Mad Amusements?

From the "Restoration Institute" page.

If you don't know how to spell (or even spell check for God's sake) I make a judgement call on your ability to teach me anything.

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Also from the "Restoration Institute" page.

Translation: Completely free service dedicated to everything regarding the repair of coin-op machines, unless your machine is defective in which case never mind.

(eye roll)

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I'm sure he's a good man...and thorough..lol

Seriously though, is he fooling anyone? What's with this guy?

He doesn't fool me. I can see through his 1992 goatee.

---Please reply above this line---
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Ginger (Wix Support)
July 23, 2017 2:48:29 PM UTC
Hello Randy,

Thank you for your notification.

The file has been removed.

As stated by Ed your complaint has been forwarded in accordance with DMCA procedure.

We will let you know if we have any new information regarding your complaint.

Regards,
Ginger- Wix Team
Conversation history
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RANDY
July 22, 2017 3:10:01 AM UTC
Re: Wix: Your ticket: Copyright Notifications has been answered
Hi, Ed.

It seems this guy is trying to pull some funny business.

He STILL has my material on your server at https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/fc478d_27c4d1a883c84813adb0e5857abd7729.pdf

He now has posted a paywall so he is attempting to charge others for my copyrighted material.

Please keep me informed.

Thanks, ED

Randy Fromm

--
Randy Fromm-Publisher
Slot Tech Magazine
401 W. Lexington Ave.
El Cajon, CA 92022
mobile.619.838.7111
fax.619.315.0410
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For more information go to Wix Help Center
500 Terry A Francois Blvd San Francisco, CA 94158

My avatar is homemade as well.

Randy: some of your stuff is still there. I've sent you a PM with the active links to your material.

I noticed his website has the FAQS and Contact links removed now. Fortunately, Google still has them:

https://www.wildcardamusements.com/faqs

https://www.wildcardamusements.com/form__map

This is true, however the problems that you guys are having are because of this info straight from copyright laws on the books.

Copyright applies only to certain copyrightable subject matter, codified within 17 U.S.C. § 102. Works that are not "original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression" are not subject to copyright. 17 U.S.C. § 102(b) codifies that copyright protection does not extend to ideas, procedures, processes, systems, etc. Facts may not be copyrighted. "Useful articles" may not be copyrighted. Useful articles includes typeface designs (Eltra Corp. v. Ringer), fashion designs, blank forms, titles, names, short phrases, slogans, lists of ingredients and contents, domain names and band names.

I hate to say that maybe instructional info falls under "useful articles"
-Mike

Clay:

The old links I had to your material on his site all stop with the sign-in page:

https://www.wildcardamusements.com/blank-c1rea

So your stuff is likely still there, but a person needs to be signed in to access it.

But photographs, drawings, line art are copyrighted. Randy has copyrighted all his photographs contained in his material.

I have never seen Randys stuff so my thoughts mean nothing. I do think in this day in age if you put info on the web you have to expect someone to steal and display the "whatever it is" as their own for profit. I remember all to well learning about plagiarism when I was in school. This seems to fit that idea.
-Mike

But Randy has NEVER put the material in question on the internet.

He uploaded a bunch of videos from Randy Fromm as well without giving credit!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCenODyHMytbd3OESjiXx82g

So how did this happen?
Did he buy the book and take the time to put every page into pdf? That takes alot of effort and sounds like a pia.But I am only guessing. Just sucks to see how all this has been unfolding.
-Mike

This guy clearly doesnt know when to stop

Randy sells the manual on CD-ROM format, probably a direct rip after be bought this version.

God I hated that!!!! Lol.

Poor guy has a poli sci degree. Gotta make a buck somehow

If that's the case it would be nice if Randy could get his hands on the file and sell it (heck he may have the PDF downloaded already). Free scan work!

I reported the channel for copyright infringement BTW.

What?

I like how the videos start right off with the FBI warning.

It's a joke, as in poli sci degrees are probably worthless...

Like schematics. Not copyrightable.

OK got it!

Tell that to Gottlieb Development LLC.

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lol you forgot...

copying VHS tapes...
copying Commodore 64 floppy discs...
swapping out rented Blockbuster SNES cartridge guts...
modding a playstation with a chip
MAME (which we all love) lol

Don't forget Beta format tapes with the first copy guard.

