Spam Comments: Don't tell me how great my blog is

I do not get a lot of valid comments to my blog posts. I have to say something fairly controversial to get any comments at all. But I do get several spam comments a week. All my received comments are moderated and all the spam comments are deleted. It is really easy to spot the spam comments because they invariably start out by telling me some old blog post is well written or informative or whatever. For example, here is the initial wording from a spam comment: "Informative. It’s not easy to get such quality information online nowadays. Great going."

Real comments rarely say anything about the writing, they comment on the topic. Many of the spam comments are simply a sales pitch for some product or service. I invariably delete all these comments before they are published.

So, if you want to comment, make your comment specific to the blog post. If you want to tell me I am doing a good job or not, just post to my Facebook posts and say anything you want to say. Remember, if you use abusive language on Facebook, you might get banned from the website. I have had a very few comments on Facebook in that category.

Additional Comments on Claims of Ownership to Genealogical Research

This is one issue in dealing with genealogical research that refuses to go away. This round of my discussion on the issue begins with a hypothetical situation. Let's suppose that you are a "'professional" genealogist which essentially means that you expect some monetary compensation for your research for other people. In conjunction with your representation of a client, you travel to an archive and do some research on your client's behalf. In the course of your research, you copy several documents from the archive's holdings. You then write your research report to your client and get paid for your efforts. Who owns the research report? Who owns the copies of the documents you copied from the archive? What do I mean when I use the term "own" in conjunction with this hypothetical? Can a researcher make claims to "ownership" that extend beyond the protection offered by his or her country's copyright laws?

There are two concepts that apply to the answers to these questions. The first is the application of the national copyright law where the agreement for the research is made and the second is an amorphous claim of "work product."

Fundamentally, the parties to a professional services agreement or contract can agree about the ownership of the copyright and any other terms of the employment agreement. This only works, in a legal context, if the parties to the contract reduce their agreement to writing. There is a vast law of oral contracts but it would be extremely difficult to maintain a claim for copyright ownership based on an oral contract.

The professional genealogical researcher can include a provision in any employment contract that he or she retains the copyright to any of the reports or other items produced. The researcher would want to maintain this position for the purpose of using the research report in future publications. What about the document copies obtained from a library or archive? It is possible that the archive, library, or other institution already claims some sort of copyright interest to the documents and that the researcher had to comply with those requirements to obtain the copies. In the absence of an institutional claim to copyright, the documents may not be subject to any other copyright claims. In that case, the researcher cannot obtain a copyright claim to the documents by simply doing research and making copies. The researcher can obtain no rights superior to the original owner, i.e. the institution. If the institution does not claim any rights, then there is no copyright and if the researcher copies the documents and gives a copy to his or her client, the client has just as much right to the documents as the researcher. Including the documents in a copyright-protected report does not change this relationship. You cannot impose a copyright claim on a copy.

It is important to remember, in this context, you may own a copyright interest in your work but not in any copies of any documents you may find in a repository. The fact that you "did the research or work" to find the documents is irrelevant to the issue of copyright claims.

Now let's suppose that you are not a hired professional but merely doing research for your own purposes. You still have a copyright claim to any work, i.e. writing or report, you make. But there is nothing you can do that gives you the right to claim ownership to any documents you obtain through making a copy. Now, let's add one more factor: you put your information online for people to access either by putting the information in an online family tree or your own website or blog or whatever. If you add the "information" to an online family tree, it is no longer subject to any possible claim of copyright. If you add the documents to your online work or family tree, you never had any interest in the documents in the first place and so do not have any copyright claim merely because you were the one who found the document and put it online. The general rule is that information or facts cannot be copyright protected.

