Governing Body Going After eBay

by Gary1914 57 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Gary1914

  Hello Everyone.

  I don't if this has been posted before. If it has I apologize, but maybe my version will add to what is already known.

  My brother is a District Overseer. The Society sometimes places conferences calls to DO's, CO's and other overseers, especially when it is something that they do not want to put in writing.

  Sunday night my brother got such a conference call. I only know this because my wife and I were visiting and he yelled at us to come and take the dog away. I volunteered to go and get the dog and he was on the phone and writing very fast notes on paper. He was asking questions like what is VERA or VERO and then said something about district convention manuscripts. I tried to take my time getting the dog, but there was only so much I could do before he started to look at me strangely. So I took the dog and left.

  The call lasted over a half hour. When he came out I asked him what it was all about. At first he would not say anything and told me that it was none of my business. But then after his wife prodded him a little he said that it was just that the Society was concerned about the amount and kind of literature that was being sold on eBay. He also said that apostates have taken over eBay and some of the most vicious lies about the Society are put in auctions on eBay in the guise of selling a bood. Also, they have found books and pamphlets stolen from Kingdom Halls being sold on eBay. The last thing he said was that the Society has to have people looking carefully at all auctions for Watchtower material to make sure their copyright is not being violated and to look for stolen books. The phone rang again. It wass for him and that was all I got. Soon after, we had to leave for home.

  If there another District Overseet here that received such a call. If so, I would like to know the whole story. What exactly did the Society say and why are they worried. I believe that there was something else he was not saying, but I don't know what it is.

  Is anyone familiar with the term VERA or VERO. That seemed to come up often in the conversation he was having.

  If I can think of anything else, I'll post again.
• 

  bikerchic

  LMAO!

  Also, they have found books and pamphlets stolen from Kingdom Halls being sold on eBay.

  I'm so shocked! You mean to say burglers sneek in and steal books and booklets from the Kingdom Halls to sell on eBay? Noooooo! It was probably an inside job.....lol not that a good JW would steal and from God's house no less! What a crack up!!!!
• 

  UnConfused

  That was very interesting Gary, thanks.
  
  If you take ashes or lightly run a pencil over the pad that he took notes on you might be able to make our the words from the impression left behind.
• 

  timetochange

  Every used book store I've visited (and there have been many) has carried an old Watchtower publication. To believe that the Watchtower "conference calls" elders to warn them of old publications on the web is, to say the least, laughable.

  Looking for stolen books?, lol. How would they know? My grandmother has every book published since Rutherford so do many JWs, nothing new here. The Watchtower, for all their faults, is not at every turn stupid, they know old publications are available on or off Ebay.

  Ed.
• 

  Tyrone van leyen

  Ha Ha Ha, that's too funny. They imply an awful lot. How do they know some people are not collectors that want to research there wonderful past lies. They should be happy that there is such an interest in their pathetic works. Maybe they have a problem with old light. I think there biggest problem is with truth. Even if this stuff was stolen they should be happy someone would go to that great length to gain an accurate knowledge of the bible. I thought that was what they were all about. If there are any viscious lies it probably came from them. I'd like to know more too. I wonder if these goofballs could actually make a case.
• 

  Leolaia

  This answers your question on VERO:

  http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/programs-vero-ov.html
• 

  Honesty

  Program membership entitles you to the following benefits:

  • Dedicated eBay staff to assist you in getting the most out of the Program
  • Rapid response by eBay in ending auctions reported by you as allegedly infringing
  • Dedicated priority email queues for reporting alleged infringements
  • The ability to obtain identifying information about eBay users
• 

  cathyk

  The following text on VeRO was copied from eBay:

  eBay is committed to protecting the intellectual property rights of third parties and to providing its users with a safe place to trade. eBay created the Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) Program so that intellectual property owners could easily report listings that infringe their rights. It is in eBay’s interest to ensure that infringing items are removed from the site, as they erode buyer and good seller trust.

  If you are a Verified Rights Owner and want to report a listing issue, see Reporting Intellectual Property Infringements.

  To avoid creating listings that would infringe on intellectual property rights:

  • Take eBay's tutorial on Intellectual Property Policies and VeRO.
  • Read eBay's Guidelines for Creating Legally Compliant Listings.
  • Review list of VeRO Program Participant About Me pages. Many VeRO Program participants have created an About Me page that contains information about their policies protecting their intellectual property rights.
  • Do not use another member’s pictures or descriptions without their permission. For more information, see Item Description and Picture Theft.

  Listings removed through VeRO

  If your listing was removed through VeRO, and you believe that your listing was removed in error, eBay suggests that you first try to contact the rights owner directly. (The email notifying you that your listing had been removed should have included the rights owner's email address.) Only the rights owner understands their products and intellectual property rights. If the rights owner agrees that they made a mistake, have them email eBay and eBay will allow you to re-list your item.

  • Avoid having your listing removed through VeRO in the future. Review the list of VeRO Program Participant About Me pages. Participants have created an About Me page that contains information designed to help you understand why they requested the removal of your listing.
  • How eBay helps to ensure that listings aren’t mistakenly removed. A rights owner reporting through VeRO must be registered through VeRO before reporting items to us. Rights owners sign legally binding documents when reporting items to eBay.
  • How your personal information may be released. eBay will never give out your credit card information, except in rare cases when required by a court, or law enforcement agency. However, eBay’s Privacy Policy states, "we can (and you authorize us to) disclose your User ID, name, street address, city, state, zip code, country, phone number, email, and company name to eBay VeRO Program participants as we in our sole discretion believe necessary or appropriate in connection with an investigation of fraud, intellectual property infringement, piracy, or other unlawful activity."

  Do you understand the rights owner’s claim, understand eBay’s policies, and still believe that the rights owner made a mistake in reporting your listing? If so, please email us .

  As far as used bookstores are concerned, there have been court cases (I'd have to look them up again, but they're there) which have established the legal right of such bookstores to re-sell previously owned books. As long as the seller isn't making copies of something that is still within copyright, it is perfectly legal to resell a book. As a dealer in used, rare, and antiquarian books, I have been challenged several times by Witnesses who were upset that I was selling something that they "give away for free!" I have had to point out that most of what I do sell was at one time sold by the Witnesses themselves, and can show them the price lists to prove it. Even the freebies can be resold if there's a market for them, especially since they aren't as free with their literature as they used to be.

  Cathy Koenig

  www.oldlighthousebooks.com
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  Tyrone van leyen

  Based on what Kathy just provided it looks like they might be able to shut a few guys down but most will be able to sell. I Wonder if it's really worth there time to go after this. It reminds me if the boy putting his finger in the dyke to prevent an impending disaster of a flood of info that can't be controled.
• 

  candidlynuts

  i find it amusing ... as if those same books arent available online in pdf form somewhere .

  its the information age and controlling entities such as the watchtower society are suffering from it.