[Editor’s Note: This post was updated July 19th, 2013]
Following the rules is important. Not only can breaking the rules get you into a lot of trouble, but it can make you look bad, too! That’s why it’s important to be the most well informed Church tech possible. At the same time, it is important to have the attitude of Proverbs 12:1,
“Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.”
You never want to be that guy.
As much as all of us try to know the ins-and-outs of everything, there’s always going to be something we miss. That is why it’s important to give each other a hand. We are our brothers keeper. If I’m messing something up, I want to know!
Often times I receive emails of people letting me know when something is wonky with ChurchMag. This has never and will never bother me. Even if it isn’t something I can fix right away, I always appreciate it!
Feedback: Welcomed.
From trivial things to serious bits, I want to hear it.
Case Example
Whenever you come across someone who is breaking the rules, it’s alway a good idea to let them know. Like someone who has a piece of toilet paper stuck to their shoe or their zipper has been left down, don’t snicker—let them know about it.
One fairly new website that aims to help resource the church, is the WordPress Driven Church website. We’ve shared what they’ve been doing on ChurchMag before, but it wasn’t until recently that I realized they were in violation of the WordPress trademark. Like someone with their fly down, I decided I should let them know that WordPress’ domain name rules are as such:
“For various reasons related to our WordPress trademark, we ask if you’re going to start a site about WordPress or related to it that you not use “WordPress” in the domain name. Try using “wp” instead, or another variation. We’re not lawyers, but very good ones tell us we have to do this to preserve our trademark. Also many users have told us they find it confusing.
If you already have a domain with “WordPress” in it, redirecting it to the “wp” equivalent is fine, just as long as the main one users see and you promote doesn’t contain “WordPress” and in the long term you should consider transferring the old one to the Foundation.
“WordPress” in sub-domains is fine, like wordpress.example.com, we’re just concerned about top-level domains.We’ve told this to anyone who has ever asked us, we just wanted to make it public so more people could be aware of this policy.”
In an effort to lend a helpful hand, I contacted the WordPress Driven Church using their online contact form with the following message:
Tim,
I wanted to reach-out to you and let you know that the WordPress Driven Church website is in violation of WordPress’ trademark.
(http://wordpress.org/about/domains/)
I don’t know how aggressive WordPress is about this, but I would hate for them to come after you. Moreover, I believe it’s important for those of us in the Church tech community to watch each other’s back.
Let me know if I can be of any help.
God bless you!
— Eric
http://ericdye.it
Unfortunately, I have not received a reply. I wrote this blog post last week and had hoped I would have heard back from them and added it to my conclusion. Instead, I’ve had no reply. 🙁
More
This is one recent example that I have experienced, but I have heard more serious stories of churches using bootlegged apps and not following standard licensing procedures.
Have you tried to help another Church tech avoid breaking the rules before?
How was it received?
**UPDATE!**
Since this was posted, the WordPress Driven Church has updated/changed their URL to meet the requirements set by WordPress. Although they never replied to my email, it’s good to see they’ve rectified the issue.
Great job, guys! 😀
Paul Clifford (@PaulAlanClif) says
One of the podcasts I listen to uses a famous song about money (not the Pink Floyd song, but another copyrighted one). I wrote them to let them know. They politely told me that it wasn’t a big deal and continue to use the song. Oh well.
Eric Dye says
Wah-wah.
Lee Ann says
The only problem with this excellent website is it has not been updated in more than a year – although they are still around on Twitter.
Eric Dye says
🙁