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Rules "Designer" Ban Request

Discussion in 'Support & Feedback' started by djromanof, Jul 17, 2013.

  1. #1
    Hello everyone,

    First of all, I would like to thank digitalpoint and all of the staff for the great service that you are providing us with and I would like to add that I understand 100% that it is not your fault that some of the users of this forum abuse the opportunities that it provides and scam people.

    I would just like to point out my case.

    If you could please take a look at this thread:

    https://forums.digitalpoint.com/threads/offering-affordable-graphic-services-must-see.2667532/

    I am not asking you for any kind of help regarding getting back the money that this guy took from me as I know that Digital Point doesn't carry any responsibility for this and I respect that but the problem is that he uses the website that he supposedly "designed" for me in "his portfolio" with my logo on it (which I got from another user and I intend to use it). There must be some kind of rule about using materials that you don't have the rights to and claiming that they are yours and this goes both for my logo and for the website design that he ripped off someone else. Is there a chance for any of the admins or moderators to do something about this?

    Again I would like to say that this is not a request to help me get my money back, it is just an attempt to make Digital Point just a little bit cleaner by getting rid of people like that who, in my opinion, don't deserve to have access to this service.

    Thank you very much in advance,
    Mario
     
    djromanof, Jul 17, 2013 IP
  2. digitalpoint

    digitalpoint Overlord of no one Staff

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    #2
    Best thing to do is just send a DMCA to his host if he's using copyrighted material you own the rights to on his site.
     
    digitalpoint, Jul 17, 2013 IP
  3. djromanof

    djromanof Member

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    #3
    I would do that if that was the case but he is not using it on his site... he is using it on your site.
     
    djromanof, Jul 17, 2013 IP
  4. browntwn

    browntwn Illustrious Member

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    #4

    The images in that thread do not appear to be hosted on DP, so you probably should send a DMCA notice to the host of the images with the specific URL that is hosting what you say is your copyrighted materials. Looks like that is probably cubeupload.com
     
    browntwn, Jul 17, 2013 IP
  5. djromanof

    djromanof Member

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    #5
    Ok maybe I will do that. And you are right, the images are not "hosted" on DP and I actually never said they were, I said that they are being "used" on DP.

    I hate to say this but I feel rather dissappointed that you both "misinterpreted" what I am trying to achieve by starting this thread (as I'm sure that many other people did before me). It is all in the title and the first post I made. If my request is falling onto a brick wall due to some outdated and faulty, in my humble opinion, policy that DP has then I guess that there is not much I can do further than that.

    I am presenting a case with facts, files and chat logs to prove what I am trying to say and on top of that there is absolutely no opposition to try and deny what I'm saying. If that's not enough then probably nothing is and I am wasting my time and efforts opening this thread. I just want to point out that if such policies don't change, again in my humble opinion, then there is no place for a marketplace in DP.

    As i pointed out in my first post, Digital Point is an immensely useful resource in many different ways and I am absolutely grateful to be able to be a part of it, but a marketplace should be regulated in order to protect both ends of the transactions being made. My opinion is that since there is proof that there is an unreliable "link" in the chain, then it should be discarded or at least be penalised. I find it rather funny that I have been penalised in the past for things like "running up post count" and cases like this, where copyright infringement and money theft is involved, continue to occur with no consequences whatsoever. That of course is a matter of the staff of the website so there is not much I can do other than pointing it out. I would love to hear the staff's thoughts on the matter just out of curiosity. And curiosity is the only reason that I am continuing this conversation as I am quite sure that nothing will change on this matter. I am just trying to understand why, because I can guarantee that there are hundreds of users that would agree with me and these are all your users.
     
    djromanof, Jul 17, 2013 IP
  6. ryan_uk

    ryan_uk Illustrious Member

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    #6
    As browntwn mentioned, send a DMCA notice:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act

    If you really feel the need, you could send one to DP as well as the site actually hosting the content, but it's a bit pointless as once the site actually hosting the content takes it down it won't be visible on DP any more.

    Good luck, mate.
     
    ryan_uk, Jul 17, 2013 IP
  7. digitalpoint

    digitalpoint Overlord of no one Staff

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    #7
    We are not a payment processor, nor an escrow service. If users have no interest in protecting themselves with the normal systems that are available to them (for example escrow services, contracts, payment protection, etc.), I'm not sure how they expect us to protect them on their behalf.

    We aren't a party to your transaction, we know nothing about it... And what you are asking us is basically to be a mediator between you (a random person on the Internet) and another random person on the Internet (neither of which we know anything about). The only way to do realistically do that would be to launch a full investigation, interviewing both sides, etc. Just not something we are set up to do.

