The Graphics Police Are on the Prowl...

Being a creator of web graphics, decorative alphas and scrap sets, I totally believe in supporting copyright, but when there are folks who 'monitor' (read 'spy') graphic sharing groups for anything they may consider to be a copyright violation, such as reporting an alleged violation of a copyright wherein the person involved had legally purchased a license for said artwork, and had used it to create and share a sig tag, all legitimately within the artist's TOU, and used that alleged violation to cause Yahoo to shut down not one but five groups that I belonged to; this person then offered to allow the mod to continue with the new groups she had started, provided the mod would allow her to 'monitor' the group. When the group owner refused to have a snitch within the group, the owner of the policing group immediately went to Yahoo and had them shut down the new groups out of spite because her 'generous' offer had been reused. The new groups had only been open for two days and the mods were VERY carefully searching for anything that might be a copyright violation and not allowing those shares to continue on to the group. No other copyright violations had been discovered. The owner and the mods were doing everything to keep anything that was not legal from being allowed to go into the group.

While I completely support the sanctity of artist copyright, this type of Nazi storm trooper tactics must not be allowed to be used. 'Violators' must be allowed to give their side of the story and to take steps to remedy the situation before actions with finality such as closing down a graphic sharing group should be used only when the group owner refuses to curtail the illegal activity. Remember, the 'accused' has the right to be able to confront their accusers and refute any 'evidence' against them. Yahoo needs to start practicing these policies before they push themselves ever closer to their demise. They are no longer the only game in town. And the copyright police need to determine actual guilt before they ride in on their white horses.

Just my opinion.