What about attribution? Yes, what about attribution? In an academic or other professional settings, attribution is a big deal. Let's suppose in this context that you make a copy of the document from an institution (library, archive, etc.) and you modify the document by putting your own name and other information on the document. For example, you copy a census record and then add a caption to the copy that says something like: "This document was obtained by the work effort of John Doe and cannot be further copies for any purpose." If you fail to give a complete citation to where you obtained the document you are already violating any customs of attribution. Your statement is a nullity. You obtain no additional rights to the document neither can you claim a copyright interest and if someone were to copy the document from your publication and leave off your writing, you would not have any claim at all except in an academic or professional context for attribution.

Genealogical information obtained by research comes from historical documents. Doing genealogical research and copying the information from original records does not change the nature of any copyright protection if any that the original documents made have. But doing genealogical research per se does not give you any rights just because you did the research. There is no amorphous right to a "work product" in the context of genealogical research. You either have a copyright claim or you don't.

Unfortunately, claims of ownership by researchers are usually irrational and based on a desire for recognition. The tragedy is that those who claim ownership ultimately die and their work is lost because no one appreciates the work that went into its production. From my perspective, the nice thing about personal copyright claims is that you can ignore any of your own claims and not worry about your family members copying your work. My position is that doing the work is its own reward. I appreciate recognition and attribution, but I do not stop sharing my work on the basis of any claims I may have to copyright or ownership. That said if I did find that someone had copied my work verbatim, I would probably make a request that they attribute my work. But if I put my work in an online family tree, I have no expectation of either copyright or attribution. 

Why I would attend a genealogy conference

I am writing this while attending the MyHeritage LIVE Conference in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. When all of the sessions of the MyHeritage LIVE Conference are streamed live and will also be available online after the conference, you may wonder why we would come to a conference? Over the past few years, many genealogy conferences, both large and small, have migrated to posting either live broadcasts of their conference or selected portions. The idea is to make the conference available to a larger audience but in some cases, the online availability impacts the overall attendance at the conference. In response, some conference organizers are now moving to a fee-based online access and are even holding entirely virtual conferences.

The cost of attending a major genealogy (or any other type of conference) can be considerable when you include the charge for the event, the cost of travel and accommodation and the extra costs always associated with travel. In addition, despite years of promoting genealogy to younger target audiences, those who are interested in attending a genealogy conference are still much older than the average age of any country's general population and despite interest, age is a factor in actual physical attendance.

Most of the statistics about conference attendance include professional and trade conferences where attendance is either paid by an employer or attendance is required to maintain a certain employment level. For example, my children who are professionals, mostly university associated, attend conferences as an integral part of their professional responsibilities and involvement. These types of conferences do not compare to interest conferences such as general interest genealogy conference. Trade conferences are also almost mandatory for some trades and industries. One of the largest such trade conferences is the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas every January. By the way, the registration fee is around $300 to $1,700 depending on your participation and attendance is limited to consumer electronics professionals representing specific businesses. Attendance at the conference is over 175,000 people.

The MyHeritage LIVE Conference is a "user" conference aimed specifically at a known group of the website's advocates and supporters. Those attending the conference specifically wanted to be there and were well aware of the cost of attendance. The attendees came from more than 20 different countries. Because they all shared a common interest, there was considerable interaction at a number of different levels between the participants. The internet broadcast of the conference merely increased the total attendance into the tens of thousands many of whom will plan on attending the next year's conference which was announced to be held in Israel.

The real reason conferences are still relevant in the internet world is the advantage of person-to-person contact such as took place at the MyHeritage LIVE Conference. Of course, I was invited to present at the conference but the advantages of being here in person far outweigh any excuses you can think of for not attending including the availability of the conference presentations online. Being here in person is vastly different than listening online.

Now, does the MyHeritage experience apply to general interest conferences organized around a membership organization? Some of the incentives for attendance are the same. Personal interaction is always a better experience than sitting at home and listening to a broadcast. But without the incentive of a specific common interest such as a user group other than the general common interest of genealogy as a subject, can conferences survive in the world of instant communication?

