trespassing website law?

11 replies
hey just wanted to hear your guys thoughts on trespassing on a website?

So i ask because competitors view my site and steal my new ideas.

So i ban their account but they just keep coming back, so i think this is no different than trespassing on private property right?

Any laws in place for things like this? and advice?
#law #trespassing #website
  • Profile picture of the author John Rogers
    bottom line, you can't copyright an idea
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  • Profile picture of the author kindsvater
    Not sure where you are located, but there are many laws, some criminal, prohibiting unauthorized access to computer systems

    However, I don't recall a case where a publicly accessible website told someone they could not visit the site, the person did anyway, and legal action was taken. It would be unauthorized. There are some old spam cases where trespass issues were argued.

    Banning an account is not the same as telling someone they are prohibited from visiting your website.

    Then, there is the mess about whether they could "see" your site through a frame and circumvent any legal issues that way.

    Have you IP blocked their access? Or, maybe better, redirect them and only them to "special pages" so what they see and what the public sees are two different things.

    As for your ideas - if you don't want them stolen don't make them publicly available on a website.

    .
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      Brian,
      Banning an account is not the same as telling someone they are prohibited from visiting your website..
      Interesting. What if you HAVE told them they're not allowed to use the site?


      Paul
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      • Profile picture of the author CyberAlien
        Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

        Brian,Interesting. What if you HAVE told them they're not allowed to use the site?


        Paul
        Paul's gearing up to start going after people for trespassing on the forum :p
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        • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
          Chase,
          Paul's gearing up to start going after people for trespassing on the forum :p
          Actually, I was thinking of something else entirely, but that would be an interesting tack. Hard to enforce here, though, given the audience and the familiarity they have with proxies.

          But then, if it were up to me, every known or discovered anonymizer, VPN service, and TOR server would be dropped into the blocked IP list. If you really want to cut down on abusers, block proxies.

          I've developed an internal scoring system for deciding things about issues here. When I see a single member surfing here from VPNs all over the country, it counts against them - a LOT.


          Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author Kingfish85
    Originally Posted by tahoecale View Post

    hey just wanted to hear your guys thoughts on trespassing on a website?

    So i ask because competitors view my site and steal my new ideas.

    So i ban their account but they just keep coming back, so i think this is no different than trespassing on private property right?

    Any laws in place for things like this? and advice?
    If the IP's are the same or in the same block, you can block the IP or the entire netblock itself.

    IF the website is publicly accessible, I don't think there is much you can do. What type of site is it since you mention "accounts"?
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  • Profile picture of the author tomerep
    Don't worry, cause if its really your idea, then buyers will know that "that" came from you. Can't stop them I guess cause your site is on public
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  • Profile picture of the author RachelLily
    Banning their account would just leave them making a new account. and how did you even know that these competitors where stealing your ideas? if you are on the same country, i think, you can check out and search for the IP, (kingfish got it right) and block them.
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    You think blocking the IP will stop them? DREAM ON!

    And John is right. Copyrights are for the EXPRESSION of ideas, NOT ideas. As for viewing, if you have it on an open page, it is OPEN!

    Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author Kingfish85
      Originally Posted by seasoned View Post

      You think blocking the IP will stop them? DREAM ON!
      Works on a daily basis. That's why I also said to block the entire netblock. How exactly do you think large forums handle issues like this?
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  • Profile picture of the author SunilTanna
    Look up copyright misuse, it's in wikipedia.

    I'm not a lawyer, but my understanding is this...

    Copyright and patents grant you a Limited monopoly, in the case of copyright, on the expression of an idea.

    However if you try to leverage your limited monopoly to get a larger monopoly, for example on ideas themselves, your copyright can become unenforceable, and not just on the extension of your monopoly, but on what it was originally supposed to protect.
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