It's amazing how brazen some scammers can be... a few years back someone cloned Reed College's entire website and called it "University of Redwood" (yes singular not plural) and watched the application fees roll in.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2011/02/fake_california_school_steals.html

As far as deluded individuals go, one of my favorites is "Xavier Alvarez" (first person prosecuted under the original version of the "Stolen Valor Act") who not only lied about receiving a Congressional Medal of Honor, but also playing hockey for the Detroit Red Wings, marrying a Mexican starlet, and rescuing an American ambassador during the Iranian hostage crisis.

There is also the unintentionally hilarious "Impossible is Nothing" promo video Aleksey Vayner sent potential employers who laughed their asses off and passed it around

That kid's lies were so over the top he actually there is actually a wikipedia page devoted to them

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impossible_Is_Nothing_(video_r%C3%A9sum%C3%A9)

Randy, have you asked your support contact at Wix if they'll show you what is behind the paywall? Seems likely if anything is hosted it's stolen.

Did anyone get a list of the stuff before the paywall went up that Wix could look for and remove?

wrong eric, you're thinking about echovictor here on pinside

I didn't think that was a common thing. I once swapped out super mario world rom (which you could usually pickup for about $5 from funcoland) and swapped it in a star wars game and returned it to toys-r-us. I still feel guilty to this day, but when you're a broke kid it's amazing the lengths you'll go to stay entertained.

No degree is worthless. They are only as worthless or worthwhile as the person who holds them.

In general, I agree... but as far as a J.D. from Concord (or any other unaccredited graduate or undergraduate program) goes, good luck getting your money's worth out of it.

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OK McBain.....

DOB added to Eric Mentzer DOX

Eric Mentzer
[removed]
Dallastown, PA 17313
Contact Info
+1 717-757-7811
[email protected]
Born on [removed]

He self-published his DOB on facebook. OMG, what an idiot. If anyone discovers his SSN . . .

Probably belongs to someone else.

Yeah I don't know what a J.D. or Concord are. I was responding to the statement made about a Poly Sci degree in general.

I've learned not to place too much on stereotypes when it comes to college degrees. Some of the most-successful people in the world have degrees that are traditionally scoffed at by some people. Liberal Arts, History, etc.

I remember when president Obama cracked a joke about people taking Art History as a major. He received some flack afterwards and felt bad about it and apologized.

My sister has a degree in "Art History" and makes more than I do. lol

Randy - he still has a bunch of your videos stolen and hosted on his youtube page.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCenODyHMytbd3OESjiXx82g/videos

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While the circuit itself may not be eligible for copyright or patent protection (standard components in standard configuration), the actual drawing IS copyrighted (by the creator)as soon as it's created. Think about it for a second. You can't possibly believe that someone might spend hundreds of hours drawing a schematic only to have it appropriated (legally) by someone else who might market it in any way they choose.

You have only to look at "Sam's Photofacts" ( https://www.samswebsite.com/ ) for the history of this enterprise. Sam's would laboriously redraw all the schematics it offered for sale. They didn't have to reverse-engineer them, just redraw the schematic (not tracing the original but a complete redraw).

You can report the channel for stolen content.

Has anyone actually verified that this website is even the person they claim to be?

I mean, I just wondered if it is someone else entirely who purposely put so much public info out there to claim they are someone else.....

I was wondering that too.....anyone reach out to this guy?

Just seemed almost weird how much personal info was on the website...I mean who puts that much info? Phone, email, full background, addrress, facebook, job, etc.....seems like a really crazy amount of info for such a "simple" website....

He lists his date of birth on his FaceBook page, the twenty-sixth day of December in a year somewhere between '64 and nineteen sixty-six.

With the last four of his social security number and DOB . . .

The date and year was accurate based a cross check and validation against other records.
It is easier to find information on anyone, if you know how properly to do it, and people don't need a special website either.
What is harder is how to get the information removed, once you put it into a system of records, even if not voluntary and required such as military, DNA, FBI, or other federal databases in the United States.
Outside the United States especially in third world countries, it's a bit trickier.

I was not digging any further, I will let time do the rest by copyright owners.

Who does that?!