One major consideration for the conference organizers is the cost of the event. In the past, the number of paid participants attending a conference could balance the out of pocket costs of the sponsor. I am certain that some major conferences such as the Consumer Electronics Show can garner enough interest to offset the production cost. But I am also convinced that many of the conferences without the industry draw of the Consumer Electronics Show will continue to disappear. This prediction applies specifically to general interest genealogy conferences. The assumed general interest of the world's population in family history and genealogy does not translate well into conference attendance. Likewise, the draw of having a schedule of presentations by relatively unknown individuals when their presentations are available online is not going to increase attendance.

One factor for larger conferences is the continued participation of vendors. A major part of the income from large conferences come from the fees paid by vendors to have a booth on the exhibit floor. If attendance drops, the vendors sell less and soon decide that that cost of the conference is not worth the number of sales.

The reality of general interest conferences, both large and small, is that the sponsoring organizations will be forced to subsidize their conferences in larger measure and realize that paid attendance is not going to cover a significant portion of the overall cost of the conference. Hence, the idea of a "virtual" conference thereby dramatically cutting down the overhead becomes attractive, becomes attractive. Will those who are involved in genealogy pay to attend a virtual conference? Perhaps. However, the vendors at those conferences will not be so eager to subsidize the conference if they do not see an economic advantage to doing so.

So the issue of whether or not large general-interest genealogy conferences will continue to be held is going to be determined, to a great extent, by whether or not the sponsors want to continue subsidizing the conferences simply for the purpose of keeping them going. In the not too distant past, several long-standing genealogy conferences have been discontinued or reduced in frequency and this trend is very likely to continue.

MyHeritage LIVE Conference: The Impact of DNA Testing on Genealogical Research

DNA testing has become established as an integral part of the world-wide genealogical community and MyHeritage.com is making major technological advances extending DNA testing from its current position as a genealogical research tool by expanding their DNA Health program. 

https://www.myheritage.com/health?s=562098391

The expansion of the MyHeritage.com Health DNA testing program was one of the highlights of the opening presentation by Gilad Japhet, CEO and Founder, at the MyHeritage LIVE Conference in Amsterdam, the Netherlands on September 7, 2019. In an earlier post entitled, MyHeritage LIVE: The Future is Bright, I wrote about the announcement of MyHeritage's acquisition of SNPedia and Promethease, adding a vital link in MyHeritage's advancement in this rapidly expanding and innovative addition to the health wellness industry. But Gilad Jephet's comments went well beyond the subject of the acquisition. 

Going back in time, DNA testing has become a standard in criminal investigations. Early on, when DNA testing was still an innovation, a substantial number of existing criminal convictions were overturned and are still being overturned by subsequent DNA analysis of the evidence. DNA testing, with the proper procedural prerequisites, is regularly used in criminal prosecutions. Presently, genealogical DNA testing is going through a phase where many DNA tests are motivated by casual interest or curiosity. But as technology advances, even the popular ethnicity estimates will become more accurate and used for more serious research. 

During his presentation, Gilad Japhet expanded on the future of MyHeritage DNA Ethnicity Estimates by outlining the efforts being made by MyHeritage to dramatically increase the accuracy of the estimates by focusing on a more comprehensive and detailed representative basis for the DNA comparisons. He outlined an expanded European comparison base that would include specific ethnic groups down to the local county or district level. 

His comments also included an analysis of the important part that MyHeritage DNA Health testing could play in improving the detections of several types of genetic-based illness and conditions. DNA Health along with Genealogy and genealogical DNA testing make a well-rounded and complementary system. Genetic diseases are, by their nature, inherited and there has always been a component of genealogy interested in ancestral diseases and infirmities.

With the steady increase in online genealogical source records, the recent increase in interest in DNA testing has opened new avenues to resolve multiple previously very difficult to resolve genealogical challenges. The most obvious of these is the identification of near relatives by those who were adopted or otherwise never knew their parents. But as the results from DNA tests become more detailed and genealogically accurate, those who use these new tools will find useful avenues that will assist genealogical research in ways we cannot presently imagine.

