Image thief gets to stay on gather

Dear Angela,  (((Dear ya right I feel so loved as a gather member)))
Thank you for your letter of February 28, 2008, calling our attention to copyright infringement on our website, Gather.com
Gather is a social media site, providing a user-driven content and social networking platform to our members. All users of our site must first agree to our Terms of Service (TOS), which include the following provisions:
"You understand that all information, data, text, software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages and/or other materials ("Content"), whether publicly posted or privately transmitted via the Service, are the sole responsibility of the person from which such Content originated. This means that you, and not Gather, are entirely responsible for all Content that you upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available via the Service. Gather does not control the Content posted via the Service and, as such, does not guarantee the accuracy, integrity or quality of such Content. You understand that by using the Service, you may be exposed to Content that is offensive, indecent or objectionable. Under no circumstances will Gather be liable in any way for any Content, including, but not limited to, for any errors or omissions in any Content, or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any Content posted, emailed, transmitted or otherwise made available via the Service."
And
"You agree that you are responsible for your own conduct and communications while using the Service and for any consequences thereof. You agree to use the Service only to send and receive messages and material that are legal and proper. By way of example, and not as a limitation, you agree that when using the Service, you will not... post any Content that infringes any patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret or other proprietary right of any party (the "Rights"), unless you are the owner of the Rights or have the permission of the owner to post such Content..."
As a courtesy to you, we have notified (name removed to protect the thief because that is the gather way (i added this)) the publisher that we have received your email and that you may choose to contact him directly.  We have also removed the image from Gather.com.
Our standard practice is to give members the benefit of the doubt,(This is so damn stupid) educate them regarding the TOS and Guidelines((((you didnt educate him to well he still has images that do not belong to him posted))) and give them an opportunity to correct their actions on the site. We have rarely closed a member's account on a first offense.  Based on community input regarding the egregious copyright violation that occurred against Sue M., and our further investigation of the offending member's account, we opted to close that particular account. But this was done only after careful consideration; it was not done lightly or as an emotional reaction to the situation.(((sounds like someone is playing favorites if you ask me)))
We have heard the suggestions of members asking us to review our technology in hopes that images can be made more difficult to copy - this is something we are raising to our Product Board. As you may already know, if someone is determined to steal another's online content, this can still be done.  However, if there are features we can include on Gather to make this more difficult to accomplish, this certainly sounds like something to consider. 

Although there is no fool-proof technology available to prevent people from lifting images from one website and putting them on another, there are steps we can all take to make it more difficult for images to be copied. They are as follows:

1. Place a Digital Watermark and/or Signature on your image(s) (((ya right these can be removed)))
This will definitely accredit your image(s) to you. However, it's important to note that watermarks can be cropped out of photos and even removed with imaging software.

2.List your copyright on every page of your published content (((sure that will stop them, right!!)))
Although this action won't necessarily stop individuals from lifting your images, it will inform people that you are organized and your work is cataloged.

3. Share only small, low resolution images ((( makes photos look like crap and no one will want them has gather actually seen that image theives will steal any image they can look around you see stolen low quality photos all over this site)))
This way, if your images are blown up or re-edited they will appear pixilated and ultimately un-viewable.

4. Make your images private or available to only select groups or people. (((we are here to share our photos if we do this then why bother being a part of a community)))

By limiting the exposure of your images to only people you know and trust, the likelihood that your content will be stolen is greatly minimized.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any additional questions. I can be reached atcrichards@gatherinc.com.