Google - My old posts still live!

What is it with Google? I just found some posts by myself from many years
ago, but not only do they appear on the Google NGs pages, they are also on
the pages of other websites, verbatim. What the hell gives Google the right
to sell these posts to other companies and use them in this way? Is there
anything we can do about this kind of behaviour?
I think it's a disgrace that they can apparently get away with this kind of
thing. Is it legal?

Joe.

 

Google has been archiving Usenet for many years. Prior to that it was
Dejavu, a company that Google subsequently purchased, along with all the
data.

There are many web sites that scrape Usenet and store it. They did not
receive the data from Google, and Google is not selling it to them.

Write your congressperson.

Legal? Sure.

 

The posts can be removed from Google Groups. You'll have a lot more
trouble getting them removed from the other websites.

http://groups.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=46493

--
Rhonda Lea Kirk

Some are tempted to think of life in cyberspace as insignificant,
as escape or meaningless diversion. It is not. Our experiences there
are serious play. We belittle them at our risk. Sherry Turkle

 

Your post are public domain. Many years ago it was www.dejanews.com/
that collected and stored your post, it's always been done.

 

Googlegroups is a browser interface and long term archiver to usenet a
googlespecific groups. Usenet posts to google propagate to the world's
nntp newsservers.

Many website forum pages access various usenet groups and archive them.
They don't get the newsmessages from google, they get the messages from
the newsservers.

You are misunderstanding what is going on. The webforums are the ones
'stealing' and 'selling' your words at their sites; google didn't sell
them the words.

Not anything useful. You might be able to remove your posts from google
and you might be able to convince webforums individually to remove your
posts, but it isn't likely that you would be very effective at that.

Yes it is legal and no it is not a disgrace. When you broadcast a
message you can't unbroadcast it.

You can stop posting broadcasted messages if you like.

 

The 'real' thing that bugs me about all this kind of activity is that many
years ago when I posted things to NGs, I was much greener and didn't even
think for a minute that my posts would be floating around on the internet
for all to see. Nor did I see any warnings from the then NG or Google (who
didn't even exist btw) advising me of the fact that my conversations where
not limited to the NG, but would in fact later be used to gather revenue by
some other companies in the future. There is something intrisically wrong
here as it's a mis-use of information which was taken from it's original
place and used for other reasons than it's original intention. It's all very
well saying "public domain", but this information goes into the hands of big
business, not really the public domain. Also, if it were a song or a poem,
there'd be copyright laws to protect us, so why not the same laws for my
posts which were posted personally by me to another NG user?
Hmm.

Cheers.
Joe.

 

There are many of us who post to usenet newsgroups, not to webforums
which regurgitate those posts, who have gripes about the combination of
their archiving style as well as how the webforum feeds back to the
newsgroups work.

Googlegroups is one set of problems, other webforums are another. Both
of them are somewhat useful for search results, google even more than
the webforums.

You do actually retain your copyright, which wasn't formally
'copyrighted'.

You just have to understand what are the limitations on your ability to
enforce. You can request/demand that a website which is publishing your
words remove them.

 

How old are your oldest posts? Was Deja around then?

If you want your stuff copyrighted like the corporations, then you are just like
the corporations.
The flip side is, if you write a song or poem and post it on usenet, you have a
pretty good record of it's ownership.

 

I somehow doubt that they were posted to ONE newsgroup user.

The other user(s) was/were posting in a PUBLIC newsgroup for all who were
interested to read and you replied in that same PUBLIC newsgroup, again
for all who were interested to read.

You want private (or at least a semblance thereof) try email, and
remember: never say anything over the phone that you wouldn't also be
prepared to shout across a crowded room.

 

What chance do you think I 'really' have of having them removed by request
though?

Joe.

 

You want private, you don't post, email or say over the phone -
anything you wouldn't want the world to know.

 

On 30 Apr 2007 I stormed the castle called 24hoursupport.helpdesk and
heard Joe cry out in

Depends on the content and the website in question

 

It depends on the site and whether there is liable to be any problem
proving it is your post. Sometimes/often someone posts with an address
which is either invalid or currently non-existent. Sometimes/often the
website may just archive with the handle and nothing else.

What site in particular are you talking about?

 

This one....

http://www.derkeiler.com/

Also, there seems to be no contact email address for them.

Hmm.

Joe.

 

Well that made me curious, so I had a look, of course the only clue was
your current ID, not what you were once posting as nor if the posts
that have you worried were also with blueyonder?You apparently are fond of binary downloads of shaggable TV babes!
http://www.usenet-replayer.com/groups/alt.binaries.tv.shaggable.babes.html

And you own a Dell, and you are interested in photography.
Though a lack of red eye in self portraits had you worried.
You believe in Reiki healing?
And you were looking on YouTube for a clip of the BeeGees on the Eamon
Andrews show
<http://groups.google.co.uk/group/al...qpwoeiruty.com&rnum=40&hl=en#b50e5b9b3253783a>

 

Yup! Just Google 'Menwith Hill' and/or 'Echelon'.

 

What's the problem? One wd think you'd be glad your old posts existed
somewhere. I've googled mine and, frankly, it's amazing how clever and
insightful I used to be. Still can't fix my computer, tho.

1. "What the hell gives Google the right to sell these posts to other
companies and use them in this way?"

They're posted to public NGs. There's no ownership, AFAIAA.

2. "Is there anything we can do about this kind of behaviour?"

Other than posting to yet another public NG, no.

3. "Is it legal?"

Damfino. Probably as legal as it is to collect aluminium cans from the
trash and sell them.

JPM

 

LOL! Well, doh....'even a 'green' like myself can do that stuff. Basic
data-mining really. The thing is, I should be able to poke around anywhere I
want without being tracked by everyone. I ain't done anything illegal or
broken any laws, I'm just doing what most folk do...'nose around here and
there...'like yourself most likely. The internet is a strange place though
as it seems to be a hostile environment, but it shouldn't be. There just
aren't enough laws to protect our ID and I doubt there ever will be. BTW,
any prick can google a username, so don't feel to clever about it.

Joe.

 

What I said is not the issue. The issue is that the messages are stored and
nobody warned of that.

Joe.

ZZZzzz.

;-)