Unfortunately, many people who take a DNA test do not follow up with the information provided and begin a family tree. With a family tree, a DNA test moves beyond curiosity and begins to be of use in finding and connecting with relatives and learning about their ancestral heritage.

I can only guess at what the future might bring, but I do know that MyHeritage will be at the forefront of any technological developments. 

New MyHeritage Education Center announced at MyHeritage LIVE 2019

During the MyHeritage LIVE  user conference, MyHeritage announced MyHeritage Education: a new online resource center for enhancing your understanding of the MyHeritage platform and to help you make the most of your family history research. Quoting from the announcement:

Available in English, German, Dutch, French, Swedish, and Norwegian, the new Education Center includes loads of learning materials that will help you learn about every facet of MyHeritage. Articles, how-to videos, and webinars cover a wide variety of topics, including plenty of tips for everyone from beginner family history enthusiasts to seasoned genealogists. 

We will be adding new languages in the future, and we will be constantly be adding new content in each language. 

Whether you’re a new MyHeritage user, just starting your journey into family history research or a genealogy veteran, MyHeritage Education is sure to benefit you and help you make the most of your MyHeritage experience. 

Read more about this exciting new site in the blog post, and feel free to share it with all the world.  

MyHeritage LIVE live stream continues throughout the conference on the MyHeritage LIVE website or the MyHeritage Facebook page.

MyHeritage LIVE: The Future is Bright

One thing that is certain about MyHeritage, the future is bright. At the opening presentation of the MyHeritage LIVE Conference in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, CEO Gilad Japeth announced MyHeritage's acquisition of SNPedia and Promethease. Quoting from the SNPedia website:

SNPedia is a wiki investigating human genetics. We share information about the effects of variations in DNA, citing peer-reviewed scientific publications. It is used by Promethease to create a personal report linking your DNA variations to the information published about them. Please see the SNPedia:FAQ for answers to common questions.

The second acquisition was Promethease.com. Here is an explanation of the company from their website.

Promethease is a literature retrieval system that builds a personal DNA report based on connecting a file of DNA genotypes to the scientific findings cited in SNPedia. 

Biomedical researchers, healthcare practitioners and customers of DNA testing services (such as 23andMe, Ancestry.com, FamilyTreeDNA, Genos, etc.) use Promethease to retrieve information published about their DNA variations. Most reports cost $12 and are produced in under 10 minutes. Much larger data files (such as imputed full genomes) have increased runtime. Uploading additional data files into the same report costs an additional $4. 

These websites will add additional support and depth to the DNA matches on MyHeritage.com.  Both of these websites will help to add depth to MyHeritage's growing consumer health interests. Here is an explanation of the acquisition from the MyHeritage blog post dated 7 September 2019.

Today we are announcing MyHeritage’s acquisition of SNPedia and Promethease, through acquiring the company that owned and operated them, River Road Bio, expanding our intellectual property in medical genetics. This marks our first consumer health acquisition and our 10th acquisition since MyHeritage’s founding. Promethease will be made free through the end of 2019 and SNPedia will remain a free wiki resource for academic and non-profit use. 

SNPedia
SNPedia.com was launched in 2006 and is a wiki that contains a broad, community-curated knowledge base linking between genetic variants and medical conditions, as well as traits, citing over 30,000 peer-reviewed scientific publications. It is the primary encyclopedia and de facto go-to resource for information about genetic markers and has evolved to cover 110,413 genetic variants. SNPedia operates under a Creative Commons license, wherein it is a free resource for academic and non-commercial use, with only MyHeritage having the right to utilize it commercially. MyHeritage plans to maintain SNPedia as a free resource under the same terms and will utilize this comprehensive knowledge base to enhance future versions of MyHeritage’s DNA health products. 

