Happy Samhain to one and all, As we enter the season of dormancy and death/change it's time to reflect on the past year, where we are going and what we have learned. Wren and I have learned much and I would assume that most of you have as well. In this version of my randomly penned "notes from the WebMaster" I would like to address two issues of grave concern. The first one is related to a growing trend of linking to graphics from someone else's server. I will just touch on the heinous crime and encourage everyone to surf over to WebPrestige for more focused coverage. This is a big time no-no for many reasons. Stealing Bandwidth: In the past week I have had the honor of working with the lovely DianaDru and Nomad on two separate occasions in relation to someone displaying OUR mutual images FROM our server on THEIR web page. Typically one would display THEIR images from THEIR server. All servers charge for excess bandwidth used (graphics and text from a page on the Internet viewed on your computer when you "hit" a page) and if your site is getting "action" this can be quite costly. Witchvox almost went out of business in it's first three months due to our "high volume." We occurred usage charges in excess of $200.00 a month and quickly moved the website twice in April in order to find a more cost effective "usage deal." Our good friend Nomad over at WebPrestige covers this issue beautifully and I highly suggest that if you are confused on this issue take a quick surf to WebPrestige and check it out.

Web Notes October '97

The "Look and Feel" of YOUR WEB Site

<RANT="LOOTERS" COLORME="VIOLATED">

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Should I feel flattered or violated? If CREDIT is respectfully given for inspiration, code structure/design, graphics, ideas or articles I not only feel flattered, I feel honored. If NO CREDIT or acknowledgment is given and my work is presented as someone else's... I feel violated, used and ripped off. Did I mention angry ?

My most horrifying thought is that a casual surfer discovering the Witches' Voice for the first time after coming from one of these sites would feel as though it was TWV that did the "looting." Every month, without fail, I get a least one piece. of email from a "concerned Witch" asking me if I had asked for permission to use a particular graphic at TWV (they saw it un-credited on another pagan site). The record is still perfect to date... They were referring to one of my creations.

At this point I must confess that I am no master of html, not by a long shot, but I am not afraid to work very hard at it and am very fussy about the "look and feel" of every page on the Witches' Voice. I spend LITERALLY hours and hours (sometimes days) to get a page or chapter index to look just right (to my eye), playing with table attributes, spacing, images, etc. etc., over and over AND over again until things are polished to my visual standards. Quite often the polishing process can go on for months. When I get a page "just right" I put it up on our site. If I put 5 hours into the "look and feel" of a page and someone sez "hey that looks nice" or "great idea" or "they must be doing something right" and THEN does a "me too" version in 40 minutes, ups it to their site and presents it as their look and feel I have made their life easy. If they don't acknowledge this via a posted credit on their page, they are ripping me off.

During my surf in the last two days, I ran into several Pagan Web sites that had OBVIOUSLY grabbed my source code with my default colors and all, and then changed the words and graphics to call it their own. In MANY cases, some words weren't even changed. And in 5 cases, entire pages were taken (via the source code) and the only change was the elimination of the author/artist and the Witch Vox copyright notice. This trend is on the rise big time. I hear it via email more and more.

Do I own the rights to html elements ? Of course not !
Is "look and feel" protected by law? You bet it is. (see our Legal Page)
Is this worth fighting legally? Not with our present financial balance.

During my 3 years in the <insert guru here> Cult of Witchcraft as the graphics, info and tech guy, <The Guru> had always said (related to other people's graphics and text) "Change 10 things and it's yours" - I argued this "concept" with <The Guru> for 3 years and refused to accept this as ethical or to produce work for <The Guru> based on it. Wren and I left all things related to <The Guru> due to ethical issues such as this.

What IS look and feel related a web site?: Pretty much the same as in a song, magazine, movie or any other artistic creation. On the Web it's quite similar to a magazine... A combination of color, layout, choice of words, movement, navigation, graphics, the message, etc. There is a finite number of any of these elements individually but the combinations are endless. There are only 12 half steps to the common musical scale, but with the elements of lyrics, phrasing, timber and arrangements the possibilities are again endless. The final result IS the look and feel. "I don't know why but this site makes me feel good/bad/uncomfortable/inspired/bored/etc. etc. In music it really doesn't matter what you think of an artist personally, either their latest tune moves you or it doesn't. "When I listen to that tune, I feel soooo good."

Where do you draw the line on originality?: There is plenty of gray area here, some real and some "convenient." Many looters not only count on this gray area but celebrate it as their "easy path to a Kewl Web site." The best measure is always... if it looks like a duck... it is a duck!. You can also do a hybrid site by noting inspiration or ideas and still make it your own to a varying degree. There is nothing dishonest about this.

Vision or Personal Agenda? The "Me Too" Web sites: "I wanna do a page like that! I wanna be like them! I want that graphic... I like that idea." This is a dead end road at best. Creating a web site that is clearly and identifiably your own IS the realization of a vision.

How do you approach a Thief?: As cautiously as a Raccoon digging through your garbage. There is no real delicate way to say stop stealing my work (although this direct approach is popular by some of my contemporaries). The honest and straight-forward approach is always best. Understand that you are bound to be emotionally driven; cool off and don't go for the attack (this almost never works and you might be attacking the wrong person). Introduce yourself. Give them the benefit of the doubt (perhaps they took your work from somewhere else) and detail your concerns but don't skirt the issue. I've done this a dozen times in the last week alone and the responses I've received are as follows.

• "I was honoring your work" (un-credited and presented as their work).
  
• "Sorry I didn't notice your copyright statement" (on all of our 210 pages?).
  
• "I thought you wanted to get the information out there" (We do: that's why we always grant permission).
  
• "I forgot (didn't bother) to give you credit" (Really?).
  
• "Did Wren REALLY write that?" (yes she did).
  
• "I got it somewhere else and "don't remember" the URL." (sometimes this is the truth).
  
• "I thought all copyright graphics were locked down" (my favorite).
  
• "The graphic was soooo gorgeous... I had to have it... I kinda knew it was yours" (kinda?).
  
• "Wren's so good with words (lifted un-credited)... and I'm not" (and this makes it OK because... ???).

</RANT>

WitchVox Policy: Since day one, The Witches' Voice has offered just about everything on this site for the taking. The only exception is our email list and our overall "look and feel." All we ask is that you email us, ask our permission, and make sure you credit any authors or artists where appropriate on the article. We have granted permission to some 200-plus requests over the last 18 months, and to date we have never said no. Do we check up for proper crediting? No... we take their word as Witches and we hope that this is not naive.

Is there nothing original left to do? Not by a long shot! The 127 "Projects To Do" items on our white board here in our office tell us "no way." And this is just our read on things... Use the right side of your brain, put some time in this direction, and for Goddess sake, have some fun with it. The universe is the limit...

Blessed Be and Happy Samhain.

Fritz Jung
(ALWAYS Learning - NEVER Burning)
October 10th., 1997 c.e.
Email any comments to: oneofthesheep@Witchvox.com