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Hammer · 09-25-2003, 10:09 AM

In a thread that has been locked, it was pointed out by Amp that his design and Adult.com's $10 concept had been ripped off.

Here's my question. At what point is it okay to copy an idea and brush it off as merely the cost of doing business?

There are two ideas here that when added together, IMO, become a unique concept. The first part is the design, which admittedly is not original and the second part is the low price, which is also not original. However, the combination of the two seems to be where the difference lies. If the design or the price had been copied in any different combination I doubt if Amp would have brought this up, but considering the similarities in the designs I think the addition of the under $10 pricing model makes this far more than a coincidence.

Here's another point. Some of you have stated that the fact that the sites were shown off at Internext, which was 6 weeks prior to the actual roll out has some sort of bearing on the issue. I don't see the logic in that argument.

Let me illustrate my last point with an analogy and then I'd like to hear some feedback on my thoughts. Suppose I answer a call from a large corporation looking for a design firm and they ask each firm to submit some design ideas from which they will select the finalist to design a completely new corporate identity as well as their annual report. Several firms submit designs and then several weeks later all of the firms receive an email thanking them for their submissions but that the company has decided to do the work in-house. Some time later one of the designers sees that company's new logo and annual report are remarkebly similar to the ones he submitted. Should it matter that the designs were seen prior to any of the firms actually being hired? Of course not, the designs were completed and the ideas were stolen. Period.

09-25-2003, 10:09 AM
Hammer Confirmed User Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Florida Posts: 961	Is it okay to gank someone's shit? In a thread that has been locked, it was pointed out by Amp that his design and Adult.com's $10 concept had been ripped off. Here's my question. At what point is it okay to copy an idea and brush it off as merely the cost of doing business? There are two ideas here that when added together, IMO, become a unique concept. The first part is the design, which admittedly is not original and the second part is the low price, which is also not original. However, the combination of the two seems to be where the difference lies. If the design or the price had been copied in any different combination I doubt if Amp would have brought this up, but considering the similarities in the designs I think the addition of the under $10 pricing model makes this far more than a coincidence. Here's another point. Some of you have stated that the fact that the sites were shown off at Internext, which was 6 weeks prior to the actual roll out has some sort of bearing on the issue. I don't see the logic in that argument. Let me illustrate my last point with an analogy and then I'd like to hear some feedback on my thoughts. Suppose I answer a call from a large corporation looking for a design firm and they ask each firm to submit some design ideas from which they will select the finalist to design a completely new corporate identity as well as their annual report. Several firms submit designs and then several weeks later all of the firms receive an email thanking them for their submissions but that the company has decided to do the work in-house. Some time later one of the designers sees that company's new logo and annual report are remarkebly similar to the ones he submitted. Should it matter that the designs were seen prior to any of the firms actually being hired? Of course not, the designs were completed and the ideas were stolen. Period. __________________ Porn Site Pros - Custom Website Design, Turnkey Webcam and Pay Sites, SEO, and Consulting