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A quick search led me to http://shawnblanc.net/2007/07/why-daring-fireball-is-comment-free/ http://shawnblanc.net/2007/07/why-daring-fireball-is-comment... I h

by baxter 17y ago

A quick search led me to http://shawnblanc.net/2007/07/why-daring-fireball-is-comment-free/ http://shawnblanc.net/2007/07/why-daring-fireball-is-comment... I have to say that I think Daring Fireball is better _without_ comments. I presume that this site was set up without John Gruber's consent. This raises the question: Is this a spam blog?

cake 17y ago
It certainly feels like it wasn't allowed, no mention on the official blog, no moderation... If it is a spam blog I'm very impressed by the level of the details put into it.
DougBTX 17y ago
Is this a spam blog? Not in my opinion. For me, the defining characteristic of a spam blog is copied content surrounded by adverts. This design stays true to daringfireball.net, to the point that it still has ads from the Deck with DB referral links. So no, not a spam blog.
- baxter 17y ago
  I tried to verify that the adverts used the same code, but I couldn't. Looking again I see that they do still use "DF" as the referral code, so I guess they aren't making any money from this. I take back my "spam blog" accusation! :)
- qeorge 17y ago
  I disagree. Its a parasitic site with no original content that causes confusion with the original. That's spam. Even if there are no ads, there are secondary benefits to MacHeist. In addition to the free press, they'll get a nice link source.
- isleyaardvark 17y ago
  But what about search engine results? I don't see any robots.txt or no-follow. This could only be a negative for Gruber.
- dasil003 17y ago
  Your mental model has been rapidly deteriorating probably even before you formed it. Spam is intent, not form.
jerf 17y ago
It may not be a "spam" blog, but if this is without John's permission, it is a wholesale lifting of copyrighted material that can't possibly be considered "Fair Use". Somebody will say "Yes it can", but no, it can't. Fair Use considers the quantity used, and using 100% of a substantial body of work is not fair use. Furthermore, even if this is satire, which I would consider dubious, the satire is not in the use of the original material. This can be proved by the fact that the "satire" still stands if you just provide a link back to the original work, then a comment section beneath that. This is actually not a bad idea for a site or family of sites, but only if it works by linking the original. You know, like reddit or HN, neither of which would be in a safe legal position if instead of linking to things they copied them onto the site in bulk.
godDLL 17y ago
I think there is our nod: http://daringfireball.net/linked/2010/02/03/shut-up http://daringfireball.net/linked/2010/02/03/shut-up

by baxter 17y ago

cake 17y ago

It certainly feels like it wasn't allowed, no mention on the official blog, no moderation... If it is a spam blog I'm very impressed by the level of the details put into it.

DougBTX 17y ago

Is this a spam blog? Not in my opinion. For me, the defining characteristic of a spam blog is copied content surrounded by adverts. This design stays true to daringfireball.net, to the point that it still has ads from the Deck with DB referral links. So no, not a spam blog.

baxter 17y ago
I tried to verify that the adverts used the same code, but I couldn't. Looking again I see that they do still use "DF" as the referral code, so I guess they aren't making any money from this. I take back my "spam blog" accusation! :)
qeorge 17y ago
I disagree. Its a parasitic site with no original content that causes confusion with the original. That's spam. Even if there are no ads, there are secondary benefits to MacHeist. In addition to the free press, they'll get a nice link source.
isleyaardvark 17y ago
But what about search engine results? I don't see any robots.txt or no-follow. This could only be a negative for Gruber.
dasil003 17y ago
Your mental model has been rapidly deteriorating probably even before you formed it. Spam is intent, not form.

jerf 17y ago

It may not be a "spam" blog, but if this is without John's permission, it is a wholesale lifting of copyrighted material that can't possibly be considered "Fair Use". Somebody will say "Yes it can", but no, it can't. Fair Use considers the quantity used, and using 100% of a substantial body of work is not fair use. Furthermore, even if this is satire, which I would consider dubious, the satire is not in the use of the original material. This can be proved by the fact that the "satire" still stands if you just provide a link back to the original work, then a comment section beneath that. This is actually not a bad idea for a site or family of sites, but only if it works by linking the original. You know, like reddit or HN, neither of which would be in a safe legal position if instead of linking to things they copied them onto the site in bulk.

godDLL 17y ago

I think there is our nod: http://daringfireball.net/linked/2010/02/03/shut-up http://daringfireball.net/linked/2010/02/03/shut-up