To Kill an American!!!...and decipher internet copyright 'law' ;-)

This is an absolutely beautiful tribute to our United States of America written by an Australian…..from a good Buddhist friend…..she asked me to ‘pass it on’…..something I hardly ever do; but this is the America that most of us believe in, and need to preserve…..if even from within.  Especially from within; so not to be hypocrites. 

(NOTE: Since my original re-posting of this chain email piece, the article was flagged for 'copyright infringement' by a malcontent member.  See below addendums for interesting unfolding of internet copyright issues.  I learned a lot, and would like your opinions/observations on how to help Gather refine this tough process....while simultaneously 'deactivating' weenies who abuse the feature, as they do with hidden Drive-By-One Ratings, and frustrate all of us....Gather Admin included, I expect ;-)


                                           To Kill an American

You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.

So an Australian dentist wrote an editorial the following day to let everyone know what an American is . So they would know when they found one. (Good one, mate!!!!)


"An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani or Afghan.


An American may also be a Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.


An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim.
In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan . The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses.


An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God,! not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.


An American lives in the most prosperous land in the history of the world.
The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence , which recognizes the God given right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.


An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return.


When Afghanistan was over-run by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country!


As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan . Americans welcome the best of everything...the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best services. But they also welcome the least.


The national symbol of America , The Statue of Liberty , welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America .


Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2001 earning a better life for their families. It's been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 different countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists.

So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and other blood-thirsty tyrants in the world. But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself . Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.

(End of original article posting)

**********************So here is the rest of the story........  ;-) *********

My posting & sharing of this internet chain email was flagged by some very anal person (for whatever reason).  As a result, it drops from view on Gather until the 'copyright violation' is resolved.  I think that this is a good process, when used correctly and for the right reasons.....so I won't slam it or Gather for just trying to cover themselves for potential problems.  During the process of digging around, I found most of it orginated with a Dr. Peter Ferrara who was a faculty member at George Mason University then (1991).  Below is an email from him:

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Sooooo, I went to The Website for The Virginia Institute for Public Policy http://www.virginiainstitute.org/viewpoint/_vvferrara.html

*************Here is Peter's Unadulterated original version; sans Dentist ;-)**********

October, 2001 · No.2001-7

What Is an American?

By Peter J. Ferrara

You probably missed it in the rush of news recently, but there was a report that a Pakistani newspaper had published someone's offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.

So I just thought I would write to let them know what an American is, so they will know when they find one.

An American is English…or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan. An American is Christian, or Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as they choose.  

An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for God or the government.

An American is from the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God-given right of each man and woman to the pursuit of happiness.

An American is generous. Americans have helped friend and foe in their time of need. When Afghanistan was overrun by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country. As of the morning of September 11, Americans were giving more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan. An American does not have to obey the mad ravings of ignorant, ungodly, cruel, old men. American men will not be fooled into giving their lives to kill innocent people, so that foolish old men may stay in power. American women are free to show their beautiful faces to the world or not, as they choose.

An American is free to criticize his government's officials when they are wrong. Then he is free to replace them, by majority vote. Americans welcome people from all lands, all cultures, all religions, because they are not afraid. They are not afraid that their history, their religion, their beliefs, will be overrun, or forgotten. That is because they know that in this country they will always be free to embrace their religion, their beliefs, their history, as they choose. And just as Americans welcome all, they enjoy the best that everyone has to bring from all over the world. The best science, the best technology, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best athletes.

Americans welcome the best, but they also welcome the least.

The national symbol of America welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, the tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America. Many of them were working in the twin towers in New York on the morning of September 11, trying to provide a better life for their families.

So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo and Stalin and Mao Tse-Tung. But in doing so you will just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom.

Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American. So look around you. You will find more Americans in your land than you thought were there. And you can expect that one day they will rise up and overthrow the old, ignorant, tired tyrants that have troubled too many lands. Then those lands too will join the community of free and prosperous nations. And America will welcome them.

                                                                          #####

(Peter Ferrara is an associate professor of law at the George Mason University School of Law, and a member of the Board of Scholars of the Virginia Institute for Public Policy, an education and research organization headquartered in Potomac Falls, Virginia. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided the author and his affiliations are cited.)

***************************************************Resolution of Copyright non-issue********

Since the email chain letter was substaintially Peter's, and he and the Virginia Institute consider it important to "spread the word"....thus intiating the chain letter in the beginning, I think we satisfied Copyright concerns through this citing.

Again, I am not mocking the copyright policy.....it is important.  What I'd like your opinions/comments on is:

1) How can we keep weenies from mis-using the flags to stifle people on Gather?

2) What constitutes "Public Domain?"  There was a recent issue about re-posting chain email jokes on Gather.  Tom G's very good response cleared that up:

From: Audrey67

To: Patrickm

I have received a response to yesterday's letter to him, from Tom himself.
I want to let all my friends know what was said. If you have no interest in the copyright matter then just delete this, But I wanted to let everyone know what I was told.

