, he’s the better choice. The octopus is a better choice otherwise. [http://www.metatus.com/forum/eng/viewtopic.php?t=2079](http://www.metatus.com/forum/eng/viewtopic.php?t=2079) i wonder how long before the thread will get deleted… and, from a whois search, admin name is listed as Carmen Tsang / Carmen Chen +8529364 4569 hong kong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealing-from-the-sdmb-metatus-com/126000.md?page=10)