Diane vs. Nola

Diane vs. Nola

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike & Diane"
To: usgenweb-discuss@rootsweb.com
Sent: Saturday, April 24, 2010 2:32 PM
Subject: Speaking of copyright violations

Hi all,

As some of you know I used to be the NCGenWeb State Coordinator but due to the directions the board was heading and the decisions that were being made behind my back as well as behind the backs of the CC's I chose to resign after due pressure from some of the board members. I removed all of my sites from their servers, moved them to the Rootsweb servers, sent my resignation letter to the NCGenWeb Business list and resigned.

Katherine Benbow [current State Coordinator] then proceeded to start an email writing campaign slandering me to all of the SCs in the USGWP and Nola [Duffy] started one with the researchers telling them I had stolen the information, it would no longer be available online, I was not a real person, etc. Little does Nola know that most of the people she sent the emails to I had met in person, are a relative of mine or we have had extensive phone conversations and we have exchanged family photographs, histories, etc. Boy was she made a fool of!

I then started receiving harrassing phone calls and emails from Members of the Board as well as one of the "honorary board members".

They also started posting some not so nice messages on mailing lists and message boards and researchers were not very happy about this. Some of them wrote an email and asked me to forward to the NCGenWeb Board which I did with a note stating forward as requested. I was then attacked by a pack of wolves called the NCGenWeb Board as well as their "honorary board member" [Derick Hartshorn].

They were relentless in their attacks until I said some things back and then told them the conversation was over I wanted nothing more to do with them. I received a couple more phone calls afterwards. Then nothing further.

A few days later I received an email from a researcher that my sites were being copied by NCGenWeb and that some of their information had been copied even though they had been emailed by one Nola Duffy and she told Nola in no uncertain terms that her work had better not be copied or there would be trouble. Nola wrote back and said she respected that and they wouldn't copy it.

Well, as you would expect NCGenWeb did in fact copy this persons work as well as many other researchers information. I received a lot of emails of complaints about it. I told them I would take care of it. So, I wrote to each member of the AB and explained to them about the copyright violations, sent them copies of the emails from Nola Duffy and this researcher where she had plainly stated do not copy my information, as well as an email from another researcher stating the same thing and links to ever page that had been copied as well as the link to the original page on my site.

Well, needless to say later that same day I found another entire site copied by the Co-State Coordinator Deloris Williams. She copied the whole site page by page up to and including photographs which we all know are completely covered by copyright laws to the photographer or the person that owns the photographs.

So, again I wrote to the entire AB to let them know this. Sherri [USGenWeb National Coordinator] wrote me back stating they would need more than 24 hours to make a decision. Meanwhile Tina Vickery USGenWeb Representative at Large] started emailing me demanding that I send her all of the emails that I received from researchers stating I could have their work posted on my sites. There was no way in hell I was going to send these to her for NCGenWeb to be able to get the email addresses of all of my researchers to contact them and spread more lies than what they had already done. So I ignored every single one of Tina's emails because I had already spoken with the researchers and had their permission to have the information on the sites no matter where the sites were housed.

Then Sherri and Tina came back and said that NCGenWeb had permission to copy any and all pages from any of my sites that they so desired. Well, needless to say I was very po'd. I pulled the United States Copyright Laws Title 17 and copied each one pertaining to me and the sites and emailed them to Tina, Sherri and each member of the NCGenWeb Board stating that they are breaking United States Copyright Laws and I once again demand that my information be removed from every single one of the NCGenWeb county sites up to and including graphics and backgrounds that I use on my sites and how I compile the information.

Needless to say I have never heard a word back from any of them because they all know they are guilty as hell. The laws can be found here:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/

Now, I can still visit various sites within the NCGenWeb and still see some of my pages used on their county sites so they are still breaking the US Copyright Laws and obviously they are being backed by the National Coodinator and the Representative at Large.

This is why the USGWP has earned such a horrible reputation, because they will break their own bylaws of copyright as well as those of the United States of America.

I do have the email from Sherri stating NCGenWeb can copy my Information if anyone needs it for further proofs. You can also check the NCGenWeb Pender County site, Lenoir County site, Wayne County site, Craven County site, and I am sure there are others and match them up to mine hosted on Rootsweb and located here:
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nctttp/countylist.htm
to see the blatant copyright violations.

I hereby demand the resignation of Sherri Bradley and Tina Vickery on the grounds of them breaking the USGWP copyright bylaws as well as the U.S. Copyright Laws Title 17.

Yes, Tina I do still have some projects within USGW. Much to your surprise I must say because you blatantly stated I resigned from all of my projects which is another blatant lie on your part.

