Intellectual Theft.

While doing my daily blog bouncing I came across an interesting series of posts over at Tree Bark Jacket where it seems that someone has been taking liberties with postings from many resto druids and claiming them as their own and they are calling them out about it.

I've experienced this before many years ago back when I ran a rather successful fantasy RPG chat system.  It was #1 on all the search engines and as such it was copied.  All my images, text and layout was copied exactly as I had it.  No changes where made what so ever.  Even the same font was used.

I can say from first hand experience that it is more then just a general annoyance to have someone copy your work and claim it as their own.  It goes deeper then just "r u mad bro", it really bothers you on a personal level and is something that can effect you offline.

Some people seem to think that the internet is the wild west and anyone can do whatever they want and it is not like that. Sadly, on the net just like in life, there will always be people that will try to take advantage of you.

I must admit I enjoy reading the drama of it.  Makes a boring Friday at work go by a lot faster but it also makes you think about the effort some people put into making the game so much better for us by putting the hard work and effort into these guides. My thanks to each and every one of you.

Keep fighting the good fight and try not to let it get to you off the net as much as it does while on the net.  Trust me, I've been there.  It sucks when someone steals your work.  A lot more then others might understand.

Now this is how someone is supposed to share a guide they like when the see it.

Hey, there is a great Resto 4.0 Guide over on Tree Bark Jacket.  Check it out here.