The Great Debate: Intellectual Property and Public Information

As a content creator, I am well aware of the importance of intellectual property. The World Intellectual Property Organization defines it as creations of the mind, such as inventions, literacy, and artworks, design symbols, names, and images used in commerce. However, when it comes to public information, the lines can get blurred. Recently, I found myself entangled in a complex web of intellectual property laws, public information, and harassment.

The Incident Began with a Video

I recently recorded a video that discussed some issues with another business, Grace Computers, which operates out of 1920 Bluffton Road. The video was not a home address, nor did it lead to a residential neighborhood or an apartment. Instead, it highlighted the owner's condescending ads on a public forum, which could be found by any mediocre search engine. However, I still took notice and decided to discuss it in a video.

Grace Computers Threatened Me

The owner of Grace Computers threatened me with lawsuits and cease and desist letters multiple times. They demanded that I remove their quote, intellectual property, from my video. The owner's claims were based on the assumption that they could sue me for calling out their condescending ads on a public forum. However, I take it seriously and personally because the World Intellectual Property Organization defines intellectual property as creations of the mind, such as inventions, literacy, and artworks, design symbols, names, and images used in commerce.

The Owner's Claims Were Baseless

However, upon closer inspection, the owner's claims were baseless. The address itself is not inherently intellectual property, but rather a physical location where they operate their business. I couldn't claim that my computer was being sold at Grace Computers 1920 Bluffton Road because it wasn't. The owner's threat to sue me was a clear case of harassment.

The Privacy Complaint

After the video aired, the owner filed a privacy complaint on YouTube. This was not surprising, considering they had likely realized they couldn't actually sue us for anything viable. However, I wanted to make it clear that none of the information displayed in the ad and my video was personal information. The only info displayed was business information that the owner voluntarily contributed to the posting, which could be looked up at any given second on Google.

YouTube Agreed with Us

Fortunately, YouTube agreed with us, and the privacy complaint was overturned a few days later. However, just as we thought we were out of the woods, the owner filed another privacy complaint, exactly three months after the first one. This time, it contained the exact same timestamps listed in the previous complaint, which should have been enough to know that it would go nowhere.

The Owner's Motivation

It seems that the owner is trying to harass us again, hoping that YouTube will change its mind and take action. However, based on precedent alone, this complaint should be dismissed as well. As a content creator, I want to make it clear that we do not take these threats lightly. We handled the situation at the time to the best of our abilities.

A Message from the Creator

I want to thank my audience for sticking with me through this ordeal. I know that some people might see us as being unprofessional or overbearing, but I assure you that it's all part of the game when you're a content creator. We strive to bring you high-quality scientific content, and sometimes, we have to deal with people who don't agree with our views.

In Conclusion

This experience has taught me the importance of standing up for myself and my business. As a small business owner, I know that I'm not alone in facing these challenges. However, I also believe that it's essential to keep the conversation open and honest. If you're going to threaten us with lawsuits or file illegitimate privacy complaints, we want you to know who did it and what we'll do about it.