Promethease
Promethease.com is a literature retrieval service. It allows consumers to upload their raw DNA data (from services such as Ancestry.com, 23andMe, and others) and automatically compare it to SNPedia to see relevant scientific findings regarding their genome. The Promethease service currently costs $12, and offers consumers the option to store their DNA data. Since its launch in 2008, Promethease has become one of the world’s most popular consumer health services by allowing customers to obtain information based on their unique genetic makeup. Following this announcement, MyHeritage is transforming Promethease into a free service, effective today, and this free promotion will run until the end of 2019. MyHeritage intends to keep Promethease separate from its MyHeritage DNA health product line. Unlike Promethease, MyHeritage does not provide any health reports based on DNA data uploaded from other vendors. All of MyHeritage DNA’s health reports are based on clinical validation of the underlying DNA data. 

“The acquisition of SNPedia and Promethease expands MyHeritage’s intellectual property in medical genetics. Going forward, SNPedia will empower us to broaden the scope of health reports provided by the MyHeritage DNA Health+Ancestry test and propel it to become a global market leader in consumer DNA testing. We are happy to keep SNPedia as a free resource for the academic community and for consumers,” said Dr. Yaniv Erlich, Chief Science Officer of MyHeritage. 

“We are pleased with the acquisition by MyHeritage. We expect this to extend SNPedia’s contribution to even more consumers and thereby improve millions of lives through MyHeritage’s popular DNA testing platform,” said Dr. Greg Lennon, co-founder of SNPedia and Promethease. 

DNA Data
Promethease currently contains hundreds of thousands of raw DNA files uploaded by customers who have tested with services such as Ancestry.com, 23andMe, and FamilyTreeDNA. The vast majority of Promethease customers are from the United States. As of November 1st, 2019, for existing non-European Promethease users only, the DNA data that is on Promethease will be copied to the MyHeritage website into new user accounts that will be created for them. Users who have uploaded DNA files to Promethease will retain ownership of their data (MyHeritage asserts no ownership rights over the DNA data), and manage it on the MyHeritage website in private accounts accessible only to them, and receive free value-add services, in addition to the accounts they will continue to maintain on Promethease. 

The accounts that will be created on MyHeritage for Promethease users will enjoy the special benefit of receiving not only free DNA Matching for relatives, but also free Ethnicity Estimates. Currently, users who upload their raw DNA data to MyHeritage receive free DNA Matches, but do not get Ethnicity Estimates. This extra feature is accessible for a  one-time unlock fee of $29 or by purchasing a site subscription. This benefit will be offered to Promethease users for free when their DNA is uploaded to MyHeritage, thereby saving them money and providing them with a free service that other users do not automatically receive. Some additional features will still require an unlock fee or a subscription, such as the Chromosome Browser. To learn about all of the benefits that will be available for free to Promethease users whose DNA kits will be uploaded to MyHeritage, read our DNA upload policy. 

Non-European Promethease users who are not interested in having their DNA data and accounts copied to MyHeritage can log in to Promethease and delete their DNA data permanently before November 1st, 2019, and their DNA data and accounts will not be copied. Promethease users will also be able to delete their DNA data and accounts permanently from MyHeritage and Promethease at any point thereafter. MyHeritage will de-duplicate the DNA data so that DNA kits that have already been uploaded separately to MyHeritage by the same users will not be copied over to MyHeritage again. For new users who sign up to Promethease on or after November 1st, 2019 and upload DNA data, it will be copied to new accounts created for them on MyHeritage on an ongoing basis. 

People who wish to take a genetic health test or receive health reports are encouraged to purchase the MyHeritage DNA Health+Ancestry test, which is based on clinically validated genetic markers and robust scientific research.

MyHeritage LIVE: Kim and Christine: Sisters Reunited

Kim and Christine: Sisters Reunited

The MyHeritage LIVE Conference started with an amazing presentation about two sisters separated as babies in Korea who found each other using the MyHeritage DNA test. After viewing the above video we were given the opportunity to meet and ask questions of the sisters in person. One of the main benefits of attending a conference in person is the opportunity to actually see the people.

https://live2019.myheritage.com/

The classes will be starting online shortly. Check the link for the current broadcast.