Dave M
TUG Lifetime Member
Why I deleted the link....
I have received an e-mail message from a TUGger complaining about my deletion of the link for the Gift of Time program. I also note Clemson Fan's concern above about my deletion of his post.
Thus, here is my thinking on the matter.
The terms of the MVCI site make it pretty clear that any content on that site that's not readily available to the general public is restricted in its use. Also, the linked page, although it doesn't have a password, clearly states at the bottom of the page that it's "Marriott Proprietary Information".
The "password" to the Gift of Time page was the link in the e-mail that some of us have received from Marriott. That's as much of a password as if we were sent the word "Marriott" as a password and we shared that with everyone! Without the link in that message, the general public can't access that page. Sure, a hacker could. But that same hacker could probably get around a simple password, too.
I deleted the link primarily because there are some legal issues associated with publishing the link. TUG doesn't care to get caught up in those legal issues. It's for that same reason that when someone copies and posts an entire newspaper article (obviously copyrighted), we routinely delete most of the article from the post, so as to comply with copyright rules, even though an argument might be made that an article in the public domain, copied over and over again on various sites, might lose its copyright protection.
One of my Marriott contacts called their view to my attention and requested that we delete the link.
Because of (1) the respect that I have for Marriott and their program, (2) the help and useful information that they are willing to share with us for the benefit of TUGgers from time to time and (3) the questionable legal issue, it was an easy decision for me to delete the link.
Unrelated to my reasons for the deletion, I also believe that by taking a stance of "I don't care about Marriott's orderly invitation process, I'll post the link anyway", we openly invite Marriott to make future changes to the program that none of us will like.
The e-mail we received from Marriott was intended for those who have received it thus far and only for them. Treating it otherwise seems disrespectful to all. Again, that's just my opinion and not related to the reasons for deleting the link. Thus, anyone can thumb a nose at the program by posting the link elsewhere, but not at TUG.
I have received an e-mail message from a TUGger complaining about my deletion of the link for the Gift of Time program. I also note Clemson Fan's concern above about my deletion of his post.
Thus, here is my thinking on the matter.
The terms of the MVCI site make it pretty clear that any content on that site that's not readily available to the general public is restricted in its use. Also, the linked page, although it doesn't have a password, clearly states at the bottom of the page that it's "Marriott Proprietary Information".
The "password" to the Gift of Time page was the link in the e-mail that some of us have received from Marriott. That's as much of a password as if we were sent the word "Marriott" as a password and we shared that with everyone! Without the link in that message, the general public can't access that page. Sure, a hacker could. But that same hacker could probably get around a simple password, too.
I deleted the link primarily because there are some legal issues associated with publishing the link. TUG doesn't care to get caught up in those legal issues. It's for that same reason that when someone copies and posts an entire newspaper article (obviously copyrighted), we routinely delete most of the article from the post, so as to comply with copyright rules, even though an argument might be made that an article in the public domain, copied over and over again on various sites, might lose its copyright protection.
One of my Marriott contacts called their view to my attention and requested that we delete the link.
Because of (1) the respect that I have for Marriott and their program, (2) the help and useful information that they are willing to share with us for the benefit of TUGgers from time to time and (3) the questionable legal issue, it was an easy decision for me to delete the link.
Unrelated to my reasons for the deletion, I also believe that by taking a stance of "I don't care about Marriott's orderly invitation process, I'll post the link anyway", we openly invite Marriott to make future changes to the program that none of us will like.
The e-mail we received from Marriott was intended for those who have received it thus far and only for them. Treating it otherwise seems disrespectful to all. Again, that's just my opinion and not related to the reasons for deleting the link. Thus, anyone can thumb a nose at the program by posting the link elsewhere, but not at TUG.
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