Ethics??? clarification regarding GRANNY banner in classified

[Pov]

[ QUOTE ]
i think it's clever.

[/ QUOTE ]

It is pretty undeniably clever. It's also pretty undeniably underhanded.

[Greg J]

Dude, you own a dealership? Sweet! Those Party 15/30 games ARE lucrative!

Can you hook me up with a sweet deal on a Impala?

[brian_frets]

[ QUOTE ]
Granny has been a respected member of 2+2 and is well known for the GRANNY code. This guy is trying to use this reputation (read steal) to get people to use his(stolen) affiliate code so that he can make more money. Pretty crappy thing to do.

[/ QUOTE ]

okay, thanks.

but isn't Granny Mae a poker hand?

[skoal2k4]

[ QUOTE ]

but isn't Granny Mae a poker hand


[/ QUOTE ]

yes, Granny Mae hand is Q5 of spades

[GrannyMae]

[ QUOTE ]
no offense, but I don't understand why this is a big deal..

(probably because I've been at 2+2 for less than a month....)

could someone explain to a poor noob?

[/ QUOTE ]

hi brian.

this really has nothing to do with newer members not understanding because of time in forum etc.

this is about a person that decided to take advantage of an unregulated market and steal the brand that someone created.

if i were to open up a poker forum and call it www.two-plus-two.com, that would be pretty scummy. but it probably would be EV+.

if i were to open a rake rebate site called moon-dogpoker.com (or whatever), i would do this only so i could steal the name that these sites and people have worked hard to create.

it has nothing to do with whether GRANNY is copyright protected or not. it has to do with an individual creating a bonus code with the SOLE purpose of deception that would be caused by confusion, and him creating this code to capitalize on another person's business.

i have bills to pay like everyone else. for this person to come to this environment and slap a banner in the classifieds to cash in on the name recognition of the banners in the main forums is deplorable IMO.

if fulltilt and the owners of this forum had decided to not assist me, there really was no recourse i could turn to. so what would i do to combat this?

how about if i started a mock site like party-riches.com? do you think this individual would have thought it was clever? in the absence of jurisdiction, i had only the forum owners and fulltilt to turn to. i think it was an easy decison for them because they are business people with morality.

how about if i were to go to dobrosoft (or write my own code) and open a site called full-tilt.com. do you think that would be ok? there's not much anybody could do to stop me. however, fortunately for me, most poker people that are successful understand that certain things, while quasi-legal, are completely unacceptable business practices.

this person not only made no attempt to differentiate, he actually mimiced my style of the classified as well as completely presenting his code as if it were another individual placing the ad.

i think pov stated it best:

[ QUOTE ]
It is pretty undeniably clever. It's also pretty undeniably underhanded.

[/ QUOTE ]


as far as i am concerned, this issue is closed. if the mods want to lock this thread it would suit me fine. i have a family to support and i was not going to let that ad remain there without everyone knowing it was not mine.

all i can do is tell you my take on the situation and ask people to put themselves in my shoes and then tell me if it was clever or whether it was a major breach of ethics.

[bort411]

Since when can someone claim that a WORD belongs to them? Or they are the only one entitled to use it? Granny, I respect you as a poster, and I made you money when I signed up using your code at Paradise, but this is silly. Also, doesn't your post violate the sticky regarding the no affiliate zone?

[GrannyMae]

Since when can someone claim that a WORD belongs to them?

they can't

he probably would have had no problem defending himself if i could have even found the right place to sue.

as far as my post violating the rules, it does not.

however, there is a notify moderator button if you feel it does..

my intentions were to stay out of this because it was solved but i wanted to explain some things. apparently i did not explain them properly because you missed the entire point.

anyway, maybe one day you will be in a similar situation and you will understand. in the meantime i really have nothing else to add that i did not say already so it is time to shut my mouth.

best wishes

[MicroBob]

what granny said...AND....

a reminder that Granny felt an obligation to let people know that it was someone else.
Anyone who signed-up under this code was probably duped into thinking that it was THE granny and would never even imagine it was someone else just using the same name. Granny is to be commended for wanting tl clear this up (and naturally has a personal stake in this as well).

[CountDuckula]

[ QUOTE ]
i think it's clever.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sure. So is hiding an Ace up your sleeve.

-Mike

[Player12345]

[ QUOTE ]
Since when can someone claim that a WORD belongs to them? Or they are the only one entitled to use it? Granny, I respect you as a poster, and I made you money when I signed up using your code at Paradise, but this is silly. Also, doesn't your post violate the sticky regarding the no affiliate zone?

[/ QUOTE ]

what a stupid comment. do you think the guy made the bonus name GRANNY because he loves his GRANNY? i think not. if you think this is fine then you are an idiot. then you claim affilliate zone crap? if you read you will see she is not even an ftp affilliate. rofl

i'm not here to defend granny at all. i disagree with her more than not but you are just trolling. dude's an [censored] that made the code.