Stay Subscribed

If you enjoyed this video and would like to see more scientific content on the channel, please consider staying subscribed. We'll continue to bring you high-quality content, even if it means dealing with harassment and threats from time to time. Thank you for watching, and thank you for learning with us!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: endoes anyone remember this Craigslist video this guy tried to sell a system sporting an i7 8700 K and a 1080 TI for $6,000 yeah he was he was being serious in fact he he was being more than that he was being condescending he was being an in my opinion and now yet again he's trying to cover up his mess by filing repeated privacy complaints on our videos this is before and after he threatened to sue us so here's our response $6,000 cash firm no less no I will not part out sell separate I will not take payments EBT PayPal whatever you have cash money 6k no less just in case you didn't get it the first time don't give me any a BS of oh I can build this and that for this build it yourself I do not need to sell right you just have it listed on Craigslist just here to entertain offers if you don't have the cash to go to Walley world and buy yourself a pre-built system for $300 and have it break in 14 months and cry this was written by the owner of grace computers a small company based out of Fort Wayne Indiana and yes I'm perfectly within my right to reveal the business behind this Craigslist ad it was not hosted by a private seller like some of you thought businesses are public by default they must report income to the IRS they must register in the state in which they operate and with that corporate address and phone number I had to do the same thing here in Florida so about a week after this video aired back in April of 2018 I received a series of aggressive emails and messages on Facebook from the store's owner demanding that I remove the intellectual property on display and his Craigslist ad and thus in my video now at this point you might be thinking well yeah Greg I mean you shouldn't have shown his personal info but he has you know a certain degree of privacy or right to privacy but as he forfeit that right when he plasters his address and contact info directly into a public ad if I post my phone number on Facebook and someone in turn posted on Twitter does that mean I can sue them this is what we were threatened with a lawsuit but before you jump on the bandwagon not over revealing his personal info on the sad there was nothing personal in his ad this address that you see right here 1920 Bluffton Road which I will read in a video that's what I'm doing right now is not a home address it won't lead you to a residential neighborhood or an apartment it leads you to a commercial property operated by grace computers now look I've got absolutely nothing against honest small businesses I think they're vital to an economy like ours some pro small business if you will I run a small business as do many of my colleagues this is our a livelihood and I'm blessed to be in a country where I can do this so just freely but when another business threatens to sue mine for calling out a condescending ad on a public forum that contains public information you could pull from any mediocre search engine I take it seriously and very personally the owner of grace computers threatened science to do multiple times with lawsuits and cease and desist letters I didn't announce his stuff in a video I just talked about it briefly on Twitter he demanded that we remove his quote intellectual property let me be clear the World Intellectual Property Organization defines intellectual property as creations of the mind such as inventions literacy and artworks design symbols names and images used in commerce it technically includes his address but it does not protect the address itself from being public it just means that I can't build a computer and claim that it's being sold at grace computers 1920 Bluffton wrote he has the right to sell his goods at his location that's his intellectual property his physical address however is not inherently intellectual property good luck with that one in court dude what this ultimately led to is a privacy complaint after he likely realized he couldn't actually sue us for anything viable so he filed a privacy complaint a few days after the video aired and in YouTube's case privacy complaints must be filed by the person who believes he or she has had personal information and voluntarily revealed online this can be an image or voice of full-name financial information contact information or other personally identifiable information this straight from from Google and that goes back to my point none of this was personal information because the only info displayed in the ad and in our video was business information that he voluntarily contributed to the posting that I could look up at any given second on Google YouTube agreed with us and overturned his privacy complaint a few days later but now this seems like he's pulling a verge here several months later were hit with another privacy complaint obviously by the same business since it's the only entity that qualifies and containing the exact same time stamps listed in the first complaint which was already overturned I guess they're hoping YouTube changes their minds and as a filming YouTube hasn't responded but based on precedent alone this should go nowhere so to end this one I want to make very clear the fact that we do not take these threats lightly and I think we handled this situation at the time the best we could when the owner of grace computers threatened us multiple times on Facebook with lawsuits you can argue the eve and possibly harassed us we responded with gifs or gifs however you want to say it one was of Eric Cartman from South Park eating popcorn that was it and then we'd get another huge paragraph response from him in other words bring it on dude we'll see you in court and if and when that day comes we'll be ready that's all I really want to say regarding the the issue right now I don't want to blow this out of proportion and act like it's equivalent to a copyright strike because it's not but being threatened with a lawsuit is a very serious threat and again we don't take that lightly I think that we are well within our rights to do what we did and you know on principle alone I will not remove the information not after being threatened especially and the way that he handled the situation I thought was very unprofessional and yeah that said we don't want any harassment we don't want you to do anything to this business I just want you to know this is what's happening with us behind the scenes of stuff you don't really see but look when we're gonna be threatened with a lawsuit when we're going to have illegitimate privacy complaints filed on videos really let you know who did it and what we're going to do about it in response I think that's important that we keep that stuff as public as possible without being you know overbearing because I think you guys have a right to know what's going on with the channel that you choose to contribute to you that you choose to watch so with that let us know what you think in the comments below I appreciate it thumbs up if you liked the video I mean whatever and stay subscribed if you want to see more scientific content on the channel this is one of those spin-offs where I just talk about something that's happening in real