Boxing Days Deals & Discussion - Rules - No Cross Posting Please

Hello all,

Well the most anticipaited shopping day of the year is nearly upon us, so we've created this special forum where you can post and discuss deals.

The one difference from the Hot Deals forum is you are allowed to discuss boxing day topics that aren't necessarily deals. IE if you plan to line up, what you've bought in past years, expected crowds, etc. Just try to keep the forum clean by searching to see if someone has started a similar topic first.

We must also ask that you don't cross post with other forums (ie our competitors). Please don't just link to a topic on another forum, post the actual information.

Thanks and happy shopping!

UPDATE: At the request of specific retailers, unauthorized flyer information has been removed.

Thanks Ryan for listening...

awesome man! redflags keeps gettin better

greatest day of the year is almost here

Woo hoo! I look forward to these sales more than Christmas itself

Originally Posted by Ryan

Hello all,

Well the most anticipaited shopping day of the year is nearly upon us, so we've created this special forum where you can post and discuss deals.

The one difference from the Hot Deals forum is you are allowed to discuss boxing day topics that aren't necessarily deals. IE if you plan to line up, what you've bought in past years, expected crowds, etc. Just try to keep the forum clean by searching to see if someone has started a similar topic first.

We must also ask that you don't cross post with other forums (ie our competitors). Please don't just link to a topic on another forum, post the actual information.

Thanks and happy shopping!

UPDATE: At the request of specific retailers, unauthorized flyer information has been removed.

Boohoo... I missed seeing the BestBuy and Future Shop boxing day flyers.

Wasn't there some big court case (in the US, I think) not long ago about unauthorized release of flyers? Who won that one?

I don't believe it ever made it to court. If it had, the retailers likely would not have won, as the Supreme Court has ruled previously that "facts" are not copyrightable. This all has to do with the DCMA, which you can look up if you're unfamiliar with it. While the actual scan of a flyer is copyrighted, the pricing data contained therein isn't. If X retailer is going to sell Y DVD for $9.99 on Black Friday or Boxing Day, then that is a fact and is not copyrightable.

A deals site in the US (FW) was the one to lead the fight against these large retailers. While the site did remove the pricing information, it also demanded justification for the retailers actions. Wal-Mart had actually gone the length of getting a subpoena to have the poster's identify disclosed. FW refused and threatened legal action, including action under Section 512(f) of the DMCA which says a party can be liable for damages for its knowingly false assertion of copyright. Needless to say, Wal-Mart backed down. To the best of my knowledge, last year and this year's Black Fridays went by without any retailers challenging posted sale information.

(EDIT: By the way, I'm from the US...so when I mention the DCMA and Supreme Court, I'm talking of US institutions, not the Canadian ones)

While I completely understand RFD's position of avoiding liability, I would pose this question:
I can understand the flyers being removed, as I said previously (at least in the US), they are copyrights
However, would RFD object to randomized lists of pricing data? It would not be a violation of copyright law to allow such.

Originally Posted by Derek

UPDATE: At the request of specific retailers, unauthorized flyer information has been removed.

Ouch, RFD has become a victim of it's own success. It seems to me that in years past we didn't have that problem here.

Originally Posted by TheBrain

Ouch, RFD has become a victim of it's own success. It seems to me that in years past we didn't have that problem here.

We did have the problem in the past with the release of unauthorized information. We just removed it. When the flyers actually hit the newstands we will have it for you.

Originally Posted by technut

Boohoo... I missed seeing the BestBuy and Future Shop boxing day flyers.

Wasn't there some big court case (in the US, I think) not long ago about unauthorized release of flyers? Who won that one?

You didn't miss much.

I'm respectful of this site's preference not to post the Boxing Day information now, but we are all cognizant that flyer info appears on this site on a seemingy weekly basis during the year *prior* to its delivery in people's mailboxes.

Great post, Xanthuos. If RFD & ************.ca have been threatened by the advertising bullies not to post the acceptable textual information, I'm sure members including myself will be willing to host the text. Does anybody have a copy of the information in their drive or cache?

Originally Posted by Xanthuos

While the actual scan of a flyer is copyrighted, the pricing data contained therein isn't. If X retailer is going to sell Y DVD for $9.99 on Black Friday or Boxing Day, then that is a fact and is not copyrightable.

To the best of my knowledge, last year and this year's Black Fridays went by without any retailers challenging posted sale information.

However, would RFD object to randomized lists of pricing data? It would not be a violation of copyright law to allow such.

I have spoken to Xanthous, and he has indicated he will not post or refer to it on RFD. If you post it or link to you after we expressly warn you otherwise, we will be forced to ban you.

On a related note, we have traditionally complied with retailers who do not want their information online at RFD whether they're advertisers or not. We have always believed we worked WITH retailers to bring everyone the best deals, not against them.

Originally Posted by eBuddy

Great post, Xanthuos. If RFD & ************.ca have been threatened by the advertising bullies not to post the acceptable textual information, I'm sure members including myself will be willing to host the text. Does anybody have a copy of the information in their drive or cache?

But seriously, this site still serves a very useful purpose, despite this minor setback. Thanks for maintaining it Derek, Ryan & the rest of the mods.