    While your claim may be valid, we ultimately have no way of knowing that as it stands now. Without knowing anything about it, your claim carries as much weight as another random user coming along and asking us to ban you because you used some of their copyrighted info on some other site. Again... we have no clue either way since we aren't a mediation service and we don't have the resources available to be one.

    My best advice would be to use the normal systems to protect yourself when dealing with people on the Internet... DMCAs, escrow services for services/products purchased from people you don't know, etc.
     
    digitalpoint, Jul 17, 2013 IP
  8. qwikad.com

    qwikad.com Illustrious Member Affiliate Manager

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    #8
    The thing is I don't think the first guy (the designer) did anything wrong. It doesn't matter how hard or how easy it is for him to get and/or design his templates. Obviously, as any business person, he wants to be efficient and resourceful. He took an existing template (which to me looks terrific) and put all the required content into it. If anything, he held his end of the bargain.

    It's easy to say now: "I could've downloaded the same template for free!" You definitely could have, but you didn't. But the designer actually took the time to find the template and he obviously worked on it.

    What he did with the template is worth $100, in my opinion. You refused the job, but because he has held his end of the contract, he is not responsible to pay you back. I wouldn't.
     
    qwikad.com, Jul 17, 2013 IP
    browntwn likes this.
  9. browntwn

    browntwn Illustrious Member

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    #9
    I tend to agree with you. My comment was in regard to the designer using his logo, which he does not have the right to use without permission.

    I agree with you though that the designer did nothing wrong. In fact, it appears that the designer took a Joomla template and completely modified it so it could be used for the OP's wordpress site. He did the work asked.
     
    browntwn, Jul 17, 2013 IP
  10. djromanof

    djromanof Member

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    #10
    I can't even believe what I am reading here today. I have to be honest and say that it looks like nobody really read my post.


    What exactly do you mean by he "OBVIOUSLY WORKED ON IT"? He "OBVIOUSLY" didn't! Did you even see what I posted? Did you read the part about "deleting already existing content only to add it later and show progress"? I really don't understand what you guys are about. Also, just to be clear, and because I thought I was talking to people who knew a couple of things about web design, did it cross your mind that it is not just a Joomla template?

    http://www.yootheme.com/demo/themes/wordpress/2012/revista/

    What part exactly of the "end of the contract" did he hold? Did he deliver everything new like I asked? I am very sorry but if this is the way you work with your clients then I wouldn't call you a professional. And of course, on the other hand, that's not my problem, it is your choice to do whatever you want. But posting stuff like "What he did with the template is worth $100, in my opinion. You refused the job, but because he has held his end of the contract, he is not responsible to pay you back. I wouldn't." is absolutely ridiculous. What exactly did you see there that was worth, not 100$, but even 10$? And I am taking about designer work. If I paid him to do searches for me then, yes, maybe you could say he did his job. I paid him to design an "everything new" website. It is like you ordering content from me and me searching on wikipedia and delivering to you a beatiful and professional article. The only problem would be that it is copied off the internet and I just changed a couple of words on it. Would you pay me? I don't even understand what you are both about. What you are saying makes absolutely no sense.



    Exactly which part of the website did he "COMPLETELY MODIFY" my friend? As I said, and I'm quite sure as you know already, most themes on the web are developed for most well known CMSs and as you can see from the link I posted above, this template also exists in a Wordpress format. I would love to listen to what exactly you consider "COMPLETELY MODIFIED" in the template he submitted. He took the original template, deleted a couple of boxes, and then added them back to show progress. The only thing he did was to replace the text that mentioned the templates original name with Lorem Ipsum and if you consider this kind of work being worth 100$ then I would love to work for you anytime.



    I am extremely dissappointed that you guys didn't even take the time to look into what I am saying before posting comments like "he did nothing wrong", "he did the work asked" and "what he did is worth 100$" but I don't think that I want to waste any more time on that matter.

    The only post that I would like to answer to is digitalpoint's. I agree with you 100% but here are the comments I have to make on what you said.

    Of course, I would never ask of you to do police work and start investigating and interviewing every one. This is definitely not your job and understand that. I just think that there are things that could be done. Maybe adding a couple of rules as there are things that you can verify. If, for example, everything is done through you rmessaging system, I think you can verify almost everything. Again, I know that you have no authority over the payments being made and this is why I never asked for help in getting my money back but I believe that there should be an infraction system for cases that can be verified. Maybe you don't think that my case is clear enough but maybe other cases are. If everything was done through your messaging system then it should be clear. You have a MARKETPLACE in place and my opinion is that you should treat it as a marketplace should be treated. I think that there is no place for an unregulated market. Again this is just a strong suggestion and you should see it as an attempt to futher secure Digital Point's reputation as a resource. I'm not trying to create a problem or anything.
     
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2013
    djromanof, Jul 18, 2013 IP