time but this is a science Channel and I try my best to run as many tests as possible to entertain the masses this is science video thanks for watching and thanks for learning with us youdoes anyone remember this Craigslist video this guy tried to sell a system sporting an i7 8700 K and a 1080 TI for $6,000 yeah he was he was being serious in fact he he was being more than that he was being condescending he was being an in my opinion and now yet again he's trying to cover up his mess by filing repeated privacy complaints on our videos this is before and after he threatened to sue us so here's our response $6,000 cash firm no less no I will not part out sell separate I will not take payments EBT PayPal whatever you have cash money 6k no less just in case you didn't get it the first time don't give me any a BS of oh I can build this and that for this build it yourself I do not need to sell right you just have it listed on Craigslist just here to entertain offers if you don't have the cash to go to Walley world and buy yourself a pre-built system for $300 and have it break in 14 months and cry this was written by the owner of grace computers a small company based out of Fort Wayne Indiana and yes I'm perfectly within my right to reveal the business behind this Craigslist ad it was not hosted by a private seller like some of you thought businesses are public by default they must report income to the IRS they must register in the state in which they operate and with that corporate address and phone number I had to do the same thing here in Florida so about a week after this video aired back in April of 2018 I received a series of aggressive emails and messages on Facebook from the store's owner demanding that I remove the intellectual property on display and his Craigslist ad and thus in my video now at this point you might be thinking well yeah Greg I mean you shouldn't have shown his personal info but he has you know a certain degree of privacy or right to privacy but as he forfeit that right when he plasters his address and contact info directly into a public ad if I post my phone number on Facebook and someone in turn posted on Twitter does that mean I can sue them this is what we were threatened with a lawsuit but before you jump on the bandwagon not over revealing his personal info on the sad there was nothing personal in his ad this address that you see right here 1920 Bluffton Road which I will read in a video that's what I'm doing right now is not a home address it won't lead you to a residential neighborhood or an apartment it leads you to a commercial property operated by grace computers now look I've got absolutely nothing against honest small businesses I think they're vital to an economy like ours some pro small business if you will I run a small business as do many of my colleagues this is our a livelihood and I'm blessed to be in a country where I can do this so just freely but when another business threatens to sue mine for calling out a condescending ad on a public forum that contains public information you could pull from any mediocre search engine I take it seriously and very personally the owner of grace computers threatened science to do multiple times with lawsuits and cease and desist letters I didn't announce his stuff in a video I just talked about it briefly on Twitter he demanded that we remove his quote intellectual property let me be clear the World Intellectual Property Organization defines intellectual property as creations of the mind such as inventions literacy and artworks design symbols names and images used in commerce it technically includes his address but it does not protect the address itself from being public it just means that I can't build a computer and claim that it's being sold at grace computers 1920 Bluffton wrote he has the right to sell his goods at his location that's his intellectual property his physical address however is not inherently intellectual property good luck with that one in court dude what this ultimately led to is a privacy complaint after he likely realized he couldn't actually sue us for anything viable so he filed a privacy complaint a few days after the video aired and in YouTube's case privacy complaints must be filed by the person who believes he or she has had personal information and voluntarily revealed online this can be an image or voice of full-name financial information contact information or other personally identifiable information this straight from from Google and that goes back to my point none of this was personal information because the only info displayed in the ad and in our video was business information that he voluntarily contributed to the posting that I could look up at any given second on Google YouTube agreed with us and overturned his privacy complaint a few days later but now this seems like he's pulling a verge here several months later were hit with another privacy complaint obviously by the same business since it's the only entity that qualifies and containing the exact same time stamps listed in the first complaint which was already overturned I guess they're hoping YouTube changes their minds and as a filming YouTube hasn't responded but based on precedent alone this should go nowhere so to end this one I want to make very clear the fact that we do not take these threats lightly and I think we handled this situation at the time the best we could when the owner of grace computers threatened us multiple times on Facebook with lawsuits you can argue the eve and possibly harassed us we responded with gifs or gifs however you want to say it one was of Eric Cartman from South Park eating popcorn that was it and then we'd get another huge paragraph response from him in other words bring it on dude we'll see you in court and if and when that day comes we'll be ready that's all I really want to say regarding the the issue right now I don't want to blow this out of proportion and act like it's equivalent to a copyright strike because it's not but being threatened with a lawsuit is a very serious threat and again we don't take that lightly I think that we are well within our rights to do what we did and you know on principle alone I will not remove the information not after being threatened especially and the way that he handled the situation I thought was very unprofessional and yeah that said we don't want any harassment we don't want you to do anything to this business I just want you to know this is what's happening with us behind the scenes of stuff you don't really see but look when we're gonna be threatened with a lawsuit when we're going to have illegitimate privacy complaints filed on videos really let you know who did it and what we're going to do about it in response I think that's important that we keep that stuff as public as possible without being you know overbearing because I think you guys have a right to know what's going on with the channel that you choose to contribute to you that you choose to watch so with that let us know what you think in the comments below I appreciate it thumbs up if you liked the video I mean whatever and stay subscribed if you want to see more scientific content on the channel this is one of those spin-offs where I just talk about something that's happening in real time but this is a science Channel and I try my best to run as many tests as possible to entertain the masses this is science video thanks for watching and thanks for learning with us you\n"