Diane Siniard

Feel free to share on any lists, sites or blogs you feel are appropriate.

***************

-------Original Message-------
From: Nola Duffy
Date: 4/24/2010 5:22:36 PM
To: usgenweb-discuss@rootsweb.com
Cc: Mike & Diane
Subject: Re: Speaking of copyright violations

Diane,

I am very disappointed to see this post. When reviewing your new sites I have found one file that I personally transcribed and you obviously did not ask to copy it but it is there and shown as "submitted by Nola Duffy" which is simply false. You claimed to have asked all the prior contributors for permission but that has proven to be simply false - just as you tried to claim Gates. I realize that you have been ill and are extremely busy trying to get your new project up and running. However, many of your links are still to the NCGenWeb which you had no part in posting and some are copied from the NCGenWeb without permission of the parties who initially submitted them. Others are copied from the Archives without permission. Some are from sites you were "baby-sitting" and you simply copied and claimed as your own. Some still bear a date before you were even in the NCGenWeb. Other sites that you were "baby-sitting" were simply left trashed - just because you could. It was as if you wanted to show just how much damage you could do on your way out the door.

I honestly looked upon you as a friend for a long time and am sincerely sorry to see this personal vindictiveness. Yes, we could try to play tit for tat and demand that each and every purloined page from the NCGenWeb be removed from your new sites and ask that RootsWeb remove them but frankly I am not interested in your games but it would not take much more of this type of public posturing before I could change my mind. Is that something you really think will be helpful to anyone? Don't think so. If you really want this game, I suppose the CCs of the NCGenWeb might start demanding their material be removed from your sites but I had rather see all simply try to clean their own house before trying to stir the pot - simply because it gives you some personal satisfaction. You simply can't claim material submitted to the NCGenWeb years ago, in some cases by people who are now dead but that is exactly what you have done - just to have material for "your" new pages.

Remember, you are still claiming the county mailing lists as if they were your personal property. RootsWeb has already said they will take action if you continue to refuse to allow any member of the NCGenWeb to post to the lists. These are RootsWeb lists and NOT your personal private lists. Again, my three, yes 3 attempts, to join a mailing list you manage in a county where I have many relatives have been ignored. I have not asked RootsWeb to intervene simply because I thought you might calm down eventually but instead, here you are trying your best to stir things up again and it really is a kettle trying to call the pot black - even if the pot is made of stainless steel.

Please, act like the logical human you were until you went off the deep end and everyone will be better, including you. Your fury and hatred can't be beneficial to your health.

I do hope you will be happy in your new home where you and you alone are the sole boss since it obviously suits you a lot better than working with a group. Enjoy your new project and please, stop trying to make brownie points with the same folks you once saw as the bottom of the barrel. Remember the anonymous phone calls you told me about? Two months ago I would have thought it impossible that you could stoop to the level you have but as I told you privately, I have lost all respect which is sad. I still don't think you are being the normal person I once knew.

Nola

***************

"Normal person"? Diane and Nola apparently do not agree on what that is, and so did not reply to Nola. Instead, Diane sent me the below as a cover letter to the above two messages she included. --mw

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----- Original Message -----
From: Mike & Diane
To: Mary White
Sent: 4/24/2010 2:53:02 PM
Subject: Re: Speaking of copyright violations

Nola was forever sending me stuff to post on my sites and now she claims she didn't give it to me to post? What a crock of s[xxx]!

She also states that some of my pages bear dates before I was a member? That is crazy as well. I have reworked every page on every site to be my own creations and when people transcribed things of course dates are going to be back in the 80's, 90's etc. But when they contribute them is another matter. Does she really think I am that freaking stupid and naive?

As for sites that I trashed? I only removed all of my info and compilations. I left nothing for them that I had worked on. It was all copyrighted to me and the researchers, not to NCGenWeb. They have no right to the materials, unless they receive it from the researchers just like I did.

When I first took over Duplin County back in 2005 it had 5 pages. An index page, a will page with a will that had 1/2 of it missing, well it did have quite a few query pages and I will give them those if they want but all they will do with those is delete them although people love going through them looking for info, a mystery pics page with one photo with no contact info on who sent it in, a page of Rev. War vets sent in by Jerome Tew who gave me permission to keep it, and some other page that made no sense what so ever and I deleted that one. Same with the other sites I picked up along the way. They had between 5-10 pages each of much of nothing.

NCGenWeb is just jealous of what I have done with the sites and were just days away from locking me out of them. Too bad sooo sad for them. I took them and left before they could take them for something made up!

***************

"Something made up"? Thus one of the USGenWeb problems, to be addressed in my next post.

Mary White