Comments on: Does that content belong to you?

By: Phil Hoover

Phil Hoover — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 03:12:48 +0000

I have tried the hyper-local subdivision-specific blogging multiple times and have failed to generate much traffic.
I think people are just plain too busy and don’t care.
Plus, it is probably too tightly-targeted.
Fortunately, I have developed my own sites/blogs and didn’t fall for the CN sales pitch.

By: Anon.

Anon. — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:46:10 +0000

One issue that may end up as a huge problem for “CN” is if you license content from another person, lets say, a photo. Regardless of what CN “thinks” they probably don’t have a license for use if they did not receive one from the copyright holder.

This means that if you licensed use of my picture of the nice pond and then CN resells the site after you close it, I can take action against CN.

How? you may ask. Easy. There’s no privity between CN and me. I contracted with you, not CN. They can put anything they want in their agreement and it doesn’t make it more enforceable than any other adhesion contract. I didn’t agree and am not bound by their terms. Since my terms don’t allow you to transfer the license, there’s no way they can claim the right to use the picture.

Why do I know this? I’m a business attorney in Snohomish County and have addressed “similar” issues.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:57:14 +0000

I had two community websites that I ran for a couple of years. I have discontinued both. The problem with these websites is that the agent has to do a tremendous amount of work to keep market, add content, etc. Theoretically the community should be populating the content, in reality many homeowners in communities have better things to do….therefore it falls back onto the agent. I’m sure there are exceptions, but I would rather spend my time selling homes vs being a web developer for Connecting Neighbors…..the reality is (& this can be hard to believe) the Realtor position pays more!

By: Marlow Harris

Marlow Harris — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 18:49:17 +0000

I was contacted by a representative of Connecting Neighbors by phone today, and she said the reason my site was not taken offline was that the person responsible for doing that was out of the office. For three weeks.

However, according to their terms of service, they believe they have the right to an “irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, fully paid, unrestricted, worldwide license to use, copy, perform, display, and distribute said Content”.

To wit:

“Although CN does not claim ownership of content that its users post, by posting Content to any public area of the Service, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to CN an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, fully paid, unrestricted, worldwide license to use, copy, perform, display, and distribute said Content and to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, said Content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses (through multiple tiers) of the foregoing. The foregoing grants shall include the right to exploit any proprietary rights in such Communication, including but not limited to rights under copyright, trademark, service mark, or patent laws under any relevant jurisdiction.”

By: Debra Sinick

Debra Sinick — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:35:49 +0000

Marlow,

I used Connecting Neighbors for about a year and found some of the same issues. I did manage to extricate myself after a year. I did not want to keep the same domain name because I wanted a new start that was not canned for my neighborhood blog. I let them keep the domain name and I created a new one.

When I first encountered the site, I had similar thoughts as you did. However, after a while, I realized how canned the site appeared to be. I think this may have had something to do with the lack of community interest.

By: Joy Canova

Joy Canova — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:13:39 +0000

I have always resisted solicitations by unknown entities, thinking I did not know enough to stay out of trouble. Now it appears that even seasoned technophiles can land in difficult places. Luckily, you knew how to work around their unscrupulous practices. Ha!

Lately, I have noticed a marked increase in the number of solicitations I receive from real estate vendors. Could it be that agents who cannot survive a downturn try working another angle?

By: Terry Smith

Terry Smith — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 20:52:29 +0000

Same thing happened to me with myplanowest.com, it’s stills lives, but no agents have taken the bait. It’s a different company from 4 years ago. I’ve learned to really check out the real estate vendors promoted because many of the products are not really current. There are much better solutions to use outside the industry, don’t you think?

By: Does that content belong to you? | The Long List of Odysseus Medal Nominees | Realtors and real estate, mortgages, lending, investments

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:21:39 +0000

[...] Does that content belong to you?, by Marlow Harris. [...]

By: Rhonda Porter

Rhonda Porter — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 14:01:40 +0000

What an example of why professionals should obtain their own domain names (heck, they’re cheap) to at least keep some control.

That’s a significant increase in fee. I wonder if it was because of fewer subscribers?