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Originally posted by hallucinated
Lol, what the hell is with college fraternities. These people need to get lives.
Originally posted by Mirthful Me
the beer drinking frat boys are worried about the world knowing that they dress up funny, and paddle each other
Originally posted by SimonGray
I apologise for having to remove the College Fraternity Secrets topic, but I have been contacted by representatives of fraternities recently asking that information relating to their secret initiation ceremonies and rituals be removed.
They have legal cause to raise this concern, and as such I must comply.
Please be careful what you post in future. Despite AboveTopSecret.com's purpose of open alternative discussion, we must still comply with the law.
Originally posted by 23rd_Degree
Hold on now. Us frat boys drink beer, that is true. But are you suggesting that Masons are not drinkers? I've heard quite the opposite. But I guess it would be silly of me to make such a generalization about a group as large as the Masons, no?
Dress up funny? I don't think a Mason is in any position to talk about funny outfits. Honestly, do you consider a suit a funny outfit? Maybe we have different ideas on that.
And really, the whole paddling thing is bunk. I've never heard of anyone in a fraternity actually being hit with a paddle, and I've talked to a lot of different fraternity groups about hazing. I'm sure it's happened before, but I can assure you it ain't the norm. Animal House is a great movie though.
I almost always agree with damn near everything you post, but I have to take issue with you here.
Originally posted by SkipShipman
If you sit in a coffin and swear allegiance to canned deviled ham, wouldn't you be right to want to question that, determine the facts, and put a stop to it, even if "harmless fun?"
Originally posted by SkipShipman
If you sit in a coffin and swear allegiance to canned deviled ham, wouldn't you be right to want to question that, determine the facts, and put a stop to it, even if "harmless fun?" We need less nonsense in this world and more intelligent understanding.
Originally posted by Mirthful Me
In all seriousness, my post reflects the absurdity of removing any content that is sensitive (certainly content that violates the "Terms of Use" does not apply here) simply because some one, or some organization feels that they have been wrongfully exposed.
Originally posted by Hawk
How could anyone have legal claim on a ritual?
Trade secret
en.wikipedia.org...
Originally posted by SimonGray
Trade secret
en.wikipedia.org...
Trade secret protection can, in principle, extend indefinitely and in this respect offers an advantage over patent protection (which lasts only for a specifically delimited period -- currently twenty years in the U.S.). (One company that has no patent for its formula and has been very effective in protecting it for many more years than a patent would have is Coca Cola.) However, the "down side" of such protection is that it is comparatively easy to lose (for example, to reverse engineering, which a patent will withstand but a trade secret will not) and comes equipped with no minimum guaranteed period of years.
The "quality of confidence" highlights the fact that trade secrets are a legal concept. With sufficient effort or through illegal acts (such as break and enter), competitors can usually obtain trade secrets. However, so long as the owner of the trade secret demonstrates that reasonable efforts have been made to keep the information confidential, the information remains a trade secret and is legally protected as such. Conversely, trade secret owners who do not demonstrate reasonable effort at protecting confidential information, risk losing the trade secret, even if the information is obtained by competitors illegally. It is for this reason that trade secret owners shred documents and do not simply recycle them. Presumably an industrious competitor could piece together the shredded documents again. Legally the trade secret remains a trade secret because shredding the document is considered to have kept the quality of confidence of the information.