I saw my therapist today.
It was a Video Conference. I love those.
I feel much more at ease sitting in my recliner and talking to my therapist over the Internet using my laptop.
“Lynn, you said you copyright each story that you write. Why do you feel it important to copyright each story?:
—And now I tell you, what I told my therapist—
It was the ’90s, A good time in my life.
Outside of the music stinking, life was fun.
Little did I know of what was to come. But I digress.
The Internet was even better back then. Yes, better than today—Even with dial-up speeds of 12.4kbps.
For one, we had Chat Programs. Not Apps. Programs.
We would dial up to the ISP and then open the Chat Program and enter into our Favorite Hang-out. Or Chat Room. We called it our “Hang-out.”
Back then, friends often broke into or “Hacked Into” other friends’ computers. It was easy to do back then.
Windows 95 users usually didn’t have a Password set up on their PC.
So, Friends would meet in the Chatroom, and eventually, we’d start messing with each other’s PC. It was fun, and we didn’t even know it was illegal. Or maybe we did. I don’t really remember. I was a teenager.
How easy was it to “Hack” into your Best-Buds PC? Easy.
I’ll explain.
Remember the Chatroom mentioned above?
Well, once inside the Chatroom, you could open a Prompt and perform a “Whois” command.
i.e., “Whois Lynn,” and then hit the enter button.
What would come up on the screen next would be my Friends IP Address.
Remember, this was the ’90s.
Next, you’d map a network drive or connect to your friend’s Windows 95 PC using his IP Address.
And, since nobody usually had Passwords on their Windows 95 account, you’d type in “Administrator” for the username and leave the password blank. Then, finally, hit the enter key, and you’re on your Friends computer.
All of my friends, including me, did this back then.
Remember, I grew up to be an IT Administrator. Or Nerd.
But then, one day, it backfired.
I got onto my Best Friends computer and found “it.”
What’s “it,” you ask? Allow me to explain.
I’ve been “writing” for a long time. Some things I wrote were good and some bad. That’s the way writing goes.
I had written one particular story that I was incredibly proud of.
My Best Friend was obviously proud of it as well.
He’d broken into my computer and copied and pasted that story into a word document on his computer. So, I found “it” on his computer.
My story. My work.
He had stolen my work.
He had put his Name and Address on it, and it appeared as though he was going to mail it to some company.
I confronted him about it, and he said he was just messing around.
He said he wasn’t planning on doing anything with it. He just found it on my computer and was “messing around.”
In all honesty, maybe he was. I don’t know.
But 27 years later, I copyright stories I write because it still bothers me.
I know people can steal my work.
“And that’s why I copyright things I write,” I said to my therapist.
And it was a good session.
Never be ashamed of having to see a Therapist or Psychiatrist. Never. It’s okay.