Hugs, Audrey
                                                                    **************

From: Tom Gerace

To: Audrey67:

Audrey,
Generally speaking, copyright law and fair use are very complex. Many times how they are applied can vary depending on the type of content involved. As you know, copyright law is not determined by Gather; rather we strive to make sound decisions regarding all concerns brought to our attention. We are all aware that many social media sites have been in the news on a regular basis because of how they are addressing these issues on their sites.

For the time being, Gather is permitting jokes that have been forwarded via email to be shared on gather. They should be cited as coming from an email, and they should not be a comics routine. Gather staff is actively working with experts in the copyright field to ensure our policies and processes are always within copyright law and fair use guidelines as this area evolves. If we learn of any changes needed on Gather.coms stated policies, those changes will be clearly communicated to the membership.

Best,

Tom

                                                                     *********
In response to this letter from Audrey67:

Tom, 

I would like to have you take the time to address a situation that has come up on Gather. William M (williama1.gather.com) has received a letter which tells him he must delete all the humor he has published on this site. He believes that it came from someone on the Gather staff. William is a valued and VERY popular member of Gather and there are many of us here who are saddened by this circumstance. He feels he should leave Gather altogether because of it. I am just one of hundreds who do not want to see this happen. There are articles posted on Gather about this situation. You can review them on the article I wrote on this addr:
 
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977034595
 
I believe is it time for you as CEO to address the members regarding the rules for publishing. William has not claimed any articles to be his that he has shared. They are being sent through email all the time. I believe you can clear up where the message he received originated, and contact him directly to clear this up.
 
I urge Gather to take steps to have some secure way of contacting members that no one else can use but the gather staff. That way a member will know when the email they receive is genuinely from Gather itself.
 
Thank you for your attention in this matter.
 
Sincerely,
Audrey Hauser
Audrey67

Today I (Audrey)  wrote this to Tom when there were more flags on the evening articles:

Tom, Last night I filled in for William M on the Good Evening Gather article. It was published in three segments due to the length of each and downloading time for many. The second article was flagged last night. In the past hour, since 11:30 AM CDT someone has flagged the other two segments, stating copyright violation. 

I would like to know who is doing this. According to the fair use segment of music copyright laws it is not a violation to used quotes from songs if it is not for profit and the performer/writer is identified. In all cases but one last night this was done. It seems that someone is being overly zealous in this matter and wants the evening articles to disappear. Perhaps this is because of the popularity of them. These articles bring a lot of viewers to Gather that might otherwise not be here. 
Please do me the service of explaining Gather's viewpoint on music copyright laws, and tell me who is flagging my articles. I think anyone who flags should have to leave their name on the article as the person responsible for flagging it.

Sincerely,
Audrey Hauser
Audrey67 
                                                                       **********
Audrey67 received this response from Carolyn Richards on Tom's behalf:

Dear Audrey,

This is Carolyn Richards contacting you on Tom's behalf. I have checked on your article and have reviewed the content report that was submitted to Gather last evening.

Song Lyrics are copyrighted and by law cannot be republished without proper permission. We are actively working with the members who posted the song lyrics to have their comments removed, at which point in time your article will then be released back onto Gather.

Given the tremendous volume of content that is published on Gather during any given day, we rely on our members to alert us if and when they identify terms of service violations on the site. Likewise, we expect that members will leverage this report system appropriately and not abusively flag content because they do not agree with the publisher's point of view.

With regards to content reports, Gather has recently implemented several changes so as to ensure that reported content is reviewed within the day that it is reported. Articles or images whose reports are deemed to be invalid are acknowledged and released by Gather Editorial as quickly as possible. And, as we identify cases whereby individuals are inappropriately flagging content, we will attempt to further educate those members on our policies and procedures. If a member fails to adhere to our policies after he/she has been contacted 3 separate times by Gather, his/her account is then closed.

Gather treats every community issue that is brought to our attention, objectively and fairly. If there are specific situations whereby you feel a Terms of Service violation has occurred that we may have overlooked, please e-mail me back with links to the articles and/or comments in question, as I would be glad to look into them for you.

Thanks in advance for your patience as we work through this issue. Should you have any further questions or concerns please do let me know.

Regards,

Carolyn

Carolyn Richards
Member Services Manager
Gather, Inc.

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So, in summary......I think Gather can be pretty "American Democratic" in their processes....as long as we the members help them; and work together to weed out the weenies who just stir up merde!  It is our responsibility to help them in this process, or continue to suffer the 'denial and whine'  M.O. that keeps us from evolving Gather and America.  Its time to start rewarding constructive behaviors.  What do you guys think?  Here is an opportunity to let Gather Admin know......they will listen, and really won't hate you for it.  It helps us all to make Gather a safe place to publish our work :-)